Op-Ed: Bridging the AIDS Generation Gap

Once I kept track of how many died: one a week for eleven weeks in a row. Then I stopped counting. Some people lost dozens, even hundreds of friends. Fast forward a couple of decades. In general, an HIV diagnosis today is very different than an AIDS diagnosis thirty years ago. It's popular to say it's manageable. Getting infected now is viewed by many as "no big deal".

A younger generation wonders why we continue to look at AIDS so differently than they do. The gay papers aren't filled with dozens of obituaries; instead, full-page ads for the newest drugs. Living well with HIV is not only a goal, it's an assumption.We have to realize that younger people - especially young gay men - don't see the urgency because the lack of urgency is a great accomplishment. We should be thrilled that people aren't dying within weeks or months of a diagnosis.  Read More 

Only 3 in 10 Americans with HIV have virus in check

Just 30% of Americans with HIV had the virus under control in 2011, and approximately two-thirds of those whose virus was out of control had been diagnosed but were no longer in care, according to a new report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  The new study underscores the importance of making sure people with HIV receive ongoing care, treatment, and other information and tools that help prevent transmission to others, as well as the need to reach more people with HIV testing.  Read More

UN Committee Raises Concern About LGBT Conversion Therapy in U.S.

For the first time in its history, the United Nations Committee Against Torture (CAT) expressed concern over the dangerous and discredited practice of conversion therapy being used on LGBT youth in the United States.

This historic development comes after leaders from the National Center for Lesbian Rights’  #BornPerfect campaign, Samantha Ames and Samuel Brinton, testified before the Committee.

Along with other signatories to the Convention Against Torture, the U.S. is reviewed by CAT about its compliance with the convention, which prevents both torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment. In addition to conversion therapy, issues such as police violence, detention of prisoners in Guantanamo Bay, and the sexual abuse of children by priests were raised as matters for the U.S. to address.   Read More

UN Secretary-General praises Conchita Wurst's gay rights fight

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon hosted the Austrian winner of the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest, Conchita Wurst as she sang for hundreds of UN staff, diplomats, and members of civil society.

Speaking at the event the Secretary-General said he knew Wurst was the star of the world when she won the Eurovision Song Contest and turned her victory into an electrifying moment of human rights education. The Secretary-General said: "Conchita is promoting respect for diversity …. She confounds people's preconceived ideas of gender and sexuality - and she appeals to them to accept her as she is. That is a powerful message." Read More

New Anti-LGBT Legislation Drafted In Uganda

A committee comprising leading members of Uganda’s ruling party have prepared a new draft of legislation targeting LGBT people, according to Nicholas Opiyo, a human rights lawyer who obtained a leaked copy of the proposal.

The legislation would replace the Anti-Homosexuality Act, which was struck down on technical grounds in August following a global outcry. Opiyo, who is one of the lawyers for the legal team that successfully challenged the Anti-Homosexuality Act, said his sources “in cabinet and on the committee [working on the bill] have confirmed that this is the real draft bill." 

The new bill is called the Prohibition of Promotion of Unnatural Sexual Practices Bill of 2014. Opiyo said, “It appears even worse, even more draconian than the law” it is intended to replace by going into much greater detail about what activities are criminalized. Read More  

As Jamaica Reviews Its Homosexuality Ban, a Top Newspaper Is Waging an Anti-Gay Campaign

Something is going on at The Jamaica Observer, the daily newspaper in the Caribbean island nation. LGBT rights have featured heavily in its pages over the past six months and, although the paper claims to support balanced journalism, critics note that some of the content has been overtly anti-gay — even going so far as to claim that gay men are killing each other and deliberately portraying the murders as homophobic.

The island nation is currently experiencing heightened social tension over the LGBT rights debate as Jamaicans — encouraged by religious and conservative groups — voice their objections towards a government-led select committee review of the Sexual Offences Act, which could potentially lead to a parliamentary vote on decriminalising same-sex relationships.  Read More
 

Iran Representative to the UN: Under no circumstances do we recognize the rights of homosexual citizens

During the UN session of the 2014 Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on Iran, member states presented a total of 291 recommendations to the Islamic Republic of Iran, including 11 that addressed sexual minorities.

As an example, Iceland recommended repealing laws that criminalise consensual same-sex sexual relations; amend laws and policies that treat homosexuality as a mental disorder and outlaw forced sterilisation and reparative therapies against LGBT individuals. 

In response, Mohammad Javad Larijani, the Head of the Human Rights Council of the Judiciary in Iran, stated that under no circumstances will the Islamic Republic of Iran “accept imposing a lifestyle under the banner or umbrella of human rights”, indicating that the lifestyle of LGBT individuals in no circumstances or arguments can be legitimized and justified. Read More

Abuse, self-stigma revealed by ground-breaking Caribbean study

Conducted by the UNAIDS Caribbean Regional Support Team in collaboration with Sigma Research of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, The Caribbean Men’s Internet Survey (CARIMIS) is the region’s largest study of gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men as well as the first such survey to be conducted online.

While many respondents experienced homophobic abuse and negative self-perception, others were open about their sexuality and proactive about their sexual health. Read More

Advocate magazine names person of the year

The Advocate's Person of the Year, Vladimir Putin

Driving the governmental, religious, and popular disdain for gays and lesbians, the Russian president became the single greatest threat to LGBTs in the world in 2014.

“Imagine a boy who dreams of being a KGB officer
when everyone else wants to be a cosmonaut.”

This quote appears early in The Man Without a Face, Masha Gessen’s 2012 biography of Vladimir Putin. It’s as succinct and illuminating a characterization of the Russian president as you’re likely to find. The KGB, after all, perfected the thuggery, espionage, and aimless bureaucracy that are hallmarks of Putin’s regime. The agency’s crackdown on dissidents offered a blueprint for Putin’s own strongman excesses. That he aspired to such a career as a child tells us something useful about his psychopathology: This is a man hardwired to intimidate. Read more

Harvard University Is Offering A Workshop On Anal Sex

Tonight Harvard University will offer a course on anal sex for the very first time as part of its annual Sex Week program.

At Harvard, Sex Week consists of “a week of programming that is interdisciplinary, thought-provoking, scholastic, innovative and applicable to student experiences in order to promote a holistic understanding of sex and sexuality.”

The classes are hosted by a student-run group at the school, Sexual Health Education & Advocacy or SHEATH. Read more

Pro Strongman champion Rob Kearney comes out as gay

Rob Kearney is the first self-acknowledged gay man to be actively competing in pro-level, international strongman competition. He is in a pantheon of brave souls who decided to not hide for the fear of harming their social status or career aspirations.

Coming out in any arena is a pressure-filled venture.  We often forget that this world is still rather ignorant when it comes to same-gender love and sex.  There is plenty of hate brewing - and plenty of folks who act on that hate to cause harm and instill fear in those who may love another of the same sex.  To be the first of something unique is not something we all get a chance to experience in life.  But to be the first 'gay" something can be just as frightening as it can be positive. Read more