When Sexual Health Requires Stealth

via BiMedia, by admin

Bisexual men have unique health needs compared to exclusively homosexual and heterosexual men, but the stigma they face makes learning of their needs – and even reaching bi men in their “hidden communities” – difficult for public health professionals, say researchers at Indiana University in the USA.

The reported need for privacy, because of the perceived stigma and lack of acceptance in both homosexual and heterosexual communities, is so pervasive that bisexual men often do not feel comfortable accessing sexual health-related services, even those targeted toward “gay and bisexual men,” because of a concern over what others would think of their bisexuality.

A more general approach to providing services, framed as “men’s health” or “men’s sexual health,” will most likely be more effective, researchers learned.

“In terms of designing a specific program for behaviorally bisexual men, we’ve learned it will not be effective to openly advertise about it or put it on billboards; we have to be more discreet,” said Brian Dodge, associate director of the Center for Sexual Health Promotion at IU.

Dodge’s research for nearly 10 years has involved bisexual behavior and associated health needs, yet these findings from his recent study were “surprising.”

“The fear of disclosure, desire for privacy, and anticipation of stigma are even more problematic than we anticipated,” he said.

“The reasons for these issues eventually need to be addressed not only with bisexual men but also at the societal level if we are to increase participation in effective health services without operating in stealth.”

While the findings are from the USA, at BiMedia we suspect things are very similar here in the UK.

Read the rest

Getting to the Bottom of It

via PostivelyAware, by Gary Bucher

Gary Bucher, MD, FAAFP is a leading anal dysplasia and anal cancer prevention specialist in the U.S. Dr. Bucher is certified in performing high resolution anoscopy for the evaluation and treatment of anal pre-cancerous lesions. He is the founder and medical director of Anal Dysplasia Clinic MidWest with locations in Chicago and St. Louis, and is involved in clinical trials in the field. 

Gary was one of LifeLube's distinguished speakers at Project CRYSP's last community forum for the year "Get Freaky" hear the podcast here Courtesy of Feast of Fun!

I have witnessed and taken part in the many changes in HIV care over the past 25 years. At the beginning of the epidemic, silence and fear was the name of the game.

It took HIV activists taking control of their health care destiny to force the medical community to treat the disease and the patient.

HIV is now a chronic treatable disease, but it has a whole new set of issues regarding conditions related to prematu cian should feel for any tender areas, thickened lesions, shallow indentations, firm masses, or other abnormalities.

I also ask the patient if they have performed an anal self-exam by using their finger to feel around for any lumps or bumps inside their anus. This can help guide me when I perform the digital anorectal exam.

Anal Pap smears are performed in a similar fashion to cervical Pap smears, with the area being swabbed to collect cells, which are then examined under a microscope.

They can detect abnormal cells (anal dysplasia), but the anal Pap smear may be less likely to correlate with the degree of anal dysplasia that can be seen on a biopsy of an anal lesion revealed by high resolution anoscopy (HRA).

 Because such specificity is lacking, and there haven’t been any evidence-based clinical trials to evaluate anal cancer screening methods in preventing anal cancer, many clinicians feel that anal Pap smears should not be done at this time. However, I agree with other experts in the field who have proposed yearly anal Pap smears for all HIV-positive individuals.

If the anal Pap is normal, continued annual screening is suggested. Experts also recommend anal Pap smears every one to two years for other high-risk groups and if normal, continued screening every two or three years. If any abnormal cells are detected, HRA with biopsy is recommended.

However, these guidelines may be limited by the need to train a greater number of clinicians in performing HRAs and biopsies. It is also important for these screening tests to be administered in a non-hospital setting, to maximize patient compliance with screening and follow-up.

High-risk HPV subtypes, especially 16 and 18, are associated with cervical, anal, penile, vulvar, vaginal, and oral cancers. Cervical cancer is an AIDS-defining malignancy and its incidence has been decreasing with aggressive screening and treatment of pre-cancerous lesions or higher grade cervical dysplasia.

Cervical cancer affected 35-40 per 100,000 women in the general population prior to cervical cancer screening and treatment and has now decreased to about 8-10 per 100,000.

Though most genital and oral cancers are caused by high risk HPV, these cancers are not increasing as fast as anal cancer in HIV-positive individuals and other high-risk groups.

Compared to the more common lung cancer, penile, vaginal, and vulvar cancers are rare—between 0.42 and 1.8 per 100,000. Oral cancer affects an average of six men and 1.76 women per 100,000.

Anal cancer in the general population is still very rare and affects more women than men. The incidence in men is 1.14/100,000 compared to 1.76/100,000 in women.

Individuals at increased risk for developing anal cancer include HIV-positive men and women; HIV-negative men who have sex with men (MSM); women with a history of cervical, vaginal, or vulvar cancer or cervical dysplasia; chronically immunosuppressed organ transplant patients; men and women with a history of anal warts; and people who smoke tobacco.

Read the rest

 

My Moustache, My Prostate

via Prostate8, by Admin

Last November Castro resident Kris Konietzko stopped shaving above his lips. By the end of the month, he was sporting a bright red mustache.

“It was pretty funny,” recalled Konietzko, considering he has brown hair. “The longest I had gone without shaving was three or four days.”

He was struck most by the visual difference the facial hair caused.

“Really, a little bit of hair on the face changes the way you look,” he said.

And he was quick to tell people that the mustache was not a permanent installation.

“The first thing I said was “I am Kris. I don’t always have this mustache,” said Konietzko when he would meet strangers.

The reason for Konietzko’s change in appearance was due to his participation in a fundraiser called Movember. throughout November each year hundreds of thousands of men throughout the world grow “Mos,” shorthand for the French-derived moustache.

  

The idea began as a joke in 2003 between Garone and a group of friends to bring back the 1970s style of mustache. at the end of one month, they threw a party and handed out awards for best and worst mustaches.

“I was surprised by the controversy and comments growing a mustache created. I said, we should put this to a cause,” said Garone. “I researched men’s health and saw prostate cancer is equivalent to breast cancer. It became a go-to for us.”

Prostate cancer is a major concern for men, as one in six will be diagnosed with the cancer. more than 33,000 men die of the disease each year.

Last year Movember recruited 450,000 men to take part in 11 countries who raised $81 million. the money goes to support the Prostate Cancer Foundation and Live Strong.

Over the years, Garone said he has found gay men tend to be more willing to talk about their health issues. Conditioned as they are in the need to talk about HIV and STDs with friends and sexual partners, gay men are repeatedly told about the need to address intimate health concerns.

“I think gay men are much more comfortable having these discussions,” said Garone, 40, who is now at the screening age for prostate cancer.

Garone sees Movember breaking down stigmas around men’s health similar to the work the gay community has had to do with AIDS.

It so happens that a simple thing as a mustache best illustrates that idea and serves the same role as the pink ribbon does for breast cancer, he said.

“There is a lot of stigma with just growing a mustache. We are trying to break down stigma around men’s health,” he explained.

He also sees the mustache as a “perfect leveler” that can unite all types of guys and brings gay and straight men together to fight a common cause.

“It doesn’t matter is you are a policeman, a DJ, a pilot, in the finance industry, gay or straight. everyone can do it and do it for their own reasons,” said Garone.

Konietzko, 33, signed up through his job at Shift Communications, a nationwide PR firm that encouraged employees in its San Francisco, Boston, and New York offices to take part in Movember last year.

The openly gay Konietzko plans to take part again this year and has been trying to get his boyfriend to sign up as well.

Read the rest

Rent Violations: Nashville Dinner Theatre evicted from “Dining Out for Life"

Author F. Daniel Kent is a LifeLube ally, a fellow PLWHA, and a freelance journalist for a number of local and national media outlets.  Earlier today, he broke the news story below. One of his journalist colleagues commented that it is, "probably the best in-depth piece on a community controversy I've seen in a long time."

Daniel comments:

This could be the most important piece I have EVER written. As the narrative slowly unraveled over two plus weeks of interviews, research and consultations, I was amazed to find a story I could not have imagined in almost 37 years of life, almost 20 years of covering arts & entertainment around the country, and as a person whose HIV has lived with him for almost 13 years. One last thought: If this is happening in the 'Athens of the South', how much worse is it in less fortunate places? How much worse is it in your own back yard? This story is proudly dedicated to every person who has gone before me and struggled to make the voice of education heard over the fray and to all you who are still here and are yet to come. This is why we fight.

Here's the story, via NowHear This!

After a grueling production schedule including numerous casting delays, alleged vandalism and an impromptu cast walk-out protesting changes to the script, Nashville Dinner Theatre’s current production of the Broadway hit musical Rent has hit yet another violation. Nashville CARES, Middle Tennessee’s high profile non-profit HIV & AIDS support organization has removed the venue from their official Dining Out for Life list of participating restaurants after allegations that the show’s Co-director and theatre owner Kaine Riggan supposedly dismissed actor Byron Rice (who is HIV+) from the show due to his HIV status.

Read the rest.

Peter Pointers Finds the Rotten Core in that Nasty Apple App

via Peter Pointers [Peter Pointers is LifeLube's gay health educator and is assisted by a group of qualified health specialists who work as a team to answer your health questions. Ask about your sexual health, physical health, mental/emotional and spiritual health.]

Apple has been receiving backlash for approving a “gay cure” iPhone app that recently hit the market. 

***As of yesterday, 3/22/11, Apple has yanked the application.  Here is a statement from an Apple spokesperson "We removed the exodus international app from the App Store because it violates our developer guidelines by being offensive to large groups of people." ***

The app comes from Exodus International, an organization that claims it is “the world’s largest ministry to individuals and families impacted by homosexuality that is committed to encouraging, educating and equipping the Body of Christ to address the issue of homosexuality with grace and truth.”  Exodus supports those who “want to reconcile their faith with their sexual behavior by providing resources like outside counselors and support groups.” 

Read the group's press release "Apple Suppresses Diversity by Pulling iPhone Application."

Apple had given the app a rating of “4+” stars which means that it has been found to contain “no objectionable content,”  but many people feel otherwise.  There has been an outpouring of disagreement with Apple’s assessment of the app and, as of 3/22/11, over 150,000 people have signed a petition on Change.org to have the app taken off of the market.  This petition was started by Truth Wins Out, “an organization that counters right-wing misinformation campaigns, debunks the ex-gay myth, and provides accurate information about the lives of LGBT people.” They believe the app’s message is “hateful and bigoted.”  You can see the petition at the Change.org website and more information on the story can be found here

Even though Apple has removed the application, there is still a need to look deeper into the truth behind “gay reparative” therapy?  To find answers, I turned to some highly respected American organizations. 

The American Psychological Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Counseling Association, and the National Association of Social Workers have all issued statements or resolutions that oppose “reparative” or “conversion” therapies, also known as Sexual Orientation Change Efforts (SOCE).  Links to some of these statements can be found here.

The American Psychological Association (APA) also released a report in 2009 called the “Report of the American Association Task Force on Appropriate Therapeutic Responses to Sexual Orientation.”  The report and reference for the summary of information below can be found here.

The APA has cautioned that research has not shown Sexual Orientation Change Efforts (SOCE) to be effective.  Most medical and mental health experts agree that sexual orientation is not a “reversible lifestyle choice” or mental disorder, but a normal and positive variation of human sexual orientation.  The American Psychiatric Association’s position statement not only opposes “reparative therapy” based on its lack of scientific evidence base, but also acknowledges that attempts to define homosexuality as a mental disorder are simply attempts to discredit further social acceptance of LGB individuals by religiously or politically motivated groups and individuals.  

In addition, research has shown some evidence individuals experience harm from SOCE including loss of sexual feeling, depression, suicidality and anxiety. 

It is considered unethical for mental health practitioners to promise that changing one’s sexual orientation is possible, and they are encouraged to understand the desire that some individuals feel to change their orientation as a result of having been affected by minority stress, discrimination, and anti-gay stigma. 

For these reasons, many feel that Apple’s previous approval of Exodus International’s iPhone app condones the promotion of an unethical, and potentially harmful, “gay cure” and contributes to anti-gay stigma and intolerance. 


Keep your eye on this story as it continues.

'It's Never Just HIV' Ad Campaign Oversimplifies the Issue - Sean Strub on HuffPo

via Huffington Post, by Sean Strub

If the NYC Department of Health pursued a campaign to combat transmission of HPV, does anyone think they would, for a moment, consider using a close-up image of a horribly diseased vagina? 

Excerpt 1:

I think this advertising campaign is terrible, mostly because it may contribute to further spread of the virus. The only good it has accomplished is that it has provided a brief moment when a few more people are thinking about and paying attention to HIV-prevention issues. That is an opportunity that I hope we will not waste.

Supporters of these ads claim HIV prevention has been a failure, and they are angry that the epidemic has disappeared from the media and fallen off the list of priorities for LGBT organizations and others who once were leaders in the fight against AIDS.

I share that anger. It is profoundly frustrating, disempowering and, quite frankly, depressing to see so many one-time activists, caring friends and neighbors, concerned journalists, political and public policy leaders disappear like a puff of smoke once combination therapy brought a relative cure to those with the privilege of healthcare access.

Excerpt 2:

In 1983, very early in the epidemic, Joseph Sonnabend, MD, famously and courageously said, "the rectum is a sexual organ and it deserves the respect a penis gets and a vagina gets." Eric Rofes, Walt Odets and other pioneering thinkers about gay male health and sexuality have subsequently explored similar themes.

I couldn't help but think of this when I saw the close-up image of a man's anus, covered in cancerous lesions, in the NYC DOH ad. Anal cancers are preceded by genital warts, which are caused by strains of HPV, the Human Papiloma Virus. Last year, 4,000 women in the U.S. died of cervical cancer; in virtually every case the cancer was caused by HPV.

If the NYC Department of Health pursued a campaign to combat transmission of HPV, does anyone think they would, for a moment, consider using a close-up image of a horribly diseased vagina?

The bodies and sexuality of gay and bisexual men are seen as dangerous and our sexuality as threatening. We are so little respected that it is acceptable to show an exceptionally intimate part of a gay man's body, one visibly riddled with cancerous lesions, and put it on television as a tool to frighten us.

Read the rest.

The Real Story Behind Gay Bullying in American Schools

via Salon.com, by Thomas Rogers

When 18-year-old Rutgers student Tyler Clementi jumped off the George Washington Bridge on Sept. 22, he meant to kill himself -- he probably didn't mean to spark a national uproar. But Clementi's death, along with a series of ensuing gay teen suicides, has prompted an intense conversation over the problem of anti-gay bullying. Dan Savage's "It Gets Better Project," a video project aimed at gay teens, has solicited heartbreaking contributions from everyone from President Obama to Tim Gunn (who admitted his own early suicide attempt) to the employees of Google.

But gay suicide is hardly a new problem -- and, by most accounts, homophobia is on the decline in American culture. So why are we suddenly so concerned? As Stuart Biegel, a professor at the UCLA School of Law, explains in his new book, "The Right to be Out," anti-gay prejudice remains a pervasive problem in American schools. Despite tremendous legal strides over the past two decades, gay students are still punished more severely than their straight counterparts, their pleas for help are often ignored, and, most surprisingly, many LGBT teachers still feel enormous pressure to remain in the closet for fear of reprisal from parents.

Salon spoke to Biegel over the phone about the current state of gay bullying laws, what parents can do if their kids are attacked and the flaws of the "It Gets Better" campaign.

Read the interview.

LifeLube's "It's Not Just Faggot!" forum - a recap

recap by John Garver of the Project CRYSP team

Last Wednesday, December 8, about 100 people joined  LifeLube and Project CRYSP for another one of our fabulous community forums at Center on Halsted titled “It’s Not Just ‘Faggot!’ End Homophobia Now.”

Simone Koehlinger (former director of the city's Office of LGBT Health and current consultant with the Cook County Department of Public Health) moderated the town hall discussion between the audience and panelists Keith Green of the Chicago Black Gay Men’s Caucus, Rick Garcia of Equality Illinois, and Lois Bates of Howard Brown Health Center.

Here are some highlights from the discussion:

The panelists helped first to expand the notion of “homophobia” as something beyond a fear of those who are in same-sex relationships. Keith Green addressed the existence of “institutionalized homophobia” wherein larger social systems reinforce messages about being “second-class citizens” through policies such as Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT) and the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which in turn shape one’s self-concept, self-esteem, and sense of self-efficacy. Addressing his own experience as a youth and that of youth today, Keith discussed what is at stake when teachers don’t teach comprehensive sex education. What happens when LGBT youth don’t find themselves represented by educators or as part of the conversation when they try to learn about their sexual health and preventing HIV? Keith also discussed the need to consider the role of sexism.

The above word cloud reflects the prominence
of different words and themes that came
up during the discussion.

Rick Garcia provided information around the work he and Equality Illinois are doing in the political sphere with regard to civil unions and marriage equality—how did we get to civil unions and where do we go from here. Rick also addressed the need to make schools safe for LGBT youth from discrimination and hate, both physically and emotionally. He called upon audience members to hold Chicago’s future mayor accountable for ensuring safety in schools and the need to know the mayoral candidates’ positions with respect to these issues.

Rick also emphasized that the political effort is shaped largely by personal experiences—that a politician from a conservative district might vote for civil unions because their best friend is gay, and that friendship brings the reminder of our shared humanity.

Lois Bates discussed the ways in which “faggot” is a term used to describe lots of people who do not live up to cultural expectations about masculinity and femininity. Lois addressed the need to support and affirm LGBT people who are in the military, the Boy Scouts, neighborhoods, or schools where homophobia or heterosexism is well-inculcated.

On the front lines, bullets aren’t discriminating, so LGBT people in the military who are discriminated against need support. Lois noted how language and action fracture the sense of community and equality that can move people forward and emphasized learning about our own community so that we can stand up for every part of it. How can we make sure that everyone is on the bus in the ride toward equality?

Simone and audience members asked questions about “compromise” in moving legislation forward to advance equal rights; speculation on a future 50 years from now; the role of churches; “bigotry” as a replacement term for “homophobia”; uniting rather than dividing Chicago’s neighborhoods and communities, while ensuring that every community is safe and nurturing; transferring what’s happening in academia into the streets; and future actions to end “homophobia” now!

Click here for more photos from the forum.

Click here for the Windy City Times coverage of this forum. 

Click here for info on past and future forums.

Amid Growing Opposition, NYC Health Department Defends its New HIV Prevention Campaign

New Health Department Initiative Facing Opposition - video via NY1

NYC Health Dept. Defends Graphic HIV Video: “This is Not Fabricated” - via Housing Works Blog

LifeLube's post on this from last week:

Totally F'd Ad on "Living" with HIV from the NYC Dept of Health - you gotta see this garbage

The Role of Fear in HIV Prevention

We've been rather animated on this topic of late, owing to the repugnant new "It's Never Just HIV" campaign from the wizards at the NYC Dept of Public Health.

Guess what, fear doesn't work. Check out this short, well-sourced brief on the role of fear in HIV prevention strategies and learn why.

And if you're too lazy, here are the 5 key points:

• Fear arousing imagery can be good at attracting attention and is often memorable.

• Fear-based campaigns are more persuasive for individuals who are already engaging in the desired, health-protective, behaviour.

• Arousing fear in individuals can have many unintended consequences, such as denial or othering.

• Most homosexually active men are already fearful of HIV.

• Arousing fear is not an effective means of facilitating sexual behaviour change.


*** Also of interest, from the American Journal of Public Health (1988) Effective and ineffective use of fear in health promotion campaigns.

 

More Hate: Tony Perkins Says Homosexuals Are Harmful To Society - But "We Aren't A Hate Group "

American Family Association: Feds Need To Call For Abstinence From All Gay Sex

Are they the ones behind that crappy new HIV ad from NYC?

via Joe.My.God.

Excerpt:

The goal of the surgeon general’s office, since it can’t make smoking illegal, is to reduce the smoking rate from its current 20 percent to 12 percent by 2020. We currently have between two and four percent of the population engaging in gay sex. How about we ask the surgeon general to launch a crusade to reduce the gay sex rate from four percent to one percent by 2020? Says the surgeon general, in words that can and should be addressed to practicing homosexuals, “It's never too late to quit but the sooner you quit the better.” In other words, the official administration policy on cigarette smoking is abstinence. Let’s make it the official government position on gay sex.

Read the rest.

Totally F'd Ad on "Living" with HIV from the NYC Dept of Health - you gotta see this garbage

This ad is, hmmmmm, let's see, absolutely hateful and totally stigmatizing to all of us living with HIV. For a start. Thanks NYC Dept of Health for making us out to be demented lepers. Thanks for saying that even if we take our meds, our lives will be hell, with brittle bones and anal cancer. And thanks for the super scary voice-over to make sure we're all appropriately terrorized.Who consulted on this? Focus on the Family? Concerned Women of America? David Bahati, our friendly Ugandan legislator who wants gays imprisoned or dead? Satan?How many guys who don't know their status - and should know their status - will be convinced by this horror show to get tested? Would you want to know your status if this told the truth about what lay in store for you? Negative guys - will the lovely glimpse of anal cancer make you wear a condom every single time, maybe scare you into a full latex body suit?  Will this ad make you run for the hills when the guy you're cruising tells you he's POZ (aka DERANGED DISFIGURED?




POZ guys - how do you like this? 
Neg guys? 
Status unknown guys?  
TELL US.

Black's Okay...Gay? No Way!

The dangers of anti-gay propaganda – A personal story

via AlterNet, by A. McEwen of Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters

In continuing to talk about the Southern Poverty Law Center’s designation and profiling new anti-gay hate groups, the lgbt community needs to demonstrate just what harm these group commit with their lie. Here is a little bit of my story:

As an African-American, I was constantly inundated with positive reinforcements while growing up.

I attended schools which celebrated Black History Month when it was Black History Week and Dr. King’s birthday long before it became a national holiday.
 
I was constantly assured that my racial heritage was an asset rather than a liability and it was something which I should be proud of.

It wasn’t the same with my sexual orientation.

Read the rest.

Bullies Break His Arm - And it Doesn't Dissuade Boy Cheerleader

LOVE YOU TYLER

An Ohio mom is disappointed that her son's school didn't do more to stop at least two boys who allegedly picked on her 11-year-old cheerleader son until the bullies beat him so bad they broke his arm. She says the beating didn't break his spirit however. Tyler Wilson has vowed to continue cheering with hopes it helps him get into college some day.

Ikcy Hickabee Don't Like the Gay Sex

via Village Voice, by Michael Musto

Failed candidate turned Fox News personality Mike Huckabee just told the New Yorker that gay sex has an "ick factor" to it and opposite sex stuff makes so much more biological sense.

Can someone please tell this douche that anal sex is hardly the exclusive providence of gay people?

Anyone with a penis (or strap-on) and an orifice can do it! And some gays don't even do so, believe it or not!

Is it the oral sex that same-sex couples share that creeps Huckabee out to such extremes?

Well, is he not aware that straight couples engage in that too? For proof, scroll down to my item about Todd Bridges and Dana Plato!

Furthermore, can someone kindly instruct Hickabee--I mean Huckabee--that lesbians are perfectly able to have babies--they're women, after all--and gay men have all sorts of ways to adopt them or make them as well?

If anything makes me feel icky, it's a bigoted, ill informed cretin with a guitar.

What a nice big tent you have

via Change.org, by Michael A. Jones

[this reminds us of what one of our senior lifelube staffers likes to ask his straight male friends after a couple of microbrews:
ll staff - if you were out camping in the deep woods and you woke up one morning sore and sticky, would you tell anyone?
straight guy - uhhh, no way dude.
ll staff - wanna go camping?]

 There's a lawmaker in Iowa who has a problem with gay people pitching a tent. And no, we don't mean it in that way, but in the camping way. Smores. Fishing. Fires. Mosquito repellent.

Apparently those items are solely the domain of straight folks, and specifically straight families, according to Iowa State Senator Merlin Bartz. Senator Bartz is crying foul because, now that Iowa recognizes same-sex marriage, he's worried that his state's Department of Natural Resources is going to allow married gay couples and their children access to family camping grounds in state parks.

For Bartz, the idea of two moms or two dads roasting marshmallows next to straight people is exactly the type of horror that he was afraid of when the Iowa State Supreme Court legalized gay marriage last year.

"A lot of the advocates of gay marriage in Iowa have said, ‘It doesn’t affect anything. Nothing has changed,'" Bartz told Radio Iowa. "The reality of it is that everything is changing."

Is there anything that illustrates the rampant homophobia of opponents of gay marriage more than Senator Merlin Bartz? Here's a man who is literally trying to suggest that campgrounds should segregate LGBT families, and only allow straight people to have access to designated family camping areas. Why? Because, as Senator Bartz put it, he doesn't want state agencies like the Department of Natural Resources writing rules that extend new benefits to gays and lesbians.

Because apparently being allowed to camp next to straight families is a new benefit. Huh. And all this time I thought it was just something called equality.

Imagination - the cause of and the solution to so many of our problems

Why Has a Divided America Taken Gay Rights Seriously?

A philosopher credits the power of imagination

via Slate, by Dahlia Lithwick

Excerpt:

In From Disgust to Humanity, Nussbaum, a prominent professor of law and philosophy at the University of Chicago, explains that much of the political rhetoric around denying equal rights to gay Americans is rooted in the language of disgust. Their activities are depicted as "vile and revolting," threatening to "contaminate and defile" the rest of us. Looked at starkly, she argues, much of the anti-gay argument is bound up in feces and saliva, germs, contagion and blood.

The philosophical question for Nussbaum is whether disgust of this sort is a "reliable guide to lawmaking." She cites Leon Kass, head of the President's Council on Bioethics in the George W. Bush administration, who has argued that it is; that visceral public disgust contains a "wisdom" that lies beneath rational argument. Then she proceeds to annihilate that argument by offering example after example of discarded disgust-based policies, from India's denigration of its "untouchables" to the Nazi view of Jews, to a legally sanctioned regime of separate swimming pools and water fountains in the Jim Crow South. Time and again, Nussbaum argues, societies have been able to move beyond their own politics of disgust to what she calls "the politics of humanity," once they have finally managed to see others as fully human, with human aspirations and desires.

Read the whole thing.

Stinkbomb Alert - Catholic Charities "adjusts" benefits cuz of those damned gays

Same-sex marriage leads Catholic Charities to adjust benefits

via Washington Post, by William Wan

Employees at Catholic Charities were told Monday that the social services organization is changing its health coverage to avoid offering benefits to same-sex partners of its workers -- the latest fallout from a bitter debate between District officials trying to legalize same-sex marriage and the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington.

Starting Tuesday, Catholic Charities will not offer benefits to spouses of new employees or to spouses of current employees who are not already enrolled in the plan. A letter describing the change in health benefits was e-mailed to employees Monday, two days before same-sex marriage will become legal in the District.

"We looked at all the options and implications," said the charity's president, Edward J. Orzechowski. "This allows us to continue providing services, comply with the city's new requirements and remain faithful to the church's teaching."

Catholic Charities, which receives $22 million from the city for social service programs, protested in the run-up to the council's December vote to allow same-sex marriage, saying that it might not be able to continue its contracts with the city, including operating homeless shelters and facilitating city-sponsored adoptions. Being forced to recognize same-sex marriage, church officials said, could make it impossible for the church to be a city contractor because Catholic teaching opposes such unions.

After the council voted to legalize gay marriage, Catholic Charities last month transferred its foster-care program -- 43 children, 35 families and seven staff members -- to another provider, the National Center for Children and Families.

Orzechowski said Monday that the change in health benefits will be the last move necessary in response to the legislation.

Read the rest.

GMHC Report Explores Alternatives to Lifetime MSM Ban

We hope the report will encourage the FDA to revise its guidelines to be more in step with current technology and to avoid reinforcing stigma.

 The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) currently bans any man who had sex with another man (MSM), even once, since 1977 from donating blood.  The policy does not consider the potential donor's HIV status, frequency or risk of sexual activity, or if he is in a monogamous relationship.  Today, Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC) released a report, A Drive for Change: Reforming U.S. Blood Donation Policies, detailing the history of the policy, efforts towards revision, and analysis of alternative donation criteria.

Advances in HIV screening of blood supplies since the 1980s make the chance of receiving a unit of HIV infected blood one in 1.5 million.  Guidance, for most donors, takes into account the "window period," the short period after HIV infection whereby a HIV screening would not detect infection.

Current FDA guidance includes a questionnaire of potential blood donors that asks 48 questions about current health status, medical history, blood donation history, sexual practices, drug use, and other behaviors.  But risk factors are not uniformly applied.  A heterosexual donor who has had sex with a knowingly HIV-positive partner 366 days ago would be eligible for donation.  By contrast, a man who has had sex with another man, regardless of the frequency, safe sex practices involved, or duration since the episode, is denied for life.

"Across the country, we experience critical shortfalls of blood supplies on a consistent basis," said Janet Weinberg, Chief Operating Officer at GMHC.  "Yet only five percent (or less) of Americans that are able to donate blood do so.  We call on the FDA to re-examine discriminatory policies that categorically exclude potential blood donors, including gay and bisexual men," added Weinberg.

The report analyzes alternative recommendations for blood donation by gay and bisexual men using a comprehensive framework to assess actual risk of HIV transmission and increased availability of blood supplies. The framework, called "DONATE," provides a way to understand how the use of advanced technology and objective screening standards can decrease the risk faced by recipients of blood products, while at the same time reducing the discriminatory impact on MSM, expanding the pool of blood donors (thereby reducing the potential for blood shortages), and raising awareness of HIV/AIDS risk among donors in general, regardless of sexual orientation or gender.

GMHC thanks Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP (Davis Polk) for their immense contribution in researching and writing this report. "We believe it is important to help GMHC highlight the current challenges with FDA blood donation guidelines," said Joseph Wardenski, a former Davis Polk associate and primary author of the report.  "We hope the report will encourage the FDA to revise its guidelines to be more in step with current technology and to avoid reinforcing stigma," added Wardenski.

Click here for the report.