Pope Says Okay to Condoms for Rent Boys

via CNN.com

Pope Benedict XVI's possible shift on condom use is a "significant and positive step forward," the head of the United Nations anti-AIDS campaign said, welcoming the potentially historic remark.


"This move recognizes that responsible sexual behavior and the use of condoms have important roles in HIV prevention," UNAIDS executive director Michel Sidibe said in a statement.

"This will help accelerate the HIV prevention revolution," he said Saturday.
The Roman Catholic Church firmly opposes artificial contraception, including condoms.

The pope caused a firestorm of protest last year when he spoke out against condoms as a way of controlling AIDS during a trip to Africa, the continent hardest hit by the disease.

 

"You can't resolve it with the distribution of condoms," the pope told reporters in March 2009. "On the contrary, it increases the problem."

But he outlined a possible exception in remarks published Saturday.

Read the rest.

Barcelona Welcomes Family Values Pope With a Big Gay Kiss - VIDEO

Pope attacks gay marriage in Spain, gays kiss in protest (Reuters)

Who's That Queer

Brought to you by Pistol Pete

Mychal F. Judge, OFM (born Robert Emmet Judge on May 11, 1933; died September 11, 2001) was a Roman Catholic priest of the Franciscan Order of Friars Minor, Chaplain of the Fire Department of New York, the first recorded victim of the September 11, 2001 attacks and is oftern referred to as "the Saint of 9/11."




Upon hearing the news that the World Trade Center had been hit by hijacked jetliners, Judge rushed to the site. He was met by the Mayor of New York, Rudolph Giuliani, who asked him to pray for the city and its victims. Judge administered last rites to some lying on the streets, then entered the lobby of the World Trade Center north tower where an emergency command post was organized. There he continued offering aid and prayers for the rescuers, the injured and dead.

When the south tower collapsed at 9:59 AM, debris went flying through the north tower lobby, killing many inside, including Judge. Father Judge's body bag was labeled "Victim 0001," recognized as the first official victim of the September 11, 2001 attacks. Former President Bill Clinton was among the 3,000 people who attended his funeral, held on September 15 at St. Francis of Assisi Church in Manhattan. It was presided over by Archbishop Edward Egan. Clinton said his death was "a special loss. We should live his life as an example of what has to prevail."

There have been calls within the Roman Catholic Church to canonize Judge to Sainthood. While there is no indication that Rome is seriously considering this, several churches independent of Rome, most notably the Orthodox Catholic Church of America, have declared him a saint.

Following his death a few of his friends and associates revealed that Father Judge was gay — as a matter of orientation rather than practice, as he was a celibate priest. According to fire commissioner Thomas Von Essen: "I actually knew about his homosexuality when I was in the Uniformed Firefighters Association. I kept the secret, but then he told me when I became commissioner five years ago. He and I often laughed about it, because we knew how difficult it would have been for the other firefighters to accept it as easily as I had. I just thought he was a phenomenal, warm, sincere man, and the fact that he was gay just had nothing to do with anything."

Judge was a long-term member of Dignity, a Catholic LGBT activist organization that advocates for change in the Catholic Church's teaching on homosexuality. On October 1, 1986, the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued an encyclical, On the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons, which declared homosexuality to be a "strong tendency ordered toward an intrinsic moral evil."In response, many bishops, including John Cardinal O'Connor, banned Dignity from diocesan churches under their control. Judge then welcomed Dignity's AIDS ministry to the Church of Saint Francis of Assisi, which is under the control of the Franciscan friars, thereby partially circumventing the Cardinal's ban of Dignity. Judge disagreed with the Vatican regarding homosexuality, though by all accounts, he remained celibate. Judge often asked, "Is there so much love in the world that we can afford to discriminate against any kind of love?"

Source: Wikipedia

WWJD re: CONDOMS?

How are you fabulous? Pickett flips the script on Feast of Fun

via Feast of Fun, recently picked by the readers of the Chicago Reader as “Best Gay News Source” in the 2009 “Best of” Awards sponsored by the free weekly newspaper.

How are you healthy? How are you fabulous? Gay men’s health blogger and advocate Jim Pickett is on today’s show. Jim’s reaching out to the fellas everywhere to write about ways they stay healthy.

For years, gay men’s health awareness campaigns have been wagging their fingers at us, focusing on the negatives but overlooking the positives aspect of who we are. LifeLube is collecting tips and tricks on how gay men stay healthy and vibrant, after all, being gay is not just good, it’s fabulous!

Read more, listen to the podcast.

A New “Benedict Arnold” Heralds Salvation for Africa

By Pete Subkoviak

There is a reason why I consider myself a recovering Catholic – his name is Benedict. Now don’t get me wrong, I think there are many wonderful Catholic organizations, priests and laity doing important work out there. My beef isn’t with the do-gooders, it’s with the leadership.

The growing rift between the realities of a people and the priorities of their leaders is apparent in the Roman Catholic Church. For us in the United States, the disillusion stems from the Church’s war on science and human sexuality, as well as its hidden sexual abuse scandals and misogynistic nature. Oh, and that pesky vow of poverty that few bishops, cardinals and popes feel the need to adhere to. Proselytizing yes, but skimping on gold-plated décor? I think not.

For impoverished nations, the Church’s misguided leadership has larger implications than fewer worshippers in the pews. Take, for instance, the AIDS-ridden African continent where millions of lives are at stake.

Last week while in Cameroon, Pope Benedict XVI claimed that condoms are not only ineffective, but contribute to the spread of HIV. “You can't resolve it with the distribution of condoms," the pope told reporters. "On the contrary, it increases the problem." The pope said a responsible and moral attitude toward sex would help fight the disease. The Catholic Church rejects the use of condoms as part of its overall teaching against artificial contraception. The Vatican instead advocates fidelity in marriage and abstinence from premarital sex as key weapons in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Let’s put these statements in context with the current pandemic. Three-quarters of all AIDS deaths worldwide in 2007 were in sub-Saharan Africa, where some 22 million people are infected with HIV — accounting for two-thirds of the world's infections, according to UNAIDS. About 5% of the African population is infected with HIV. In Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe around 15-20% of adults are infected with HIV. In Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland, the national adult HIV is between 23-26%. Only one in five HIV-positive Africans has access to the medicines they need; generations are becoming too disabled to work and cannot provide an income for their families, and eventually their children are being orphaned, left alone in a world where the deck is stacked against them.

Pope Benedict favoring religious dogma over the health and wellbeing of his followers, and all of God’s children, is un-Christ-like (and totally not pro-life) as far as I’m concerned. What Catholics need here is a little more honesty and a little less guilt. Saying condoms don’t prevent HIV/AIDS is like professing food doesn’t prevent hunger. When used properly and consistently, condoms are about 98% effective at preventing HIV, other STDs and unwanted pregnancy. Now I’m all for promoting abstinence and fidelity, but tone must take reality into account.

The reality is that most people do not remain abstinent forever. The most recent study on the impact of abstinence-only education from Johns Hopkins researcher Janet Rosenbaum was conclusive. Comparing teens who took a pledge of abstinence with teens of similar backgrounds who did not, she found absolutely no difference in their sexual behavior, or the age at which they began having sex, or the number of their partners. In fact, the only difference was that the group that promised to remain abstinent was significantly less likely to use birth control, especially condoms, when they did have sex.

And many people do not practice monogamy – whether their partners know it or not. In fact, a 2005 US Health Resources and Services Administration report found that 85% of women with HIV in India were infected through heterosexual contact and over 90% reported a single lifetime partner, generally their spouse.

Is it any different in Africa? Well, take the case of Annet Nyakisiki of Uganda. She was a virgin at the time of her marriage, but her husband was not. There is no way to know exactly when he contracted the AIDS virus, but he did. He subsequently passed it on to her, and all four of their children would eventually be born with the disease. Dr. David Serwadda, director of the Institute of Public Health at Makerere University in Kampala says, "Increasingly, people assume that marriage is a safe institution. But there are also extramarital relationships. Married women don't see why they are at risk, yet they are very much at risk." Should individuals really have to suffer the consequences of their partner’s infidelity just to adhere to the Church’s moral standards?

This is precisely why a band of progressive young folks has launched a grassroots campaign known as “Love the One You’re With”, which encourages love, respect and yes, abstinence as a valid CHOICE, while promoting condom education and acceptance right here in Chicago. The bright pink safe-sex kits and promotional materials are meant to highlight the morality of safer sex to the city and nudge local, state, and federal officials to expand condom promotion and distribution as a science-based response to the HIV and STD epidemics in the region.

There are some problems that religion simply cannot solve, just as there are some evils that science cannot remedy. An individual can adhere to their own religious beliefs, but they will never be able to control a partner’s fidelity or HIV-status. We can strive for a utopian society where all are chaste until marriage, but we must deal with reality. In many areas of the world, 25% of the population is HIV-positive. We cannot play Russian roulette with their lives for morality’s sake. That, in and of itself, is immoral.

[Pete Subkoviak is a policy associate at the AIDS Foundation of Chicago. He advocates for sound policies related to HIV/AIDS and works to improve the overall health and wellness of the LGBT community.]

Pope's condom comments are "dangerous and irresponsible"

Such outrageous comments are not appropriate coming from the highest office in the hierarchy of the Catholic Church.

20 March 2009 (Geneva, Switzerland) - Pope Benedict XVI ‘s comments on the role that condoms play in preventing the further spread of HIV are irresponsible and dangerous, says Julio Montaner, President of the International AIDS Society (IAS).

On March 17, 2009, while traveling to Cameroon, the Pope addressed the media, calling AIDS “a tragedy that cannot be overcome by money alone, that cannot be overcome through the distribution of condoms, which can even increase the problem”. This is the first time that Pope Benedict has directly spoken out against the use of condoms. While the historic stance of the Roman Catholic Church against contraception use is widely known, Benedict’s predecessor John Paul II never spoke out publicly against the use of condoms to prevent HIV infection.

“There is not a shred of evidence to suggest that condoms can increase HIV transmission – absolutely the contrary,” said Dr. Montaner. “Male and female condoms, used correctly and consistently, can reduce the risk of sexual transmission of HIV by 80-90 percent.”

IAS Executive Director Craig McClure further condemned the Pope’s remarks. “This is the first trip to Africa by Pope Benedict, a continent that has been ravaged by AIDS. As of 2006, according to the Vatican, over 17% of the total African population practices Catholicism. The numbers are growing each year. Catholics throughout Africa rely on the spiritual guidance of the Pope. To suggest that condom use contributes to the HIV problem is not merely contrary to scientific evidence and global consensus, it contributes to fueling HIV infection and its consequences - sickness and death. Such outrageous comments are not appropriate coming from the highest office in the hierarchy of the Catholic Church.”

Dr. Montaner added, “While condoms are not the only solution to combating HIV, they are a critical, cheap and cost-effective element of a comprehensive approach to HIV prevention. Instead of spreading ignorance, the Pope should use his global position of leadership to encourage young people, who are our future, to protect themselves and others from HIV infection using all the tools we have at our disposal, including condoms. His remarks are insulting to the tireless efforts of committed scientific, public health and human rights leaders around the world to protect the poorest of the poor from HIV infection.”

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The IAS is the world’s leading association of HIV professionals, with more than 13,000 members from 188 countries working at all levels of the global response to HIV/AIDS. IAS members represent scientists, clinicians, public health and community practitioners on the frontlines of the epidemic. The IAS is the lead organizer of the biennial International AIDS Conference and the IAS Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention, which will be held in Cape Town, South Africa in July 2009.