Barbarian Flashmob Converts "Marcus Bachmann" in Glitter Baptism

Woof Wednesday VIDEO: WTF by Matt Zarley

kinda queer in a queer way, but woofy for sure

Why Shaine Wynsma Rides [a "How are you healthy?" special feature]

Does riding 200-miles in two-days make you a healthier person? Perhaps. Does riding 200-miles in two-days to improve someone else’s life make you a healthier person? Maybe. Health is so much more than physical. Mental, spiritual, and emotional health is a part of staying “healthy”.  The choices we make in our lives contribute to the overall health and happiness we experience. Below is one of several stories from participants of an annual event called the Ride for AIDS Chicago. The Ride for AIDS Chicago is a two-day, 200-mile charity cycling event that raises money for Test Positive Aware Network (TPAN) and partner agencies. TPAN and the partner agencies that benefit from the Ride for AIDS Chicago provide direct service to those living with HIV and help prevent the spread of the virus through information dissemination, HIV testing, and education.

It started with a Life List.

One of the items on that list I put down was to do a ride or marathon. I am not much of a runner, but I love, love, love to bike. So a ride it had to be. I had only heard about the ride in California and that is what I had set my sights on. I was at the doctors for a routine check up and my doctor told me about the TPAN ride and said that I would have no problem doing it.

I got a bike from Ebay. Raised some money and learned more about TPAN and their programs. The Ride at that time was roughly 180 miles. I managed to do it with no clips, on a heavy mountain bike. I don’t even think I had padded shorts.

“All you have to do is pedal,” is what I kept on telling myself. 

Mile after mile, hill after hill and the second I crossed the finish line, I wanted to do it again.

A couple of months before that ride, I found out a really good friend of mine, Greg Fanning, had passed away. He was found in his apartment alone. Greg had a great soul, provided lots of laughs and had an amazing talent of rehabbing wood furniture.

He had his share of demons he was dealing with. He wasn’t very familiar with TPAN's support programs for those dealing with HIV. I was one of a few people that he could relate too. From then on, there was/is an additional element to the Ride, other than the personal and physical challenge.

I can’t help to wonder that if Greg was more aware of TPAN and what they could have provided him, if he would still be around today, making me laugh uncontrollably and amazing me with his ability to magically turn an old rocking chair or nicked up table into a stunning piece of art. For that year, 2007, I rode in his name.

That is why Shaine rides, to make sure the doors stay open at TPAN and people are aware of the programs there, so the art and laughter stay alive, which is tops on my Life List.

-- Shaine Wynsma
Chicago

How are you healthy?
Please join the hundreds who have shared their tips.
Tell us HERE. Send a pic to the same place.
And we'll blog it, right here on LifeLube.
Gay men and all allies welcome to participate.
Read past posts.
Learn more about the campaign

Unprotected sex 8x more common in serious relationships than casual, US gay youth study finds

via Aidsmap, by Gus Cairns

The strongest single predictor of not using condoms in anal sex in a group of young US gay men was that the relationship was regarded as ‘serious’, a study has found. Unprotected sex was eight times more likely in serious relationships than in casual encounters.

This study, conducted conducted by Northwestern University in Illinois, USA (Mustanski) reinforces previous findings that over two-thirds of HIV transmissions between US gay men happen between primary sex partners and only a third between casual partners (Sullivan).

In this study, the researchers comment, “there was almost no unprotected sex occurring in relationships classified as casual”. This suggests that HIV prevention strategies amongst US gay men may need to focus more on HIV risk and safer-sex negotiation within couples than on individual risk-taking decisions.

Read the rest.

Duh, it’s HPV too

via Gay City News, by Perry N Halkitis, Ph.D., M.S. with Jaclyn Blachman-Forshay

Last year, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYCDOHMH) terrorized us with their prevention campaign “It’s Never Just HIV.” My colleagues at Gay Men’s Health Crisis, who recognized the inflammatory nature of this prevention effort, held a community forum where leaders of the health department argued their perspectives — while many members of the community expressed their outrage.

In this HIV public service announcement, we were warned about many complications of HIV infection — including the increased risk for anal cancer among gay HIV-positive men (a fact that medical science supports). It was not the message with which we took issue, but the manner in which the message was portrayed. Recall the television ad! It was a graphic image of a luminescent, radioactive ass that scared the heck out of ALL gay men. For me personally, it made my annual anal Pap smear an event of great anxiety, one that I considered canceling at least a dozen times.

Many of us know that genital human papilloma virus (HPV), of which there are more than 40 types, is the pathogen that can cause anal or genital warts (HPV types 6 and 11 may cause warts). What is less known, however, is that there are certain types of HPV (such as HPV types 16 and 18) which can serve as the causes of anal cancer. National and local health efforts have been undertaken to educate the population about the link between HPV and cervical cancer in women. However, associations between HPV and anal cancer — which as we know may affect more than gay men — remain few and far between. There are clearly articulated policies for women’s health, including recommended immunizations against HPV for women and young girls as described in the city’s health bulletin urging vaccination (Volume 7, Number 1). For men, particularly gay men who may be most at risk for contracting a form of HPV that may cause anal cancer, the recommendations are less clear and definitive. In fact, this message is all but absent.

While the NYCDOHMH guidelines recommend anal Pap smears for HIV-positive men on a routine basis, the NYCDOHMH Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI)Screening Guidelines for Sexually Active Patients lists the Pap as “N/A” (not applicable) for other men who have sex with men (MSM). Although the risk for anal cancer may be less for HIV-negative men, one still is left to wonder how a health commission — focused on warning about the dangers of anal cancer in their HIV prevention campaign — is somewhat aloof and silent in its recommendations for gay men regarding HPV (both in terms of screening for anal cancer and routine vaccination of young men and boys before they become sexually active).

To make matters worse, some doctors treating HIV-positive gay men also do not routinely undertake Pap smears of their patients. According to Dr. Stephen Goldstone of Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, author of “The Ins and Outs of Gay Sex: A Medical Handbook for Men” and one of the world’s leading authorities on anal cancer in gay men, “There is a real embarrassment on the part of both patients and healthcare providers to deal with sexual health issues and anal health issues. Most patients don’t even get a rectal exam let alone an anal Pap smear. It is unfortunate that many anal cancers I see are quite large and would have been picked up much sooner had the patient just had a rectal exam.”

Read the rest.

Simple Changes to Hook Up Sites Could Decrease Spread of HIV and Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Press release via Stop AIDS

A study released today recommends eight ways to reduce transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) among men who meet male sex partners online.

Owners of popular dating and “hook-up” websites and users of those websites, along nwith HIV and STD program directors, agreed that a few simple measures could have a major impact on the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.

Among the online measures supported by a majority of those surveyed:

• Including “safe sex” as a profile option and allowing users to search for partners by such characteristics

• Providing directories of STD testing locations

• Sending automatic reminders to get an HIV or STD test at regular intervals chosen by users

• Having chat-rooms and other areas for HIV-positive men looking for other HIV positive men

• Providing e-cards to notify partners of a potential exposure to STDs

• Posting videos that show men discussing safe sex, HIV status, and related issues

• Providing access to sexual health experts

“Finding sex and love online is here to stay,” said Dan Wohlfeiler, one of the study’s authors working with the California HIV/STD Prevention Training Center for this project. “This study shows how we can work with website owners to turn the Internet into a force for their users’ health.”

More than 3000 users, 82 state and local HIV and STD Program directors and 18 owners of dating and “hook-up” websites completed the survey.

Jen Hecht, Education Director at STOP AIDS Project and co-author, said “Since all three groups agree these strategies are important, can be done, and would be used, we need to be getting them online now.”

The study also found a number of strategies with less support. Website owners expressed skepticism about health department staff going online to notify users that they might have been exposed to an STD. In contrast, a majority of HIV and STD prevention directors and users thought this strategy was important. The authors are planning follow-up meetings with owners to further understand their concerns. In California, gay and bisexual men who were diagnosed with syphilis or gonorrhea most frequently reported the Internet as where they met sex partners.

“We have rising rates of STDs among gay and bisexual men and turning that around means everyone needs to take responsibility for their sexual health,” said Bill Smith, Executive Director of the National Coalition of STD Directors (NCSD). “This study shows how public health professionals, as well the users and owners of sex seeking websites, can band together to make a real difference in securing the sexual health of gay men.”

The study, entitled “How Can We Improve HIV and STD Prevention Online for MSM” funded by amfAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research, was co-authored by H. Fisher Raymond and Willi McFarland at the San Francisco Department of Public Health. The results have been posted here.

Feel the Love... Drink from Sister Glo's Fountain

I only wish to be the fountain of love

from which you drink, 

every drop 

promising 

eternal passion.

~Unknown

Love is all you need with Sister Glo each Friday on LifeLube.

Dance For Life Sparks Reflections on His First Anniversary

This week marks the one-year anniversary of my infection with HIV. I have given some thought and prayer on how I should mark this anniversary.  

Should I even celebrate the anniversary?

Should I not think the marking of it as a celebration at all – especially since it includes feelings of sadness, loss, anger, but then there are also feelings of much gratitude and hope…?

Should I celebrate alone or with others?

Saturday night I attended the 20th Anniversary Performance of Chicago's “Dance for Life” event. It was a beautiful and powerful performance by committed artists and dancers who believe in and support our fight to end AIDS. As the celebration began, the CEO of the AIDS Foundation of Chicago announced that it was not only the 20th anniversary of the “Dance for Life”, but also the 6-month anniversary of his becoming the CEO and more importantly the 17th year of being infected and living with the virus. People applauded wildly after he announced the 20th year for the event; but it came obvious that many did not know how to respond to the announcement of the anniversary of his infection 17 years ago. A few in the large audience applauded but many remained silent with most of them, I am sure, pondering how to respond to such an announcement – the anniversary of someone’s infection with HIV/AIDS.

How should I mark MY one-year anniversary and should I identify it as a celebration? Should I mark it alone or with others, at least with one or two who know and offer me much support in my life with HIV? As I lay awake on my bed at 4am Sunday morning, those questions entered the deeper part of my heart, mind and spirit.

I certainly experience much, much gratitude for the medication and medical attention I have been able to receive over the past year. I take daily medication that is keeping my viral load undetectable and CD4 count at a very normal and healthy level. It is very expensive medication and medical treatment, yet my work health insurance plan makes it possible. I am also especially grateful that our health insurance companies in this country can no longer deny me coverage for having a “pre-existing” illness in case I were to switch employment.

The gratitude, however, is mixed with much sorrow, sadness and often anger since there are so many of my fellow life travelers living with HIV/AIDS who do not have this access to medication and healthcare. In our country, which is the wealthiest in the world, many go without medications or easy access to care, and in the world many are still dying of a disease that is no longer fatal if one is provided with medications and medical attention.

My anger especially flares up when I hear so many people, mostly out of ignorance and close-mindedness, oppose expanding health insurance for infected individuals living with the virus (and all others who need it) through our recently adopted health care reform. I am glad “Obama cares” enough for us and millions others in our country who need to know they will now be able see a doctor and get needed medications, especially when they are in pain or worried about their health.

I have always tried to take good care of my body through a healthy diet, sufficient exercise and adequate sleep. During the past year this approach to taking care of my body took special significance. The medications and treatment cannot on their own keep me healthy as my body fights the virus on a daily basis. And so this week I am also grateful for the opportunities I have to keep my body fit and healthy. I have access to a gym, nutritious food, and a decent and safe house where I can rest and take care of myself. I have them because I have a good job that allows me such opportunities.

But again anger flares up in my heart and gut when I consider the many who do not have these opportunities today, especially a home or a job that allows them to take care of themselves and their chronic illnesses. As the rich keep getting richer in our nation and the poor and middle class lose more and more income on a yearly basis, homes and jobs seem to become much less available to many among us.

Finally, should I celebrate the experience that I nowadays have of having somewhat befriended the virus that lives within my body? I wish with all my heart it did not live there or in the bodies of any human being in this world. Yet it is there. And until researchers find the cure for HIV/AIDS, it will continue to be an intimate part of my body and life. I am reminded of that every day as I take my $50-a-day pill to keep the virus undetectable in my blood stream.

In a year’s time I have learned how to accept that I am HIV positive and to see opportunities for growth as a person, especially in hospitality and compassion. 

I have worked for a number of years in the field that fights against AIDS and supports those living with the virus. But nowadays I have much more solidarity in heart and mind with them. I am one of them and with them today.

I have always tried to practice hospitality and compassion because of my spiritual faith. When persons are hospitable, they “makes room” in their lives for others. And there are so many ways to do so with persons living with the virus: by sharing our resources for the fight against AIDS like so many did last night at the 2011 Dance for Life event; or supporting directly infected individuals and families with much personal care and love; or not judging or stigmatizing them out of ignorance; or by working actively and politically for the resources and opportunities sick people need to remain healthy. I have always tried to practice hospitality in my life; but now that the virus lives within me, I am all the more committed to “making room” in my life for those who travel through this life with the virus in their bodies.

I learned a long time ago that truly compassionate persons are those that know how to suffer with others. The very word compassion comes from the Latin words to “suffer” (passus) and “with” (cum).

My spiritual faith has allowed and supported me to suffer with others in my life over the years. But now that the virus lives within me, I can accompany those infected by HIV/AIDS in a much stronger and closer way. I have and I am dealing with the fear, the anxiety, and the worries that this virus could one day compromise my immune system that keeps us humans alive and healthy. But I also share much more closely the hope and the dreams with other persons living with HIV/AIDS. Nowadays we may be able to live until an old age and enjoy life to its fullest. After the one year, I am all the more compassionate since I can suffer and hope much more closely with my fellow HIV positive life travelers.

Maybe one day before I die, the virus will leave my body through some type of cure. But until it does, I am learning to live with it. It is an unwelcomed friend. But it is a friend since it is making me a more hospitable and compassionate person in this life.

I guess I can celebrate the one year anniversary of my infection.

 
-- Thoughts from a Chicagoan living with HIV


[pics by ed negron. check out the rest on the lifelube facebook page]

Woof Wednesday is The Pits

My PrEP Experience - Check out Benjamin's Personal PrEP Story

This is a real story from Benjamin - the fourth in an ongoing series on LifeLube - from someone who has chosen to use PrEP* as one way to protect himself from HIV.

Click here to pull up all the My PrEP Experience stories posted on LifeLube to date, including video, audio, and written testimonials, from other people sharing their PrEP experiences.

Please feel free to share your reactions to Benjamin's story in the comments section.

And if you have used PrEP, or are using PrEP, we invite you to share your PrEP experience by video, audio, or in writing.

Why did you make the decision to use PrEP? What were some of the challenges you faced in making this decision? How is taking PrEP working out for you? How has it impacted your life?

Send video or audio links and/or text to myprepexperience@gmail.com and we will post them here, on LifeLube.  You can include your name, or you may contribute to My PrEP Experience anonymously.

Your voice is important!  Please consider sharing your personal experience with PrEP at My PrEP Experience.

*Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis, or PrEP, is a new HIV prevention strategy in which HIV-negative people use HIV antiretrovirals (ARVs), drugs usually used to treat HIV infection, to reduce their risk of becoming infected with HIV. Trials among gay men, other men who have sex with men as well as heterosexuals,have shown that PrEP can reduce HIV infection risk – especially when PrEP is taken consistently, and if condoms and other safer sex strategies are used as well. Another study is now underway to test if PrEP works among injection drug users with results expected in 2012.

For more information on PrEP and other new prevention technologies, visit AVAC.org. To learn about rectal microbicides – new prevention technologies that could be delivered via lubricants or rectal douches for people who engage in anal intercourse, visit IRMA – International Rectal Microbicide Advocates.

Click here to pull up all the My PrEP Experience posts, including video and written testimonials.

And click here for the My PrEP Experience YouTube channel.

Why Richard Cordova Rides [a "How are you healthy?" special feature]

Does riding 200-miles in two-days make you a healthier person? Perhaps. Does riding 200-miles in two-days to improve someone else’s life make you a healthier person? Maybe. Health is so much more than physical. Mental, spiritual, and emotional health is a part of staying “healthy”.  The choices we make in our lives contribute to the overall health and happiness we experience. The following stories show that sometimes, you have to give, to get. Below is one of several stories from participants of an annual event called the Ride for AIDS Chicago. The Ride for AIDS Chicago is a two-day, 200-mile charity cycling event that raises money for Test Positive Aware Network (TPAN) and partner agencies. TPAN and the partner agencies that benefit from the Ride for AIDS Chicago provide direct service to those living with HIV and help prevent the spread of the virus through information dissemination, HIV testing, and education.

Why I Ride/Crew/Produce

I did my first Ride for AIDS Chicago in 2008. I didn't know anyone on the Ride, and I donated the entire $1,000 myself. I had just got done fundraising for my first AIDS marathon and I didn't want to burden my friends with another fundraising request.

In the beginning, these events - marathons and 200-mile bike rides were all about me. I had been HIV positive for about six years, was a pack a day smoker, and led a "party" lifestyle that was surely going to see me to an early grave if I continued doing what I was doing.

When I found out I was HIV positive, I had 123 T-cells, I was in fact not just living with HIV but technically someone living with AIDS. I spent a good portion of my 20's believing that my life had a short shelf life. I thought that I wouldn't live to see 30.

By the grace of modern medicine my immune system recovered. My immune system recovered while my mindset stayed the same. It was only when I had the realization that it was my behaviors that were going to kill me, not my HIV that I started to make any real change.

In the spring of 2007, in an effort to ditch my destructive habits I started to train for my first marathon. This led to being a running Coach for the National AIDS Marathon training program, then my first Ride for AIDS Chicago which led to my Riding for the past three years, captaining a team of 25, and now helping produce the event itself.

Somewhere along the way I realized that I'm going to live a long and healthy life with this disease. 

The coolest thing for me was as a Captain in 2009 and as a running Coach for the AIDS marathon I realized that I had the power to help people have their own trans-formative experience by participating in events like the Ride.

Maybe they do it for the cause, maybe they do it for themselves, maybe they do it for a friend...

It doesn't matter why people do the Ride for AIDS Chicago. The fact is, they are doing it. Not only are they doing it, but they are committed to raising money to support people living with this disease. That means something to me, because everyone should feel as comfortable with their disease as I do.
So the reason I have ridden, why I crew, and why I produce the Ride for AIDS Chicago is to make a difference. A difference in the lives of those participating and a difference in the lives of the people supported by the programs that the Ride helps support.

-- Richard Cordova
Chicago

How are you healthy?
Please join the hundreds who have shared their tips.
Tell us HERE. Send a pic to the same place.
And we'll blog it, right here on LifeLube.
Gay men and all allies welcome to participate.
Read past posts.
Learn more about the campaign

Feel the Love... Sister Glo's Favorite Number

Love is all about living one life..

~Ameetav Nangrani

Love is all you need with Sister Glo each Friday on LifeLube.

VIDEO: Sweet, Funny, Sexy British Troops Do Glee

7th Annual Love Fest - August 28th in Chicago

The Chicago Black Gay Men's Caucus (CBGMC) is pleased to present LoveFest, an end of the Summer celebration!

Our 7th annual event will include captivating performances by some of Chicago's most well-known entertainers! Also, don't forget to get your teams and talents together for a mini-ball, bid whist and volleyball tournaments, and so much more!

And most importantly, the Chicago Department of Public Health is sponsoring our 'Healthy Is Sexy!' (H.I.S.) village and will provide an assortment of screenings and information to ensure that we continue to live at our healthiest.

So come out and have fun! It'll be great opportunity to meet and mingle with the Caucus and our brothers and sisters! We better see you there!!!

More information about LoveFest.

Kick-Off Reception at Club Escape on Thur., Aug. 25.

Woof Wednesday

Hey douchebags! How do YOU douche?

A lot of gay men use douches and enemas.

So.... IRMA (International Rectal Microbicide Advocates) has teamed up with UCLA on a juicy new survey - this one on the very exciting topic of rectal douching and enemas.

Take the survey in English.

This survey is designed to help scientists and advocates better understand the types of products people use rectally for anal sex including lubricants and enemas or douches. They want to learn more about  rectal practices and behaviors that may affect the risk for sexually transmitted infections among people who practice anal intercourse.

We hope LifeLube readers will fill out this brief anonymous survey (estimated time to complete: less than 15 minutes).

Spanish, French, Portuguese, Chinese and Russian versions of the survey are in the works now. Watch this space - we will let you know when they are ready.

In the meantime, please take the survey in English and share this link widely. Thanks!

New Campaign: Testing Makes us Stronger

lboards. “Your HIV test result expires every time you have risky sex. Stay strong and informed

Source: The Bay Citizen (http://s.tt/132Ig)

Your HIV test result expires every time you have risky sex. Stay strong and informed.

lboards. “Your HIV test result expires every time you have risky sex. Stay strong and informed

Source: The Bay Citizen (http://s.tt/132Ig)

Read about the CDC's new HIV testing campaign focused on gay black men which takes an assets-based approach to the effort - looks very nice. Some images from the campaign below. Waddya think?

PICS: Market Daze by Ed Negron (part one)

See the rest of this set on the LifeLube Facebook page, here.