NEWSLGBT HEALTH

Looks like the school system in Tennessee needs to be educated on the benefits of providing HIV/AIDS education to its students.

A petition started by the Tennessee Equality Project is urging Tennessee lawmakers to include HIV/AIDS education as part of all high school education programs. Currently, TN state law does not require HIV/AIDS education for any high school students. This form of education is considered "optional."

As the petition highlights, all adolescents in America are at a higher risk of contracting HIV, and they are even more at risk in Southern states like Tennessee. The petition is proposing a law that if passed would require each local board of education in TN to adopt an AIDS education program for its high school students. They further assert that enacting such a law would cost the state very little financially.

However, to ignore this issue further could potentially cost the health and future of countless Tennessee youth.

Researchers on the HIV front discovered that a widely-used medication used to treat HIV disease (Truvada) can also be effective in helping to prevent HIV infection. Maybe you've heard the rumors, read the stories.  This is huge news in the HIV prevention and research world. In fact, Time Magazine referred to this as the #1 Medical Breakthrough of 2010.

Yet, for the average person looking to be safe and protect themselves and their partners from HIV, this may be nothing more than a dangerous and expensive mirage.

Researchers studied 2,499 gay and bisexual men in six countries, half of whom took Truvada on a daily basis and half took a placebo. They found that among the men who were on Truvada, 44 percent had a reduction in HIV infection rates. For those who were most compliant with taking the medication (those who took it consistently each day without any missed doses at all), they found a 73 percent reduction in HIV infections.

For three years and 11 months, Janice Langbehn has been mourning the loss of her partner, Lisa Pond. And for three years and 11 months, she has been tirelessly fighting for equality, demanding that hospital visitation regulations expand beyond the traditional hetero-marriage paradigm. Her argument was simple enough: "no one should have to die alone."

We all owe Janice Langbehn a huge thank you. Earlier this week a new country-wide hospital policy, inspired by Langbehn, articulated by the President, and implemented by the Department of Health and Human Services, now guarantees patients the right to choose who can (and cannot) visit them in a hospital room. There are, of course, a few limitations. Only hospitals that participate in Medicare or Medicaid must comply and those hospitals may still bar visitation, as long as the limitations are clearly posted and equally applied.

Our culture is inundated with one crisis after another. Energy crisis, healthcare crisis, financial crisis, unemployment crisis ... These are all very real and they are scary. Yet, there is another serious crisis that is somehow hidden from our collective consciousness. The ADAP crisis.

ADAP, or AIDS Drug Assistance Program, is a vital program that assists HIV-positive individuals with paying for the incredibly expensive medications needed to treat and manage this devastating disease. Without these essential medications, a person’s HIV disease is more likely to progress to AIDS. HIV/AIDS can become life-threatening.

Currently, ADAP funding is being slashed in many states across the country. More and more people are becoming infected with HIV and as a result, states are struggling to keep up with the demand for ADAP assistance. Thousands of HIV-positive people have been terminated from the program and thousands more are being placed on waiting lists. Currently, there are more than 5,100 people in ten states on ADAP waiting lists.

Florida is at the heart of this crisis, as 2,715 people are now on the state's waiting list. This is over half of the national total. And these numbers continue to grow each month as states continue to struggle with financial constraints and increasing HIV infection rates.  This is a major crisis that could only get worse if something doesn't change.

Please join us today in demanding Florida State Legislators to provide better care to its residents who are living with HIV by reinstating ADAP funding.

By now we've all heard about the controversial New York City HIV prevention Public Service Announcement (PSA). If you haven't seen it, take a look here -- just be forewarned that it is very graphic.

There has been a ton of coverage and debate surrounding this controversial PSA, including two previous posts here on Change.org.  The saying goes, there's no such thing as bad publicity, and this is Exhibit A. As I mentioned in my original post, whether you agree or disagree with the PSA, it gets people talking, and that's a big success.

The New York Times recently did a piece highlighting the sharp divide this campaign has caused among HIV/AIDS activists. Some advocates are highly in favor of this strategy, and some are severely against it. In a blog featured on POZ, the real issue is captured with these words: "The debate over these ads has largely been amongst people who have devoted much of their lives to combating the epidemic, which makes me hesitant to write in terms of the different 'sides' of the issue.  Everyone is on the side of finding the best ways to reduce HIV transmission, but we have differing thoughts on whether this particular campaign will help reach that goal."

It's been a good week for Elton John, right? In case you haven't heard, Mr. John and his longtime partner, David Furnish, welcomed a baby boy this week via a surrogate. I don't know how a 62-year-old has the energy for a newborn, but that's one lucky kid right there. I mean, think about the hairpieces, wigs and eyewear alone. Dress-up fun!

But Mr. John doesn't only have his focus set on his child. Instead, he has put his money where his mouth is and shown that he truly cares about LGBT people, and about gay youth in particular. Even with babies on the brain, The Elton John AIDS Foundation made a generous $25,000 donation to a Texas organization this holiday.

Out Youth is based in Austin, Texas. The agency supports LGBT youth between the ages of 12 and 19, providing a variety of services. Predictably, the Elton John AIDS Foundation put forth the money to help in HIV prevention, testing and counseling.

New York City can be a fierce city. Looks like NYC has outdone itself. As recently reported, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has released a new ad campaign entitled It's Never Just HIV. The mission of the ads is to reduce HIV transmission among young gay men. You can take a look at the full ad here -- but be forewarned, it is quite graphic, even to jaded New Yorkers.

As a result of this campaign, there have been some heated discussions regarding the scare tactics used. The NYC Department of Health defends the ad. They cite statistics that HIV continues to spread at increasing rates, especially among young men who have sex with men.  The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) and the Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC) have released a joint statement condemning the public service announcement.

In an interesting twist, Larry Kramer has come forward in support of the campaign. HIV historians will remember Larry Kramer as one of the pioneering AIDS activists. In fact, he is one of the founders of GMHC, the very first AIDS service organization. He has since parted ways with GMHC and has spoken out against some of the organization's decisions in recent years. This is a clear example of where his opinion differs drastically from the influential organization he founded. Here is a taste of what he wrote regarding the ad:

I may have underestimated the Catholic Church. Pope Benedict XVI made news this week by saying that the Church may not be as anti-condom as we thought.

Is this a trick? It sounds like a trick.

At first, the Pope said that it would be acceptable for male (natch) sex workers to use condoms to prevent the spread of HIV. This was sort of bewildering to the feminist in me. Since women are at least as vulnerable to contracting HIV, the comments seemed like a pretty tepid step into the pool of HIV/AIDS prevention.

So when I heard that the Vatican decided to clarify the remarks, I expected the worst. I expected some back-tracking of…um…biblical…proportions. But that’s not what I received. The Holy See actually said that it would be O.K. for men, women, transsexuals, and everyone to use condoms, providing they are using condoms to prevent the spread of HIV. As far as the Vatican is concerned, stopping the spread of HIV is a lesser evil than stopping a pregnancy. (At least the misogyny is still intact.)

December 1 is World AIDS Day. As of this year, we will be 29 years into this epidemic.

Throughout the tumultuous history of HIV, advocates and survivors have broken the silence on this deadly virus and have fought for services and compassion.  Today, most people living with HIV have full, healthy and vibrant lives. At the same time, HIV continues to spread and for many people, this virus can become out of control. There is still a lot of work to be done.

Back in July, President Obama unveiled his new national strategy to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS. In the report, the Obama Administration outlines measures to reduce the spread of HIV by 25% in the next five years. Other goals include increasing access to medical services and combating stigma and discrimination.  This is an ambitious plan and the first of its kind by any president during the course of the epidemic. This has created an overwhelming sense of inspiration and hope.

Yet even in the face of this hope, there is also a sense of deflation with regard to whether this plan can and will be effectively enforced. In an article written by Myles Helfand, the Editorial Director at thebody.com, the frustration felt within the AIDS community was brought to light. Helfand writes, "HIV/AIDS advocacy has felt stagnant to many within the community for a long time now ..." Of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy, he goes on to say that "most in the HIV/AIDS community can agree that Obama's delivery has largely been in words rather than dollars. The next two years, of course, will be critical. We have a national HIV/AIDS strategy, but it has yet to be implemented -- and doing so will take a tremendous amount of money during a time when political pressure will likely squeeze health budgets rather than expand them."

Led by the National Organization for Marriage, conservatives in Iowa are working hard to oust three "activist" state Supreme Court justices who approved same-sex marriage. Rather than relying on simple legislative or political arguments, many rank-and-file right wingers are using medical "arguments" to bolster the case. And the FDA has the power to stop them.

At a rally in Des Moines, Iowa, on Monday, several supporters tied their gay marriage opposition, and desire to see the Justices punished for the Court's 2009 decision, to health concerns.

One man, named Ron, told reporter Arisha Michelle Hatch that gay people don't deserve to tie the knot because, well, they're "diseased."

"[Gays are] only a drain on society, so much so that the medical profession recognizes that they’re a disease carrying nasty threat to society and are not allowed to donate blood. That’s my position.”

Another man, this one called Don, also used medicinal terms in describing his anti-gay politics: "Sodomy causes AIDS, okay? And AIDS is a serious problem in this nation as well as around the world."

Ron, Don and others aren't entirely to blame for thinking such things: the government's been sending that message for years.