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For 20 years, gay men have vigorously fought the contention that HIV is a disease of homosexuals.
But now, one of Southern California's most influential gay institutions has embarked on a controversial ad campaign with this stark declaration: "HIV is a gay disease."
With that message and the tag line "Own It. End It" on billboards and in magazines, the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center says it is trying to reach legions of gay men who have become complacent about HIV and AIDS.
The campaign is an abrupt departure from the years of hard politicking against the idea of AIDS as a gay plague, a characterization that many — including the Gay & Lesbian Center — had argued marginalized victims and made it hard to reach others who were at risk, including thousands of minority women who have become infected in recent years.
The ads have stunned some in the gay community and the AIDS services world, who recall the early years of the epidemic, when anti-gay clergy railed against the condition and little money was available for research or prevention.
Some AIDS counselors worry that the campaign could further stigmatize the disease, making women and heterosexual men less likely to come forward.
So much attention is being paid to minority women and others who are at risk that gay men — who still make up the majority of those infected in the United States and Western Europe — have developed a false sense of security, backers of the ads say.
The problem of AIDS apathy among gay and bisexual men is of particular concern on the West Coast, public health officials say, where the overwhelming majority of HIV transmission is among men engaging in sex with other men.
In Los Angeles County, about 75% of HIV cases are among men who have had sex with other men.
The L.A. infection count is somewhat at odds with data from other parts of the country — including several East Coast communities — where infection is spreading rapidly among women and intravenous drug users.
"A very alarming silence has descended over our community with regard to HIV and AIDS," said Lorri L. Jean, chief executive of the Gay & Lesbian Center.
"We believe that most people in our community do not understand the degree to which this epidemic continues to be in Los Angeles largely an epidemic among gay and bisexual men," she said.
The ad campaign has drawn sharp criticism from some in the trenches of the battle against HIV, particularly those who work closely with infected women.
"I applaud the desire to have more personal responsibility in the gay community, but this is not the way to achieve it," said Michael Weinstein, head of the Los Angeles-based AIDS Healthcare Foundation.
He said that worldwide, it is increasingly heterosexuals who have become ill.
"AIDS is not a gay disease," Weinstein said. "It's not an African American disease; it's not a Latino disease. It is a disease of the immune system."
Nationwide, gay and bisexual men account for just 45% to 50% of recent HIV transmission, according to the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
Women make up 33% of cases in New York and 27% nationwide. In Los Angeles County, women make up about 12% of the total, according to national and county health statistics, but their number has been increasing.
At particular risk are women and men in immigrant and minority communities, where many men who have had sex with other men do not consider themselves gay and have not disclosed their behavior to their wives and girlfriends.
"This [campaign] is sort of harkening back to the gay community, which is associated with being white and middle-class … and it excludes, frankly, men who may be at very high risk but don't identify as being gay," said Craig Thompson, executive director of AIDS Project Los Angeles.
Activist Cynthia Davis, who has labored for years to ease the stigma of HIV in the African American community, said the Gay & Lesbian Center's campaign could erase years of progress in a community that is skittish about homosexuality but at high risk for the disease.
"This is ludicrous. It's ridiculous," Davis said. "It's going backward."
The center's campaign comes at a time when two powerful public health agencies — the New York City Department of Public Health and the CDC — are urging a different approach.
Just last week, the New York department expressly asked outreach agencies not to aim their messages solely at the gay community.
City officials made that recommendation after conducting an extensive study of the sexual behavior of thousands of New Yorkers.
In the study, published last week in the journal Annals of Medicine, the city's public health officials interviewed more than 4,000 men.
Of the more than 90% who identified themselves as heterosexual, one in 10 later disclosed that they had had sex with a man within the past year.
Lead author Preeti Pathela said that means that any campaign aimed only at men who identify themselves as gay or bisexual could miss as many as 10% of the people it is meant to reach — and keep their partners in the dark as well.
"There are some people who aren't even going to read that message, because as soon as they see the word 'gay,' they're going to say, "That's not me,' " Pathela said.
Also last week, the CDC urged doctors to test all adolescents and adults for HIV — whether or not they identify themselves as gay or bisexual or admit engaging in such high-risk behavior as using intravenous drugs.
Dr. Myles Spar, director of the HIV program at the Venice Family Clinic, a free clinic serving the Westside, said the gay-themed ads in the new campaign should be countered with similar messages aimed at other groups.
"I think it's fine for the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center to do this to try to wake up their community, but then similar messages need to be catered to the minority communities that it's also our disease," said Spar, who treats a wide variety of people with HIV in his practice, including women, children, gay men and men who identify as straight.
Jean of the Gay & Lesbian Center said her organization's campaign is not intended to diminish the importance of reaching out to people outside of the gay community with information about HIV and AIDS.
Instead, she said, it is closely targeted to a gay audience in order to provoke discussion and reawaken long-dormant advocacy efforts in that population.
Greg Smiley, a gay man who is public policy director for the American Academy of HIV Medicine, said that at first he was stunned and offended by the ads.
"If some other community except for the gay community said HIV was a gay disease, that would be something we would vilify," he said.
But then, Smiley said, the concept started to grow on him.
"If I were to design a campaign, that wouldn't necessarily be the slogan I would come up with … but letting it sink in a little bit more, it seems like a strong statement to make, and perfectly appropriate," Smiley said.
"I think we have to all own our own responsibilities and take responsibility for our actions and for our community," he said.
Others cautioned that the campaign's message could be interpreted too literally.
"Yes, it's still a gay disease, and no, it's not a gay disease," said Benjamin Perkins, who directs the MALE Center in Boston.
"It's an unfortunate discussion that pits one group against the other," Perkins said. "And I don't think we can afford to go that route."
from The Los Angeles Times / Sharon Bernstein
To Ryan Murphy, size may not matter, but weight does. The latest project for the swashbuckling creator of Nip/Tuck is 4 oz., a new FX drama about a transsexual sportswriter with a wife and two teenage sons.
Four ounces is the average weight of a flaccid penis, according to Murphy. It fascinates him "that something that weighs so little can cause so much damage and joy at the same time."
Murphy's writing the pilot episode and hopes to begin production early next year. No cast yet, but he says his phone "is ringing off the hook" from A-list stars who shall remain nameless.
OK, then, we'll name them: Robert Downey Jr. and Alec Baldwin, among others, according to Hollywood buzz.
"This will be one of the great parts, if done correctly," says Murphy, 41. "It will be like Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie - a man who becomes a better man by being a woman." (Hoffman grabbed an Oscar nomination for his performance in the '82 film.)
A-lister Brad Pitt is one of 4 oz.'s executive producers. He and Murphy bonded as Pitt produced Running With Scissors, Murphy's feature directorial debut, starring Annette Benning. It opens nationally Oct. 27.
Pitt "is such a cool guy," Murphy says. "He's arguably the biggest movie star in the world, and when you have him in your corner, fighting for you, it makes a difference. He makes calls. He gets me more money. He'll be very involved in everything."
He won't, however, appear on screen.
The 40-ish protagonist in 4 oz. lives in Pasadena, Calif., and is "an everyday guy who's been fighting this secret all of his life," says Murphy. The series follows the "trajectory" of his sexuality.
Murphy calls 4 oz. his version of "My Three Sons, with the father being a tranny." In his mind, the common thread among the three males "is all their conflict and joys caused by their penises."
Are we sensing a theme?
Murphy has mapped out several seasons' plotlines. In Season 1, the character grapples with his secret. In 2, he lives and dresses like a woman. In 3, he undergoes the surgery, and in 4, he's a woman in the world looking for love.
"I think people will be charmed by how sweet it is," Murphy says. "It's daring. There are things in the pilot that are jaw-dropping. It's not salacious or violent."
Murphy says 4 oz. will be "more straightforward and dramatic" and "less theatrical" than Nip/Tuck, FX's most popular show. "The most shocking thing for me to do now is not be shocking." (Right.)
Murphy, who's gay, says he has been fascinated with transsexuality since he took a course in sexual deviance his senior year at Indiana University. (He copped an A-plus on his thesis, he says. "I know my trannies.")
"I've always been moved by that journey of somebody trapped inside a different body. It's just a metaphor for artistic expression - something caught inside, fighting to get out."
For his part, Murphy has no desire to bend genders. "As a gay man, I certainly feel equal parts man and woman sometimes, but I've never had that battle.
"I've always been very comfortable in my shoes. I've had no desire to turn them into pumps."
from The Philadelphia Inquirer
LAWRENCE, KANSAS - He says he now has a tattoo on his chest with a “Warning” sign and the message “HIV positive.”
But three women who had unprotected sex with him say he never warned them, and a fourth says she knew he was infected but that he took off a condom during sex.
Jurors deliberated all afternoon but didn’t reach a verdict Friday in the case of a Lawrence man charged with exposing the four women to HIV — something he testified Friday that he never meant to do.
After two days of testimony, 30-year-old Robert W. Richardson II took the witness stand in his own defense Friday morning. He said he didn’t think the women needed to know he was HIV-positive because he didn’t think he could transmit the disease, given the low level of the virus in his blood.
“I didn’t believe it was possible,” he said.
He said a regimen of drugs kept the amount of virus in his body at a level that was too small to measure. At least, that was the outcome during a November lab test, roughly in the middle of the five-month time frame during which he’s charged with exposing the women. At other times, the amount in his body fluctuated, depending on whether he was taking the medicine and whether his body was developing a resistance to it — something that happened in early 2005 and prompted him to go on a new type of drug.
Richardson said on the witness stand that he now realizes it was morally wrong not to tell the women before having sex, but that he never meant to expose them to HIV. Prosecutors must prove he intended to expose them.
Richardson said that after the women went to police early this year, he got an “HIV” warning tattoo on his chest. Defense attorney Thomas Johnson asked for permission for Richardson to show it to jurors, but prosecutors objected and Judge Stephen Six found it was irrelevant because it happened after the alleged crimes.
Richardson worked in the environmental division of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. He said Friday that he grew up in Georgia, briefly attended the U.S. Air Force Academy and later went to McNeese State University in Louisiana. He said he moved to Lawrence in June 2003 from Oklahoma.
In her closing argument, assistant Dist. Atty. Amy McGowan said Richardson decided to “play God” with the women by not informing them of his status. Johnson said the state had not proven that Richardson had the intent of exposing the women— and that if he’d wanted to expose them, he could have simply stopped taking his drugs.
The jury began deliberations about 12:30 p.m. after closing arguments, and jurors went home for the weekend about 5 p.m.
Jurors will resume deliberations on Monday.
from The Lawremce Journal-World
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - Same-sex couples who live in Rhode Island can marry in Massachusetts, a Superior Court judge here ruled on Friday.
The judge, Thomas E. Connolly, ruled that because Rhode Island did not prohibit same-sex marriage by statute or in its Constitution, same-sex couples were allowed to marry in Massachusetts under state law.
“No evidence was introduced before this court of a constitutional amendment, statute or controlling appellate decision from Rhode Island that explicitly deems void or otherwise expressly forbids same-sex marriage,” Judge Connolly ruled.
The Massachusetts attorney general, Thomas F. Reilly, said he would not appeal the ruling. Rhode Island’s attorney general, Patrick Lynch, said the marriages would not be valid in his state.
“This ruling does not authorize same-sex marriages in Rhode island, and it does not mean that Rhode Island will recognize a same-sex marriage performed in Massachusetts,” Mr. Lynch said in a statement. “Only the Rhode Island legislature or a Rhode Island court can decide if same-sex marriage is valid in Rhode Island.”
Same-sex marriage was legalized here in 2004. But until Friday, only residents could be granted marriage licenses because of a 1913 law that prohibited the state from performing marriages that were not legal in the couple’s home state. The state’s highest court upheld that law last year after same-sex couples from six states challenged it.
The court ruled that same-sex couples from Connecticut, Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire could not marry in Massachusetts because same-sex marriage was expressly prohibited by statute in those states.
The court left the door open for residents of New York and Rhode Island, but the New York State Court of Appeals ruled shortly after that that same-sex marriage was not allowed under state law. With Rhode Island being the only state with no express prohibition of same-sex marriage, two Providence residents, Wendy Becker and Mary Norton, appealed.
“After a very long engagement, we are thrilled to be able to marry and provide our family with the legal protection and social recognition we deserve,” Ms. Becker said Friday. “As the parents of two wonderful young children, our desire to marry has always been with them in mind. We want them to feel their family is as worthy as any other.”
Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, which argued the case, applauded the ruling.
“At last the fence of discrimination has been removed at the border of Massachusetts and Rhode Island,” Michele Granda, the lawyer who argued the case, said in a statement. “Loving, committed Rhode Island couples can now affirm their relationships in the most public and respected way our society knows.”
from The New York Times
Equality Forum, an international GLBT civil rights organization, is coordinating the launch of GLBT History Month. Thirty-one Leaders will be honored during October with a video, biography, and bibliography celebrating their achievements. GLBT History Month is modeled after Black and Women's History Months.
"We want people not only to celebrate Walt Whitman, Elton John, and Ellen DeGeneres but to learn about Alan Turing, who broke the German Enigma Code and helped the Allies win World War II; Lupe Valdez, the first Latina and lesbian Sheriff of Dallas County, TX; and Bayard Rustin, an African-American colleague of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who organized the 1963 demonstration at the Lincoln Memorial," stated Malcolm Lazin, Executive Director of Equality Forum.
Leaders were nominated by executive directors of statewide, national, and international GLBT organizations. The criteria for nominees are: national or international GLBT persons, living or deceased, distinguished within their field of endeavor, as national heroes, or in the GLBT civil rights movement. The nominees were selected by GLBT History Month Co-Chairs Rev. Nancy Wilson, international Moderator of the Metropolitan Community Churches (MCC) and Professor Kenji Yoshino, Yale Law School.
Equality Forum has produced for each Leader a video which will be streamed daily on the four largest gay web portals and broadcast on the two largest gay television channels. Equality Forum has created a Web site GLBT History Month with Leader videos, bios, bibliography, and other educational resources.
Leaders are:
James Baldwin, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Volker Beck
John Boswell, Ellen DeGeneres, Barney Frank
David Geffen, Tim Gill, Barbara Gittings
Keith Haring, James Hormel, Elton John
Barbara Jordan, Father Mychal Judge, James Kolbe
Larry Kramer Leonard Matlovich, Ian McKellen
Harvey Milk, Martina Navratilova, Adrienne Rich
Sylvia Rivera, Bayard Rustin, Lowell Selvin
Andrew Sullivan, Sheryl Swoopes, Alan Turing
Lupe Valdez, Walt Whitman, Oscar Wilde & Phill Wilson
Equality Forum is a GLBT civil rights organization with an educational focus. Equality Forum collaboratively develops and disseminates high-impact educational content in the form of documentary films, history projects, innovative initiatives and the largest annual national and international GLBT civil rights forum.
from Press Release
The annual "Gay Days" at the Disney theme parks in Anaheim, Calif., will kick off Friday, October 6, with a party at Downtown Disney. The event continues Saturday, October 7, with an unofficial "Gay Day" in the Disneyland theme park and a party that night at the House of Blues featuring Dreamgirls star Jennifer Hudson. Sunday, October 8, will be the unofficial "Gay Day" at Disney's California Adventure theme park.
"Gay Days at Disneyland is our chance to relive our childhood without all the shitty parts!" said actor and Advocate columnist Alec Mapa, who is cohosting the Saturday night party, called "Kingdom," with Wilson Cruz. Hudson will perform at Kingdom at 10 p.m., organizers said.
The Trevor Project—a nonprofit organization that runs a 24-hour suicide hot line for queer teens—will sponsor all of the youth activities planned for the weekend, which include on October 7 a scavenger hunt, lunch, and "dinner and movie"—all free for youth 21 and under who sign up at TheTrevorProject.org. The screening will be of the campy flick Psycho Beach Party, and director Bob King will be there to answer questions from the youth after the screening, which will be held in the Gay Days Entertainment Center inside the Disneyland Hotel.
Gay Days Anaheim typically attracts more than 10,000 LGBT park-hoppers to the Disney theme parks, most of them wearing red shirts to be visible among other park guests. Both the Saturday gathering in Disneyland and the Sunday gathering in Disney's California Adventure are privately organized and not endorsed by the Disney company. For more information or to buy tickets to the parties, go to gaydaysanaheim.com.
from Micky News
MADISON, WISCONSIN - A Wisconsin college student is suing two fellow students he claims beat him up because he is gay.
The suit, filed Thursday in Grant County Circuit Court, may mark the first time Wisconsin's hate crime statute has been used in a state civil case.
According to the lawsuit, Brett Timmerman, an openly gay student who attended the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, and a female friend were standing outside a restaurant in July 2005 when Oden A. Waite and Enove Q. Urias confronted him. They yelled, called him a derogatory name and told him to go back to Madison, the suit says.
Timmerman said Thursday he had never met the men but recognized one of them from school.
"So I turned around and said, 'I don't know why you're saying those things to me. I'm just like you,' " Timmerman recalled. "And then I got beat up."
Urias slapped Timmerman, while Waite spit in his face and hit him in the head, the suit says. Waite then wrapped an arm around Timmerman's neck and knocked him to the ground, rupturing his eardrum, according to the lawsuit. Waite was on top of Timmerman when the police arrived, the lawsuit says.
"I thought there was a good chance I might be killed that night," Timmerman said. "It was the scariest thing I've ever experienced."
Waite was convicted of a municipal disorderly conduct violation. Urias was convicted of misdemeanor disorderly conduct, according to online court records.
The fact that neither Urias nor Waite was charged with a hate crime was one reason Lambda Legal, a national gay rights organization, took on the case as a civil matter, said attorney James Madigan, who represents Timmerman.
"One of the problems with hate crimes laws in some respect is that sometimes it's . . . harder to prove, so prosecutors just make a deal and cop a plea to get this over with," he said. "We suspect that's what happened on this case."
Wisconsin's hate crime statute, allowing for both criminal and civil actions against perpetrators of hate crimes, took effect in 1988. Since then, it has not been used in a civil case and has been used only rarely in criminal cases, Madigan said.
Timmerman, now 23, has moved out of Platteville and is finishing his final college class through independent study while working in sales.
Timmerman filed a federal lawsuit against Urias and Waite last fall, accusing them of conspiring to deprive him of his rights. U.S. District Judge John Shabaz dismissed the suit in March, saying Timmerman had no evidence of conspiracy.
Neither Waite nor Urias could be reached Thursday.
Tyler Kieler, an attorney who represented Waite in the federal lawsuit and on the disorderly conduct matter, said Timmerman's allegations have no merit.
"We are confident that the state civil court process will once again vindicate Mr. Waite and clear him of any wrongdoing," Kieler said.
from The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - Gay rights campaigners have urged Paul Scholes to apologize after he allegedly made a homophobic remark during the 1-0 win over Benfica.
The 31-year-old Manchester United midfielder is alleged to have made the comment after receiving a yellow card from referee Frank De Bleeckere in the 10th minute of Tuesday night's clash at the Stadium of Light.
UEFA are waiting for reports from the match delegate and the referee before they decide whether to address the complaints, although they are unlikely to take action if the incident is not reported. They expect the report on Thursday.
Peter Tatchell, of gay human rights group OutRage!, said: "We urge Paul to apologise and to express his opposition to homophobia.
"No player, referee or fan should have to endure abuse about their race or sexuality.
"There should be big fines and match suspensions for players, managers and supporters who wilfully use anti-gay insults.
"Stewards should be ordered to identify fans who shout homophobic abuse and the Football Association should secure the agreement of the police to arrest and charge them."
Tatchell also urged the FA to tackle the problem in the game.
The FA set up the 'Football For All' scheme four years ago to make the sport as accessible as possible, encompassing a number of problem areas, including homophobia.
"The Football Association works very closely with a number of group to stamp out inappropriate behaviour in the sport," an FA spokesperson said.
from Fox Sports
PALM SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA - The U.S.A. Mr. Gay preliminary contests are over and now the judges will select the candidate who best represents America's "boy-next- door. When he's chosen, he will then compete against "Mr. Gay" winners from Germany, Australia, Hungary, Philippines, Iran, Lebanon, Israel and the Vatican City (just to name a few of the 40 representatives) for the Grand Finale title of International Mr. Gay. Both competitions happen in Palm Springs, Calif., Oct. 27-28, 2006, in the desert city's new Convention Center.
The event will be hosted by the hilarious Bruce Vilanch, star of "Hollywood Squares" and "Hairspray," and co-writer for just about every awards show know to man, from the Oscars to the Emmys to the Tonys.
"Mr. Gay" winners from twenty cities nationwide will compete for the U.S.A. title on Friday, Oct. 27, 2006. The next night, Saturday, Oct. 28, the new U.S. Delegate will go against 20-plus international delegates from around the globe; heating up the desert valley faster than the summer sun! The winner will hold the worldwide title of International Mr. Gay 2007.
The number of contestants has grown from twelve at last year's inaugural Competition to over forty this year. Kevin Howard, producer of the Miss Texas Pageant for the past seven years, will produce the two stage shows, when delegates will be questioned by celebrity judges, including gossip columnist Billy Masters, Good Morning America's Steve Viscusi and Hollywood Diet co-founder Jamie Kabler.
"The International Competition for Mr. Gay has a mission of bringing together non-stereotypical gay from around our world to confront an often-times stereotypical bias in the mainstream press," said Producer Don Spradlin. Adding, "The competitive elements designed into the finals will allow judges to observe the character values and leadership talents of our contestants."
Both the national and the international competitions will follow an elimination round format, similar to reality TV shows. As one of last year's judges, director Dirk Shafer, pointed out, "Believe me, this is not going to be your sister's beauty pageant." Shafer will be making a documentary of this year's Competition.
For additional information, special host hotel rates, photos of the international competitors, U.S.A. Contest schedules and last-minute Competition updates, visit http://www.MrGayCompetition.com
The company producing this international network of competitions is Community Promotions, a California LLC owned and operated by Managing Partners Don Spradlin and Thomas Roth. "Mr. Gay" is a Trademark of Community Promotions.
from Press Release
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - In a podium dispute with a Christian activist, San Diego City Councilman Scott Peters rejected pictures of the recent San Diego "Gay Pride" event to be shown to the public. The activist, James Hartline, had come before the Council during its open forum to make his case -- with photographic proof -- that city representatives erred in sanctioning the event.
Last July, the City Council approved a resolution termed "Gay Pride Week," which is capped off by a parade held at week's end. The resolution was initiated by councilwoman Toni Atkins -- the first openly lesbian mayor of the city -- who aggressively defends homosexual causes in her public life as a council member. In its July 25 proclamation, Council members -- by their vote of commendation -- unanimously encouraged San Diegans to attend the event on July 28-30.
Hartline speculated at the time that, if exposed, the parade would be a public embarrassment to them. He now wonders why they chose to hide what actually occurred during the event -- such as promotion of strip clubs like "Déjà Vu" and pornographer Larry Flynt's store "Hustler."
Speaking at the September 12 forum, Hartline explained that he thought the July action to officially sanction the pride event was in poor judgment. He stated that since children were present along the parade route, it was improper to sanction an event where pornography was promoted, condoms and sexual lubricants were distributed, public nudity was on display, and male escort and strip club businesses were participants. Much of this evidence was depicted in photographs taken by San Diego News Notes reporter Allyson Smith.
Some of the pictures Hartline attempted to show at the forum were, according to the activist, "more graphic in nature." Hartline explained that his purpose was to expose the hypocrisy of Council members in granting their July motion. However, Council chairman Peters chose to prohibit Smith's pictures from being viewed by the public. "I can't allow you to put these pictures on television," he stated in city chambers.
According to Pam Hardy, Peters' communications director, Hartline "wanted to show some pictures that were inappropriate" and, therefore, were prohibited from being shown. She did not agree that Peters exercised a form of censorship, despite Hartline's claim, and refused to respond further when asked to explain why the police refused to cite parade participants for public nudity. She deferred that question to the police department and refused further comment.
Hartline states he is not surprised that Hardy was curt with AgapePress. According to the activist, Hardy worked for KPBS (the Public Broadcasting Service in San Diego) for several years and attended UC-San Diego in La Jolla -- both of which have a long history of being unfriendly to conservatives, he adds.
The activist notes that such indifference apparently resides in the local government halls as well. Hartline points out that San Diego's city leaders have a recent history of demonstrating intolerance to groups like the Boy Scouts, yet condone groups that represent negative aspects of society.
from The Agape Press
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - ANC Deputy President Jacob Zuma has apologised unreservedly for the pain and anger his recent remarks about gays and lesbians may have caused.
In a statement on Thursday, Zuma said he had noted his remarks at the "Shaka Day commemoration" in kwaDukuza, KwaZulu-Natal on Sunday had been interpreted in various ways, and might have hurt and angered the gay and lesbian community.
The remarks were made in the context of the traditional way of raising children, he said.
He had commented in particular about the manner in which communities tended to neglect boys and over-emphasise the traditional upbringing of girls, as evidenced in ceremonies such as the reed dance.
"I said the communal upbringing of children in the past was able to assist parents to notice children with a different social orientation.
"I however did not intend to have this interpreted as a condemnation of gays and lesbians."
The Constitution clearly stated that nobody should be discriminated against on any grounds, including sexual orientation, and he upheld and abided by the Constitution, Zuma said.
"Our lesbian and gay compatriots are protected by the Constitution and I respect their rights, in my capacity as an individual citizen and as a member and one of the leaders of the ANC.
"I also respect, acknowledge and applaud the sterling contribution of many gay and lesbian compatriots in the struggle that brought about our freedom, and the role they continue to play in the building of a successful non-racial, non-discriminatory South Africa.
"I apologise unreservedly for the pain and anger that my remarks may have caused," Zuma said.
from Independent Online
A Lansing man stood on the Diag yesterday preaching hatred toward the gay. His booming voice drew a fiery and at times offensive counter-protest.
"The Pope is going to hell," Michael Venyah shouted to the crowd of dozens gathered around him. "Homos are going to hell."
Then, signaling one student out of the crowd, Venyah proclaimed "You are going to hell!"
The comment was one of the many that inflamed the large, angry crowd that faced off with him on the Diag for much of the afternoon yesterday.
Venyah and Chris Lemieux, who said he'd been following Venyah since he became a Christian seven years ago, berated students with religious rhetoric for at least five hours, squaring off with students who swore and cursed at them.
Both wore red shirts with yellow lettering that said "ALL HOMOS GO TO HELL." "God did not make you gay," Lemieux shouted, following his proclamation with obscene descriptions of sexual acts, which he said would result in damnation.
Venyah, who leads the Lansing-based Soulwinners Ministry with his wife Tamika, says he is on a nationwide tour of college campuses. According to his website, www.soul-winners.org, he and Lemieux are at the beginning of an eight-month, 15,600-mile, 27-state, 64-campus tour.
"We are here to tell the students, faculty and staff of the judgment that awaits them," Venyah said.
Venyah also condemned oral sex, masturbation and any form of sex outside of marriage.
LSA sophomore Jeremy Borovitz was one of the many students who challenged Venyah and Lemieux in response to a derogatory comment about anal sex. After Lemieux finished a vivid tirade, Borovitz jumped out from the crowd toward the two black preachers.
"You know what else it says is OK in the Bible?" Borovitz said. "It says slavery is OK."
Borovitz then sarcastically suggested onlookers chain the preacher up and "drag him out of here."
Many in the angry crowd cheered and laughed.
Although most modern Christians do not believe the Bible condones slavery, scripture has been used to support the practice in the past.
Reached by phone late last night, Borovitz said he regretted using slavery as an example. He said he was angry at the preacher and that he reacted in the heat of the moment.
"It angered me what that guy was doing," he said. "I'm not gay, but if there was a gay person there, it would have offended them."
Borovitz said that he was trying to point out how ridiculous the preacher was being.
"Slavery's wrong," Borovitz said. "Slavery's inherently wrong. I mean it entirely sarcastically. It's a ridiculous concept."
Other students consulted their Bibles and tried to confront the two preachers with theological rebukes of their claims.
LSA junior Jonathan Tyrpak, who identified himself as a member of Campus Crusade for Christ, urged interested students to join him for a more civil discussion of Christianity.
"I think this man is a misrepresentation of what Jesus Christ says in the Bible," Tyrpak said. "I believe that God will forgive all your sins if you believe in him. I think the crowd's reaction has to do with the lack of grace that this man shows."
As the afternoon wore on, the exchanges between the two preachers and the crowd grew more intense.
A large group of students began chanting "asshole" loudly. Several same-sex students kissed and hugged each other in order to draw the scorn of the preachers. Others went a step further and tried to spank Lemieux. Another student attempted to flick ash from his cigarette on Venyah's head.
Jeff Speaks, a School of Music sophomore who stopped one student from drawing pictures of stick figures engaged in anal sex on the back of Lemieux's shirt, said he was appalled at the behavior of the mob on the Diag.
"I have a strong disagreement with what they are saying," Speaks said. "But the crowd's reaction is despicable. They should not be shoving him and taunting him - he has every right to be on the Diag."
Borovitz said it was hard to not take action.
"He is saying hateful things," Borovitz said. "And I do not believe I have to stand by and watch him preach hate."
Other students stood by silently watching the spectacle unfold.
"You learn a lot just sitting here," Business sophomore Eric Jarrett said. "You learn a lot about different views and a lot about how people behave."
Venyah, who drove into town this morning in a camper with the license plate "SIN NOT," said he works full-time as a preacher. He and his wife jointly hold the title to Soulwinners Ministries International, a business registered in Lansing.
Last winter, Venyah gained notoriety for preaching at Michigan State University.
He and his wife both attended MSU in the early 1990s according to reports by the State News, the campus paper.
Ashley Hajski, an LSA junior who identified herself as a Christian and a member of New Life Church, questioned Venyah's aggressive methods.
"I just wonder what his turnover rate is," Hajski said. "It doesn't really help to tell people they are evil."
Venyah said he has a 100-percent success rate.
"Everyone that is here today now knows they are living in sin," Venyah said.
Venyah said that he and his cohorts will be back.
"Because you are all so ignorant and hell-bound, we have no choice but to come back tomorrow," Venyah said.
from The Michigan Daily / Walter Nowinski
The recent cover of Rolling Stone magazine is disturbing for more than one reason.
First, there's the picture: pop star Justin Timberlake, sopping wet, striking a quasi-Springsteen pose with a guitar. (Let's hope the boy owns that guitar, because all that water will ruin it.) Does he even play guitar?
Then, there's Rolling Stone's bold proclamation that Timberlake — once just "that one dude from N'Sync" — is now "the New King of Sex."
Finally, the self-declared dean of rock critics — Robert Christgau — reviews Timberlake's new album "FutureSex/LoveSounds" with the words: "He knows more about sex than you do, and when he talks about whips he doesn't mean cars."
Justin Timberlake — King of Sex? I know young Justin is a fixture on People's Sexiest Men Alive list (a list which has, in past, featured Nick Nolte). I know his hit single "SexyBack" is rife with junior-league, vanilla perversion references like "You see these shackles, baby? I'm your slave / I'll let you whip me when I misbehave."
But — for real? Must the men of this world bow down and let this usurper take the throne? Must we simply allow Timberlake unquestioned dominion over the fantasy lives of post-adolescent girls, gay guys and three-quarters of "The View?" Must we simply accept that while previous generations could look to, say, Clark Gable or Elvis or Barry White as the exemplar of male hotness, we're stuck with a former Mouseketeer?
I say no.
I say, if Timberlake is the so-called "King of Sex," it's time for a peasant revolt! We can do better than this. Somewhere out there, the real King of Sex awaits his (or ... her?) coronation.
from The Associated Press / Zach Dundas
LONDON, ENGLAND - Irish anti-poverty campaigner and rocker Bob Geldof Wednesday hailed as "highly effective" the abstinence initiative spearheaded by US President George W Bush in the fight against Aids in Africa. Live Aid founder Geldof, guest speaker Wednesday at Britain's Labour Party conference in Manchester, northern Britain, said the controversial Pepar programme gave women "a weapon" for protecting their health.
The Bush administration launched the 15-billion-dollar President's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief in 2003, which has been criticized for diverting a third of the funds to faith-based groups that preach abstinence.
Opponents protest that it smacks of Christian fundamentalism and endangers lives by failing to place sufficient emphasis on condoms.
Geldof, stressing that he was an atheist, told the conference that Aids had stabilized in Africa - partly because of condom distribution.
But he added: "Pepar, which is Bush's almost personal response to the Global Fund, is a highly effective Aids combatant mechanism. It works. It's uncomfortable for people to speak these unspoken truths but a lot of that stuff is working."
from The Raw Story
Star Jones has given the National Enquirer an ultimatum: either admit that a story calling her her marriage a "sham" is untrue, or prepare to do battle in court (and remember, Star is a lawyer).
Bob Chapman, the high-powered attorney who represents Star and Al, tells TMZ that the Enquirer's story that Al is gay and the marriage is falling apart is not true. Chapman insists, "They are happily married," adding that Star is "emotional and stressed out" over the story.
The article in question, published in this week's issue dated October 2, 2006, features the headline "Star Jones' Husband Walks Out!" In a demand letter to the Enquirer, Chapman writes the article is "false and defamatory" and has "caused them massive damage." The letter also states, "You have also chosen to state that Mr. Reynolds is gay. While Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds believe that everyone should be free to make their own choice concerning sexual preference and that there is nothing wrong with being gay, you have nonetheless chosen to falsely state that Mr. Reynolds is gay." Chapman also states that the Enquirer has done "grave damage to their reputations, both publicly and privately."
Brad Zeifman, a rep for the couple, issued the following statement to TMZ: "Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds have tried to handle these vicious lies and attempts at character assassination with quiet dignity for far too long...now they will pursue immediate legal action against anyone who makes false statements about their family."
In a recent interview with Jawn Murray of AOL's Black Voices, Star stressed, "I love my husband and he loves and respects me-period! People can say what they want, but Al and I share what I like to call an unbreakable bond." Star reminds the public that, "It's not easy being under such intense scrutiny by the media. All we're trying to do is live our lives as Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds."
A rep for the National Enquirer had no comment.
from TMZ
A Miami-Dade jury awarded $1.5 million to former South Beach bartender Patrick Timothy O'Neill, who said two urologists injured his penis while treating him for warts.
O'Neill, 43, filed suit in '98 against Drs. Bernardo Lederman and Jacob Cohen, along with South Beach Urological Associates.
Lederman ''surgically removed'' three papilloma on April 18, 1996. Afterward, O'Neill says, he developed an infection and received treatment through the following month. 'On each and every visit, the defendants assured [O'Neill] that there was nothing wrong with his penis and that he was `obsessing over nothing,' '' says the complaint, filed by attorney David H. Gold.
O'Neill ended up with a ''disabling case of Peyronie's Disease, among other things,'' the suit says. Peyronie's Disease ''begins as a localized inflammation and can develop into a hardened scar,'' according to a website co-sponsored by the National Institutes of Health. ``In severe cases, the hardened plaque reduces flexibility, causing pain and forcing the penis to bend or arc during erection.''
Gold says O'Neill suffered constant penile pain, plus curvature and an atrophic-like condition that caused a decrease in size. O'Neill has undergone treatments for the past 10 years, including anesthesia injections into the penis and spinal epidural space.
He alleged negligent care.
''He has to use Lidocaine every day on his penis,'' Gold says. He must also take the painkiller Percocet before and after sex.
Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Gerald Hubbart presided over the five-day trial. The six jurors -- four men, two women -- deliberated for more than an hour Monday. They awarded O'Neill $1 million for past pain and suffering; $490,000 for future pain and suffering, and $10,000 for past medical expenses. They found Lederman 90 percent at fault. Cohen got hit for 10 percent.
''The jury said by their verdict that they believed him, they believed his injury, they recognized and understood what he's been going through for 10 ½ years,'' Gold says.
Attorneys William Fink and Constantine ''Dean'' Nickas represent the docs. ''We do not believe that the plaintiff's alleged injuries are related to the care rendered by our clients,'' Nickas says. ``We are evaluating the events that took place during the trial and considering our appellate options.''
O'Neill, an aspiring screenwriter, now lives in Los Angeles.
from The Miami Herald
Gaybar.com today released its first annual list of winners for World’s Best Gay Bars. Dividing the winners into two categories -- one for the United States and one for Global winners -- the website’s editors have selected 20 gay and gay-friendly bars from around the world to be on the 2006 winner’s list.
“Our site features literally thousands of gay bars worldwide and we wanted to select a list of those bars that consistently receive rave rating from our readers,” said GayBar.com Editor Kevin Marsh. “Our editors took the lead from our readers and sent out our correspondents to look at their recommendations and we created our list of winners. There are a lot of great establishments out there.”
US winners included SideTrack in Chicago, I-Candy in LA and Boom in Minneapolis. Among global winners were London’s Heaven, Toronto’s Fly and Melbourne’s Diva.
Criteria for making the two top ten lists included the standard of music, the reputation with the local gay and lesbian community, décor, accessibility and the overall vibe. Winners came from all over the US as well as from Canada, Australia, France, Brazil and Germany.
“The number of gay bars worldwide has grown significantly over the last 15 years and they have become much more visible and part of the entertainment mainstream.” said Marsh. “The result is a huge variety of venues with some of the most up-to-date sound systems, innovative programming and creative marketing, in some cases to the broader straight community.”
The website plans to run the competition annually. Next year, GayBar.com plans to open the competition to voting by site visitors.
from Press Release
EVANSTON, ILLINOIS -
One of the great mysteries of human sexuality is what causes some men to be gay.
Scientists have rejected earlier notions that homosexuality is a mental illness. The thinking now is that sexual orientation is determined by roughly 40 percent genetic factors and 60 percent environmental factors.
And now researchers at Evanston Northwestern Healthcare Research Institute are hoping to identify one or more genes that help determine sexual orientation.
The Molecular Genetic Study of Sexual Orientation is recruiting 1,000 pairs of gay brothers to donate blood samples for DNA analysis.
"We hope our study will dispel mythologies and ignorance about homosexuality," said Dr. Alan Sanders, a Northwestern University psychiatrist who is directing the five-year study.
Some fear tests, 'cure'
If science can show that homosexuality is a biological trait, like eye color, the public likely would be more accepting of gays, said Timothy Murphy, a University of Illinois at Chicago bioethicist and paid consultant to the study.
But some gays are wary. They fear discovering gay genes could lead to efforts to "cure" homosexuality, or to prenatal tests for gay genes.
Researchers say that's not their intent.
Also wary of genetics research, Murphy said, are religious conservatives who believe homosexuality is a lifestyle choice.
But Greg and Phil Scollan of Chicago, two gay brothers who are participating in the study, believe there could be benefits to the research. It might "make people re-evaluate their thoughts on homosexuality," Phil Scollan said.
Tends to run in families
Homosexuality tends to run in families. While 2 percent to 4 percent of all men are gay, 8 percent to 12 percent of brothers of gay men are gay.
Previous twin studies have pointed to both genetic and environmental causes. An identical twin who is gay is much more likely to have a gay twin than is a fraternal twin who is gay. But even though identical twins share the exact same genes, it's not unusual for one twin to be gay and the other twin to be straight.
Possible environmental factors include family upbringing, exposure to certain hormones during pregnancy and having older brothers.
from The Chicago Sun-Times
Jack Nicholson wanted to get down and dirty in his new movie. The legendary actor convinced director Martin Scorsese to include a three-in-a-bed sex scene - featuring himself, two girls and a sex toy.
Nicholson, famous for his womanizing ways, plays Mafia gang leader Frank Costello in "The Departed" and was insistent the movie, as well having scenes of extreme violence, included details of the maniacal character's sex life. The "As Good As It Gets" star was also very specific as to how explicit the sequence should be.
He told Rolling Stone magazine, "I thought it would be more frightening if my character had a sexual component, so I called Martin up and said, 'Look, I just thought of what would be an interesting scene for my character - him having wild sex. And in this scene with two girls, one of the girls is wearing a strap-on. This was my idea and it was improvisational, and Marty went for it."
Nicholson recently revealed that he almost turned down a part in the movie because it did not have enough sex in it.
He said, "These kind of monsters usually don't have a sex life on screen, so I wanted to bring that to the part. He's a bad nut job so he's evil sexually too. Fuck 'em, kill 'em, you know."
In the film, which also stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon, Nicholson plays the head of a Mafia gang infiltrated by an undercover police officer at the same time as one of the Mob members poses as a cop in the special investigation unit of the Boston police force.
from All Headline News
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - Three men who pleaded guilty to charges stemming from a series of brutal beatings after a gay pride festival in Balboa Park were sentenced yesterday to prison.
James Carroll, 24; Lyonn Tatum, 18; and Kenneth Lincoln, 24, admitted to criminal charges Friday on the second day of a San Diego Superior Court hearing in which prosecutors began laying out evidence.
In keeping with the plea agreement, Judge Frederick Maguire sentenced Carroll to 11 years in prison, Tatum to eight years and Lincoln to 32 months.
Prosecutors said Carroll, Tatum and a juvenile assaulted six men with a baseball bat and a knife July 29 as the victims were leaving the annual Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Festival in Balboa Park.
The attacks started about 10:45 p.m., on Redwood Circle near the lawn bowling center east of Sixth Avenue and north of Laurel Street.
One of the victims was beaten so severely that almost every bone in his face was broken. Reconstructive surgery was required for that victim, who almost died, and he spent two weeks in a hospital intensive care unit, according to court testimony.
Another victim, Paul Mullins, 34, testified he was hit twice with a bat by one assailant while another two shouted a gay slur.
Mullins said he called 911 after the attack and followed the men for about 10 minutes before they attacked another man sitting on a bench. He testified he then saw them beat a man in the bushes near Cabrillo Bridge while shouting “faggot.”
Mullins told the judge yesterday he was saddened and angry that no one who came in contact with the attackers, particularly those who heard them planning it, tried to stop them.
Mullins said he was “disappointed” he will have to attend a sentencing next week for a 15-year-old boy involved in the beatings, and speak to a judge about the teenager's fate.
“I don't know him. I don't know much about him, but this is what you've dumped in my lap,” Mullins said to the defendants.
The teenager pleaded guilty last Monday in Juvenile Court to three counts of assault with a deadly weapon and hate crime allegations. He could be sentenced to up to 13 years in the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Division of Juvenile Justice when he is sentenced Oct. 4.
Carroll pleaded guilty to attempted murder and assault. He also admitted using a bat and carrying out a hate crime.
Tatum pleaded guilty to assault charges, using a knife and committing a hate crime.
Lincoln, who was on parole on a domestic violence conviction at the time of the beatings, pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact. Prosecutors said he was not present during the attacks, but tattooed Tatum and shaved his head to help keep him from being recognized and arrested.
Lincoln and Carroll told the judge Friday that they disagreed with prosecutors' version of the facts, but felt it was in their best interest to take the plea agreement. Had they been convicted of the original charges they would have faced much longer sentences.
from The San Diego Union-Tribune
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - The 44-year-old married Chicago man was lured in 2003 by the promise of a longer and thicker penis.
Thousands of dollars and multiple surgeries later, the man has something "that doesn't even resemble a penis," said his attorney, Lawrence Griffin. "It's absolutely grotesque."
Dozens of Chicago men have the same shrunken deformities, and each alleges Dr. Sheldon Burman was the one who convinced them his surgery could provide them with something that nature did not.
But based on the repeated horror stories emerging from his Male Sexual Dysfunction Clinic at 3401 N. Central Ave. -- 45 malpractice claims have been filed against Burman -- state officials recently moved to revoke his medical license.
It is one of the state's first revocation requests against a doctor for a "pattern of practice" showing "incapacity or incompetence to practice," according to revocation records, which add that Burman engaged in a practice to "deceive, defraud or harm the public."
That action comes after millions of dollars in judgments against Burman and his clinic, and as the American Urological Association labeled the penis-enlargement procedure he promotes as unsafe.
"[Burman] has got a track record of a lot of horrendous acts," said attorney Robert Strelecky, whose Clifford Law Offices recently won a $454,000 verdict against Burman on behalf of a 57-year-old Chicago man whose small intestine was punctured while fat was drained from his abdomen so it could be injected into his penis, enlarging it.
Burman said he stands by every one of the thousands of procedures he estimates he's done since 1981.
He knows there are critics who say he's selling fantasies to those with self-esteem issues and acknowledges a majority of his patients have normal-sized penises.
But he swears by the vacuum and stretching devices available on his Web site, www.lengthandgirth.com, and vows his surgeries can provide a penis with an extra half-inch of length and a 50 percent increase in girth.
Burman, 80, was once a well-respected heart surgeon until a 1981 car accident limited his mobility and he began operating on penises.
He said he is self-taught in the procedure and has no formal background in urology or plastic surgery.
Opposed by medical groups
And when leading medical groups and urologists bashed his practice as harmful, he and a handful of other doctors created their own group -- the American Academy of Phalloplasty Surgeons -- and deemed the procedures safe.
"Most of the men I've treated write me letters to tell me what a wonderful difference this has made in their lives," Burman said from his Highland Park home. "And, really, no matter how awful the initial results might appear, it doesn't take much fine tuning to get a more desirable result."
There are few doctors in the country who perform penis-enlargement surgeries, according to Dr. Lawrence Ross, urology professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and "it's really frowned upon. It's not sanctioned, not considered appropriate and in many cases, is dangerous."
Dr. Ira Sharlip, of the American Urological Association, said so few doctors perform the surgery "because the results are not good," adding "nothing works for increasing penile size."
Burman has also faced lawsuits based on work he did to insert implants in penises to help with erectile dysfunction -- a largely approved, last-resort surgical procedure. He's accused of improperly inserting rods or not providing post-operative guidance, allowing penises to become infected and, ultimately, disfigured.
Those patients often wind up seeing urologists like Ross.
Blames patients
"We see infections, sloughing of penile skin, and we have to go back and reconstruct or graft the penis," he said.
There are seven malpractice claims pending against Burman in Cook County Circuit Court, though he says most of them are frivolous.
Burman says patients are to blame when procedures go wrong -- saying many don't follow post-operative steps like cleansing and weighting it down, to ensure a bigger penis.
Though he says he no longer practices and has closed his office, other attorneys say he has stopped practicing before, only to start again.
Burman acknowledges he still takes calls from patients and will help guide them to other doctors -- members of his organization -- who still perform the enlargement surgery.
"I've had a very exciting and gratifying career," Burman said. "I feel as if I've done a lot of good for a lot of people."
from The Chicago Sun-Times
BARCELONA, SPAIN - A giant inflatable dummy representing George W. Bush and an English bulldog representing Tony Blair were displayed as a political statement showing the artist's opposition to the US/UK's led war in Iraq.
British singer and composer George Michael kicked off his first tour in fifteen years in Barcelona Saturday.
The artist staged a two-hour-long concert in which he included all his past and present hits from the times he was the lead singer of Wham! in the eighties until his last album Patience in 2004.
Right before a twenty-minute break, a giant inflatable dummy representing US president George W. Bush and an English bulldog representing UK's prime minister Tony Blair were displayed as a political statement showing the artist's opposition to the US/UK's led war in Iraq.
George Michael was born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou in Bushey, North London, in 1963. During his student years, he played and sang for several musical bands until 1982, when he and Andrew Ridgeley formed Wham!
In 1987 he launched his solo career with the album Faith, followed by commercial flaw Listen Without Prejudice in 1989, Older (1996), the compilation Ladies and Gentlemen (1998), Songs from the last century (1999) and Patience (2004). He is set to release a new album later this year.
During his 2006 tour will George Michael will visit many European countries, including Italy, Belgium, France, Germany and the UK.
from eitb24
LONDON, ENGLAND - Rupert Everett has found himself in a win-lose situation. The actor recently admitted he takes medication to stop from going bald, but as a result, the powerful pills have made him run out of sperm - literally. But at least he has his hair, he says, and that's all that matters.
The openly gay actor - who once starred with Madonna in the movie "The Next Best Thing," about a gay man who gets his friend pregnant and agrees to raise the child - doesn't care about the serious side-effect because he would rather look good than be fertile.
Everett, 47, said, "I take medication for alopecia. It means I don't have any sperm left. If I stop taking the pills, all my hair will fall out, but I would rather have hair than sperm."
Everett has just published his autobiography, "Red Carpets and Other Banana Skins," but insists he has been careful not to offend his friend Madonna by revealing any secrets about the "Hung Up" singer.
He said, "I adore Madonna and I know I have to be careful about telling the truth. People are very sensitive about things and I definitely didn't want to upset her. I didn't want to upset anyone. I don't mind people saying, 'I don't believe it!' Then getting over it. But I would hate to really, really hurt someone."
from All Headline News
A latest report published in the September issue of Journal of AIDS, has established the importance of ensuring regular genital hygiene in males, which goes a long way in reducing the risk of contracting HIV infection. Previous studies have shown reduction in HIV rates with male circumcision.
Dr. Nigel O'Farrell and a team from Ealing Hospital in London observed the presence of "subpreputial penile wetness," under the foreskin of most uncircumcised men, likely to cause infection.
To understand the link, researchers examined the clinical reports of 386 uncircumcised men who did not suffer any genital lesions or discharge. Upon examination of these subjects, Physicians observed that in nearly 80 percent of the cases, there was a minimal wetness around the penis. Surprisingly, only one out of 36 circumcised men, they saw, really had wetness.
Further researchers observed that HIV infection was 66.3 percent prevalent in the men who had penile wetness, as against 45.9 percent in men who had no wetness. It was also observed that the extent of wetness did not have any bearing over the risk of infection.
The researchers said “information, education, and communication programs at a number of levels would be needed: for instance, encouraging washing related to sexual activity - precoital or postcoital or as an everyday life skill."
from Med India
CHESAPEAKE, VIRGINIA - Sherri Ford caught up with friends Saturday as they settled in on a blanket, chairs and coolers nearby, in the grass at Chesapeake City Park.
Ford, 28, comes every year to Out in the Park - an annual festival celebrating Hampton Roads' gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community. This was the festival's debut in Chesapeake; for more than a decade, it had been held at Norfolk's Lakewood Park.
To many, the change was a good thing.
"It's becoming more mainstream," said Ford, who lives in Norfolk.
She added that moving the venue to Chesapeake reflects the way cities in the area are growing with new developments and new residents. So, too, is Hampton Roads' gay community, she said.
"We're not hidden anymore," Michele Barron, 30, chimed in. She's from Newport News and came to the festival with her partner and their son. "This is really a place that is family- friendly - you're able to bring your kids."
Like Barron, several families, couples and friends sat on blankets or on the grass to listen to the day's entertainment. Others checked out the festival's first beer garden as well as 60 vendors - more than in the past, according to Ed Jones, an executive board member of Hampton Roads Pride, which organized the event.
There were booths providing such items as rainbow-colored jewelry, information about St. Mark's Episcopal Church and books from Lambda Rising in Norfolk's Ghent neighborhood.
Members of the Commonwealth Coalition passed out "vote no" literature, too, in reference to a question that will appear on November's ballot, asking voters if they want to amend Virginia's Constitution to ban same-sex marriages. The Commonwealth Coalition is composed of gay rights activists and business and religious organizations.
Opponents say the proposed amendment is discriminatory and could interfere with contracts between unwed heterosexual and same-sex couples dealing with health care, property ownership and child custody.
On Saturday, Franco Ferrandini-Pucci did his part to get the word out, walking through the crowds with a sign that read: "Equal love, equal marriage, equal rights!"
"He's our one-man parade," Jones said.
He usually does something like this at every year's Out in the Park, Ferrandini-Pucci, 71, said. This year, the amendment was on his mind.
"We want you to vote 'no' on all this," he said, pointing.
The festival was the culmination of a week long pride celebration, including events at the Naro Cinema in Norfolk and a cocktail reception for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender veterans.
Keynote speaker Rich Merritt took the stage at 2 p.m. to share some of his personal story, which is chronicled in his book, "Secrets of a Gay Marine Porn Star."
Merritt encouraged people to stop searching for role models and to instead be empowered by those around them.
"There's no reason to sit back and whine that we don't have a Rosa Parks when there are heroes all around us," he told the audience. "And there's nothing stopping you from becoming your own hero."
Meanwhile, Betty Perry of Virginia Beach strolled past booths with her friend Carol Bland of Norfolk. It was Perry's first visit to Out in the Park. And it was liberating.
"I've been closeted. But I'm not closeted anymore," said Perry, 68. "It's just nice to be with people where you can just be yourself."
from The Virginia Pilot
INDIAN WELLS, CALIFORNIA - A Christian conference aimed at those who are "impacted by homosexuality" drew more than 1,400 people to a church in the Coachella Valley, home to one of the country's most vibrant gay communities.
The Love Won Out conference, organized by the influential evangelical Christian political group Focus on the Family, included an appearance by the mother of actress Anne Heche and sessions with titles such as "Straight Thinking on Gay Marriage."
The event was held at Southwest Community Church in Indian Wells, and organizers say it was among the top three of 40 conferences it has held nationwide since 1998 in terms of attendance.
Indian Wells is by far the smallest city to host a Love Won Out conference this year, with Atlanta next, on Nov. 4. The largest was in February in St. Louis, drawing 1,800 people.
"It is such a big issue in the culture these days," said Bob Thune, pastor at Southwest. "It certainly is an issue in this area."
Billboards advertising the event along the valley's major roads sparked a controversy in this area that is home to two cities - Palm Springs and Cathedral City - that have majority gay city councils.
Palm Springs in particular is known as a gay-friendly vacation, retirement and residential area. It is host to two major gay events each year: the White Party and the Dinah Shore Weekend.
Troy Willis of Indio said he likes the Love Won Out soft-sell approach to urging people not to be gay.
"It is not hate," Willis said of the methods touted at the event. "We do need to reach out, that is a fault of ours, where the church has dropped the ball."
Willis said he respected the protesters' right to speak their minds outside the conference. And he said Christian protesters of gay-themed events have drawn undue scorn from the gay community.
People who attended paid $50 to $60 to register. Speakers referred audience members to books and Christian groups for more information. And the production included multimedia presentations and large video screens displaying images of the speakers in the church's main auditorium.
Protests question intent
Outside the church, Coachella Valley-based protesters carried pro-gay signs and waved at people en route to the event. Men embraced each other in an effort to show conference attendees a positive image of gay relationships.
"I don't object to having a religious belief," said Timothy Kincaid of Los Angeles, who protested the event. "What I object to is when you come in and you don't tell the truth."
Kincaid said the message of love at the conference is undermined by the Focus on the Family suggestion that people cannot simultaneously be gay and effective Christians.
Inside, people who said they were struggling with their sexual identity sought advice from speakers and consoled one another.
"This is a struggle I've had to struggle with since I was 13," said James Uvence, 21, of Fontana.
Uvence said he hoped the conference would help him overcome an attraction toward men.
"I want to be with church. I want to be with God," Uvence said. "I didn't choose to become gay. I don't know where these thoughts came (from)."
The event included speakers who told the audience they had lived more rewarding and healthy lives after giving up gay lifestyles.
When Heche spoke, she described finding out in separate instances that her late husband, a Christian minister, and her daughter, a popular movie actress, were gay. Her husband subsequently died of complications from AIDS, she said. Her daughter, Anne, former girlfriend of talk-show host Ellen Degeneres, eventually married a man.
"These two events changed my life," said Heche. "I wish I had something like this a few years ago," she said.
The gist of her talk centered on overcoming anger toward the gay community. "God was saying, 'Stop holding that sin against them,'" Heche said.
The conference opened with a video address from Focus on the Family founder James Dobson and went on to include testimonials from people who said they were no longer gay.
Organizers said the aim of the event was to help families and people struggling to understand gay lifestyles.
Love Won Out media director Gary Schneeberger said the event was not aimed at influencing political decisions on gay marriage, domestic partner benefits or gay adoption.
But in at least one of the conference sessions, the speaker highlighted gay-marriage ballot initiatives and told the audience arguments they could use against gay-marriage advocates.
"National same-sex marriage could also mean a very real threat to our religious freedom," Bill Maier, a Focus on the Family vice president, told the group.
People who attended said they welcomed the opportunity to learn information that could help them deal with gay friends and family members. Many of the sessions covered balancing thoughts about gay feelings, gay friends or gay relatives with living a Christian lifestyle.
"That is what I am here about," said Becky West of Orange County, who said she has a close relative who is gay. "I am here about the love for that person."
from The Desert Sun
BEIJING, CHINA - There are many thousands of Chinese restaurants around in the UK and everyone has their favourite dish, but only in China itself do chefs specialise in a range of slightly more unusual delicacies.
The dish in front of me is grey and shiny.
"Russian dog," says my waitress Nancy.
"Big dog," I reply.
"Yes," she says. "Big dog's penis..."
We are in a cosy restaurant in a dark street in Beijing but my appetite seems to have gone for a stroll outside.
Nancy has brought out a whole selection of delicacies.
They are draped awkwardly across a huge platter, with a crocodile carved out of a carrot as the centrepiece.
Nestling beside the dog's penis are its clammy testicles, and beside that a giant salami-shaped object.
"Donkey," says Nancy. "Good for the skin..."
She guides me round the penis platter.
"Snake. Very potent. They have two penises each."
I did not know that.
Deer-blood cocktail
"Sheep... horse... ox... seal - excellent for the circulation."
She points to three dark, shrivelled lumps which look like liquorice allsorts - a special treat apparently - reindeer, from Manchuria.
The Guolizhuang restaurant claims to be China's only speciality penis emporium, and no, it is not a joke.
The atmosphere is more exotic spa than boozy night-out.
Nancy describes herself as a nutritionist.
"We don't call them waiters here. And we don't serve much alcohol," she says. "Only common people come here to get drunk and laugh."
But she does offer me a deer-blood and vodka cocktail, which I decide to skip.
Medicinal purposes
The restaurant's gristly menu was dreamt up by a man called Mr Guo.
He is 81 now and retired.
After fleeing China's civil war back in 1949, he moved to Taiwan, and then to Atlanta, Georgia, where he began to look deeper into traditional Chinese medicine, and experiment on the appendages of man's best friend.
Apparently, they are low in cholesterol and good, not just for boosting the male sex drive, but for treating all sorts of ailments.
Laughter trickles through the walls of our dining room.
"Government officials," says Nancy. "Two of them upstairs. They're having the penis hotpot."
Most of the restaurant's guests are either wealthy businessmen or government bureaucrats who, as Nancy puts it, have been brought here by people who want their help.
What better way to secure a contract than over a steaming penis fondue.
Discretion is assured as all the tables are in private rooms.
The glitziest one has gold dishes.
"Some like their food served raw," says Nancy, "like sushi. But we can cook it anyway you like."
Rare order
"Not long ago, a particularly rich real estate mogul came in with four friends. All men. Women don't come here so often, and they shouldn't eat testicles," says Nancy solemnly.
The men spent $5,700 (£3,000) on a particularly rare dish, something that needed to be ordered months in advance.
"Tiger penis," says Nancy.
The illegal trade in tiger parts is a big problem in China.
Campaigners say the species is being driven towards extinction because of its popularity as a source of traditional medicine.
I mention this, delicately, to Nancy, but she insists that all her tiger supplies come from animals that have died of old age.
"Anyway, we only have one or two orders a year," she says.
"So what does it taste like?" I ask.
"Oh, the same as all the others," she says blithely.
And does it have any particular potency? "No. People just like to order tiger to show off how much money they have."
Welcome to the People's Republic of China - tigers beware.
Sliced and pickled
"Oh yes," she adds, "the same group also ate an aborted reindeer foetus.
"That is very good for your skin. And here it is..."
Another "nutritionist" walks in bearing something small and red wrapped in cling film.
My appetite is heading for the airport.
Still, I think, it would be rude not to try something.
I am normally OK about this sort of thing. I have had fried cockroaches and sheep's eyes, so...
There is a small bowl of sliced and pickled ox penis on the table.
I pick up a piece with my chopsticks and start to chew. It is cold and bland and rubbery.
Nancy gives me a matronly smile.
"This one," she says, "should be eaten every day."
from The BBC
TRINIDAD - People who are sexually assaulted are being urged to seek medical attention as soon as possible as there is now treatment that can prevent HIV infection.
This was disclosed by technical director of the National Aids Coordinating Committee (NACC) Dr Amery Browne to the Sunday Express.
Dr Browne said that once a rape is reported a series of investigations, examinations and clinical investigations are done and special interventions are made to reduce the risk of pregnancy, gonorrhoea, chlamydia, bacterial vaginosis and HIV infection.
"Even after sexual assault there is much hope in terms of preventing pregnancy...a range of sexually transmitted infections and the big one which is HIV," he said.
He noted that the treatment to prevent HIV infection consists of similar drugs to those used for the standard treatment for people living with HIV, with a few stipulations and conditions. It is called post prophylactic HIV treatment and is given for a limited duration, usually 28 days, in a simplified dosage regime of two to three antiretroviral medications or ARVs.
Browne stressed that it should be initiated as soon as possible after the assault, "the sooner the better", and ideally within the first 36 hours. He noted that after 72 hours it is much less likely to be effective.
He recalled that at one of the World Cup qualifying football games he got a call about the rape of a young woman.
"This particular young lady was given anti-retroviral treatment, she was followed up and she was subsequently HIV negative," he said.
He described the treatment as "highly effective" and though studies vary, some find over 79 per cent rate in reducing HIV infection in cases of sexual assault.
Browne noted that there is a protocol in place at public health facilities and local DMOs and relevant nurses were quite familiar with the treatment and reducing risk of HIV infection subsequent to sexual assault.
As in all medical interventions a detailed history is taken of the incident to indicate to the clinical degree of risk associated with the particular exposure, including the type of assault, whether there was penetration, oral, anal or vaginal intercourse, any bleeding or trauma, whether a condom was used, ejaculation and duration of exposure.
Professionals also check the prior HIV status of the victim, the last time she was tested for the virus, information about assailant, knowledge of assailant's disease history and whether or not the individual is available for HIV screening. Browne noted, however, that it was voluntary on the part of the assailant unless there was a court intervention.
An assessment is done whether or not there was significant possibility of HIV exposure and based on clinical judgement of the attending physician, at times with expert advice and with reference to existing guidelines, a decision is made whether or not to initiate HIV prophylaxis.
He said the treatment is given under expert management and normally the patient is initiated on the treatment and referred to a HIV clinic for the follow-up period. Browne noted that it was very important for close follow up of patients regarding serial HIV testing, monitoring for toxicities and possible adverse reactions to the treatment.
He also stressed that it was very important that information be provided to the patient on initiating the treatment as they need to know why they are taking it, be consistent in taking it, the potential for side effects and to be properly counselled, an important part of any assault work up or management of post assault.
One of the places that provides this type of counselling is the Rape Crisis Crisis Society of Trinidad and Tobago. Its president Marcella Alcala told the Sunday Express that when a rape survivor called them, together with "walking them" through the process of going to the hospital and making a report to the police, they were also advised to take tests for HIV/AIDS and informed about the ARV treatment and the time factor involved.
She said they were also informed about emergency contraception which was not an abortion but prevented pregnancy by stopping fertilisation.
Browne noted that all the treatment to prevent HIV and the follow-up was completely free of charge and added that there would be a similar recourse for people accidentally exposed to the virus.
Browne noted that it was very important that individuals who are raped, whether male or female, adult or child, were aware of HIV prophylaxis and encourage increased reporting of sexual assault to the relevant authorities.
He commented that there was a degree of under-reporting of sexual assault partly due to the stigma associated with it and also a sense of fatalism by some victims.
Alcala commented that she was unsure that everyone knew about the ARV treatment for victims of sexual assault though it formed part of the Society's public education and awareness programmes. She explained that most people's attitudes was "that will never happen to me", and usually did not take interest in the information they presented until something happened to them or someone close to them.
"Even if rape has occurred, there are interventions that can prevent many of the consequences of rape."
from Trinidad & Tobago Express
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - Bonnie Bleskachek knows what discrimination feels like.
After she joined the Minneapolis Fire Department years ago, male firefighters would leave the room whenever she walked in, a union official hurled an anti-gay slur at her because she is a lesbian, and a male co-worker hit her in the head with a soda can, according to her lawyer.
Bleskachek endured, becoming the city's first female fire chief and the only openly gay fire chief of a major U.S. city.
But now, two years after ascending to the top job, Bleskachek is the one who stands accused of harassing women.
The 43-year-old chief is on leave as the city conducts an internal investigation amid lawsuits from three female firefighters. Also, a city investigation found evidence that the department gave preferential treatment to lesbians or those who socialize with them.
Bleskachek declined to be interviewed. Her attorney, Jerry Burg, disputed the allegations.
The lawsuits paint a picture of a woman who let her love life influence her personnel decisions in this city of about 390,000.
In one lawsuit, firefighter Kristina Lemon claims Bleskachek pursued a sexual relationship with her and that when Lemon rebuffed her Bleskachek denied her training and advancement opportunities.
The two other lawsuits center on a test for promotion to battalion chief that was suspended and eventually canceled.
from The Houston Chronicle
American Airlines Flight 45—departing Charles de Gaulle at 10:40 A.M., arriving J.F.K. at one each afternoon—is a tourist’s delight: timed just right to avoid late checkout, leaving time for one last Kir Royale at Les Deux Magots. On August 22nd, the coach cabin was packed with vacationing New Yorkers. Ralph Jackson (21A) and David Leisner (21B) were returning from two weeks in France, while Huffa Frobes-Cross (21F) had stopped over in Paris on his way back from South Africa. Assigned to seats 20A and 20B were George Tsikhiseli, a television journalist, and his writer boyfriend, Stephan Varnier. “We’ve been together only four months,” Tsikhiseli said last week. “So it felt like a honeymoon.”
Twelve days earlier, British police had foiled a terrorist plot to blow up airliners. Heightened security had delayed the flight by about two hours, and passengers, by the time they boarded, were ready to relax. “I had a José Saramago book I was looking forward to reading,” Leisner said. “And then I was going to take some melatonin and have a little nap.”
Shortly after takeoff, Varnier nodded off, leaning his head on Tsikhiseli. A stewardess came over to their row. “The purser wants you to stop that,” she said.
“I opened my eyes and was, like, ‘Stop what?’ ” Varnier recalled the other day.
“The touching and the kissing,” the stewardess said, before walking away.
Tsikhiseli and Varnier were taken aback. “He would rest his head on my shoulder or the other way around. We’d kiss—not kiss kiss, just mwah,” Tsikhiseli recalled, making a smacking sound.
In the row behind them were Leisner and Jackson. “They were like two lovebirds,” said Leisner, who is a classical guitarist. Frobes-Cross, a Columbia grad student who was sitting across the aisle, had overheard the stewardess’s decree, too. “First thing I catch is ‘You have to stop touching each other,’ ” he said. “And I’m, like, Whoa, that’s really weird.”
Leisner and Jackson, who were “astounded,” leaned forward to ask if they’d heard correctly. When Tsikhiseli and Varnier confirmed that they had, the four men summoned a stewardess and asked to speak with the purser.
A little later, the purser appeared at Row 20. She was, by all accounts, calm and professional; to the men’s surprise, she said that she knew nothing about the incident and had not instructed the stewardess to tell Tsikhiseli and Varnier to stop touching each other.
“Which stewardess was it?” she asked.
One of the men pointed out the stewardess—a woman with, as Jackson put it, “Texas hair, like from the nineteen-sixties.” According to Leisner, the purser rolled her eyes and said, “Oh, say no more. I know.”
The purser asked the men to describe what they’d been doing, and she acknowledged that their behavior had not been inappropriate. Tsikhiseli then asked if the stewardess would have made the request if the kissers had been a man and a woman. Suddenly, Leisner said, the purser “became very rigid.” Contradicting what she’d told them before, she stiffly said, “Kissing is inappropriate behavior on an airplane.” She then said that she was busy with the meal service and promised to come back.
Half an hour later, the purser returned, this time saying that some passengers had complained about Tsikhiseli and Varnier’s behavior earlier. The men asked more questions. Who had complained? (She couldn’t say.) Could they have the stewardess’s name, or employee number? (No.) Would the purser arrange for an American Airlines representative to meet them upon landing at J.F.K.? (Not possible.) Finally, the purser said that if they didn’t drop the matter the flight would be diverted. After that, Leisner said, “everyone shut up for a while.”
Maybe an hour later, the purser approached Tsikhiseli and said that the captain wanted to talk to him. Tsikhiseli went up to the galley and gave the captain his business card. The captain told Tsikhiseli that if they didn’t stop arguing with the crew he would indeed divert the plane. “I want you to go back to your seat and behave the rest of the flight, and we’ll see you in New York,” he said. Tsikhiseli returned to coach.
Tim Wagner, a spokesman for American, said that the stewardess’s injunction to the men was reasonable, and would have been made whether the couple was gay or straight. “Our passengers need to recognize that they are in an environment with all ages, backgrounds, creeds, and races. We have an obligation to make as many of them feel as comfortable as possible,” he said. (He added, “Our understanding is that the level of affection was more than a quick peck on the cheek.”) But a customer-service representative named Terri, reached last week on the telephone, offered the opinion that kissing on airplanes is indeed permissible. “Oh, yeah! Sure. I’ve seen couples who are on honeymoons,” she said. “They just don’t want you to go into the bathroom together.”
from The New Yorker / Lauren Collins
For 20 years, gay men have vigorously fought the contention that HIV is a disease of homosexuals.
