This Week: Hot N' Tasty

Wednesday, September 9th. 7 to 8 PM
Join a phenomenal group of men for great conversation and coffee tomorrow night over at Cafe Mestizo (631 W. North Temple Suite 700)

Tuesday, September 15th. 4 to 8 PM
The Utah AIDS Foundation, in conjunction with National LGBT Center Awareness Day, will be cooking up 3 gallons of chili for the PRIDE Center's first Chili Cook-Off! We've got our poker faces on for this one, so we can't say much about what kind of chili we're making or how delicious it WILL be. We do, however, encourage you to stop by The Pride Center between 4 and 8 PM to try the most scrumptious pot of chili ever cooked up by a community-based organization (hint: the special ingredient is love).

Friday, September 18th. 7 to 9:30 PM
Pre Walk for Life Party! Please join us at Noodles and Company in Sugarhouse as we prepare to walk it out for this year's Walk for Life, a fund raiser to benefit the Utah AIDS Foundation. Still haven't registered to Walk for Life? Visit http://www.firstgiving.com/utahaids today!

Saturday, September 19th. 8:30 AM
WALK FOR LIFE! Join the community in walking to prevent the spread of HIV and provide services for people who are living with HIV. Meet at Liberty Park bright and early for a warm up session and special dance number from the men of The Village. This year's Walk features an optional 22 mile bike tour and the actual walk will end at the 9th and 9th Street Fair. Please call 801.487.2323 with questions.

ARE YOU PAYING ATTENTION?

"At their core, heroes are trailblazers, engulfed by a spirit that is unafraid to break outside the constraints of conformity to innovate and improve the space in which they exist. And their path is a rocky one – some of the greatest minds of our time have been plagued by the pioneer's curse. All too often, the rest of the world greets these ahead-of-their-time individuals with a blind eye (or even worse, hostility). Unfortunately, tangible genius is rarely recognized until it is no longer with us..."

ARE YOU PAYING ATTENTION?

HIV Rates Much Higher than Originally Reported

Medscape Medical News reports a drastic revision of US rates of HIV infection:

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.

This comes on the heels of a Reuters report of a disturbing new study by the American Foundation for AIDS Research:

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.

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.

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.

Northern Utah Steppin' for Life

Do you live in Northern Utah? Grab your walking shoes and wallet and bring friends to help raise money and awareness for HIV prevention and services in Northern Utah!

Here in Salt Lake we often forget about the difficulties facing people with HIV living outside of the city. The Northern Utah Coalition works hard to educate the community, offer testing, and provide support for people with HIV.

Sex Ed, Utah Style

Loved this comic from the folks at idrewthis.org: According to the Deseret News, the State board of education has revised its parental permission form for Utah's sexual education program.

The form, offered in seven languages, states public schools will teach abstinence before marriage and fidelity after marriage; require prior parental consent before teaching any aspect of contraception and/or condoms; and deliver information about communicable diseases, including those transmitted sexually, such as HIV and AIDS.

The form states what is not approved by the state board and can't be taught: intricacies of intercourse, sexual stimulation or erotic behavior; advocacy of homosexuality; advocacy or encouragement of the use of contraceptive methods or devices; and advocacy for sexual activity outside of marriage.

If teachers are not allowed to portray homosexuality in a positive light or talk about sex outside of marriage, where does this leave gay students who can't get married and already hear about the 'evils of homosexuality' from parents and church?

Do we treat HIV like Leprosy?

"Are you clean?"

More and more often I hear the word "clean" being used to describe oneself as STD-free. Ever see "clean only" on a guy's online profile? Much like lepers were considered morally and physically "unclean" 2000 years ago, this adjective perpetuates the social stigma experienced by those who have HIV or another STD. HIV is a disease that doesn't discriminate. It is not God's punishment for sex, and getting infected certainly doesn’t imply any level of moral inferiority.

In the movie Philadelphia, Andrew (played by Tom Hanks) who is stricken with AIDS says, "Look. I'm no different from everyone else who has this disease: I'm not guilty, I'm not innocent. I'm just trying to survive."

You can help destigmatize HIV by using the terms “STD-negative” or “STD-free” rather than “clean” when discussing this serious and sensitive subject. That makes it easier for guys to open up about their HIV status, leads to safer sex practices, and reduces the transmissions of STDs.

Submitted by Matt Gerber, Village and Utah AIDS Foundation Volunteer

Making AIDS Disappear

Last week, over 15 PPAU and UAF staff volunteers met to prepare materials for an on-campus social marketing art project to raise awareness about HIV rates among women in Utah. Volunteers constructed a red wall that spelled AIDS out of baggies of Planned Parenthood's Proper Attire condoms and UAF's free testing cards, so as people walked by and took the condoms, it made "AIDS" disappear.

May Village Sexytime Health Fest!

(photo courtesy FeastofFools)
Sexual Health is nothing to be scared of!

Its a double whammy sexytime night of joy! If you are gay and enjoy man on man lovin, then you should get vaccinated for Hepatitis B. Typically this is an expensive proposition, but we got your back. We've joined up with Planned Parenthood to provide you free Hep B Vaccinations on Monday, May 19th.

Come to the Utah AIDS Foundation for free Hep B vaccinations from 5pm-7pm and then join us at Rodizio Grill for a free Dinner and Discussion. Presenter Peter Prutch is a Nurse Practicioner from Denver, Colorado and will lead a balls to the wall Q & A on gay men, HIV and STD's. Come hungry and ready for an in-depth discussion on this important issue facing our community.

Village Sexytime Health Fest!

COST: Free!

WHEN: Monday, May 19th

Hep B Vaccinations

5-7pm @ Utah AIDS Foundation (1408 S 1100 E)

Dinner and Discussion

7pm-9pm @ Rodizio Grill (459 Trolley Square)
RSVP Jeremiah

Dinner and discussion sponsored by GSK!

Another AIDS Casualty

Dr. Ramon Torres was a hero on the front lines against the epidemic for over a decade. It was when the war began to be won that he got lost.

"It was a frigid morning last December, and the disheveled man standing before Judge James Gibbons had made his way to the second floor of 100 Centre Street in a thin nylon windbreaker, ill-fitting designer jeans, and a pair of torn jackboots—something out of an old S&M catalogue—which he had accessorized with a wide leather cuff snapped on his wrist. At first he was trembling, as if from the cold. Then the trembling subsided, and his eyelids fell. Dr. Ramon A. “Gabriel” Torres, a near-legendary doctor in the fight against AIDS, had fallen asleep on his feet."

Read the rest of the article here. It's a tragic story of heroism, the lure of meth to gay men and people with HIV, and the aftermath of the worst years of the epidemic. Kudos to Lifelube for the heads up.

He's a Top. Tops Can't Get It.

(Joel here. This blog post is designed to stimulate conversation, so you are not only welcome but encouraged to comment either anonymously or by name)

This phrase was on the streetside billboard just above an erotic picture of two men embracing, part of an advertising campaign in San Francisco that greatly impacted me in the late 1990s. I was lost in the city, busy drowning out a lifetime of sexual repression, but the billboard woke me up and made me think twice. I went and got tested and made a pact to myself to be more conscious and knowledgeable about the decisions I made with my sexual partners.

That ad campaign may have saved my life.

So for this week’s question that I would LOVE TO HAVE AS MANY COMMENTS AS POSSIBLE… I ask this question: “Have you been impacted by a public service ad campaign about HIV/AIDS or drug use that made you think twice about the decisions you make?"

Joel Shoemaker heads up the Scene Team for IN Utah this Week.

Utah Sees Drop in HIV Infections

Good news on the HIV Prevention front here in Utah. According to the latest stats from the Utah Department of Health, our state has seen a 12% drop in new HIV infections in the last year and the number of people with HIV whose illness progressed to AIDS has dropped 22%.

So who is getting infected in Utah? Men who have sex with men (62%), Injecting drug users (16%), Men who have sex with men and inject drugs (10%), and heterosexuals (6%). The numbers speak pretty plainly that if you are having unprotected sex with other men or injecting drugs, your risk of getting HIV is exponentially higher. Click here to check out UDOH's other statistics.