On the closing day of the XVIII International AIDS Conference in Vienna, Austria, some promising news on Tenofovir, a powerful antiretroviral previously reported on R20. A study presented by the Centers for Disease Control found that pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) with tenofovir is safe for men who have sex with men (MSM). Tenofovir is found in Viread, Truvada and Atripla.
PrEP is one of the most promising prevention tools on the immediate horizon. With PrEP, HIV-negative individuals take antiretroviral drugs to prevent becoming infected with the virus. The first PrEP studies are testing tenofovir alone (Viread), while several later studies are testing tenofovir plus emtricitabine (Truvada). For that study, CDC-4323, Lisa Grohskopf, MD, from the CDC and her colleagues enrolled 400 HIV-negative MSM...The study was not designed to determine whether tenofovir could prevent HIV transmission, only whether or not it was safe compared with a placebo. All of the men were tested for HIV regularly and received rigorous HIV prevention counseling and condoms throughout the study. Grohskopf and her colleagues found that men taking tenofovir had no more side effects than men taking a placebo.
The promising PrEP results follow a breakthrough tenofovir microbicide study that found significant reduction in HIV transmissions in women who used the vaginal gel. The gel could theoretically be used in anal sex, but that has not been tested. Tenofovir is one of so-called HIV "morning after pills". The post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) is a cocktail of usually 3 or 4 anti-retoviral medications that must be taken after possible exposure to HIV and for up to 30 days. There are anecdotal reports that some gay men are taking "T" after a weekend of drug use and unprotected sex. More on PEP HERE and HERE.Meanwhile: A "substantial" proportion of gay men say they "would reduce condom use" if pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) proves to be effective at preventing HIV, according to study released last month and presented at AIDS 2010.The Centers for Disease Control is very bullish on the PrEP findings, especially the prevention possibilities for Black MSM. Dr. Kevin Fenton, director of the CDC's National Center for HIV/AIDS, talked with R20 at AIDS 2010 and we'll publish that interview soon.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Monday, July 19, 2010
RuPaul's Drag U TONIGHT!!!!!
Applause for Miss NYC
AIDS Conference sends strong message to Obama
The activists were calling attention to the decreased funding of HIV/AIDS programs by the G8 leaders, as well as the "slowing and scaling back their commitments toward Universal Access to HIV care, treatment and prevention." No arrests were reported.
The AIDS 2010 protest mirrors the massive May 13 New York City action when hundreds of activists blocked traffic and laid down on Madison Avenue to protest the Obama Administration's record on HIV/AIDS funding.
Last week the Obama Administration unveiled the nation's first National HIV/AIDS Strategy. Although the strategy shifts focus to "concentrate HIV prevention efforts at the highest-risk population"—including men who have sex with men (MSM) and black Americans—the strategy entails no new additional spending.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
WOW-Monica
I don't normally do this but I had to post this video of Monica's Love all over Me...I actually really liked it...She looks absolutely FABULOUS!
Friday, July 16, 2010
Monday, July 12, 2010
Queen Latifah on Larry King
“Putting on your crown is really like accepting the fact that you are a queen,” Latifah explained. “Wherever you are in life, just keep on that path…as women, we forget that about ourselves. So, putting on your crown is sort of reminding yourself that, hey, I’m a queen, and I can do what I want in this life and take it.”
Latifah spoke of the need for inspiration throughout one’s life and messages to help maintain one’s high self-esteem. She credits her relationship with her parents and especially the messages instilled by her mother for her own high self-esteem. “My mom raised me to be a queen,” said Latifah. “Every woman is a queen and should be treated as such and we should request that sort of treatment from others.”
Latifah shared it took losing her brother Lance, age 24, in a motorcycle accident to reveal to her parents she had been molested by someone they knew. “I had to let them know what I had gone through so that they could understand maybe more of my mindset, and freed myself of that burden,” said Queen. She was 22 at the time of Lance’s death, an experience she describes as the most difficult thing she’s been through in her life.
Despite Latifah’s candor, don’t expect to find any juicy details about her love life in the pages of “Put On Your Crown.” The mere mention by Larry that she doesn’t discuss her personal life caused Latifah to jokingly interject, “Nope… don’t go there, Larry,” to which he responded, “I’m not.”
When asked how she protects her privacy in this day and age of the internet, Latifah explained, “I don’t read all of the blogs and I’m not media hungry like that. I don’t have to look at myself online every day…. I share with the public the things that we should share. We should share music. Let’s share that. Let’s share films. Let’s share that. Let’s share thoughts about positive things. Let’s share those things, but what happens in my personal, personal life is my personal business.”
As for her life philosophy, “Life is for the living,” said Latifah. “It’s about living every moment to the full, as best you can. Whatever I do, I’ll try to make sure I have a good time doing it, that I enjoy it, and that I get every full moment out of everything I do.”
Possible Cure for HIV
Some progress to reports in the so-far elusive quest to find a vaccine for the human immunodeficiency virus ...
Government scientists announce the discovery of three powerful antibodies, the "strongest of which neutralizes 91% of HIV strains, more than any AIDS antibody yet discovered." The antibodies were discovered in the cells of a "60-year-old African American gay man identified as 'Donor 45'" and the discovery could have a substantial implications on HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and research in the black and black gay communities.
CNN's Don Lemon discussed the findings with Black AIDS Institute CEO Phill Wilson. "This is fantastic news [because] clearly our best hope of ending HIV are with a vaccine," Wilson said. "This is a case study on why we should all be involved in research, particularly African Americans. The antibodies were found in a black gay man."
Watch the video HERE ...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCS76SpjDvA
The study was funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The data will be presented next week at the XVIII International AIDS Conference in Vienna.
The White House Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP) and the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA)—Phill Wilson is a member—will present the National HIV/AIDS Strategy on Tuesday. This at the same the recession has created a major funding crisis for the AIDS Drug Assistance Program. White House announces $25M emergency re-allocation to ADAP. HIV advocates say an additional $126M is needed.HIV testing expansion bill advances in New York. The bill mandates all doctors to offer HIV tests to patients ages 13 to 64. The bill has passed the Senate and Assembly and awaits Gov. Paterson's signature.
CNN's Don Lemon discussed the findings with Black AIDS Institute CEO Phill Wilson. "This is fantastic news [because] clearly our best hope of ending HIV are with a vaccine," Wilson said. "This is a case study on why we should all be involved in research, particularly African Americans. The antibodies were found in a black gay man."
Watch the video HERE ...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCS76SpjDvA
The study was funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The data will be presented next week at the XVIII International AIDS Conference in Vienna.
The White House Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP) and the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA)—Phill Wilson is a member—will present the National HIV/AIDS Strategy on Tuesday. This at the same the recession has created a major funding crisis for the AIDS Drug Assistance Program. White House announces $25M emergency re-allocation to ADAP. HIV advocates say an additional $126M is needed.HIV testing expansion bill advances in New York. The bill mandates all doctors to offer HIV tests to patients ages 13 to 64. The bill has passed the Senate and Assembly and awaits Gov. Paterson's signature.
Presbyterian Church may back gay marriage
Presbyterian Church (USA) committee issued a recommendation Tuesday suggesting that the church support same-sex marriages, the Courier Journal reported.
Send / ShareAdd CommentIn a weeklong gathering of the church’s General Assembly, the committee on Civil Union and Marriage Issues suggested that the church’s definition of marriage be changed to include gay and lesbian couples. Rather than label marriage as a union between “a man and a woman,” the new definition would describe it a covenant between “two people.” The group voted 34 – 18 in favor of the amendment.
“[This] would recognize committed, lifelong relationships that are already being lived out by our members,” the committee said in a statement.
If the recommendation is approved by the General Assembly and survives a rigorous ratification process, the church would become the largest Christian denomination in the US to perform same-sex unions.
Another legislative committee has also proposed that the church begin to ordain non-celibate gay clergy. The Committee on Clergy voted 36 – 16 in favor of the proposal, UPI reported.
The Episcopal Church currently allows same-sex unions and ordains gay clergy members.
Really? Is this what we are doing?
A Summer Benefit for LGBT homeless
Get a ticket and help support AFC's vital work for NYC's homeless LGBT youth
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Dan to subpoena Obama
Choi and Captain James Pietrangelo were arrested earlier this year for chaining themselves to the White House fence (they did it on two separate occasions). Their trial is coming up and the plan is to subpoena President Obama, Why? According to the defendants they were simply following the suggestion of the president. Pressuring him to do the right thing.
“The subpoena of the President is necessary for the defense to prove that Defendants were following and obeying lawful orders or directives by their President and Commander in Chief, and were therefore under an obligation and authority to act as they did in order to pressure him – in a non-violent, visible way – on this important public issue.”
This is the kind of kooky legal stuff we get from birthers Orly Taitz and Lt. Col. Terry Lakin. No doubt the judge in this case will chuckle to himself, throw out the subpoena, and find both men guilty.
Hormones to Stop Lesbianism? Really?
Is this what we're doing?
New is currently working on an experimental hormone that is thought to prevent lesbianism and put a stop to females that have “abnormal” masculine tendencies, such as disinterest in babies, childrearing, and girl’s toys, or “masculine” career preferences.
Conducting research with a drug called dexamethasone, New is studying its effects on the disease Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH). CAH is a condition that, among other side affects, causes masculinized, androgynous genitals in females due to excess amounts of prenatal androgens—a generic word for naturally occurring hormones.
New, along with psychologist Heino F.L. Meyer-Bahlburg of Columbia University, believe that the prenatal antigens that cause CAH are connected to sexual orientation, and even gender identity.
In a paper entitled “What Causes Low Rates of Child-Bearing in Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia?” Meyer-Bahlburg writes that “CAH women as a group have a lower interest than controls in getting married and performing the traditional child-care/housewife role. As children, they show an unusually low interest in engaging in maternal play with baby dolls, and their interest in caring for infants, the frequency of daydreams or fantasies of pregnancy and motherhood, or the expressed wish of experiencing pregnancy and having children of their own appear to be relatively low in all age groups.”
The researchers’ 2008 paper hypothesizes about the correlation between prenatal antigens ratios and sexual orientation in women with CAH. They write, “That this [correlation] may apply also to sexual orientation in at least a subgroup of women is suggested by the fact that earlier research has repeatedly shown that about one-third of homosexual women have (modestly) increased levels of androgens.” Concluding “that the findings support a sexual-differentiation perspective involving prenatal androgens on the development of sexual orientation.”
New is currently administering the experimental dexamethasone parentally as a solution to the excess hormones caused by CAH without the approval of a medical ethics committee. There is little clinical data about the drug’s long-term affects or potential risks to the children administered the drug. New, and associates, however, hope to cure the masculine affects of CAH, creating women who conform to the heteronormative gender binary.
There is no evidence to suggest that New is using the drug directly to cure lesbianism; but if the drug is released onto the market, doctors have the ability to prescribe it for condition they deem adequate.
I'm not buying this one...
Conducting research with a drug called dexamethasone, New is studying its effects on the disease Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH). CAH is a condition that, among other side affects, causes masculinized, androgynous genitals in females due to excess amounts of prenatal androgens—a generic word for naturally occurring hormones.
New, along with psychologist Heino F.L. Meyer-Bahlburg of Columbia University, believe that the prenatal antigens that cause CAH are connected to sexual orientation, and even gender identity.
In a paper entitled “What Causes Low Rates of Child-Bearing in Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia?” Meyer-Bahlburg writes that “CAH women as a group have a lower interest than controls in getting married and performing the traditional child-care/housewife role. As children, they show an unusually low interest in engaging in maternal play with baby dolls, and their interest in caring for infants, the frequency of daydreams or fantasies of pregnancy and motherhood, or the expressed wish of experiencing pregnancy and having children of their own appear to be relatively low in all age groups.”
The researchers’ 2008 paper hypothesizes about the correlation between prenatal antigens ratios and sexual orientation in women with CAH. They write, “That this [correlation] may apply also to sexual orientation in at least a subgroup of women is suggested by the fact that earlier research has repeatedly shown that about one-third of homosexual women have (modestly) increased levels of androgens.” Concluding “that the findings support a sexual-differentiation perspective involving prenatal androgens on the development of sexual orientation.”
New is currently administering the experimental dexamethasone parentally as a solution to the excess hormones caused by CAH without the approval of a medical ethics committee. There is little clinical data about the drug’s long-term affects or potential risks to the children administered the drug. New, and associates, however, hope to cure the masculine affects of CAH, creating women who conform to the heteronormative gender binary.
There is no evidence to suggest that New is using the drug directly to cure lesbianism; but if the drug is released onto the market, doctors have the ability to prescribe it for condition they deem adequate.
I'm not buying this one...
Lesbian to Run for the City Council in Oakland
“That is a beautiful thing,” she said. “It is possible for us to build the Oakland renaissance.”
According to The Bay Citizen, Oakland has the largest per-capita lesbian population in the United States. Even still, the city has yet to elect an openly gay mayor.
Kaplan’s campaign looks promising. Oakland’s LGBT community is the largest voting base in the city and of the three candidates, Kaplan currently holds the largest identifiable base .“This will be a highly contested race,” said Geoff Kors, executive director of Equality California. “I think Rebecca is a really strong candidate and a lot of people in the LGBT community are really excited about her running.”
Kaplan will be running against fellow councilwoman Jean Quan and former State Senate Presiddent Pro Tempore Don Perata.
365gay.com
Google will help to cover our Taxes
Beginning today Google will cover the added tax charged to LGBT employees whose partners are covered by their insurance plan.
“It’s a fairly cutting edge thing to do,” said Todd A. Solomon, a partner in the employee benefits department of McDermott Will & Emery, a law firm in Chicago, and author of “Domestic Partner Benefits: An Employer’s Guide.” Google is not the first company to make up for the extra tax. At least a few large employers already do. But benefits experts say Google’s move could inspire its Silicon Valley competitors to follow suit, because they compete for the same talent. Under federal law, employer-provided health benefits for domestic partners are counted as taxable income, if the partner is not considered a dependent. The tax owed is based on the value of the partner’s coverage paid by the employer.
Workers with domestic partners on their insurance plans pay an average of $1069 more than married employees whose plans include their spouses. Google will make the payments retroactive to the beginning of this year.
“It’s a fairly cutting edge thing to do,” said Todd A. Solomon, a partner in the employee benefits department of McDermott Will & Emery, a law firm in Chicago, and author of “Domestic Partner Benefits: An Employer’s Guide.” Google is not the first company to make up for the extra tax. At least a few large employers already do. But benefits experts say Google’s move could inspire its Silicon Valley competitors to follow suit, because they compete for the same talent. Under federal law, employer-provided health benefits for domestic partners are counted as taxable income, if the partner is not considered a dependent. The tax owed is based on the value of the partner’s coverage paid by the employer.
Workers with domestic partners on their insurance plans pay an average of $1069 more than married employees whose plans include their spouses. Google will make the payments retroactive to the beginning of this year.
Victory for Dail
joemygod.blogspot.com
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