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A substantial number of HIV-positive individuals with proven resistance to antiretroviral drugs had unprotected sex with a partner to whom they could have transmitted drug-resistant HIV, according to a study from United States, published in the December 1st edition of the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes.
“Our study demonstrates that among HIV-infected men and women harboring genotypically proven antiretroviral viremia, there is a substantial prevalence of high-risk sexual behaviour”, write the investigators who calculated that the 25 individuals with resistance and reporting risky sex could have infected as many as 72 people with drug-resistant HIV.
Evidence from the United States and United Kingdom suggests that the proportion of people being newly infected with drug resistant HIV is increasing. Although HIV prevention has increasingly focused on the behaviours of individuals who already know they have HIV, little is known about the risk behaviours of individuals who have drug-resistant HIV.
Investigators from the Study of the Consequences of the Protease Inhibitor Era (SCOPE) in San Francisco asked 287 individuals who were taking anti-HIV therapy to complete a questionnaire about their sexual behaviour in the previous four months. Patients were also asked to provide information on their mental health, adherence to antiretroviral therapy, recreational drug use (including use of the anti-impotence drug sildenafil (Viagra) and alcohol use.
Patients were divided into two groups: those with a viral load above 100 copies/ml and genotypically proven resistance to antiretroviral drugs and those with a viral load below 100 copies/ml.
Of the 287 individuals included in the investigators’ analysis, a total of 219 individuals identified as gay or bisexual, the median age was 45 years, 88% were men and 168 (58%) had a viral load above 100 copies/ml and genotypically proven resistance.
Unprotected anal sex was reported by 36 (27%) of the 133 gay or bisexual men with confirmed drug resistance, and 23 (17%) said that they had had unprotected sex with a partner who was HIV-negative or whose HIV status they did not know. Among the heterosexual men and women with resistance, four (11%) said that they had had unprotected sex and two (6%) said that this was with an individual who was either HIV-negative or of unknown HIV status.
The investigators then calculated how many new drug-resistant HIV infections this level of risk activity could have resulted in. They accepted a previous estimate that a plasma viral load of 1500 copies/ml is the threshold for transmission of HIV.
Among patients with proven drug-resistance, the median plasma viral load was 10,500 copies/ml, and the investigators remark “92% had a level greater than 1500 copies/ml.” These 25 individuals had a median of one partner who was HIV-negative or of unknown HIV status with which they had unprotected sex in the previous four months. However, 25% reported three or more partners. The investigators therefore calculated “summing the number of sexual partners per person reporting unsafe sex, as many as 72 previously HIV-uninfected or status unknown partners were exposed to and could have acquired drug-resistant HIV infection”.
Data were obtained on he spectrum of resistance mutations in individuals engaging in high-risk sex. Resistance to a single class of antiretrovirals was seen in 8% of patients, 44% had resistance to drugs from two classes of antiretroviral drugs, and 48% had resistance to drugs from all three main classes of anti-HIV drugs.
Attention was then turned to the risk factors associated with unprotected sex with an HIV-negative partner or partner of unknown status. Younger age (below 35 years, p < 0.001) was a strong predictor, and there was also evidence that depression (p < 0.018) and use of sildenafil (p < 0.039) were significantly associated with high-risk sex that involved potential exposure to drug-resistant HIV.
Factors associated with unprotected sex with other HIV-positive individuals were sildenafil use (p = 0.006), use of methamphetamine (p = 0.048) and frequent alcohol use (p = 0.027).
“We estimated that approximately one in four men or women with drug resistance in our clinic-based population engaged in unprotected intercourse in the past four months, including 15% with partners who were known to be HIV-uninfected or whose HIV status was unknown”, write the investigators.
They also comment, “we found no evidence that persons with drug resistance have been effectively targeted to reduce their practice of unprotected sex.” from Aids Map
BEIJING, CHINA - A special type of anti-aids condom designed for male homosexuals have recently been introduced into the market.
This type of "comrade" condoms, produced by factories under the order of and distributed by the National Population and Family Planning Commission, is one of the actual measures to implement anti-aids policies among gay men that are highly regarded by the Ministry of Health. At "Third Chinese Aids Prevention International Co-operation Experience Sharing Forum," Deputy Minister of Health Wang Longde said that China has put the prevention of aids amongst gays as the focal point of its upcoming effort.
China Rubber Industrial Association latex sub-association president Tao Ran believes that many Chinese gay men have regular families to hide their sexual identity, making them a human bridge to spread aids. To prevent aids, one must intervene in this group.
According to survey figures released by the Ministry of Health, there are anywhere from 5 to 10 million gay men, with an infection rate in this group as high as 11%, ranked third in terms of infection rates.
from China View
Fair-minded consumers have a powerful new tool for advancing workplace fairness with the release of the Human Rights Campaign’s buyer’s guide today. The publication "Buying For Equality" highlights corporate policies on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality and empowers consumers to make purchasing decisions based on a company’s score on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s nationally respected Corporate Equality Index.
“LGBT Americans are changing the policies of corporate America at the check-out line,” said HRC President Joe Solmonese. “With an estimated $610 billion worth of buying power, this guide empowers our community to easily support companies that take a stand for fairness.”
Hundreds of popular American brands are listed in the publication, drawing simple distinctions between products, services and retail outlets that consumers use on a daily basis. For electronics purchases, the guide illustrates Best Buy’s 100 percent score over Circuit City’s 43 percent. For pet food, Iams’ 86 percent tops Alpo’s 29. Other comparisons include: Aquafina over Poland Spring, Shell over ExxonMobil and Balance Bar over Powerbar.
Seventy percent of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people are very or extremely likely to consider a brand that is known to provide equal workplace benefits for gay and lesbian employees, according to research by Witeck-Combs Communications and Harris Interactive.
The buyer’s guide harnesses the power of the HRC Foundation’s Corporate Equality Index — a nationally recognized scorecard of corporate policies affecting their LGBT employees including domestic partner benefits and non-discrimination policies. This year, a record 101 companies scored a perfect 100 percent on the index — more than seven times the number of 100 percent scores when the index was introduced in 2002.
“Ensuring equality for all employees on the job is good for the bottom line and corporate America is responding in historic numbers,” said Solmonese. “We are using our collective purchasing power to continue to influence change.”
from Human Rights Campaign
George Michael is to marry his long-term partner, he has revealed.
The singer said he and Kenny Goss, his lover of nine years, hope to hold a small, private ceremony sometime early in the New Year, after gay civil partnerships become legal in Britain next month.
He said: "I'm sure Kenny and I will be doing the old legal thing, but we won't be doing the whole veil and gown thing. It'll be relatively soon after it comes in, probably early next year."
Michael, 42, who was speaking after the premiere last night of a new documentary about his career, has also signalled the end of his feud with Sir Elton John following one of the most public pop rows of recent years.
He said he would attend the civil partnership ceremony of Sir Elton and David Furnish next month, one of the first following the introduction of the Civil Partnership Act.
Michael fell out with Sir Elton after he implied Michael's career was suffering as a result of personal issues and that he needed to "get out more".
He responded by writing an open letter to his former friend, claiming Sir Elton knew nothing about his private life. Michael said: "All is forgiven now." He added: "I wished I hadn't written him that public letter either, but I was incredibly hurt.
"I think he was having a bad day and he said some stuff he shouldn't have. We still haven't really talked abut it but we are friends again. We had dinner with some friends. There was a lot of bitching going on round that table that night. But we are friends again now and I'm looking forward to his wedding." In the film George Michael: A Different Story, Sir Elton speaks of how Goss must provide the same support to Michael as Furnish does for him.
But Michael said his own "marriage" would be a "small, private ceremony", adding: "We'll probably do it here, not abroad." He added that he and gallery owner Goss who, unlike Furnish, avoids the limelight, had not discussed staging lavish celebrations.
"I'm not very romantic about it to be honest, I think Kenny probably would be if I let him, but it's just not me." He added: "We want to do it, just in case - you never know, I could get hit by a bus and the poor man could have nothing."
Michael said nothing about his future career plans although he hinted he might elaborate next Monday, when the film has a gala screening in London. He has spoken previously of his ambition to write a contemporary musical, perhaps for the screen.
In the documentary Goss speaks of how the pair met in 1996 in a spa, and Michael admits he was not even sure if his future partner was gay when he first met him. It was not until their second date that he realised he was.
The film, directed by Southan Morris, charts Michael's 21-year, 85 million record-selling career from his rise to fame in Wham! in the Eighties. It includes his 1998 arrest for lewd conduct at a public lavatory in Beverly Hills, which forced his homosexuality into the public domain.
Of that episode he said: "All the humiliation has gone and I can look back on it and laugh. I think, looking back to that day, it was my total aim subconsciously to get caught and come out.
"I felt so angry at my mum's death at the time and I felt very self-destructive. I was in such denial on so many levels - anger, grief - and it almost felt as though my mum sent me into that toilet." He also talks about the pain of losing his Brazilian boyfriend to Aids in the early Nineties.
Under the Civil Partnership Act, the first gay marriages can be staged on 21 December. The Government predicts up to 22,000 gay couples will marry in the first five years.
from This Is London
ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA - Even though two television networks refused to air it, a provocative commercial has won a national advertising award for a religious organization.
The 30-second United Church of Christ spot showed what appeared to be a homosexual couple and others being turned away by bouncers at a church entrance. A written message said: "Jesus didn't turn people away. Neither do we."
For local and national United Church of Christ leaders, the award is a vindication for what they say was simply an advertisement based on Jesus' teachings.
"It's a pretty radical message. It shouldn't be for Christianity, but here we spell it out," said the Rev. Anton DeWet, who is white and grew up during apartheid in South Africa. "We actually say that everyone who walks into our doors will be embraced."
The spot, which is part of a five-year campaign under the theme of "God is still speaking," was test-marketed in the Tampa Bay area last year and ran nationally on cable channels including ABC Family, CNN, Fox and BET. CBS and NBC deemed the commercial too controversial. NBC said in a statement that it violated its "longstanding policy against accepting ads dealing with issues of public controversy."
Church leaders say the commercial, which won the Association of National Advertisers award for multicultural excellence earlier this month, has given the denomination a national identity, stirred congregations to action and brought viewers, homosexual and heterosexual, to churches across the country.
"We've had people come to our church, at least several times a month, that have seen the ad, sometimes as long as a year ago. They remember it," said the Rev. Warren Clark of First United Church (UCC) of Tampa. "Our church is growing. ... I'm not sure we can say directly because of the ad, but our regular flow of visitors has mushroomed," said the Rev. Kim Wells, pastor of Lakewood United Church of Christ in St. Petersburg. "I think the ad makes people willing to test the water of the church, people who have been alienated from church or given up on church or feel the church is irrelevant."
St. Mark United Church in Valrico saw an increase of visitors and many later became members. But the church's parish hall was destroyed by arson, and a God Is Still Speaking outdoor banner was slashed.
"I'd like to think that they had seen the commercial and objected to what was put forward," the Rev. Garry Scheuer said of the vandals.
He said his congregation "manifested excellent morale" in the face of the attack. When the denomination's national office replaced the shredded God Is Still Speaking banner with two larger ones, a church member demonstrated the church's resolve by underlining the word "still."
"That represents the kind of in-your-face-attitude they have adopted," Scheuer said. "We would like those who did this to be apprehended, not so that we could wreak vengeance on them, but that we might forgive them. It kind of fits into who we are."
The 1.3-million-member United Church of Christ is accustomed to controversy. Formed in 1957, when four denominations merged, its history is rooted in activism. It helped free 53 captives from Sierra Leone who rebelled on the slave ship Amistad in 1839. It ordained a woman in 1853 and an openly gay man in 1972. In 1985, the church declared itself "open and affirming" to gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people. In July, it voted to approve a resolution endorsing same-sex marriage, making it the largest Christian denomination to do so.
"One of our gifts is that we often break new ground. We're not better, we're different," said Ron Buford, who is the director of the God Is Still Speaking initiative at the United Church of Christ national office in Cleveland.
He said he conceived the outreach campaign to express the denomination's unique identity. He was inspired, in part, by a postcard with a quote from comedian Gracie Allen: "Never place a period where God has placed a comma." An oversized comma is prominent in the God Is Still Speaking logo. Weighing in on the controversial TV commercial, evangelist Pat Robertson is said to have remarked, "Never place a comma where God has placed a period. God has spoken!" Some conservative churches responded similarly, Buford said.
"We don't think that's a bad thing. As our message has gone out, people have realized that there's a wide diversity of Christian thought," he said.
Such diversity exists within the United Church of Christ, where congregations are autonomous and can embrace or reject controversial initiatives. The Rev. Keith A. Haemmelmann of Pass-a-Grille Beach Community Church, whose members have diverse theological backgrounds, note that the God Is Still Speaking campaign has given the United Church of Christ a national identity. "It's the notion that our churches are open to continuing dialogue about what the Christian faith means now," he said.
Visits to the denomination's Web site have skyrocketed since the TV commercial aired last December, soaring from a typical 950,000 annually to 5.5-million, Buford said. More than 520,000 visitors to the site also tried to find a nearby church. "The thing we heard most often is that we didn't know a church like this existed," Buford said.
DeWet, of Faith United Church of Christ in Clearwater, said the campaign helped local churches like his "to grow an identity in the community."
"We have found people looking for us on the Web site, especially people coming in from the fringes of society and people who have been wounded by the church," he said.
"From an internal perspective, it has made our people who are already in church and who have been in church more excited about the church they're a part of," said Wells in St. Petersburg.
There's more to come. The church and Gotham, its New York advertising agency, have created a new commercial that is expected to air during Lent.
"The next ad is going to be very funny," Buford promised."Some of the early feedback we got is it will be controversial."
from The St. Petersburg Times
Elton John's ex-manager and ex-lover John Reid is threatening to cast a shadow over the pop superstar's December 21 wedding to partner David Furnish by releasing a tell-all autobiography about his time with the star.
Reid and John ended a tempestuous 28-year relationship in a messy 2000 court case when the rocker attempted to recover $25.2m (€21.4m) he claims he was owed by one of Reid's former employees.
The battle lost him $14.4m (€12.2m) in legal fees and exposed his extravagant lifestyle to the public, including the staggering $72m (€61.1m) John spent in a 20-month period.
More details about their partnership will enter the public domain if Reid carries out his threat and publishes the memoir.
He recently called the rocker, who will marry Furnish when gay civil partnerships become legal in Britain "a modern-day potentate, everything revolves around him".
from Ireland On-Line
DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - Men arrested at what a United Arab Emirates official said appeared to be a gay wedding are to be given hormone therapy, officials said on Tuesday.
The U.S. State Department condemned the forced medical treatment of gay couples in the Muslim Gulf Arab state and called on the UAE to comply with international legal standards.
Police raided a hotel earlier this month where 26 homosexuals of Asian, Arab and UAE origin were at a party. At least 12 were dressed in women's clothes and wearing makeup at what an official said appeared to be a wedding celebration.
Colonel Najm al-Sayar told Reuters the foreigners were likely to be deported while the locals, who are being held in the capital Abu Dhabi, would undergo hormonal therapy -- most likely induced testosterone.
"They will be given psychological, medical and sociological treatment. Some of them will be given male hormones because some actually took female hormones," Sayar said.
"This kind of behavior is immoral in our society and so we must address the issue."
Homosexuality is forbidden by law in most Arab states.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said: "The United States condemns the arrest of a dozen same-sex couples in the United Arab Emirates and a statement by the Interior Ministry spokesman that they will be subjected to government-ordered hormone and psychological treatment.
"The arrest of these individuals is part of a string of recent group arrests of homosexuals in the UAE. We call on the government of the United Arab Emirates to immediately stop any ordered hormone and psychological treatment and to comply with the standards of international law."
from CNN
FREMONT CALIFORNIA - The Ancient Greeks worshipped it. Freud said women envy it. And on Tuesday, a man pulled a truck with it.
Yes, you read that right.
He pulled a truck with his penis.
Grandmaster Tu Jin-Sheng, best known for his "Iron Crotch," attached himself not once, but twice, to a rental moving truck and pulled it several yards across a parking lot in Fremont. In lace-up leather boots and a black tank top, the 50-year-old tied a strip of blue fabric around the base of his penis and testicles and tugged to make sure it was on tight. An assistant kicked him hard between the legs before he lashed himself to the vehicle.
He groaned, grunted and pressed against two men for resistance.
Then, slowly, the truck began to roll forward.
About 20 people, most of whom study Qigong, the ancient Chinese art of movement and breathing to increase energy,gathered for the truck pull in an unassuming office park just off Interstate 880.
A documentary film director and a producer from London were on hand to shoot the jaw-dropping feat for a three-part series called "Penis Envy," scheduled to air next year on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom. Footage from the truck pull will be used for the series' piece on building the perfect penis.
"He's very special. Powerful. Superman," said an awestruck Shawnee Wang, who studies Qigong with Jin-Sheng at his gym in Cupertino. "I just came here to watch my master perform."
Jin-Sheng, the grandmaster of Iron Crotch, a branch of Qigong also known as 99 Qigong, is said to have 60,000 followers worldwide. Its practitioners are known to be able to lift hundreds of pounds with their genitals to increase energy and sexual performance. One of Jin-Sheng's most famous students, a 70-year-old man in Taiwan, is said to have lifted more than 660 pounds with his penis. The grandmaster teaches Iron Crotch and Qigong in Fremont and Cupertino.
Jin-Sheng's performance drew hearty applause (and only a few gasps) from the sparse crowd. He wrapped a piece of fabric around his waist to conceal his genitals from the crowd, but in the heat of the second truck pull, when he tied the cloth around his testicles only, it was pushed aside to reveal a ball of flesh that looked as if it were ready to burst.
Jin-Sheng wiped the sweat from his brow after the show and said, through an interpreter, that he felt comfortable and warm.
When asked if he was in any pain, he laughed.
"If it's painful," he said, "then you will see it bleed."
His wife, Sandy, snapped photographs while her husband warmed up and then pulled the truck. The couple are originally from Taiwan and have lived in San Jose since 2003. They have four children, two boys and two girls, all of whom are top martial arts students.
So, is Sandy the envy of her friends?
"Yes," she said, flashing a wide smile. "Of course."
Jin-Sheng was featured in the April 2005 edition of Penthouse magazine, in a story titled "Facts and Phalluses of America's Favorite Organ." In November 2003, he and his penis made the Weekly World News.
"He believes that the sexual organs are a source of great power," said Gene Ching, associate publisher of the Fremont-based Kung Fu Magazine, which claims to have introduced Jin-Sheng to the United States and featured him on its March/April 2003 cover. "So it's sort of a vitality exercise."
Ching, who does not study Iron Crotch, has heard that it does help in the bedroom.
"I imagine that if you can tow a truck, that is going to give you some skills," he said.
The grandmaster said the most challenging object he ever has pulled was a 60-foot truck — and that was with another man. These days, however, he's looking to up the ante. Jin-Sheng hopes to strap a dozen of his top students to a 747 for the biggest penis pull of all time. All he needs is an airplane.
"What can you say?" said Krishna Govender, the documentary film director who came from London specifically to meet Jin-Sheng and watch him work.
"The strength of this guy — it's phenomenal."
Govender has seen and heard many things during the making of the documentary. He flew to Russia to meet a doctor who grew a penis on a man's arm and later grafted it to his genitals. He interviewed countless men about their most private, and treasured, possession.
But, he said he had never seen a man pull a truck with one.
"The most fraught relationship is that between man and his penis," he said. "It's the most enduring one, as well."
from The Argus
Although he insists he's attracted only to women, actor Jake Gyllenhaal says he's flattered by rumors he is bisexual.
The dreamy-eyed Gyllenhaal, who plays a homosexual cowboy in Ang Lee's "Brokeback Mountain" alongside Aussie Heath Ledger, says he has never had a gay experience - but he isn't afraid of the possibility of having one.
"You know it's flattering when there's a rumor that says I'm bisexual. It means I can play more kinds of roles," said Gyllenhaal, who has been linked to "Spider-Man" actress Kirsten Dunst. "I'm open to whatever people want to call me. I've never really been attracted to men sexually, but I don't think I would be afraid of it if it happened."
from The Buzz
Reiterating its stand against sexually active gays in the priesthood, the Vatican also says in a new document that men with "transitory" homosexuality must have overcome their sexual tendencies for at least three years before entering the clergy.
The long-awaited "Instruction," due to be released next week, was posted Tuesday on the Internet by the Italian Catholic news agency Adista. A church official who has read the document confirmed its authenticity; he asked that his name not be used because the piece has not been published by the Vatican.
Conservative Roman Catholics who have decried the "gay subculture" in seminaries will likely applaud the policy because it clarifies and perhaps toughens what the Vatican expects of seminarians and their administrators.
Critics of the policy warned that, if enforced, it will likely result in seminarians lying about their orientation and will decrease the already dwindling number of priests in the United States even further. Estimates of the number of gays in U.S. seminaries and the priesthood range from 25 percent to 50 percent, according to a review of research by the Rev. Donald Cozzens, an author of "The Changing Face of the Priesthood."
The document, from the Vatican's Congregation for Catholic Education, says the church deeply respects homosexuals. But it also says it "cannot admit to the seminary and the sacred orders those who practice homosexuality, present deeply rooted homosexual tendencies or support so-called gay culture."
"Those people find themselves, in fact, in a situation that presents a grave obstacle to a correct relationship with men and women. One cannot ignore the negative consequences that can stem from the ordination of people with deeply rooted homosexual tendencies," it said.
"If instead it is a case of homosexual tendencies that are merely the expression of a transitory problem, for example as in the case of an unfinished adolescence, they must however have been clearly overcome for at least three years before ordination as a deacon."
Vatican prohibitions on sexually active gays becoming priests are not new, and a 1961 document says homosexuals should be barred from the priesthood. But the issue came to the fore in 2002, at the height of the clergy sex abuse scandal in the United States.
A study by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice found most abuse victims since 1950 were adolescent boys. Experts on sex offenders said homosexuals are no more likely than heterosexuals to molest young people, but that did not stifle questions about gay seminarians. In addition, some Catholic researchers said "gay subcultures" in seminaries were alienating heterosexuals, prompting them to drop out.
The new document underlines that long-standing traditions and church teaching consider homosexual acts "grave sins" and also intrinsically immoral and contrary to natural law. "Therefore, in no case can they be approved," it says.
Thomas Plante, a psychologist who for more than 15 years has conducted evaluations of prospective seminarians for U.S. dioceses and religious orders, said the document would have an "enormous" ripple effect on the future U.S. priesthood if it is followed.
"Sexual orientation in almost all the evaluations I've done over 15 years hasn't really mattered," he said. "Now what's coming out of the Vatican is that it matters in a big way. That's a real challenge because we think that there are many, many, many gay men who are fabulous priests."
He questioned how seminary directors would apply the new regulations, and suggested that many may resort to a "don't ask, don't tell" policy. The candidates too, may try to hide their sexual orientation because homosexuality is now a deal-breaker, said Plante, who is chairman of the psychology department at Santa Clara University in California.
"That puts us in a bind because in order to do a real evaluation, you need to have some understanding of their sexual history or behavior, regardless of their orientation," he said.
The document, called an "Instruction," is only five pages long, including footnotes. It was signed by the prefect and secretary of the congregation on Nov. 4, and says it was approved by Pope Benedict XVI on Aug. 31.
The text makes no reference to current priests, directed instead to people entering seminaries and preparing for ordination. Its title reads: "Regarding the criteria of vocational discernment regarding people with homosexual tendencies in view of their admission to the seminary and to sacred orders."
The sex abuse scandals have forced an unprecedented introspection into the clergy and how to train future priests. In September, Vatican-directed inspectors started visiting all 229 American seminaries. Part of their mission has been to seek any "evidence of homosexuality."
The Vatican has often visited the issue of homosexuality, reflecting an unbending theological opposition but also an acknowledgment that discrimination based on sexual preference is not justified.
In 2003, homosexuality was described as a "troubling moral and social phenomenon" in a document by the powerful Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, then headed by German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who became Pope Benedict this year.
Vatican teaching also holds that homosexual acts are "intrinsically disordered." The church, however, says gays and lesbians should be treated with compassion and dignity.
from SF Gate
A lover's spat between two gay men driving over the George Washington Bridge ended in tragedy yesterday when the driver stopped the vehicle mid-span and dived headfirst into the Hudson River, police and witnesses said.
"It was terrible, just terrible — something awful to see," said Gus Guerra, who was in his boat under the bridge and got to the victim first. "He was shaking a bit and moving in the water when I pulled him out. His face was pretty bad and blood was coming out of his ears."
The jumper, 45, was pronounced dead a short time later.
The nightmarish drama began at 11:30 a.m., when the two men got into an argument as they headed toward New Jersey on the upper level.
Police said the driver pulled the car over by the bridge's New York tower, climbed over the railing and took a 220-foot dive.
Guerra, a mechanic at a marina, said a cop told him the driver had flipped out during an argument with his lover.
"He landed head first. He looked pretty rough. There was no way he could have survived," Guerra said.
Police withheld the man's name pending notification of next of kin.
from New York Post
FORT MYERS BEACH, FLORIDA - Police in Florida say a man who was accidentally shocked in his private parts by a Taser gun is behind bars.
Jeremy Miljour is charged with indecent exposure, resisting an officer and criminal damage.
Police said he was found naked, breaking windows and accosting women. When he didn't stop as ordered by arriving deputies, he was shot with a Taser gun.
Cpl. Matt Chitwood said one of the Taser prongs accidentally hit Miljour in a tender area and got stuck. He said officers are taught to aim for the torso, but that it was difficult to aim because Miljour was moving.
Miljour was taken to the hospital and then to jail.
from The New Mexico Channel
POZNAN, POLAND - Police arrested more than 65 homosexual activists in Poland's south-western city of Poznan for participating in an illegal "Equality March" there Saturday.
Poznan district prosecutor's office spokesman Miroslaw Adamski said the activists face fines of up to 5,000 zlotys ($1500 USD) or up to one month in prison.
Organizers of the march, Campaign Against Homophobia, were refused a permit by city authorities Tuesday, arguing the demonstration posed a "danger to life, health and property."
Last month, a European Union spokesman suggested the country that it may lose its voting rights in the EU after pro-life and pro-family leader Lech Kaczynski was elected the country's new president. The EU called Kaczynski's actions as the mayor of Warsaw, where he banned "gay pride" parades two years in a row, a potential contravention of article 6 of the Treaty of Nice, which states that countries must protect the rights of minorities.
Despite promises to the contrary, the EU in concert with the United Nations consistently pressures Poland to legalize abortion and implement very liberal policies on sex education, contraception and homosexuality.
from Life Site
An Oklahoma husband is suing the show for sending a gay man to live with him and his family as his half of the swap.
He's seeking more than $10 million in damages.
Jeffrey Bedford, who lives with his wife and kids outside Muskogee, assumed he was swapping wives with a heterosexual couple. He also said "Wife Swap" producers refused to let him talk to his wife while the show was being taped.
The episode was taped in October 2004 but has not aired yet.
An ABC spokesman said the contract for the show specified that the swapped spouse "could be either male or female.
"The show is meant to challenge a family's norms," the spokesman told a local Muskogee newspaper, which first reported the suit over the weekend.
from New York Post
Gov. Christine Gregoire on Friday became the first acting governor to address the Gay and Lesbian Leadership Conference in its 21-year history but sidestepped the hottest gay rights issue in the state: same-sex marriage.
Gregoire extolled progress made in Washington toward preventing discrimination based on sexual orientation, stopping bullying in public schools and providing parenting rights for gays and lesbians.
About 200 elected officials who are gay or lesbian attended the three-day conference in Seattle.
But even in the gay-friendly heart of the county that almost single-handedly delivered her victory in one of the closest gubernatorial elections in history, Gregoire refused to endorse same-sex marriage.
She noted the much-anticipated state Supreme Court ruling on the issue as important, but she did not reveal her personal opinion on the subject.
Gregoire said she believes in equality for everyone, but she deferred to the courts when asked whether equality was tantamount to marriage rights for gays and lesbians.
"I hope the court rules soon," Gregoire said. "I'll let the courts make the ruling; as a former lawyer, I'm going to respect the court's timeliness, and I'm going to respect the decision that they reach. ... We need to ensure that everyone in the state of Washington is treated with respect and gets equality."
As a candidate, Gregoire avoided the issue on the grounds that revealing her personal views would be inappropriate because she was the attorney general.
Since taking office, Gregoire has continued her silence. She has said that she supports civil unions for same-sex couples, but that it is up to the courts to decide about gay and lesbian marriages.
George Cheung, an Equal Rights Washington board member, said Gregoire's silence on the issue was not particularly significant and that he was "extremely encouraged by her words."
Cheung said the governor's support bodes well for state legislation that would outlaw discrimination against gay people.
This spring, Gregoire helped bring an anti-discrimination bill that had been successfully blocked for three decades to the floor for a full Senate vote. It failed by one vote.
"She provided incredible leadership in this last session, and we look forward to her continued leadership," Cheung said.
On the civil rights bill, Gregoire vowed unequivocal support.
"We still have a need to move forward," Gregoire said. "It's beyond me that we have fought for 30 years for an anti-discrimination bill and have failed. But at least in this last legislative session, as trite as this may seem, we got a vote. The fact that we got a vote and people had to stand up and take a vote was a significant point of progress in this state."
Gregoire said that the new law failed by one vote in the Senate should not be seen as a loss.
"We have not lost," Gregoire said. "We have begun. We will win. It will take time. We are not going to allow discrimination in the state of Washington."
Washington's most prominent openly gay legislator, Rep. Ed Murray, D-Seattle, has pushed for the civil rights legislation since taking office more than a decade ago.
Murray said he views Washington as a state in transition in terms of equal rights for gays and lesbians. He said he is confident Gregoire would eventually take a stand on gay marriage.
"I think she is going to get there," he said.
In his speech, Murray said he is optimistic that the state's high court would "grant the citizens of this state full marriage equality."
He said attendees were visiting Washington at a time when its gay and lesbian community was more excited and more active than at any time in its history. And Murray said Gregoire was a courageous advocate.
"She probably could have played it safe when it came to trying to pass the gay and lesbian civil rights bill, but she didn't," Murray said. "She was willing to use the fullness of her office for our rights. She stood with us as attorney general, and she's stood with us as governor."
from Seattle PI
VANCOUVER, CANADA - Vancouver gay bookstore has been given the go-ahead to argue in front of the Supreme Court of Canada that the government should fund its legal dispute with Canada Customs.
Yesterday, the top court granted Little Sisters Book and Art Emporium leave to appeal a lower-court decision that cut its funding lifeline for the legal fight. Jim Deva, a co-owner of Little Sisters, said fighting Canada Customs in court could cost the store $500,000 to $1-million, which he characterized as an impossibly high figure for a bookstore, or almost anyone else, to come up with.
The bookstore has been fighting Canada Customs because the federal agency blocked the importation of several books and magazines at the U.S. border, claiming they were obscene.
The seized material included two series of Meatmen comic books and two books that depicted bondage and sadomasochism.
In July, 2004, a B.C. judge ordered the federal government to pay the bookstore's court costs, because it was an important constitutional case that touched the interests of all book importers, big and small.
That ruling was seen as the first non-aboriginal application of a Supreme Court decision that said the government had to finance a B.C. native band's forestry dispute, because the band did not have enough money and there were key constitutional issues to be dealt with.
In February, however, the B.C. Court of Appeal reversed the lower-court ruling and killed the funding, saying that Little Sisters had assumed the role of "watchdog" over Canada Customs, but that the public had not appointed the bookstore to this role.
Now, the Supreme Court of Canada will hear an appeal of that ruling, and will likely provide some guidance on what kind of cases are important enough to get "advance funding," when the litigants can't afford to carry the costs.
Joseph Arvay, a lawyer for Little Sisters, said that if the bookstore had not been granted the chance to take its case to the top court, it would have had to give up the fight. "There was no one who was willing to take up the challenge, and Canada Customs would continue to ban books at the border without any review by the courts."
Mr. Arvay said the case is important beyond the interests of his client or the bookstore. "It has much broader implications for all citizens who believe that their Charter rights and freedoms are being infringed, and yet could not possibly afford the cost of litigation."
Mr. Deva, co-owner of the bookstore, said he's pleased the court will hear the case because "it means we can advance our argument."
Judith Mauro Bowers, who handled the case for the federal government, would not comment on the decision to hear the case. "We'll present our arguments at that time. It would be inappropriate for me to comment now," she said.
The decision creates a rematch for Little Sisters and Canada Customs at the top court. In 2000, the court criticized the agency for using arbitrary and inconsistent policies when seizing material the store was trying to import. The court did not strike down Canada Customs' powers to censor material, but said it needed to fix its procedures.
But changes implemented by the agency were done without consulting anyone in the book business or people with expertise in gay and lesbian sexuality, worsening the situation, Mr. Deva said.
The agency adopted specific rules about what was not allowed into Canada, he said, but he questioned the logic behind the guidelines. "Suddenly, out of the blue, the licking of boots was not acceptable," he said, as an example. "If they had known more about that fantasy, and about that sexual act, perhaps they wouldn't have thought of it as dehumanizing and degrading."
from Globe And Mail
There comes a time when everyone who is sexually active must take a step back and a deep breath, and ask themselves, “Is there enough lube in the world for this to work?”
Don’t fret: there is so much lube out there, just try to get the thick kind. You don’t want it to dry up.
Some people adore anal sex and anal play, and then there are those who get nauseated at the thought of it. If you are from the latter group, you may want to stop reading here.
As a sexual researcher (and generally horny person) I’ve attempted anal sex. This was many years ago, and my boyfriend at the time and I had no idea what we were doing!
It was awkward and painful. We didn’t use lube, and we didn’t ever try again.
Six years later, as I was 18 when I attempted sodomy (beat you to it, hate-mail senders), I am considering giving it another shot. I would definitely have to be in a damn serious relationship, because someone I don’t love is not sticking anything into a hole I can’t see!
Also, the person who this is attempted with must be gentle, patient and attentive.
I am surprised at the number of straight men who are trying to get their penis in a girl’s back door! This is an interesting trend in the world of sex.
Anal sex is in fashion, in case you were wondering. There are guides to anal sex, specific lubes just for anal sex, and tons of straight porn with anal sex (Not to mention gay porn and even all-girl porn.).
You can’t go anywhere these days without running into something that makes you think of anal sex. So, instead of a debating about whether it’s “right” or not, I will leave it up to you, my readers, to decide what is good for you. Instead of positives and negatives, I will give some just-in-case advice.
For starters, as with every other kind of sex, use a condom. This is even more important with someone knocking at your back door than it is with vaginal sex. The obvious diseases (HIV or AIDS) aside, there are many other reasons.
How about bacterial infection in your love tunnel if your man switches over without washing and peeing first? With a condom, you can just change it very quickly, without that pain in the ass (pun intended) waiting.
The little bacteria can work their way up your urethra, and you can get an infection. Also, how embarrassing would it be to explain to your doctor that you swear you and your girlfriend weren’t even having vaginal sex when she got pregnant?
It’s rare, but you can get pregnant from the little spermies traveling out and around and back in. That baby would probably grow up to be one shitty person (Collective groan, I know).
After the condom is on, and you have the lube (condom-friendly, the thicker the better, no numbing agents), you are ready to rock and roll! OK, maybe it will have to start off as soft rock, or adult contemporary, maybe a little jazz.
Start slow and gentle and use foreplay — lots of it. A turned-on asshole is a relaxed asshole. It is the same with the anus. Try some massage, maybe a little tongue-in-cheek action.
When you are both ready, go at it slowly. The more nervous you are, the more difficult it will be.
Think about it, those are some strong muscles you have back there. Don’t fight against them; work with them. If it hurts, stop. If there are tears, and not happy ones, stop. If there is blood, stop.
OK, now I’m scaring you, but I just want safety first. Boys, always give a little reach around to the receiver, their genitals need some loving, too.
Remember that this is your decision and that no one should pressure you into doing anything you don’t want to. Also, I am not to be held responsible if you love it and don’t want to do anything else, nor if you hate it and won’t ever do it again.
Best of luck, and remember, if you can’t trust the person you’re sleeping with, what the hell are you sleeping with them for?
from The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Post by Devon M. Wiesend
The largest and longest-running lesbian & gay film festival in Asia, the Hong Kong Lesbian and Gay Film & Video Film Festival (HKLGFF) is developing a reputation as the premier destination for Asian premieres of films with queer content.
Now in its 13th edition and featuring 60 screenings from 18 countries, the festival will run from November 17th - 27th this year.
"Saving Face", the award-winning film by Chinese-American filmmaker Alice Wu, opens the festival.
It stars veteran actress Joan Chen and Michelle Krusiec, who was recently nominated for Best Actress at the 42nd Golden Horse Awards.
Apart from a panorama of films from around the world, this year's HKLGFF features a focus on Latin queer cinema, a retrospective of notorious Canadian filmmaker Bruce LaBruce's works and a compilation of Asian lesbian shorts.
The line-up also includes the world premiere of Hong Kong director David Chow's documentary "Space of Desire", which gives rare insights into Hong Kong's queer movement.
The festival closes with Filipino director Brilliante Mendoza's "The Masseur", winner of the Golden Leopard at the recent Locarno Film Festival's Video Competition.
Started in 1989 by Fortissimo Films co-chairman Wouter Barendrecht, HKLGFF is a non-profit organisation that is fully supported by both Fortissimo and the Edko Films-owned Broadway theatre chain.
Gary Mak, Associate Director of the Broadway Cinematheque and co-organiser of the festival, says that "the festival has opened up the mind of the general public, giving more representation to those who is always under-represented in this society."
In terms of the works programmed, festival director Denise Tang comments, "What makes the HKLGFF unique is that, due to relatively unfettered censorship laws in Hong Kong, the films featured here are shown uncut and uncensored.
Screening controversial films such as those by director Bruce LaBruce is a much more difficult proposition in other countries within the region."
"The HKLGFF has been regarded as a major cultural event for film festival goers and the only high-profile community event for local lesbian & gay communities.
We aim to make the festival the hub for emerging artists in Asia and give them the opportunity to present their works to an open-minded and sophisticated Asian audience."
from CRI
A 26-year-old gay man is sitting in a Fayette County, Ga., jail for having sex with another man.
Gary Wayne Carriker, a fourth-year medical student at Emory University in Atlanta, was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison for felony reckless conduct: gay sex that was private, consensual and of a type routinely engaged in by literally tens of thousands of men who read this publication.
About half the states have criminal statutes like the Georgia law under which Carriker was charged and convicted — a law based on assumptions about gay sex that are just as steeped in fear and prejudice as the sodomy laws struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court only two years ago.
The difference? The fear and prejudice in Carriker's case isn't just about gay sex generally, but also the AIDS virus in particular.
His crime? He had a four-month relationship with John Withrow, 25, during which the two men engaged in private, consensual oral and anal sex. Carriker is HIV-positive, and did not disclose that fact to Withrow, who is HIV-negative.
That is all that prosecutors in semi-rural Fayette County needed to go after Carriker, and go after him they did. Georgia law makes it a criminal felony to "expose" someone to the AIDS virus if you know that you're HIV positive and don't tell the other person.
It doesn't matter under Georgia law whether the sex is protected or unprotected, just as it doesn't matter whether the sex is anal or oral, much less whether the poz participant was insertive or receptive.
After all, a significant number of Georgia legislators still see AIDS as God's vengeance for the sin of homosexuality anyway, so for them there's no need to distinguish between types of sexual conduct and the actual risk of HIV transmission.
That leaves the decision of whether to bring charges to the discretion of prosecutors, and you can imagine the level of sensitivity on this issue in small-town Georgia. Asked by Southern Voice, a publication affiliated with the Blade, whether Carriker was the insertive or receptive partner in the sex with Withrow, the Fayette prosecutor was predictably grossed out.
"I didn't get into those kinds of details," he sniffed, after having obtained his conviction and lengthy sentence.
Well, if the "ick factor" is that bad for these prosecutors, who deal with all levels of gore and violence in other cases, they had no business bringing charges in the first place.
In the real world of icky gay sex, the risk of HIV transmission varies dramatically based upon the type of sex, the role of the participants and, of course, whether a condom was used.
Each time two men engage in oral sex, the chance of contracting HIV is about 1 in 10,000, and that 0.01-percent risk arises under unusual circumstances, like bleeding gums on the receptive partner and/or recent HIV exposure to the insertive partner, when the amount of virus in his semen is higher.
Regardless, the general risk is so low that the law should always exclude oral sex as a basis for criminal prosecution.
That means prosecutors in urban, gay-friendly Fulton County (which includes Atlanta) should immediately drop a second set of charges Carriker faces there for simply engaging in oral sex without disclosing his status. (Fulton prosecutors were apparently also too squeamish to ask if Carriker was the insertive or passive participant in the grand total of two occasions on which those charges are based.)
In anal sex, the danger of contracting the AIDS virus is similarly negligible for an HIV-negative insertive partner (or "top") whether or not condoms are used. And if they are, the HIV-negative receptive partner (the "bottom") faces negligible risk as well.
Fulton prosecutors have also brought charges against Carriker for having oral and anal sex with a second Atlanta man and they say Carriker was the top; but it's unclear whether the sex was protected or not. That fact is crucial in determining whether to go forward with the prosecution.
The point is that, under the law in Georgia and most other states, none of these niceties matter, unless the rare informed and enlightened prosecutor cares to look into them.
With so much ignorance and fear still surrounding HIV and AIDS, and so much bigotry still directed at homosexuality, the law that put Gary Wayne Carriker behind bars for up to 10 years ought to be repealed, and our gay rights groups should demand it.
We do know that in the case of Carriker and ex-boyfriend Withrow, the sex was oral and anal, and it was unprotected. Should Carriker, the med school student, have disclosed his HIV status to Withrow? Absolutely.
As an ethical and moral matter, someone with more information about the risk of exposure should always disclose it to the person with less information. That's especially the case if Carriker agreed to have unprotected anal sex, though if he was the bottom, the risk to Withrow was still negligible.
The U.S. Supreme Court pointed out in its sodomy decision two years ago that criminal laws shouldn't be used to legislate morality, especially in cases like these where so much fear and ignorance clouds some very important variables. For all we know, Carriker was being successfully treated with medications that left his viral load undetectable, making the risk of transmission minimal even if he was a top during unprotected anal sex.
Criminal laws exist to protect people from actual harms, not imagined ones, and ought to be limited to those specific situations. I've written before in support of laws prohibiting someone who knows he is HIV positive from having unprotected, insertive anal sex with a man or woman without first disclosing his status.
That's the sensible line drawn by the law in California, and it ought to be adopted in Washington, D.C., where prosecutors have taken the unusual and commendatory step of asking the gay community for input on what conduct should be made illegal. It is, after all, us who are at risk when gay sex is at issue.
And no criminal law, no matter how draconian, absolves HIV-negative women and men — including John Withrow and Carriker's other sex partners, and including me — from taking responsibility for own health and insisting that a condom is used whenever we choose to be the bottom in anal or vaginal sex.
from NYBlade Blog
KINGSTON, JAMAICA - A call by Deputy Education Minister Donald Rhodd to discuss the possible repeal of Victorian-era laws criminalizing homosexuality has provoked predictable outrage among conservative Jamaicans. But gays here see the chance for debate as a glimmer of hope that they may one day be able to move out from the shadows.
Criticized by Human Rights Watch a year ago for fostering a climate of violent homophobia, Jamaica lately has joined other Caribbean countries in taking steps toward acknowledging that discrimination and denial have proved counterproductive in efforts to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS.
Still, many in the devoutly religious Caribbean region reject the notion that gays and lesbians should be granted equal protection under the law, including the right to associate openly and receive public services, as well as to marry. At least eight current or former British colonies in the Caribbean retain anti-sodomy laws, including Barbados, St. Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago, as well as Jamaica.
But economic realities and the outside world's scorn of anti-gay violence have begun making inroads in the climate of intolerance.
European impresarios have canceled concerts by Jamaican reggae artists who incite hatred of homosexuals in their lyrics. A Dutch court recently ordered authorities in Aruba to recognize a lesbian couple's marriage. And in St. Lucia, a top tourism official has been trying to sell fellow islanders on the idea that money is to be made as a destination for gay travelers.
The most homophobic of the islands, based on Human Rights Watch's assessment of violence against gays, Jamaica suffers one of the highest incidences of HIV and AIDS, with 1.2% of the population infected. Many believe that the consequences of publicly acknowledging that one is gay have hampered government efforts to halt the spread of the human immunodeficiency virus, which causes AIDS.
At the secluded offices of the Jamaica Forum of Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays, or J-FLAG, activists see progress toward a national dialogue in the fight against acquired immune deficiency syndrome but little movement toward accepting homosexuality as a way of life.
"There is still a policy of denial — 'This does not happen in Jamaica,' " said Gareth, who, like most gays here, uses only his first name to avoid discrimination. "People say Jamaica is a Christian country and they do not want to go down the path of allowing homosexuality."
Rhodd's suggestion of a parliamentary debate this winter session on whether to decriminalize sodomy caused a stir, but the issue remains on the agenda.
Although it was just one of 31 topics proposed for debate this session, the subject has dominated radio talk shows and newspaper front pages.
"The reaction, in my opinion, was emotional, based on a high degree of homophobia in the society and also based on the strong condemnation by members of the religious community," Rhodd said of the mostly negative reaction that his proposal elicited this fall in call-in programs, the main forum for public debate among Jamaicans.
Although those leading the fight against HIV/AIDS applaud the government's push to discuss decriminalization, they say the effort must be undertaken slowly to avoid alienating a public still deeply opposed to any notion of gay rights.
"The risk in an initiative like this is that the general public can get left behind," said Robert Carr, a former director of Jamaica AIDS Support now working as an independent consultant. "There's still much to be done in preparing the public for this dialogue."
Lawmakers have yet to schedule discussions, but Carr says their initiative in raising the subject is encouraging.
"If the dialogue is going to be effective, it has to be clear that it is an internal dialogue, not something imposed from outside influences with different agendas," he said.
Although fundamentalist Christians in the Caribbean say the Bible teaches that homosexuality is an abomination, the islands' exotic hybrid culture of African and European spirituality leads others to conclude that same-sex attraction is a consequence of witchcraft, voodoo curse or demonic possession, said Steve Lyston, a Christian fundamentalist and founder of Jamaica's Miracle Prophetic Ministries International.
from LA Times
The public movement, In Defense of Russian Orthodox Morals, has persuaded Tyumen city authorities to ban a concert by the openly gay singer Boris Moiseev.
The concert, which was scheduled for 19 November, would, according to the organization, have a "damaging influence on [the city's] youth," reported on "Izvestiya" on 15 November.
According to the daily, another group, the Russian Orthodox Brotherhood, is currently waging a public campaign in Yekaterinburg to convince residents not to attend Moiseev's 21 November concert there.
Moiseev condemned the move, saying, "In our country, no one takes into consideration the interests of consumers. The authorities think for some reason not about the rights of the people who bought tickets and paid their money but about the anarchists who think they have the right to decide what is good and what is bad."
Last month, a deputy mayor in Perm established a policy that artists who openly declare themselves to be gay will have to pay a higher fee to rent out the city's main concert venue.
from Radio Free Europe
“Gothic horror soap” Dante's Cove will return to here! for a second season, the network announced Tuesday.
Production will begin early next year, and six one-hour episodes of the first original series to be renewed by here! will debut later in the year.
“The response to Dante's Cove was so overwhelmingly positive that we immediately committed to a second season,” here! Networks founder and CEO Paul Colichman said in a prepared statement. “It fits perfectly with what we are trying to do at here! -- create provocative, entertaining material that you will only see on here!.”
from Multichannel
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screen capture from The Malcontent
ROCHESTER, NEW YORK - According to a recent nationwide online survey, gay and lesbian consumers and heterosexuals may agree on many things related to advertising across three media: television, print and the
Web. However, recent survey results show that there are some differences in how they feel about advertising, and in how advertisements may affect their buying considerations.
Although higher percentages of gay men and lesbians report that advertising "rarely" shows people like themselves, they also have a higher propensity than non-gays to report that advertisements, particularly TV and magazine advertisements, can motivate them to consider buying an advertised product.
Whether commercial advertising is presented in a magazine ad or atelevision commercial, greater proportions of gays and lesbians report they may be motivated to consider buying products shown in these ads. In magazines, one-fifth (21%) of gays and lesbians say this, compared with 16 percent of heterosexuals. With television spots, 12 percent of gays and lesbians versus eight percent of heterosexuals say this.
"Last year with more than 800 brands advertised to the gay market, as well as a quarter billion ad dollars invested in reaching same-sex households, it is critical to measure the impact of these investments," said Bob Witeck, CEO of Witeck-Combs Communications, Inc. "According to the Commercial Closet Association, more than a third of Fortune 100 companies have developed advertising and marketing campaigns that speak to or include gays and lesbians, and more do so each year. As this study confirms, gay men and lesbians may be more motivated to respond to advertising messages, especially offers that are sensitive and respectful of their needs and identities."
These are a few highlights of a nationwide online survey of 2,121 adults aged 18 or over of whom 1,715 are non-gay/lesbian adults and 351 are gay/lesbian adults. The survey was conducted online between October 7 and 11, 2005, by Harris Interactive(R), a worldwide market research and consulting firm, in conjunction with Witeck-Combs Communications, Inc., a strategic public relations and marketing communications firm with special expertise in the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) market.
These results show some of the attitudes and responses to commercial advertising -- whether online, television and print -- by all consumers, and measures differences, if any, between gay and non-gay consumers. The results reveal that gays and lesbians are less likely to find that print ads "clutter magazines" (46% compared to 55% of heterosexual consumers), and a smaller proportion of gays and lesbians say that television commercials "interrupt programs" (57% compared to 62% of heterosexual respondents.) Both groups --gay/lesbian and non-gay -- express annoyance with online ads that pop up, waste space or block content (88% of gay/lesbian respondents and 86% of non-gay respondents).
More significantly, gays and lesbians are more likely than their non-gay counterparts to report that print and television advertising ads give them "information they can use" (20% of gays and lesbians, 15% of heterosexuals). Nearly a third (32%) of gays and lesbians feel that magazine ads are informative compared with 28 percent of heterosexuals. Gay/lesbian and non-gay respondents appear to have similar responses to the usefulness of information found in online advertising (4% of each group says it is "valuable" and 6% of gays/lesbians and 9% of heterosexuals say they "give them information they can use").
Gays and lesbians are less likely than heterosexual consumers to declare advertising "boring", and gay and lesbian consumers tend to find advertising equally or more "entertaining" than non-gay respondents. Not surprisingly, half (49%) of the gays and lesbians agree that they prefer everyday brands that target gay consumers over competing brands that do not. Only one in five gay and lesbian respondents (20%) disagrees that they prefer these brands and 30 percent neither agree nor disagree. Nearly half (47%) of the gays and lesbians also agree that they trust brands more if they have seen them advertised in gay media such as local gay newspapers or magazines; while 23 percent of gays and lesbians disagree with this statement.
from PR Newswire
FORT WAYNE, INDIANA - In his fascinating new book, Love Lifted Me Because of the Church: Why One Can NOT Be Gay & Christian, ex-gay author, K. Godfrey Easter, intimately describes his recent and dramatic transformation from a lifestyle that lasted for over 22-years.
Since the release of the book, Love Lifted Me: In Spite of the Church back in 2002, K. Godfrey Easter has uplifted the spirits of thousands of Black, gay Christians. But nowadays when visitors arrive at LoveLiftedMeNetwork.com they'll immediately notice that the author has completely denounced the past 22 years of his life. In a marquee strolling atop every page of his website the once passionate, gay activist concedes, "Man, was I wrong!"
Instead of wholeheartedly focusing on making sense of his own struggle with homosexuality prior to writing his first book, Easter confesses in his upcoming, non-fictional adventure - Love Lifted Me Because of the Church: Why One Can NOT Be Gay & Christian - that his past, zealous acts have endangered the lives of struggling Christians everywhere.
"I've caused the spiritual demise of perhaps tens of thousands of my neighbors and close friends; or I've at least placed in grave spiritual jeopardy their today's and tomorrows," the author passionately repents from his latest body of work.
Easter promises to guide readers on what he describes as, "a non-fiction train ride into a 'whole-nuther' reality."
Less than 5,000 copies of his first book sold domestically and abroad. But Easter's ardent, public stance on being - first a mature Christian then homosexual - made him stand out as uniquely charismatic about the spiritual validity of gay-Christian America.
"I wasn't your garden variety, same-gender-loving man. 'Just leave me alone, but you can say what you want about the people I care about.' Not by far," the ex-gay minister admits.
Thousands received his message of pro-gay Christianity by radio, through press releases, while on book tour, at public speaking engagements during annual gay-pride celebrations, and from written commentary easily accessible from his website.
When asked what lead him to such a dramatic about-face from his prior life the restored, Gospel minister placed sole responsibility for his sudden change squarely at the feet of the Christian faith.
"All I can say is that inside me, the instant love cataclysmically collided with wisdom a great separation took place - me from homosexuality. In his second book, Easter continues answering, "God did it! I was drawn back from perdition by love's long-suffering and wisdom's seductive allure."
Easter also encourages other concerned Christian leaders to become more publicly proactive in spreading less division and more understanding of the spiritual implications of same-gender attraction.
The author boldly admonishes in Love Lifted Me Because of the Church, "Undeniably, loving the way God loves remains key to guiding those we love back into the faith. But still, it's time for the world to understanding why one cannot be both gay and Christian."
from BlackNews.com
''I'm thinking balls are to men what purses are to women. It's just a little bag, but we feel naked in public without it.''
- ''Sex and the City''
In 1890, America saw its first breast augmentation. It was done with paraffin injections, a procedure that was replaced completely by 1920 due to a high infection rate. In 1982, the outdated silicon implant was introduced to the plastic surgery world. After the FDA's approval of the polyurethane foam-covered silicon implants, 100,000 American women had the procedure done. Today, TV stations thrive off of reality shows that expose the ''realities'' of such surgeries, and the media is blamed for American women's increased demand for bigger breasts.
But, cosmetic surgery is not only for women anymore. It seems dissatisfaction with physical appearance has carried over into the lives of our male counterparts. Now, men are asking whether or not size matters and paying thousands to make their size matter.
Phalloplasty, penile augmentation, penile enhancement surgery. Call it what you will, but size dissatisfaction and the demand for procedures such as these seem to be growing.
According to AskMen.com, the percentage of men who are unhappy with their current penis size, penis length and/or sexual ability is at 90 percent. In San Luis Obispo, California, the Total Life Enhancement clinic performs anywhere from 3-8 phalloplasties per week, according to Justin, a clinic representative. Apparently, they're ''booked until mid-December.'' I guess some people will have a merry Christmas.
The representative also said that more recently their Web site, totallifeenhancement.com, has received more hits and he has gotten more phone calls than ever before. Perhaps this is due to The Learning Channel's feature on one of their surgeries, or maybe it's all tied into the general increase in male plastic surgery and even eating disorders.
The cost of breast implants range from a few hundred per implant to a few thousand per implant. For penis enlargement surgery, it depends on what you want done. To increase the length, which is usually done by detaching specific ligaments from the pubic bone and moving them forward, Justin said it costs $4,900. To increase one's girth, by inserting ''dermal matrix allografts'' under the skin of the penis, costs $7,500. The combination of procedures will cost $9,900.
So what does this mean for reality TV? Maybe nothing. But MTV's ''I Want a Famous Face'' was pretty popular. Is there room for ''I Want a Famous Penis?'' Pornography has grown in popularity over the past decade, since satellite and digital cable have been installed into countless homes across the country. And if a girl can get Britney Spears' face, even breasts, why can't a guy get Ron Jeremy's penis? It'd make for good TV, I guess - just like The Swan. Or maybe people should just learn that breasts are beautiful naturally, and that there are other ways to make a woman swoon than a 9-and-three-quarter-incher.
from The New Paltz Oracle
Silvia Johnson, 41, of Arvada, described herself to investigators as a “cool mom” who “was never popular with classmates in high school” and who was beginning to feel like one of the group.
She pleaded guilty in July to two misdemeanor counts of sexual assault and nine felony counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
She also was sentenced for additional charges of third-degree assault, violation of a restraining order and harassment for unrelated cases involving her husband and children, prosecution spokesman Carl Blesch said.
Authorities said Johnson held parties for the boys almost weekly between October 2003 and October 2004. They said Johnson provided drugs and alcohol to eight boys and had sex with five of them.
Johnson was to be sentenced on Sept. 26, but the hearing was postponed after she was injured the day before while riding in an SUV that veered off an interstate.
from MSNBC
TOMS RIVER, NEW JERSEY - A former nurse has been convicted of murdering two men whose body parts were dumped along New Jersey highways more than a decade ago.
Richard W. Rogers Jr., 55, of Staten Island, N.Y., faces up to life in prison and at least 30 years without parole on each murder count when sentenced Jan. 26. Prosecutors did not seek the death penalty.
Rogers, a surgical nurse for 20 years at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan, was also convicted of two counts of hindering apprehension by dismembering and disposing of the bodies of Thomas Mulcahy, 56, a businessman from Sudbury, Mass., and Anthony Marrero, 44, a Manhattan prostitute.
"We're just pleased," Mulcahy's widow, Margaret, said after the verdict Thursday in state Superior Court. "We feel justice has been done."
Rogers' attorney, David Ruhnke, said he planned to appeal. He had argued that prosecutors charged the wrong person. He had also tried to convince the jury that it could not convict Rogers of the crimes because the state had not proved they occurred in New Jersey.
But Judge James Citta ruled the law allowed the jury to infer that because the bodies were found in New Jersey, the murders occurred in New Jersey.
"I feel better that he's not walking the streets," Assistant Prosecutor William J. Heisler said after the verdict.
Mulcahy was in New York on July 7, 1992, for a business meeting and disappeared the next day. One of the last places he was seen was the Townhouse, a gay bar that Rogers was known to frequent.
Mulcahy's dismembered parts were discovered July 10, 1992, at a state Department of Transportation maintenance yard in Burlington County and in a trash barrel at the Stafford Forge Rest Area on the Garden State Parkway. Sixteen of Rogers' fingerprints were found on the bags containing Mulcahy's remains.
Marrero's dismembered body was found in plastic bags on May 10, 1993, near a road in Manchester. Two of Rogers' fingerprints and his palm print were on those bags.
The big break in the case came May 28, 2001, when Maine authorities, who had gone online with an automated fingerprint identification system, matched Rogers' prints to those on the bags.
His fingerprints were on file in Maine because he had been tried in November 1973 after his graduate-school roommate at the University of Maine, Frederick Spencer, was beaten to death with a hammer. Claiming self-defense, Rogers was acquitted.
from The Philadelphia Inquirer
BERLIN, GERMANY Some experts contend Germany's anti-incest law should be changed to modernize the system and keep the law out of moral issues.
The call comes after a 28-year-old man was given a two-and-a-half-year prison term for sex with his 21-year-old sister, Deutsche Weller reports.
The woman was sentenced to a year of social services supervision.
The two met in 2000 after living in separate foster care homes and now have four children.
The German law doesn't ban the procreation part, it's the actual consensual adult sex between siblings or parents and their offspring that is illegal.
Joachim Renzkikowski, a sexual criminal law expert at Halle University, said the laws should be changed to not interfere in cultural or moral belief matters.
He said that law should go the way of adultery and homosexual sex laws long gone from criminal statute books.
from Sience Daily
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - Many students have not played Bingo since elementary school, but the game that once evoked images of senior citizens in sleepy retirement homes has experienced a recent revival at UNLV.
Tuesday's game, held in Dayton Complex, had not one empty seat. For an on-campus event, that is quite an impressive turnout.
Hotel major Lauren Englander, 20, along with her friends Jocelyn Mata and Meagan Winzenburg, were responsible for the event. Englander knows how to draw a college crowd.
"It is a for-sure that residents will turn up for free condoms," Englander said, laughing. Indeed, participants picked up free condoms and lubricant as well as a new sexual vocabulary.
The game ran very much like traditional Bingo, though instead of using numbers, Englander used sex terms. Initially, there were some snickers from students, but the more they got in the game, the quieter and more serious the atmosphere became.
It is amazing how words like orgasm, porn, gay and semen lose their shock value when repeated over the course of an hour.
Sex Bingo also had some clever trivia worked into it, where students were asked whether they knew which foods supposedly improve your sex life or which is the only legal sexual position in Washington, D.C.
The answers to the questions are wheat germ, whole grains and seafood – among other foods – and missionary is the only legal position in DC.
Englander said she wanted students "to learn different sexual words, crazy sex facts and just have fun practicing safe sex."
Sex Bingo delivered all that and more, as the general feedback Englander has received is that students "loved it."
Although Sex Bingo was a light-hearted game, it deals with an increasingly important issue, which begs the question, should universities teach sexual education?
Controversy erupted at George Washington University over the summer when Michael Schaffer, a professor who had been teaching a human sexuality course for 17 years, was let go.
According to Inside Higher Ed online news, one of Schaffer's assignments included conducting self-exams on breasts and testicles, but that's not what got him into trouble.
Schaffer's discussion of personal shaving habits bothered two students of the combined 150 students he taught in two class sections.
The two women who filed negative evaluations said Schaffer's class was "demeaning to women," and cited comments such as "Look before you lick.," which Schaffer wrote on class papers. Schaffer said he made comments on all students' final papers to add "a little humor to teach about safe oral sex."
Patricia Sullivan, acting chair of the Department of Exercise Science, was the one who told Schaffer to look at his course evaluations to learn why he was being let go. However, of the stack of evaluations Schaffer saved, students commented about his being open and understanding, how he covers real issues with a sense of humor and provides an environment for self-discovery.
Inside Higher Ed reported that "Nearly all of the negative comments [were] limited to things like: '[class] is too long'; 'one less paper.'"
In addition, Inside Higher Ed quoted former student Andrea Mandall who said, "During the class, females learned to speak up in the bedroom, about everything from use of condoms to being comfortable expressing herself and protecting herself against disease."
Sex Bingo was controversy-free, but future events may not be as accepted at UNLV. However student leaders, for now, are eager to plan more events like it. Englander summarized her state of mind this way:
"We are always programming."
from The Rebel Yell
AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS - The number of gay couples in the Netherlands has risen sharply in recent years.
There were 53,000 gay and lesbian couples living together in the Netherlands at the beginning of 2005, according to Statistics Netherlands (CBS). Ten years ago there were less than 39,000 gay or lesbian cohabiting couples.
Almost a quarter of the gay or lesbian couples are married or in a registered partnership. Of these, 12 percent are married and 10 percent are in a registered partnership.
The CBS said there are 29,000 all-male couples and 24,000 lesbian couples. Despite the significant increase in the number of gay and lesbian couples, the group is equal to just over 1
percent of the total number of cohabiting couples in the Netherlands.
About 9 percent of the gay or lesbian households in the Netherlands include one or more children. Lesbian couples are more likely to have a child; 18 percent of cohabiting lesbians have a child, compared with just 1 percent of gay couples.
Gay and lesbian couples seem to have a preference for big cities. About a quarter of these couples live in one of the four big cities in the Netherlands (Amsterdam, The Hague, Utrecht and Rotterdam). And 13 percent of all gay and lesbian couples lives in Amsterdam.
from Expatica
In the midst of popping the question, Micki Gamez thought it only fair to warn the woman who'd won her heart that she'd be marrying into a Hispanic family that is muy grande and very close knit.
"There are no such things as hotels in my family," says Micki, who married Ann Nowaczewski in Canada last February.
True to Micki's light-hearted warning, a half-dozen relatives traveled from Texas to Ferndale to celebrate the wedding. "Our place was packed," Micki recalls.
Far from grudgingly accepting Micki's family and heritage, Ann is embracing Latino culture and acting like the Latina by marriage that she is: She's taking Spanish. She needs it to understand instructions from Micki's mom and grandmother about how to make tortillas, tamales and enchiladas. "I am not the cook," Micki says firmly.
The importance of big, extended families within the Hispanic community is helping to make Hispanic Americans gay-friendly as more of them learn a relative is gay. Micki says, "My family just has that love for me: 'You are happy. You are in love. We will have to learn with you it is OK that you are gay.'"
Adds Ann: "I am very accepted by Micki's family. They see that we want the same things as straight people."
More than 105,000 gay couples are at least half Hispanic, census data show. A study found strong similarities between those couples and married heterosexual Hispanics. For example, 54 percent of lesbian Hispanic couples and 41 percent of male ones raise children under 18, compared with 70 percent of their married counterparts.
Hispanic gay couples are much more likely than white gay couples to be parents. Eager to join those ranks, Micki and Ann are choosing a Latino sperm donor.
Precisely because Hispanic gay couples are much like other Hispanics in terms of children, education, homeownership and citizenship, they tend to be hurt more than other gays by anti-gay discrimination. (See the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force's report at ngltf.org.)
If only one member of a gay couple is recognized as their children's legal parent, their kids aren't eligible for Social Security survivor benefits if the other parent dies. Similarly, U.S. immigration policy allows a citizen or legal permanent resident to sponsor a spouse for permanent status as part of "family unification," but gay couples are specifically excluded.
In one way, coupled Hispanic lesbians are unusual. They are six times more likely than married heterosexual Latinas to have served in the military. Long a pathway to a better economic life, the military boots out anyone honest about being gay.
Fortunately, gay Hispanics can increasingly count on the Hispanic community to oppose anti-gay bias. The Republican Party's efforts to woo Hispanics by advocating a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage is doomed to backfire. Such major Hispanic groups as the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda and the National Council of La Raza oppose that tactic.
Seventy percent of Latino voters want to protect those of us who're gay from job and housing discrimination. And a majority of Latino voters under age 40 support opening marriage to gay couples, according to polling by the Human Rights Campaign in July 2004.
In Hispanic families, like the one that includes both Micki and Ann, love opens doors.
from Deb Price / The Detroit News
The Federation of Gay Games announced today that Cologne, Germany, will be the Host City for Gay Games VIII in 2010. Cologne won the right to host the games at the conclusion of an extensive bidding process in which Johannesburg, South Africa, and Paris, France, also sought to host the games. The Gay Games are a quadrennial athletic competition and cultural festival that highlights participation, inclusion and achieving one's personal best while helping to advance the cause of equality for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community internationally.
"Cologne will be a great place for the LGBT athletes from around the world to compete in 2010 at Gay Games VIII. Each of the bid cities brought various strengths, and all were committed to seeing the legacy of the Gay Games continue to open doors for people everywhere through sport," said Kathleen Webster, co-president of the Federation of Gay Games.
The Gay Games has become one of the most sought -- after international events by cities around the world as it signifies a city's inclusiveness, diversity and creative spirit by welcoming tens of thousands of athletes, artists and their friends and families who, during Gay Games week, also generate substantial economic benefit for the host city.
"We are thrilled the Federation of Gay Games selected Cologne to host the 2010 Gay Games VIII," said Michael Lohaus and Annette Wachter, co-directors of Cologne's bidding organization. "As one of Europe's most welcoming and diverse cities, Cologne welcomes the international LGBT community, their friends and families with open arms and promises one of the most exciting competitions in the history of the Gay Games."
"The Federation of Gay Games is holding its annual meeting in Chicago this year in part to review plans for the 2006 Gay Games VII. Progress in Chicago is on track with more sponsors, thousands of athletes already registered, and, for the first time, television coverage of a Gay Games. With that and other positive developments such as the recent addition of Sir Elton John to our impressive roster of Gay Games Ambassadors, we anticipate great success in 2006, building on the past and preparing an even better future for the Gay Games," said Federation of Gay Games Co-President Robert Mantaci.
"There is a special bond between cities that have hosted the Gay Games," said Suzanne Arnold, co-chair of Chicago Games, the organizing body of Gay Games VII. "We offer Cologne organizers our best wishes and look forward to them becoming a part of the Gay Games legacy that has brought together people around the world over the past 25 years."
from GayGames.com
