Do the math. Calculate your risk.

That’s the catchy title of a new ad campaign the Health Initiative for Men (HIM) is rolling out for gay men seeking more information than the standard “use a condom every time you have sex” refrain.

Initially, it was going to be a condom campaign, HIM project coordinator Jody Jollimore says, but that approach quickly morphed into a more nuanced campaign about risk.

Among the campaign’s key messages: “Not all sex has the same risk. Your risk of picking up or passing on HIV depends on the kind of sex you’re having and who you’re having it with.”

“What we’re finding is that while the questions on the surveys ask, ‘Are gay men having unprotected anal intercourse?’ — and while that number seems to be increasing — infections are not increasing in the same rate as risk-taking,” Jollimore explains.

“So what it means is that gay guys are finding other ways to reduce the risk, not just using condoms anymore,” he continues. “They’re using testing practices to determine whether they’re both negative or both positive — they’re finding people who have the same status as them.”

Do the Math presents eight different scenarios showcasing 16 local gay men in higher- and lower-risk situations in order to target the widest possible demographic of men who have sex with men.

“Instead of looking at this [as] group think — like if not everyone wears a condom, we’re going to transmit HIV — we’re trying to look at individual situations and say what’s going on in [a particular] scenario,” Jollimore elaborates.

The idea is not to privilege a particular kind of hookup or relationship, he says. “People are really happy with the complexity of it — that it’s not a simple one-fits-all message.”

Jollimore says the campaign is the brainchild of a volunteer advisory committee that included young men, older men, HIV-positive and -negative men, people with expertise in social marketing and an understanding of gay male demographics.

“Go to the website,” urges HIM executive director Wayne Robert. “We really do hope people go there and find that information, and find it useful, and find it really makes a difference for them.”

“Often [this area of health] is characterized as being incomprehensible, and there’s so many messages out there that have come and gone, and I think people really get fatigued about it,” Robert notes.

“One of the things I feel I can say to people about this is that they will find that it is respectful of their lives. It’s respectful of their ability to make their own decisions,” he says.

Vice-chair of the BC Persons with AIDS Society Ken Buchanan says the campaign is going to make people “stop for a second and think about what they’re doing.”

He hopes the campaign will prompt people to think about their own health, their partners’ health, wearing condoms and getting tested.

Read more.

TheBody.com recently hosted a panel discussion – via teleconference – on unprotected sex among gay men. Absolutely fascinating, engaging and illuminating – a must for any and all interested in gay men’s health.

Click here for the audio and a transcript.

The call was moderated by fogcityjohn and included Walt Odets, Rashad Burgess and Jeffrey Parsons.

- Select quotes –

Walt Odets: It’s a natural behavior, and it’s of emotional significance. And I think gay men naturally engage in it. We have liked to feel that it was somehow dispensable — and it’s really not, emotionally. So, again, we haven’t helped men to think about what they are doing. It’s a very narrow range in which HIV is transmitted. Anal sex has the emotional import for gay men that vaginal intercourse has for heterosexuals. And it can’t be dismissed. And we can’t expect that that’s going to done all the time, under any circumstances, with a condom. It’s compelling. It’s emotionally compelling.

Rashad Burgess: We, as Americans, [need to] recognize the value of gay men, in all of our lives, in the many facets of our lives — whether it be the business owners, whether it be folks’ uncles, or family members, other types of family members, the partners that gay men have. Because it is a community that, it’s imperative, understands that their lives — and as a gay man, that our lives, and my life — is worth saving.

Jeffrey Parsons: We do sometimes forget about the group of gay men who are out there — and it’s a large group — who are very happy, very satisfied. They’re not depressed. They’re not lonely. They’re not engaged in risk behaviors. They’re not seroconverting. They’re actually doing very well. And I think — and I can certainly say this as a researcher — that too often we don’t get to focus on that group. We don’t get to actually talk to them and research them and find out: What are they doing to stay safe, and to stay healthy, and to stay well adjusted?

Read more.

Holiday Watercooler: Be a gay rights patriot

By Ray Hunt, blogger, 365gay.com

It’s that time of year for barbecue’s fairs, picnics, concerts, baseball games and fireworks…yep it’s time for Fourth of July celebrations. I was wondering what to write for the long weekend festivities. Should I post more True Blood goodness? More Catholic church hypocrisy? More pop culture tidbits that tickle my fancy?

Nope. I was inspired by the Take Back Pride movement to encourage all of us to get politicized (or more politicized) and take back the 4th of July. If you are active, inspire others. If you give cash, give time. If you are just an informed citizen, get involved. Patriotism must  be defined by the patriot! And we can all define ourselves as human rights patriots (you too, straight allies).

Pick a topic that impacts the LGBT community and get to work. Below is a short list of examples to get you started and by all means post your own favorites. Happy 4th!

• Marriage Equality. Why should we want to imitate the hetero-normative institution of marriage? Whether you personally want to get married someday, or not, fight we must.

There are 1,138 Federal benefits, rights and protections afforded to married couples that GLBT couples will never see because of the dreaded Defense of Marriage Act (thanks, President Clinton). Even if you are lucky enough to live in one six states (hello Iowa!) that allows same-sex marriage you will never be invited to the federal party until we win.

• DADT. One of the most inane policies enacted (thanks again, Clinton!) by the federal government is Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.

The House of Representatives recently voted to repeal the discriminatory policy and this summer the Senate will take up the issue. We may be witnessing the last breaths of a policy that is as silly (what? gays don’t serve?) as it is hurtful to our military readiness (especially in times of war).

More than 13,500 service members have been fired under this law since 1994. The law is a response to “homosexual panic” and seems to have been enacted to keep potentially gay soldiers from showering with heterosexual soldiers. Come on, butch up…you already do!

• ENDA. In these difficult economic times, it’s important to be as secure in our livelihoods as possible.

The Employment Non-Discrimination Act would provide LGBT employees with protection against employment discrimination based on sexual orientation. The bill protects workers form discriminatory hiring, firing, promotion, or compensation practices, as well as retaliation for reporting such practices.

Read more.

In a five-to-four decision, U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that public universities may refuse financial support to religious student groups that ban gay members. The University of California’s Hastings College of Law has an anti-discrimination policy that includes sexual orientation. To receive official recognition, student groups must not fall afoul of this policy. But the non-denominational Christian Legal Society’s rules include a ban on anyone participating in “a sexually immoral lifestyle” involving “sexual conduct outside of marriage between a man and a woman.” Hastings therefore withdrew its recognition of the 30-member group, meaning that, though the group might remain on campus, it would not be eligible for funding for events and travel, nor granted office space or access to publications and bulletin boards. The Christian Legal Society filed suit on first amendment grounds of infringement on the free practice of their religion.

In the majority opinion, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote that the Christian Legal Society had sought “a preferential exemption from Hastings’ policy,” when in fact, she wrote, the University “may reasonably draw a line in the sand permitting all organizations to express what they wish but no group to discriminate in membership.” Ultimately, she wrote, “in requiring the CLS—in common with all other student organizations—to choose between welcoming all students and forgoing the benefits of official recognition, we hold, Hastings did not transgress constitutional limitations.” Her opinion, joined by Justices John Paul Stevens, Anthony Kennedy, Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor, is expected to have implications for the relationship between public universities and many campus groups, including sororities and fraternities. These will now have allow gays into their groups if they want money from public universities with anti-discrimination policies, even if doing so is in opposition to their religious beliefs.

In primary and secondary schools in two states, the situation for gay students is also set to improve. In Illinois on Sunday, Governor Pat Quinn signed into law the Prevent School Violence Act, which updated and added specificity to the state’s existing mandates. Under this act, for the first time, bullying is clearly defined, and extended to include cyber-bullying. Protection is also offered to a specific list of categories, including LGBT students. The law also creates a task force to examine the origins and impact of bullying. The findings are likely to be pretty depressing—which is exactly why this law is needed. According to the ACLU of Illinois, “Students report that physical appearance (looks or body size), sexual orientation and gender expression are the most common reasons other students at their school are bullied.” The ACLU also reports that more than half of Illinois students that they have been verbally harassed and nearly a quarter report being physically assaulted in school in the last year.

Governor Quinn’s signature made Illinois the ninth state with an anti-bullying law that protects gay students, but gay activists have reason to hope that there will very soon be a tenth, New York. Last week, the New York state senate passed an anti-bullying law of its own, one that, like Illinois’, protects LGBT students. The Dignity for All Students Act had already passed the state assembly, and Governor David Paterson is expected to sign it. The bill was largely the work of gay Assemblyman Daniel J. O’Donnell, who was pushed to action by the experience of being bullied over his weight as a youth. O’Donnell, speaking to the New York Times, was dismissive of the dated “kids will be kids” attitude.” As O’Donnell said, “That leads to suicide and it leads to death. There was a case in California where a transgender kid was murdered. So clearly, bullying escalates. What we’re trying to do is nip bullying in the bud.”

As State Senator Thomas K. Duane, who shepherded the bill through New York’s Senate, said in a statement, “No child should be terrified to go to school simply because of who they are.”

Read more.

Nevertheless, the state’s Republican party has voted on a platform (PDF link) by which their candidates will stand, and it includes the reinstatement of laws banning sodomy: otherwise known as oral and anal sex.

The party’s platform also seeks to make gay marriage a felony offense, which may be confusing to most given that the state does not sanction or recognize same sex marriages, meaning any such ceremony conducted does not bear the weight of law. Whether this means the GOP wants gay couples married in other states to be pursued through Texas as dangerous criminals, the party did not specify.

“We oppose the legalization of sodomy,” the platform states. “We demand that Congress exercise its authority granted by the U.S. Constitution to withhold jurisdiction from the federal courts from cases involving sodomy.”

Texas first passed an anti-sodomy law in 1860, setting the penalty at 5-15 years in jail. The ban was finally overturned in 2003 by the landmark Supreme Court decision Lawrence et al. v. Texas. The court found that two men arrested in their own home by Houston police, who charged them with engaging in sodomy, were not committing a crime. Indeed, the court said the men were “free as adults to engage in private conduct in the exercise of their liberty…”

Read more.

In recent years, we have made huge advances in HIV research, prevention and care.  Still, HIV and AIDS remains an epidemic in this country.  That is why my Administration is launching in the coming days a comprehensive National HIV/AIDS Strategy focused on reducing new HIV infections, increasing access to care, and reducing HIV-related health disparities.  But government cannot address this important issue alone.  We need the commitment of businesses, churches and faith groups, philanthropic organizations, the scientific and medical communities, educational institutions and others.  And all of us have a responsibility to reduce our risk and know our status, to continue to support those already affected by this disease, and to fight the stigma and discrimination people still face.  So on this National HIV Testing Day, let us all recommit to do our part to help stop the spread of HIV and AIDS.

Read more on AIDS.gov or visit our Get Tested page.

Getting down to the nitty gritty of vibrator use, the researchers asked men how they used vibrators specifically, offering five options. From most common to least, here’s what men reported:

• 87% said they used a vibrator for anal penetration
• 73% said they held or rubbed the vibrator against their anus
• 62% held or rubbed the vibrator against the testicles
• 59% held or rubbed a vibrator against their penis
• 25% held or rubbed against other body parts

The survey distinguished between committed sexual relationships and casual sex. There wasn’t a significant difference in vibrator use from one kind of relationship to the other, but overall people tended to use vibrators more in relationships than in casual sexual encounters.

Read more.

President Obama will soon expand the rights of gay workers by allowing them to take family and medical leave to care for sick or newborn children of same-sex partners, administration officials said Monday.

The policy will be set forth in a ruling to be issued Wednesday by the Labor Department’s wage and hour division, the officials said.

Under a 1993 law, people who work for a company with 50 or more employees are generally entitled to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for a newborn or for a spouse, son or daughter with “a serious health condition.”

The new ruling indicates that an employee in a same-sex relationship can qualify for leave to care for the child of his or her partner, even if the worker has not legally adopted the child.

The ruling, in a formal opinion letter, tackles a question not explicitly addressed in the 1993 law. It is one of many actions taken by the Obama administration to respond to the concerns of gay men and lesbians within the constraints of the Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman as husband and wife.

Read more.

Diet math is simple: you have to burn more calories than you take in. But it’s how you go about trimming those calories that isn’t quite so simple…unless you know a few good tips. Lucky for you, we’ve culled a few ideas to keep D-I-E-T from being a foul four-letter word.

Pump Up the Volume
Dread a diet because you hate to be hungry? Maybe it’s time to change your approach. Instead of making choices that pack big calories in an unsatisfying little package, try the inverse: low calorie foods in a bigger package. Take, for example, raisins. At about 120 calories, a serving of raisins is only a handful, ¼ cup to be exact. However, a larger one cup serving of grapes also has about the same amount of calories as the handful of raisins—that’s four times the volume for nearly the same amount of calories! Along the same lines, a one ounce serving of potato chips (and who really eats just one ounce? That’s only about ten chips!) will set you back just as many calories as an apple paired with one ounce of reduced fat cheese. At least with the latter you’ll be getting a healthy dose of filling fiber and some satiety-packed protein from the cheese. Get the picture? Aim for more food and less calories.

For a solid hunger-trumping weight loss strategy, fill your day with low calorie, high fiber foods. Try simple choices like adding a big salad to your lunch and dinner, choosing whole grain breads and crackers, and taking in at least five fruits and vegetables a day. Fill up on fiber and you’ll be doing a lot more than reducing your girth: a 2008 Danish study concluded that a diet low in fat, but high in fiber and reduced-calorie carbohydrates like fruits, vegetables and whole grains is a sure bet to combat not only weight gain, but also, type 2 diabetes.

Read More.

The State Department has revised its policy on changing passports for transgender people, announcing Wednesday night that a doctor’s note will now suffice in such cases.

Previously, the State Department had required that a person undergo sexual reassignment surgery before it would change the passport. The policy had outraged transgender advocates, who called for an updated approach.

Under the new policy, which takes effect Thursday, a doctor must attest that the person is undergoing clinical treatment for gender transition, State said. Limited-validity passports will also be available to applicants in the process of gender transition, the department added.

State noted that its policy is “based on standards and recommendations of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), recognized by the American Medical Association as the authority in this field.”

The department also stressed that passport-issuing officials “will only ask appropriate questions to obtain information necessary to determine citizenship and identity.”

The new policy is based on recommendations from the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), widely recognized as a leading authority on transgender issues.

Read more.