Dozens of Israeli LGBTQ activists against the occupation blocked Tel Aviv’s annual pride parade on Friday, holding up signs that read “There’s no pride in occupation,” and for a few minutes preventing the march from proceeding through the city center.
Israel: Tel Aviv Gay Pride Parade Draws 200,000 - Including 30,000 Tourists
Italy: What Does LGBTQ Activism Look Like in Italy?
Finland: Intense debate about same-sex marriage among Finnish Lutherans
Chechnya: Gay Chechens, Attacked at Home, Find Doors Opening in Europe
US: LGBTQ advocates say federal legislation would allow religious adoption agencies to discriminate
Mental health & trans people Side Event at UN Human Rights Council
US: Taking PrEP has a profound impact on gay men’s sexual health and wellbeing
Men who have sex with men (MSM) in Seattle who had recently begun to take pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) described profound impacts on their sexual health and wellbeing that go beyond PrEP’s primary function of preventing HIV infection, according to a qualitative study recently published in the International Journal of Sexual Health.
“By lowering HIV risk and offering an alternative form of protection for MSM with low or inconsistent condom use, PrEP helped participants assuage feelings of anxiety and shame surrounding their sexuality, and facilitated greater sexual satisfaction, intimacy, and self-efficacy,” Shane Collins and colleagues say. However, it also exposed users to PrEP stigma. Both positive and negative impacts are likely to be key to PrEP’s acceptability, demand and patterns of use.
It's important to note that ‘sexual health’ is not defined simply by the absence of disease. “Sexual health is a state of physical, mental and social well-being in relation to sexuality,” according to the World Health Organization. Clinicians and practitioners wishing to promote gay men’s sexual health should consider the full range of impacts that PrEP may have, the authors suggest. Read more via AIDSmap
US: Hornet Is Going After Anti-LGBTQ Hate Groups in New National Billboard Campaign
In an effort to fight back against the divisive rhetoric of anti-LGBTQ hate groups like the Westboro Baptist Church, Family Research Council and Focus on the Family, Hornet — the world’s premier gay social network and app — has unveiled a brand-new billboard campaign that addresses those hate groups head-on. The first instance of the Hornet billboard campaign goes up today, June 8, in Washington, D.C.
Hornet’s focus on three of America’s “headquarters of hate” relied on the help of watchdog group the Southern Poverty Law Center. Following the billboard in Washington, D.C. — home of the Family Research Council — two more billboards will be raised in Topeka, Kansas, and Colorado Springs, Colorado, home bases of the Westboro Baptist Church and Focus on the Family, respectively.
“We are erecting these billboards across the country to draw attention to places from which hateful rhetoric and influence on anti-LGBTQ legislation stem. The billboards are a beacon of hope for the LGBTQ residents of these areas and a reminder to local leadership that we will not be silenced and we will not be erased,” notes Hornet President Sean Howell. Read more via Unicorn Booty