Here's the second episode of the gay soap opera sponsored by the City of West Hollywood. What do you think? Better or worse than Part 1? Salt Lake ain't WeHo but I still saw some parallels to experiences I and some of my friends have had.
-Jeremiah
8/15/08
"In the Moment" Pt. 2
8/12/08
Do We Love to Feel Bad About Sex?
Lifelube is a constantly updated sex-positive, gay-positive blog that has initiated a referendum on Gay Men's Health in 2009. Its latest entry is from Tony Valenzuela, a controversial and thought provoking activist who presented at our Summit several years ago. His thesis:
It seems hard to imagine for 2009 a gay men's health movement that affirms the good in gay men's lives when what we hear, read and discuss – the movement far more gay men seem to want to be a part of – is how unhealthy we really are.
Click here for the full article.
*** LifeLube has been asking folks around the country to weigh in on what a 2009 Gay Men's Health Agenda might look like. Click here to read some of the ideas that have been circulated. Please feel free to comment here - share your own ideas, or spout off on whether you agree or disagree with Tony - or, you could send in a full post of your own here. They will be happy to publish it!
8/6/08
Life’s a Beach….Jeremiah’s moving to Miami
The beaches of the Great Salt Lake will no longer suffice for Jeremiah Hansen. Jeremiah has announced that he and his partner Derek will be relocating to sunny Miami, Florida. I post this with a tear in my eye as I will truly miss Jeremiah here at the Utah AIDS Foundation. Jeremiah is a leader in our community and with the assistance of the Village Core Group, his volunteers, has taken the gay men’s health programming of the UAF to never before seen heights.
The Village also has a new found energy and image and Jeremiah is directly responsible for that. The Utah AIDS Foundation does not want to lose this momentum or disrupt all of the hard work Jeremiah has accomplished. With that said, we know we will never be able to “replace” Jeremiah, but we do need someone to step into his shoes (size 8 ½).
We are currently seeking someone that loves homos, is comfortable talking about taboo subjects in front of groups of people, is a self-starter, well organized and has a passion for gay men’s health. Interested? If so, drop me a line (and your resume) to Tyler@UtahAIDS.org or give me a call for more information at 801-487-2323, just ask for Tyler.
Village Summit Picturepalooza!
Here's a sampling of photos from the 2008 Village Summit, held August 1-3 at the Jewish Community Center. Click here to see the rest of the pics!
Click here to see the rest of the photos.
Thanks to everyone who helps to organize or support the gay men's health movement in Salt Lake City! If you would like to help plan next year's Summit, please contact Tyler or call (801)487-2323.
Barebacking with HIV
Are you HIV+ or dating someone with HIV? You've probably heard of a recent Swiss study that asserted that "people with undectable viral loads are sexually non-infectious." Turns out that isn't the case.
Here's the Reuters article:
Even if the risk of HIV transmission for a single sexual contact is fairly small, it is not zero, and the risk from exposure becomes substantial over large numbers of sexual contacts, the Australian study found. The researchers' risk assessment was based on mathematical models of 10,000 serodiscordant couples having 100 unprotected sexual contacts per year over a decade.
"The expected number of HIV infections would be 3,524 for male-to-male transmission, corresponding to an increase in incidence of four times compared with incidence under current rates of condom use," said the study.
"When the viral load goes down in the blood due to antiretrovirals, it might not go down in the semen or vaginal and anal fluids," said Australasian Society for HIV Medicine President Jonathan Anderson, who was not involved in the research. "Antiretrovirals can complement consistent condom use, but replacing condom use with medications may end in disaster."
8/5/08
Gayme Night!
When: Saturday, August 9th @ 7pm
Where: Franklin's House 735 South 200 East
What: Board Games, Card Games, Guitar Hero! A fun way to meet guys outside of the clubs (and you won't come home smelling like an ashtray). We'll have some snacks and drinks, but feel free to bring something to share.
Questions? E-mail Carl.
HIV Rates Much Higher than Originally Reported
Medscape Medical News reports a drastic revision of US rates of HIV infection:
This comes on the heels of a Reuters report of a disturbing new study by the American Foundation for AIDS Research:New HIV infections in the United States reached 56,300 in 2006, according to long-anticipated figures released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)on August 2. That is about 40% more than the previous estimate of 40,000 annual infections, which the CDC has been using since the early 1990s.
Globally, men who have sex with men are 19 times more likely to be infected with HIV than the general population, yet MSM are ignored by many UN member states that pledged to monitor the disease among at-risk groups.NPR's Talk of the Nation featured an interesting discussion on these stories today. You can listen to the podcast here. The New York Times has a video about the blurring of gay and straight identity contributing to HIV here.
Asian MSM are 18 times more likely to be HIV-infected than the general population, and African MSM are at least four times more likely to be infected. In Latin America, MSM are 33 times more likely to be infected and account for nearly 25 percent of those infected. Nonetheless, MSM programs receive less than 1 percent of total HIV/AIDS spending in the region.
Criminalization of sex between males and institutionalized homophobia are key drivers of HIV/AIDS in many countries, preventing MSM from accessing even basic HIV services, the report concluded. In seven of 10 countries with the highest rates of HIV among MSM, homosexual activity is criminalized. And in seven UN member states, it is a capital crime.
8/1/08
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