Windy City Times Covers LGBTI Health Summit

Good bi (research)
by Yasmin Nair

The annual LGBTI Health Summit was held at the Chicago Hilton and Towers, 720 S. Michigan, Aug. 14-18, and the five-day international event kicked off with an entire day devoted to the issues and needs of bisexuals. According to the organizers, this is only the second event with a focus on bisexuality and health, the first being the Bi Health Summit at the 2003 North American Conference on Bisexuality in San Diego.

On Aug. 14, a keynote session included a welcome and introduction to bisexual health issues by Julie Ebin, a member of the Bi Health Summit Coordinating Committee. Ebin said that issues around bisexual health revolved the questions of "whether bi individuals take care of their own individual health, whether and how an individual's sexuality impacts their own individual health, and whether and how an individual's sexuality affects their access to resources."

Read the rest.

Check out Bi Health Summit pics.

Stopping Violence
by Andrew Davis

The annual LGBTI Health Summit continued Aug. 15 with workshops covering a wide variety of topics, including "LGBTI Cancer 101" and "The Future is Fluid—New Tools to Negotiate Pleasure and Risk."

Another workshop that took place was "Moving Queer Communities to Take Action to Stop Violence." During this forum, advocates in Chicago and Wisconsin discussed approaches to assessing communities' readiness regarding interpersonal and relationship violence in LGBT relationships.

Gary Hollander, executive director of the LGBT group Diverse and Resilient, and Molly Herrmann, contract manager for the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, presented a survey conducted in different areas of Wisconsin ( Chippewa Valley, Fox Valley, Madison and Milwaukee ) regarding intimate partner violence ( IPV ) . The study resulted from surveys taken at various Pride events, among other venues. Results included that 22 percent of respondents were hit by a boyfriend or girlfriend within the past 12 months.

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Check pics from the LGBTI Summit.

The Courage to Leave

via the Advocate, by Dr. Frank Spinelli

Domestic violence isn’t something that happens only to straight people

During his physical exam, Troy, a clinical psychologist and a patient of mine for nearly nine years, confided that his partner had been abusing him for two years. My first thought was to blurt out, “Rihanna, what were you thinking?” A psychologist should know better! Instead I shut my big mouth and listened. As obvious as the right course of action -- to get out quickly -- seems, I can’t presume to know how any of us would react in a similar situation. Domestic violence occurs in one in four same-sex relationships, but fewer than one third of cases are ever reported. Victims fear insensitivity from the police, and men especially feel emasculated by needing to seek help regarding physical or emotional abuse. In Troy’s case the abuse started after he lost his job: “My boyfriend always made more money than me, and after I was laid off, he joked about it front of our friends.” As is often the case in relationships, that emotional abuse led to physical abuse.

A violent childhood, substance abuse, mental illness, stress, and economic dissatisfaction can all lead people to take extreme actions against their partners. But the bottom line is that no one deserves abuse. Victims need to first accept that no action warrants that kind of rage; then they need to tell a trusted friend, family member, or doctor that they need help. There are resources available. The Gay Men’s Domestic Violence Project hotline is (800) 832-1901, and the National Domestic Violence Hotline is (800) 799-7233.

[*** Also, please check out the Center on Halsted's Anti-Violence Project resources. Since it's inception in 1988, The Anti-Violence Project has provided crisis counseling, information and referrals, and legal advocacy to thousands of survivors of violence and discrimination. The Center on Halsted Anti-Violence Project is a founding member of the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP), a coalition of more than 40 individual programs across the nation that document and advocate for survivors of LGBT discrimination, hate violence, domestic violence, sexual assault, police misconduct, and other forms of victimization.]

UIC "Lunch & Learn" on Male Same-Sex Violence

Male Same-Sex Violence by Prof. Jeff Edwards
Lunch & Presentation
Friday, February 13, 2009
12:00-1:30 p.m.
850 University Hall (UH) - at University of Illinois-Chicago
Please RSVP required for lunch.

FREE HIV Testing & Sexual Halth Info
Every Tuesday and Friday Spring Semester 2009
2:00-4:00 p.m. , 181 BSB

UIC's Gender & Sexuality Center
1007 W. Harrison St. (M/C 369)
1180 Behavioral Sciences Building
Chicago, IL 60607
Phone: 312-413-8619

Addressing Intimate Partner Violence

Intimate partner violence signifies a range of aggressive acts used by one partner in a relationship – from a nameless trick to a lifelong spouse – to maintain power and control over the other.

by David Phillips

A Queerman and Leatherman from Arlington, VA, David is a leader of the Rainbow Response Coalition: Addressing IPV among LGBTQ in Metro DC. Watch his powerful video - Rough Cut: Day 8766


With rates of prevalence exceeding that of HIV among LGBTQ people, intimate partner violence (IPV) must be addressed within the 2009 Gay Men's Health Agenda, to prevent and to heal the abuse which too many of us have known. Studies have shown that about 40 percent of Gay men and men who have sex with men have experienced IPV during their lifetimes, with half that number having experienced IPV during the last five years.

Yet, in surveying for community-based services designed for survivors of IPV, one will find very few counseling programs and virtually no legal assistance and shelter offerings prepared to serve Gay men and men who have sex with men in a welcoming and affirming manner. Notable programs that do exist for LGBTQ survivors include Fenway Community Health's Violence Recovery Program, the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center's STOP Domestic Violence Services, Seattle's Northwest Network, and the advocacy of the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs. If we want Gay men to be happy, healthy, and whole, the lack of available IPV services and the cycles of abuse must end.

Intimate partner violence signifies a range of aggressive acts used by one partner in a relationship – from a nameless trick to a lifelong spouse – to maintain power and control over the other. Intimate partner violence takes many forms, from hitting and verbal abuse, to rape and threats of outing one's sexual orientation, HIV status, or immigration status. IPV can be physical, emotional, sexual, or financial, but it always takes a psychological and spiritual toll on survivors.

I know this because intimate partner violence was inflicted on me over 24 years ago. A man whom I loved during college abused me physically, emotionally, sexually, and financially, coercing me into drug use, prostitution, and enduring his abuse for over a year. In 1984 there were fewer places for a Gay 18 year-old to turn, and the police were certainly not an option, particularly for someone who was not Out. My closeted state became a weapon that he used against me, just as other abusers do to their partners today.

Most of us would recognize a punch in the face, a kick in gut, or a violent sexual assault by a partner as abuse. Still, we might never see or be able to imagine more covert forms of abuse that are perpetrated every day somewhere near us between male partners.

No man should be dehumanized or talked down to by his partner. That's abuse.

No man should feel compelled to have sex that he doesn't want to have. That's abuse. BDSM without consent is battery and rape.

No man should have to sacrifice his personal safety in exchange for having his sexual orientation kept secret. That's abuse.

No man warrants having his money or possessions taken from him or destroyed to prevent him from leaving an abuser. That's more abuse.

Survivors of intimate partner violence are at increased risk for depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, suicide, problems with physical and sexual intimacy, infection with HIV and other STIs, and self-medicating with alcohol, nicotene and other drugs. We can spend years in self-doubt and confusion over why we were abused and why we stayed, answers we don't necessarily need in order to heal. However, culturally-sensitive counseling and response services--police, shelter, legal aid--can reduce the suffering which may follow survivors for decades. We need not remain prisoners of our batterers long after leaving them, and with community-based support we can recognize the abuse for what it is and begin to heal ourselves from the trauma we never asked for or deserved.

Watch David's powerful video - Rough Cut: Day 8766


[Click here to read previous input into the 2009 Gay Men's Health Agenda. Click here to get involved in Gay Men's Health organizing and ongoing dialogue. Please feel free to send in a post of your own here. We will be happy to publish it! ]

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Gay Men’s Health

Bloggernista's Michael Crawford, right, posted an interview with Jim Pickett de LifeLube today.

Check it out...

This is how it starts:

MC: What are the most pressing issues facing gay and bisexual men?

JP: I think there are a number of things that are important for gay and bisexual men. Certainly, our catastrophic rates of HIV infection are of huge concern. And the fact that gay men and MSM are on the short end of the stick in terms of attention and funding – and this is across the globe – is absolutely criminal. But the conditions that are intertwined with this epidemic also need ongoing, focused attention and resources – our high rates of depression, our use of substances (beyond crystal meth and including legal substances like alcohol), and the levels of partner violence and childhood sexual abuse in our community that inhibit us from wellness.

Read the rest.

Gay Spousal Abuse Rates, Effects Detailed in New Study

via edge, boston - october 19

Gay equality advocates want the same rights and obligations as straights when it comes to marriage and partnership, but here’s something they may not have
wanted an equal share in: spousal abuse.

Yet, a new study in the Journal of Urban Health: Bulletin of The New York Academy indicates that abuse of one intimate life partner by the other among gay men approaches the level of spousal battering experienced by women at the hands of heterosexual men.

As reported today by Gaywired.com, the study, which looks at a little-studied area of domestic relations, determined that among gay and bisexual men,32 percent had been abused by their significant others.

The report, titled Intimate Partner Abuse Among Gay and Bisexual Men: Risk Correlates and Health outcomes, was written by Eric Houston at the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Department of Psychology.

Read the rest.

The Lowdown on SYNDEMIC

... plus an interview with prevention guru Ron Stall.

This is very interesting stuff, please give it a read!

All the following comes to you as an excerpt via NASTAD's
July 2007 HIV Prevention Bulletin.

NASTAD is the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors.

To read the bulletin in its entirety, click here.

The Lowdown on Syndemic

What is a Syndemic?

Attempting to explain the links between substance abuse, violence and AIDS in populations of urban women in the U.S., anthropologist Merrill Singer first published the term "syndemics" in 1992. Syndemics is defined as "two or more afflictions, interacting synergistically, contributing to excess burden of disease in a population."

Model of a Syndemic


A syndemic orientation emphasizes examination of the ties, or connections, between health concerns. Rather than focusing on a specific disease, a syndemic orientation looks first at a particular community to understand the causes of disease burden and to identify what is needed to promote the community's overall health. According to the CDC, a syndemic orientation follows a specific line of questioning:

*Who is sick (with which diseases)?
*Why those people?
*Why those diseases?
*What can be done to create (or restore) the conditions for optimal health?
*Under what circumstances do interventions contribute to improvements in health status and health equity?

CDC goes on to note that, "...diseases in human populations do not occur randomly. In virtually all societies, the heaviest burden of disease falls upon those who are socially marginalized, disenfranchised, or oppressed." With this explicit acknowledgement, a syndemic orientation maintains, first and foremost, that diseases and other health conditions are tied together within certain populations. This idea offers another frame within which programs can begin to address the collective needs of a population. If successful, programs can hope to begin to alter the cycle of disease and disparity within marginalized population groups.


Why is Syndemic Orientation Important to Prevention?

For several reasons, a syndemic orientation lends itself well to prevention of HIV, viral hepatitis and STD. First, HIV, viral hepatitis, and STD are often transmitted in the same ways: unprotected sexual activity with an infected person; sharing of unclean needles, syringes and other paraphernalia with an infected person; and during birth. Accordingly, the strategies to prevent or control these diseases are often the same. Second, these diseases most often impact the same high-risk communities. Third, the presence of one of these diseases has the potential to facilitate the transmission or acquisition of a second or third disease. Fourth, the diseases share many of the same direct and indirect contributing factors, like gender inequality and poverty. Fifth, other "afflictions" that impact communities where HIV, viral hepatitis and STD disease burden is high are, for the most part, the same: substance use, mental health concerns, incarceration, violence, etc. And, finally, the institutions that take leadership over addressing the concerns associated with these diseases are becoming more and more integrated in their structures and philosophies.

On its website, CDC states:

The medical model of disease specialization, once praised for its utility and versatility, is proving inadequate for confronting such contemporary public health challenges as eliminating health disparities. Although conventional prevention programs have had strong effects, for the most part the categorical approach has failed to assure the conditions for overall community health, and it has done little to spread successes equitably among subgroups in society.6

Given the HIV, viral hepatitis, and STD disease burden in certain populations in the U.S., specifically African-Americans, white and Latino men who have sex with men (MSM) and injection drug users, programs must strive to identify comprehensive solutions to address the multiple concerns of these marginalized populations.

An Interview with Ronald Stall

To better understand how a syndemic orientation can help inform public health programs' desires to address the broader concerns of a community's health and wellness, NASTAD interviewed Ronald Stall, Professor and Assistant Dean at the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Public Health.

NASTAD: Describe syndemic orientation.

Stall: It would be useful to start with a definition of what a syndemic is. To use the medical definition, it refers to a cluster of epidemics that act additively to predict other epidemics. Other phrases that have been used to convey the same idea include "intersecting epidemics" and "twin epidemics," among other phrases. In HIV research, we often see interconnections between HIV and substance use, HIV and violence, HIV and depression, HIV and childhood sexual abuse, among other problems. These intersection epidemics can all be described as "syndemics."

NASTAD: Describe what your research has shown about syndemics.

Stall: One of the striking findings regarding MSM in the context of AIDS has been the high prevalence rates of other dangerous health conditions found even in population-based samples of gay men when compared to other samples of men. That is, rates of depression, drug use, violence victimization, childhood sexual abuse, tobacco use and other health problems are generally higher among MSM than among other populations of men. We were struck by this consistent finding and decided to take a closer look at the interconnections of these epidemics among gay male populations. More specifically, we took a look at the interconnections between substance use, partner violence, childhood sexual abuse and depression and found that that these four epidemics function to reinforce each other among gay male populations, and together also function to raise both levels of current sexual risk-taking as well as HIV infection itself. The interconnections between substance use, childhood sexual abuse, depression and partner violence operate as a complex syndemic that drives HIV risk among gay men.

NASTAD: How do the findings supports consideration of syndemics in increasing community health and reducing disease burden and health disparities?

Stall: The phenomenon raises an interesting question: If there are four high prevalence psychosocial epidemics that work to raise levels of risk for HIV infection among gay men, why does HIV prevention work focus primarily on sexual risk-taking among gay men and generally ignore co-occurring psychosocial problems? Put another way, we now have a set of meta-analyses to show that model HIV prevention programs work to lower risk by about a third. Could we increase the effect of HIV prevention work even further if our interventions took into account the co-existing conditions that may keep men from responding more fully to prevention messages? Putting the question in the broadest frame, could we increase the effectiveness of HIV prevention work among gay men by partnering with violence prevention, substance abuse treatment and mental health efforts within gay communities?

NASTAD: How can syndemic orientation be operationalized within categorical public health programs?

Stall: We need to identify ways via funding streams to increase cross-agency collaborations and to encourage "cross-epidemic" thinking when providing services. As one example, if a young gay man seeks shelter from a violence prevention agency because his partner is beating him, providers should automatically screen for substance abuse, HIV and depression while also trying to find him safe housing.

Looking ahead, I'd like to see some, or a cluster, of funding agencies attempt a demonstration project where funding streams could be mingled to deal with syndemic situations, with careful process and uncontrolled outcome data to measure the effects of this new way of providing front line public health services.

One in Four Gay Men Experience Domestic Violence

Check this out...

The Gay Men’s Domestic Violence Project, GMDVP, is a grassroots, non-profit organization founded by a gay male survivor of domestic violence and developed through the strength, contributions and participation of the community.

Misson Statement:

The Gay Men’s Domestic Violence Project supports victims and survivors through education, advocacy and direct services. Understanding that the serious public health issue of domestic violence is not gender specific, we serve men in relationships with men, regardless of how they identify, and stand ready to assist them in navigating through abusive relationships.