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!

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.

Be a Village Summit Presenter!

2008 PRESENTER APPLICATION

We want YOU to present at The Village Summit! The Summit is set for August 1st – 3rd, 2008, at the Jewish Community Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. This is the eighth in an annual series of such events, known as “Invenio” through 2006.

Workshops are scheduled for the morning and afternoon of Saturday, August 2, 2008. Saturday is the only day workshops presentations are scheduled. We hope that you will take advantage of the other events on Friday and Sunday as a Summit participant.

We have chosen “Pride Elevated” as the theme for 2008 Village Summit. We will have approximately 20 workshops in varied lengths of 1engths of 1 hour, 1.5 hours and 2 hours. Please let us know the length of workshops you prefer and whether you prefer morning or afternoon. You are invited to apply to present one or more workshops. Note that the length and time of your workshop(s) are subject to change as we firm up the schedule, but that you will be notified by us of any changes as soon as possible.

In keeping with the “Pride Elevated” theme, we believe that “Pride” comes from within. As gay men, we can affect community pride positively only when we have a stronger, more authentic view of who we are as individuals. Pride is informed by the intersection of the three parts of ourselves – our body (physical), soul (self) and our relationships (community). When developing your workshops, we encourage you to address your topic from this framework.

Please submit the following information by May 15, 2008 for consideration:
Introduction: please include your name, education, profession, accomplishments, or any other information giving credence to your selected topic.
Include an agenda and brief summary of your presentations(s). Try to make your summary as concise as possible. Remember, your presentation should be interactive and discussion or movement based, not a lecture format.
Include any audio/visual equipment, materials and copies (handouts) you’ll need for your presentation. Please remember that in the past seven Summits, the most successful workshops have been highly interactive and discussion based – the focus is really to provide an opportunity for gay men to talk about topics they would not normally have a chance to discuss in other settings.
Include a photograph of yourself to be used in promotion and on our website (recommended, but not required).

When completed, please submit your packet via email at cinetri@gmail.com. If you have questions, feel free to call David Ferguson at (801) 455 – 5506. We will review all applications and get back to you by the end of May 2008.