High effectiveness seen in English PrEP trial

The Steering Committee* of the PROUD trial of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in gay men in England announced today that participants currently on the deferred arm of the study, who have not yet started PrEP, will be recalled to their clinics and offered the opportunity to begin PrEP ahead of schedule. This is because the effectiveness seen in the trial has exceeded the threshold set for trial continuation.

Although the exact effectiveness seen in the trial is yet to be established pending analysis and follow-up of participants, the indications are that it is considerably in excess of that originally anticipated by the researchers.  Read more

Second European PrEP study is closed early due to high effectiveness

In an extraordinary development, a second European scientific trial of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) has had its randomised phase closed early due to high effectiveness, just two weeks after the UK PROUD trial did exactly the same thing. The investigators of the IPERGAY trial, which has six sites in France and one in Canada, announced today a “Significant breakthrough in the fight against HIV and AIDS” because IPERGAY had successfully demonstrated the effectiveness of its PrEP regimen. 

The ANRS IPERGAY trial demonstrates the effectiveness of a preventive treatment (antiretroviral treatment) against HIV/AIDS when taken at the time of sexual intercourse. All trial participants will now benefit from this prophylaxis. Read More 

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Ebola, HIV, and the Politics of Contagion: Op-Ed

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Throughout American history, there are dozen of cases of hysteria surrounding the apparent outbreak of an epidemic, from recent fears over Asian bird flu to fears of cholera outbreaks in the 19th century. But the question of fear needs to be contextualized, not just in terms of alleviating Americans' paranoia, but rather by thinking about how various populations within the nation have consistently lived under a threat of infection.

The fear of Ebola tells us more about one's social status and, dare I say, privilege, rather than about the disease itself. For many gay men, who have lived amid HIV "outbreak" for the last thirty years, the threat of Ebola perhaps has not rattled them as much as their heterosexual counterparts. Read More 

UNAIDS plan to “Fast Track” the end of AIDS

Fast Track, the strategy to end AIDS by 2030, was outlined by UNAIDS at a side event to the United Nations General Assembly. The strategy calls to protect the human rights of people involved in commercial sex work, transgender individuals, people who inject drugs, men who have sex with men, and  young women and girls to live without fear and access means of harm reduction and health services.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry embraced the strategy at the event where UNAIDS Director Michel Sidibe, along with Swiss Confederation President Didier Burkhalter, Ghana President John Dramani Mahama, and South Africa President Jacob Zuma described it. Read More

UN passes resolution on behalf of LGBT citizens around the globe

The United Nations Human Rights Council adopted a landmark resolution for LGBT rights on Sept 26, the second-ever motion of its kind. Passed by a 25-14 vote margin after more than an hour of debate, it condemns violence and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity across the globe. 

“We are pleased to see that today the international community is visibly and publicly upholding the rights of LGBT individuals, and thereby we demonstrate ourselves as a global community respecting the rights of all,” said Ambassador Keith Harper, who represents the U.S. on the U.N. Human Rights Council. 

Still, since the resolution comes with no enforcement capability — it simply calls for a report from the U.N. High Commissioner on LGBT rights abuses — it will likely largely be seen as a symbolic gesture, albeit it one that the U.N. has largely failed to make in the past. This resolution is only the second time the U.N. Human Rights Council has referred to LGBT rights as “human rights.” Read More

Research finds more church acceptance of gays and lesbians

A new survey of American religious congregations conducted by researchers from Duke University and the University of Chicago finds that, in recent years, more churches have become welcoming to openly gay and lesbian couples. These findings parallel broader trends showing greater acceptance among the general public of both homosexuality and same-sex marriage during roughly the same period. Read More 

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Gay in Nunavut: How politics, culture, religion and the English language shape sexuality in the North

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This February Inuit people were confronted with questions over homosexuality which had perhaps been brewing for a while: Was homosexuality part of traditional Inuit society? Does it matter? What do the elders say? Are gay people born that way or is it a choice? Are gay kids killing themselves? What should leaders be doing?

The answers to those questions will vary, depending on who you ask, and will be influenced by bravado, wisdom, Paul’s letters to the Corinthians, bigotry, self-righteousness, Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit, vocabulary, experience, ignorance, fear, courage, and love.  Read More

CDC director on Ebola: 'Only thing like this has been AIDS'

The head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention called for a stronger response to the spread of Ebola on Thursday, saying that "we have to work now so that this is not the world's next AIDS." 

Chinua Akukwe, the lead African analyst with the National Academy of Public Administration, told lawmakers Wednesday that the U.S. should look at its response to HIV/AIDS over the last decade when mapping out its plan to fight Ebola. The HIV and Ebola outbreaks have struck different corners of the continent, but both hit quickly and powerfully, straining fragile governments and even more fragile health systems. Both diseases are difficult to treat and come with strong stigmas. Read More

More Than Half of Gay and Bisexual Men Say a Doctor Has Never Suggested HIV Testing

American gay men and their doctors aren’t talking enough about sex, and that’s making it harder to control the spread of H.I.V.  That’s the conclusion of a new survey of gay and bisexual men by the Kaiser Family Foundation. It found that 47 percent of the men have never discussed their sexual orientation with their doctors, and 56 percent have never been advised by a doctor to be tested for H.I.V. Read More

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Thousands demonstrate in France to defend "traditional family values"

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Protesters took to the streets in Paris and Bordeaux to demonstrate against medically assisted procreation techniques for lesbian couples and surrogacy. According to Ludovine de la Rochere, president of Manif Pour Tous that organised the demonstration, such techniques must be "fought at all costs.” Manif pour Tous fought against the adoption of same-sex marriage in France last year.  Read More

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Teen's Suicide Highlights Struggle of LGBT Colombians

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Two photos — one haunting, the other simply poignant — published separately last weekend by two Spanish-language news groups tell the story of Colombian society's urgent need to reconcile its religiously conservative culture with acceptance and respect for its LGBT men, women, and children.

The first photo is of a handsome young Colombian who committed suicide recently, after his teachers and school administrators allegedly harassed him because he was gay. The second shows his mother, Alba Reyes, with solemn eyes narrowed to a point of focus that only mothers of lost children know. Read More