Maybe I Do And Maybe I Don't

via The Village Voice, By Steven Thrasher

Kevin Beauchamp, 49, and Howard Orlick, 50, are both legally blind. Kevin is thin and wiry; his vision loss is degenerative, and eventually he'll go completely blind. For now, he sees a little through one eye, making out shapes when there is enough contrast. With the aid of adaptive software, he's able to read modified text when he's not too tired.

Don't Ask, Don't TellBrian BrownKevin BeauchampSame-Sex MarriageLGBT IssuesHoward is broad and muscular. Because of a genetic condition, he sees nothing in daylight. The sun's light acts on him like snow blindness. But at night, he has some vision. During the day, Kevin's dwindling vision is enough for him to get by with a cane. But at night, it's Howard who guides Kevin as they walk together.

For nine years, they've been together, relying on each other to get down the street and up steps and around corners, so that they could do what had been a major part of their forties—protesting for the right of gay couples to marry.

They carried a banner together in the National Equality March in D.C. (Howard admits that he worried about falling in a manhole.) And Kevin was arrested last March while participating in a demonstration that shut down the intersection of Sixth Avenue and 42nd Street at rush hour, even though police didn't seem interested in cuffing a blind man carrying a white cane.

"The cops looked at me and passed me right by," Kevin says, laughing as he adds, "Of course, I didn't know that at the time."

The NYPD officers handcuffed Kevin only after another of the protesters complained, "He's with us! Arrest him, too!"

Both men have been hard at work fighting for gay rights in their forties. They each buried previous partners in their thirties.

Howard says that when his late partner, Peter, died, his family didn't treat him like a widower, even though "we were just like a married couple—the only thing was that we couldn't get married."

Read more.

Addressing Gay Men’s Health - The Script Needs a Rewrite

 The Gay Men's Health Movement is informative, empowering, celebratory, multicultural, and relationally focused. Within this paradigm, sexual health is not simply defined as an absence of disease, but encompasses wellness and pleasure, and is inextricably tied to an individual’s physical, mental, and spiritual health.

via Virtual Mentor [August 2010 edition: Sexual Orientation, Gender Identification, and Patient Care]
by Jim Pickett

Since the first cases of a strange, new illness among gay men were reported to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 1981, the parameters and measures of gay men’s health have unfortunately been defined by a disease-centered, myopic concentration on the area between the navel and the knee.

As a public health strategy for the control of sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV and syphilis, such a narrow focus has proven ineffective. We have failed to address the mental, physical, and spiritual lives of gay men and their connection to sexual health and wellness. And this failure has had consequences.

Read the rest.

Read the entire August issue.

The 2010 
National 
Gay Men's 
Health Summit 
is August 25 - 30, 2010 
in Fort Lauderdale

Learn more and join us!

What Are Your Top Ten Issues To Watch in 2010? SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS

via NASTAD

Each year, NASTAD (the National Association of State and Territorial AIDS Directors) tries to inspire and spur action by talking about what it sees as the overarching issues likely to impact HIV, STD and viral hepatitis prevention programs in the coming year. 

Moving forward, this snapshot will be a major complement and source of comparison to what is actually taking place around the country and in Washington.  For example, there’s little doubt that health reform, should it be signed into law, will have a major impact on how all prevention and care and treatment takes place in this country in the future.  But what will impact be?  It is also likely that many readers would come up with other key trends or issues that are likely to impact the way we do business in 2010.  Before we try and guess, we’d like to hear from you!

Please leave a comment to let us know what you think are the top HIV, STD and viral hepatitis issues to watch in 2010.

Rep. Tammy Baldwin tells us why LGBTs should care about health care reform

So listen!



Representative Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) addresses National Stonewall Democrats members on the need for comprehensive, progressive, and LGBT-inclusive health care reform.

Sign this petition to the Democratic Party leadership here.

Health Care Reform - don't let volume trump reason

2010 Census to Count Gay Couples - HELL YEAH

Census Count of Same-Sex Couples to Stir Policy Fights

via Washington Post, by Carol Morello

The numbers should be eye-popping.

When the U.S. Census Bureau counts same-sex married couples next year, demographers expect hundreds of thousands to report they are spouses -- even though legal same-sex weddings in the United States number in the tens of thousands.

Gay advocates say they plan to use "A Census that Reflects America's Population," as the Census Bureau calls its plan to report same-sex marriage statistics, to push for legislative and policy initiatives, while groups opposed to same-sex marriage weigh a counteroffensive.

Particularly at the state and local levels, gay advocacy groups say census data on income for same-sex couples will show the need for more protections against job discrimination. Statistics on households with children will help them challenge laws limiting gay adoptions and legal guardianship. With raw numbers to illustrate the need, it will be easier to demand services, they say.

"Why does the census ask if people are young or old, black or white, married or single?" said Joe Salmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, which promotes civil rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. "It's because we want to understand if the country is meeting the public-policy needs of those Americans. That's particularly so for LGBT Americans."

Read the rest.

Are 119 million American wrong about health care?

via Consortiumnews.com, by Robert Parry

As the health insurance industry and its defenders in Congress lay out their case against permitting a public option in a reform bill, perhaps their most curious argument is that some 119 million Americans are ready to dump their private plans and jump to something more like Medicare – and that’s why the choice can’t be permitted.

In other words, the industry and its backers are acknowledging that more than one-third of the American people are so dissatisfied with their private health insurance that they trust the U.S. government to give them a fairer shake on health care. The industry says its allies in Congress must prevent that.

The peculiar argument that 119 million Americans must be denied the public option that they prefer has been made most notably by Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, which is one of two panels that has jurisdiction over the health insurance bill.

“As many as 119 million Americans would shift from private coverage to the government plan,” Grassley wrote in a column for Politico.com. That migration, Grassley said, would “put America on the path toward a completely government-run health care system. … Eventually, the government plan would overtake the entire market.”

Grassley’s logic is that so many Americans would prefer a government-run plan that the private health insurance industry would collapse or become a shadow of its current self. That, in turn, would lead even more Americans entering the government plan, making private insurance even less viable.

Rarely has an argument more dramatically highlighted the philosophical question of whether in a democracy, the government should represent the people’s interests or an industry’s.

But Grassley said he is simply upholding “the promise that if you like the coverage you have, you can keep it. … That’s why I’m concerned about a government-run plan that forces people out of private insurance.”

The counter-argument, of course, might be that if the health insurance industry hadn’t dissatisfied so many customers – indeed forcing many sick people into bankruptcy because of excessive fees, denial of coverage and gaps in permitted medical treatments – there wouldn’t be so many Americans eager for a public option.

So, now to protect the health insurance industry, Congress must stop 119 million Americans from leaping into the arms of a government plan.

Read the rest.

Illinois State Budget * 411 Phone-In

State Budget 411 Phone-In
Thursday, June 11, 2009
4:30 p.m.
Conference Call Phone Number: 1 (866) 206-0240
Passcode: 437543#

RSVP

In the midst of one of the most severe economic downturns in decades, the Illinois General Assembly concluded its spring session on the constitutional budget deadline of May 31 by failing to pass a modest, temporary tax increase and preserved services for hundreds of thousands of vulnerable Illinoisans, including people living with and at risk of HIV. Instead, legislators enacted a bare-bones, half-year budget that gives state agencies just 50 percent of the previous year’s spending amounts – to last the entire year.

Will this ludicrous scenario stand, or will the General Assembly step up to the task and make the right decision? What can the HIV/AIDS community do to fight for funding, and what is the likely outcome of this mess?

Please join the AIDS Foundation of Chicago for the State Budget 411 Phone-In conference call on June 11 at 4:30 p.m. to hear the latest scoop out of Springfield.

RSVP NOW!

FOUR days left to stop doomsday budget Illinois!

TAKE ACTION: Illinois Legislators: Don’t Come Home Until You Fully Fund HIV Services!

Less than a week remains until the General Assembly adjourns on Sunday, May 31 - and we need your help. The proposed cuts to HIV/AIDS services loom large but our elected officials cannot agree on tax reform that will sustain these critical services. Even if you've already sent a fax or letter to your legislators, Please call your state senator and representative today with this important message:

"My name is ___ and I'm a constituent. I am calling to ask my representative (or senator) to please not leave Springfield until AIDS services are fully funded. Without modest and fair tax increases, the state will be forced to cut vital HIV care, prevention, and housing. Please don't let that happen."

TAKE ACTION NOW!

It's inspiring how our community has come together to protect the well-being of all people living with and at risk for HIV/AIDS. We thank the more than 1,000 individuals who responded with letters and faxes to their legislators, and organized their communities to do the same.

KEEP THE PRESSURE ON! If state legislators don't enact progressive tax reforms to balance the budget, people with and at risk for HIV will experience substantial service cuts. With more than 44,000 Illinoisans living with HIV and 3,000 new infections each year, now is not the time to cut back on essential HIV health and human services.

AlterNet - How Can We Expect an Industry That Profits from Disease and Sickness to Police Itself?

via AlterNet, by Bill Moyers and Michael Winship

The health care industry has spent $134 million on lobbying this year to keep its profits high and public health in the shadows.

In 2003, a young Illinois state senator named Barack Obama told a local AFL-CIO meeting, “I am a proponent of a single-payer universal health care program.”

Single payer. Universal. That’s health coverage, like Medicare, but for everyone who wants it. Single payer eliminates insurance companies as pricey middlemen. The government pays care providers directly. It’s a system that polls consistently have shown the American people favoring by as much as two-to-one.

There was only one thing standing in the way, Obama said six years ago: “All of you know we might not get there immediately because first we have to take back the White House, we have to take back the Senate and we have to take back the House.”

Fast forward six years. President Obama has everything he said was needed – Democrats in control of the executive branch and both chambers of Congress. So what’s happened to single payer?

Read the rest.

Gay and AIDS community condemn Frieden CDC appointment

“The bad news is that [Frieden’s] propensity to ignore the concerns of affected communities may hinder his ultimate success in achieving the goals of aligning public health with the best that science has to offer.”

via Housing Works, by David Thorpe

This week’s appointment of New York City Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden to head the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provoked dismay among AIDS advocates and the gay press in New York City and beyond (with some exceptions).

As Health Commissioner, Frieden tried to do away with informed consent for HIV tests, made an Orwellian power grab for the medical information of people living with HIV, and infamously mishandled the so-called AIDS “superbug” case in 2005. As head of the CDC, Frieden may try to bully states into adopting routine testing without informed consent and will almost certainly take a step away from the real concerns of real people living with HIV/AIDS.

Read the rest.

Of interest in Gay City News:
Policy Regarding Bathhouses and Other Commercial Sex Venues in New York City

Munar on HuffPo: What a Difference 3 ½ Minutes Makes

by David Ernesto Munar, via Huffington Post

With much fanfare, federal officials recently unveiled a five-year, $45 million media blitz designed to educate the nation about the persistent nature of HIV/AIDS in the U.S.

The centerpiece of the campaign is a new website, NineAndaHalfMinutes.org, designed to dramatize the federal figures that someone becomes HIV-infected each 9 ½ minutes--a rate that accelerated by 3 ½ minutes since the statistic was last calculated.

For nearly two decades, there was a new HIV infection every 13 minutes, a statistic that tragically inspired no widespread alarm.

Funny what a difference 3 ½ minutes can bring.

Read the rest.

Every 9 1/2 minutes...

First National CDC HIV/AIDS Communication Campaign in More Than a Decade


via Out in America

Every 9 ½ minutes another person in America becomes infected with HIV. Officials from the White House, Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced [yesterday] a new five-year national communication campaign, Act Against AIDS, which highlights this alarming statistic and aims to combat complacency about the HIV/AIDS crisis in the United States.

According to CDC data released last year, about 56,000 Americans become newly infected with HIV each year — significantly more than was previously known — and more than 14,000 people with AIDS die each year in the United States.

Read the rest.

[NOTE de LifeLube: The site is pretty lite on the gays and, natch, features a "focus on abstinence." Otherwise, it seems pretty informative in a bland, governmental sort of way. Supposedly this campaign will have a second phase that will focus on the most impacted communities in the United States - and at that point gay men, particularly gay black men, should receive some much-needed attention. After all, it is gay men of all races that bear the biggest HIV/AIDS burden in this country - always have. Let's just see... We are certainly tired of having this issue officially ignored in favor of more politically palatable populations.]

AFC Annual Report - HOT off the PRESS

Dear LifeLube reader,

I am proud to present our 2008-2009 Program Highlights, hot off the press! Read about our top five priorities and get a first glance at the ‘09 events you don't want to miss.

For nearly 25 years, the AIDS Foundation of Chicago has worked with key partners to reduce HIV transmission and improve the lives of people affected by HIV through bold advocacy, strategic funding, and effective collaboration.

Thank you for all you do to help advance our collective cause. With you in our corner, we can continue to be a force for change and a source of hope.

Sincerely,

Mark Ishaug,
President/CEO
[Read how Mark is healthy.]

P.S. Help chart the future for a world without HIV/AIDS. Join our statewide advocacy network and receive legislative news and action alerts.

NAPWA Aims to Reshape U.S. AIDS Advocacy

via POZ.com by David Ernesto Munar

...While a reorganized and reconfigured federal enterprise against HIV/AIDS is desperately needed, so are changes in the way HIV advocacy is nurtured, mobilized and deployed across the country...

Read the rest.

57 Organizations and 91 Individuals Have Endorsed the Gay Men's Health Agenda - ARE YOU ON THE LIST?

PLEASE ADD YOUR
ENDORSEMENT TODAY

There is still time to endorse the agenda - as an individual, as an organization, or both. But the deadline is TODAY - March 4.

We will be presenting the agenda to advocates, policy-makers, and other key stakeholders as the new Obama Health and Human Services administration takes shape.

Your sign-on will make a difference.

Read the full document right here, on LifeLube.

If you have already added your own name or that of your organization, THANK YOU!

If you haven't yet, email gaymenshealthagenda@gmail.com no later than 5:00pm Wednesday, March 4th - TODAY - to ensure that you and/or your organization is listed as an endorser.

Please forward this request far and wide. Any questions can be addressed to gaymenshealthagenda@gmail.com.


Below is the list endorsers in formation - updated as of early AM on March 4. If you have signed on and don't see your name, please accept our sincere apologies and please CONTACT US so we can rectify the situation immediately! If there is a correction to your endorsements, please forgive, and let us know. Your endorsements matter.


ORGANIZATIONAL ENDORSEMENTS

1. A Brave New Day, Jackson, MS
2. African American Office of Gay Concerns, Newark, NJ
3. AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts, Boston, MA
4. AIDS Action Council, Washington, DC
5. AIDS Alabama, Birmingham, AL
6. AIDS Foundation Chicago, Chicago, IL
7. The AIDS Institute, Washington, DC
8. AIDS Project Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
9. AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition, New York, NY
10. Alliance Rights Nigeria (ARN) Abuja Nigeria
11. Acadiana C.A.R.E.S., Lafayette, LA
12. Bienestar Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
13. Black LGBT Archivists Society of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
14. Black Pride Society, Detroit, MI
15. Boston Living Center, Boston, MA
16. Cambridge Cares About AIDS, Cambridge, MA
17. Cascade AIDS Project, Portland, OR
18. Center for Health Justice, West Hollywood, CA
19. Common Ground – The Westside HIV Community Center, Santa Monica, CA
20. Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization Project (CHAMP), New York, NY
21. Creations for Empowerment, Brooklyn, NY
22. Fenway Community Health, Boston, MA
23. Fenway Institute, Boston, MA
24. Gay City Health Project, Seattle, WA
25. Gay Men's Health Crisis, New York, NY
26. Gay Men's Health Leadership Academy, New York, NY
27. Georgia Equality, Atlanta, GA
28. Guyana Rainbow Foundation, Georgetown, Guyana
29. Harlem United Community AIDS Center, New York, NY
30. HIVictorious, Inc., Madison, WI
31. Howard Brown Health Center, Chicago, IL
32. Human Rights Campaign, Washington, DC
33. Inova Juniper Program, Springfield, VA
34. International Federation of Black Prides, Inc., Washington, DC
35. JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc., Boston, MA
36. Latino Commission on AIDS, New York, NY
37. Latino Health Advocacy Coalition, New York, NY
38. Legacy Community Health Services, Houston, TX
39. Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center, Los Angeles, CA
40. The MALE Center, AIDS Action Committee, MA
41. Michigan Positive Action Coalition, Detroit, MI
42. Montana Gay Men’s Task Force, Missoula, MT
43. National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors, Washington, DC
44. National Association of People with AIDS (NAPWA) Washington, DC
45. National Black Leadership Commission On AIDS, New York, NY
46. National Coalition for LGBT Health, Washington, DC
47. Okaloosa AIDS Support and Informational Services, Inc. (OASIS), Ft. Walton Beach, FL
48. Pink and Blues, Philadelphia, PA
49. Sacrena Gay Coalition, Kenya
50. Society Against STIs & HIV (Sash Bahamas), Bahamas
51. Strata Various Product Design, Beverly Hills, CA
52. Sunshine Social Services/ Sunserve , Fort Lauderdale, FL
53. TII CANN - Title II Community AIDS National Network, Washington, DC
54. U.S. Positive Women’s Network
55. UVA Pride, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA
56. Victory Programs, Inc., Boston, MA
57. WORLD (Women Organized to Respond to Life-Threatening Disease)

INDIVIDUAL ENDORSEMENTS

1. Gina Arias, New York, NY
2. Tommy Atz, Philadelphia, PA
3. Cornelius Baker, Washington, DC
4. Chris Bartlett, Philadelphia, PA
5. Jim Baxter, College Park, MD
6. Roy Berkowitz, Springfield, VA
7. J.M. Birmingham, Brooklyn, NY
8. Bob Bowers, Madison, WI
9. Bill Briggs, Springfield, VA
10. Jared Douglas Brodin, Seattle, WA
11. Susan Buchbinder, MD, San Francisco, CA
12. Katy Caldwell, Houston, TX
13. John Cottrell, Ph.D., Salt Lake City, UT
14. Philip G. Curtis, Los Angeles, CA
15. Jason Crooks, Lafayette, LA
16. Mark A. Davis, Philadelphia, PA
17. Julie Davids, Providence, RI
18. Dennis deLeon, New York, NY
19. Julie Ebin, Cambridge, MA
20. David Ferguson, San Francisco, CA
21. Deborah H. Fournier, Esq., Boston, MA
22. Earl D. Fowlkes, Jr., Washington, DC
23. Rebecca Fox, Washington, DC
24. Raven Gildea, Seattle, WA
25. Sophie Godley, Swampscott, MA
26. Jeffrey Goodman, Santa Monica, CA
27. Allegra Gordon, Philadelphia, PA
28. Celia M. Grant, Roxbury, MA
29. Charles Gueboguo, Cameroon
30. Jeff Graham, Atlanta, GA
31. Rebecca Haag, Boston, MA
32. Robert J. Hadley, Chicago, IL
33. Bridget Haire, Sydney, Australia
34. Matt Hamilton, Los Angeles, CA
35. Matty Hart, Philadelphia, PA
36. Beth Hastie, Boston, MA
37. Vicki Hastings
38. David Herrera, Missoula, MT
39. Kathie Hiers, Birmingham, AL
40. David Hoover, Springfield, VA
41. Mark Hubbard, Nashville, TN
42. Mark Ishaug, Chicago, IL
43. Bill Jesdale, San Francisco, CA
44. Kevin Trimell Jones, Philadelphia, PA
45. William David Karchner, Albany, NY
46. Naina Khanna, Oakland, CA
47. Ben Kudler, Boston, MA
48. Steven P. Kurtz, Ph. D., Coral Gables, FL
49. Chuck Lacombe, Dorchester, MA
50. Stewart Landers, Boston, MA
51. Krista Lauer, Los Angeles, CA
52. James Learned, New York, NY
53. Marcelo Maia, New York, NY
54. Harvey J. Makadon, MD Boston, MA
55. Duane Malone, Jackson, MS
56. Johnnie Hamilton-Mason, MSW, PhD
57. Hiroshi Matsumoto, MD, PhD, Okayama, Japan
58. Reverend Wycliffe Mboya, Kenya
59. Philip T. McCabe, New Brunswick, NJ
60. Sojourner McCauley, Brooklyn, NY
61. Michael McFadden, Chicago, IL
62. Butch McKay, Ft. Walton Beach, FL
63. Tim Menza, Seattle, WA
64. David Munar, Chicago, IL
65. Kaijson Noilmar, Seattle, WA
66. Terry Oldes, Chicago, IL
67. Ifeanyi Kelly Orazulike, Abuja, Nigeria
68. John Peller, Chicago, IL
69. Jim Pickett, Chicago, IL
70. Rafael Ponce, New York, NY
71. Tony Radovich, Seattle, WA
72. Jeffrey Reidhead, Seattle, WA
73. Danny Resnic, Beverly Hills, CA
74. Dennis E. Saffer, Seattle, WA
75. Michael Scarce, San Francisco, CA
76. Carl Schmid, Washington, DC
77. Walt Senterfitt, PhD RN, Los Angeles, CA
78. Michael Shankle, Boston, MA
79. Larry Shoemaker, Oakland, CA
80. Charles Stephens, Atlanta, GA
81. Edward Strickler, Jr., Albemarle County, VA
82. Fred Swanson, Seattle, WA
83. Dennis Torres, Stamford CT
84. Tony Valenzuela, Los Angeles, CA
85. Rodney Vanderwarker, Boston, MA
86. Steven F. Wakefield, Seattle, WA
87. Robin T. Webb, Jackson, MS
88. Seth L. Welles, Philadelphia, PA
89. Garland Wood, Seattle, WA
90. Gary Paul Wright, Newark, NJ
91. Al Wroblewski, Uxbridge, MA

Swiss court: HIV exposure only "hypothetical" if on successful treatment

[NOTE: LifeLube meant to point you to this important article last week when it was first reported but got caught up and forgot. Our bad.]

by via Aidsmap by Edwin J. Bernard

Swiss court accepts that criminal HIV exposure is only 'hypothetical' on successful treatment, quashes conviction

In the first ruling of its kind in the world, the Geneva Court of Justice has quashed an 18-month prison sentence given to a 34-year-old HIV-positive African migrant who was convicted of HIV exposure by a lower court in December 2008, after accepting expert testimony from Professor Bernard Hirschel – one of the authors of the Swiss Federal Commission for HIV/AIDS consensus statement on the effect of treatment on transmission – that the risk of sexual HIV transmission during unprotected sex on successful treatment is 1 in 100,000.

Read the rest.

Read other LifeLube posts related to the Swiss Declaration - referred to above.

ACTION: Sign on to the 2009 Gay Men's Health Agenda TODAY

Dear friends,

The Gay Men's Health Agenda 2009 is now available for you to review and download at http://is.gd/k7nN .

We are seeking sign-ons, both individual and organizational, to the agenda.

We will be presenting the agenda to advocates, policy-makers, and other key stakeholders as the new Obama Health and Human Services administration takes shape. Your sign-on will make a difference.

The Gay Men's Health Agenda 2009 was created when Project CRYSP – a Chicago Department of Public Health gay men's health collaboration among four agencies – began soliciting input from a variety of stakeholders across the country in April 2008. Stakeholders were asked to share their vision of a 2009 Gay Men's Health Agenda – to list the objectives and strategies needed to advance our health and well-being. Participants, representing a wide spectrum of organizations and demographically diverse individuals, submitted the policy initiatives, advocacy objectives and the activities they felt were essential to a comprehensive gay men's health agenda for 2009. Submitted in the form of blog posts, the ideas were published on the LifeLube blog – a gay men's health and wellness portal – with comments and discussion strongly encouraged.

An analysis was conducted of the ideas presented through this process and an overview of the process and collected input was presented to 200 gay, bisexual and transgender men's health leaders and advocates at the closing session of the 2008 National Gay Men's Health Summit in Seattle, October, 2008. Feedback and additional ideas were recorded during the extensive open discussion portion of the session. Finally, additional feedback was solicited on the Gay Men's Health Ning-- http://gaymenshealth.ning.com . This process informs the entire document.

As a new Administration and Congress set a course for America, with a focus on health care reform, leaders of the gay men's health movement join with the National Coalition for LGBT Health and other allies in advocating for policies and resources to advance the health and well being of gay, bisexual, and transgender men.

If you have already added your own name or that of your organization, THANK YOU!

If you haven't yet, email gaymenshealthagenda@gmail.com no later than 5:00pm Wednesday, March 4th to ensure that you and/or your organization is listed as an endorser.


Please forward this request far and wide. Any questions can be addressed to gaymenshealthagenda@gmail.com.


Sincerely,

The Gay Men's Health Agenda Working Group

Cornelius Baker
Chris Bartlett
Stewart Landers
Kaijson Noilmar
Jim Pickett

Obama appoints Brian Bond to WH Office of Public Liaison

A transition team aide has told The Advocate that President-elect Barack Obama will name Brian Bond deputy director of the White House Office of Public Liaison.

Bond, a political veteran who has headed the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund and held several positions at the Democratic National Committee, will have managerial and strategic responsibilities for the entire Public Liaison office as well as function as the point person on LGBT issues. The liaison office is tasked with communicating and promoting presidential policies to individual constituency groups and serving as a sounding board for the president on policies that affect certain interest groups.

Read the rest on Advocate.com

Can we find common ground with Warren?

Rick Warren clarifies and confuses, via Citizen Crain

...Given the proliferation of "bad cops" who have made hay out of this controversy, including gay leaders trying to change the subject from Prop 8, now is the time for "good cops" to reach out to Warren and see whether he would throw his specific support around some level of legal recognition, or perhaps even federal civil unions.

Read the whole post.