More men in their 20s were infected with HIV through same-sex encounters last year, according to government statistics, in a trend health experts said was alarming.
Dr Wong Ka-hing, consultant in the special preventive programme at the Health Department, said sexual encounters between men accounted for the majority of new HIV infections and Aids cases worldwide. Read More
The $1.3 billion that the United States government has spent since 2005 encouraging Africans to avoid AIDS by practicing abstinence and fidelity did not measurably change sexual behavior and was largely wasted, according to a study presented on the last day of an AIDS conference here.
President George W. Bush’s global AIDS plan was enacted in 2003 and marshaled billions of dollars to treat Africans who had AIDS with lifesaving drugs. Conservative Republican leaders in the House of Representatives successfully included a provision that one-third of AIDS prevention money go to programs to encourage abstinence and fidelity. That campaign — known as ABC, for abstain, be faithful and use condoms — was part of the bargain made when Christian conservatives joined with liberals to pass the law.
After the presentation, a woman identifying herself as a director of PEPFAR's efforts in an unidentified country said the program — which is led by Dr. Deborah Birx — had just cut the $47 million it still spends on abstinence and fidelity to $21 million. Beyond that, she said, she would have to wait until people at headquarters could read the study. Read More
The research, carried out by The Albert Kennedy Trust (AKT), aimed to explore the experiences of homeless youths – aged 16-25 – who identify as LGBTI living in the UK. The survey discovered that LGBTI youths, who are more likely to find themselves homeless than their non-LGBTI peers, currently make up 24% of the homeless youth population in the UK.
An overwhelming 69% of them were forced out of their familial homes after experiencing rejection at the hands of their parents on the grounds of their sexuality. Other driving forces behind their LGBTI youth homelessness include mental, emotional or sexual abuse from a family member (69%), and aggression or physical violence within the familial home (62%). Read More
LGBTQ youth living on the streets or struggling to find a job often turn to sex to make ends meet, according to a new study by the Urban Institute. LGBTQ youth face unique difficulties that drive them to the streets, including family abuse and a lack of access to health care or counseling, the study showed.
LGBTQ youth are estimated to make up between 20 to 40 percent of the homeless youth population, but only 5 to 7 percent of the total young population in the United States.
“I don’t remember it that vividly, all I know is that I was starving,” said one 21-yr-old male identified as black and gay. “I was hungry, I was cold, so I did it.” Read More
During a press conference, researchers announced that low viral load prevents transmission between sexual partners in both anal and vaginal sex.
Statistical analysis shows that the maximum likely chance of transmission via anal sex from someone on successful HIV treatment was 1% a year for any anal sex and 4% for anal sex with ejaculation where the HIV-negative partner was receptive; but the true likelihood is probably much nearer to zero than this.
When asked what the study tells us about the chance of someone with an undetectable viral load transmitting HIV, presenter Alison Rodger said: "Our best estimate is it's zero."
Facebook's official "Diversity" account announced another sweeping change to the gender selection on users' profiles. Starting today, users of Facebook's English sites can type pretty much whatever they want into a custom box.
"We recognize that some people face challenges sharing their true gender identity with others, and this setting gives people the ability to express themselves in an authentic way," the unnamed Diversity account holder said.
This change follows in the footsteps of Facebook's decision last year to expand its gender options, which were previously limited to male, female, or no response. Just like the last update, users must type their preferred gender descriptor after choosing "other," and Facebook will suggest terms from its prior list like "androgynous" and "gender fluid." Read More
On the 13th of February 2015 a movie based on a true story about an outed LGBTI person in Kampala was premiered registering a good attendance. Members from the Ugandan lgbti community and the allies graced the occasion. Based on a true story, Vida a gay man and an employee of one of the leading advertising firms in the city faces one of the hardest moments of his lifetime when his name and photo appear in a newspaper tabloid among other gays and lesbians with the paper calling for hanging these lgbti people. Read More
In 1935, Sigmund Freud penned a response to a mother who had asked him for help with her gay son. Despite the broader perceptions of homosexuality at the time, Freud took a different approach, telling the woman it's "nothing to be ashamed of."
"I gather from your letter that your son is a homosexual. I am most impressed by the fact that you do not mention this term for yourself in your information about him. May I question you why you avoid it?" he wrote. "Homosexuality is assuredly no advantage, but it is nothing to be ashamed of, no vice, no degradation; it cannot be classified as an illness; we consider it to be a variation of the sexual function, produced by a certain arrest of sexual development. Many highly respectable individuals of ancient and modern times have been homosexuals, several of the greatest men among them." Read More
Apple is adding racially diverse emoji to its OS X desktop operating system.
The software's emoji keyboard will include characters in five skin tones based on the Fitzpatrick scale, a recognised standard used by dermatologists that moves the icons away from previously much-derided racial stereotypes. Read More
Out gay Orange is the New Black actress Samira Wiley received the Visibility Award at the 2015 Human Rights Campaign North Carolina Gala last weekend And she gave a BEAUTIFUL speech.
Wiley spoke about kids growing up in intolerant families, her own positive family experience, and what it means to her to be proudly and visibly gay.
“As I sit and I listen to these stories pour out of people, my first thought is often how little we must think of ourselves, to only accept tolerance,” she said.
"What about acceptance? What about celebration, and love, and embracing difference, rather than merely tolerating it? What might happen if we raise the bar higher?" Read More
Amid continuous cancellations of shows for several of dancehall and reggae’s top international acts, J-FLAG’s (The Jamaica Forum of Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays) executive director, Dane Lewis, is inviting reggae and dancehall artists and their management team to an open discussion on the issues faced by the entertainment industry where homophobic music is concerned.
Recently, artist manager Copeland Forbes expressed that the state of the industry has been consistently deteriorating due to songs that have been produced and performed over the years which call for discrimination and violence against gays and lesbians. In the article, Forbes stated, “You (artists) don’t need to address them (homosexuals) because a lot of them are in the record companies and you are shaking their hands and you don’t even know. Leave that alone, homosexuality existed before you and it will be here when you’re gone. You don’t need to bring that inna yuh music.” Read More
For one Swedish hockey team, simply winning a game isn't enough — they need to really get their fans in on the celebratory action as well. Goalie Julius Hudacek of Örebro HK, based in Örebro, Sweden, has made it a habit after every victory to give the team's supporters a warm show of thanks by taking to the ice once more and treating them to a hilarious display of athletic buffoonery (past activities have included playing leap-frog, juggling, cross-country skiing, and dressing up as Santa and letting a teammate drag him around the ice).
But it seems that both goalie and team have outdone themselves this time: on Saturday, Hudacek and the Örebro squad donned rainbow-striped jerseys for their game against the Frölunda Hockey Club and celebrated their win afterward by dancing to the Village People's "YMCA," in support of the region's LGBT Pride Night. Read More