HIV Health and Wellness

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Inclusive sex education is vital – and British schools aren’t delivering it

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Why isn’t there a mandatory requirement to teach children about sexual health and diversity, including LGBT, in the same way as other curriculum subjects?

One in three gay men diagnosed with HIV in 2012 were in their teens or early 20s, yet more than three-quarters of gay and bisexual young people receive no information at school about same-sex relationships or gay safer sex. These failings border on child neglect, and have prompted a coalition of LGBTI, sexual health and HIV campaigners to petition British leaders for change. Read More 

HIV, Aging, and LGBT people: A Metamorphosis

Aging with HIV can be especially difficult. Older adults with HIV report high levels of isolation, yet few community spaces embrace their full identities as older people, people with HIV and, in most cases, given the epidemic's prevelence, LGBT and people of color. Additionally, medical research has found multiple health concerns related to aging with HIV—and the psychological dimensions of living with HIV, or a new diagnosis, can spur its own storms. Read More

Coming Out of the PrEP Closet

Scott Wiener, San Francisco Supervisor, District 8: "I'm HIV-negative, and I want to remain that way. I recently decided to be public about my use of PrEP in order to raise awareness about this relatively new tool for preventing HIV. It's important to encourage people at risk for HIV to talk to their medical providers."  Wiener isn't the only one coming out for PrEP, everyday couples and individuals share their stories about being proactive for safer sex. Read More

Is 'Undetectable' the New Safe Sex?

The landmark Partner study that everyone is talking about—which tracked HIV transmission risk through condomless sex if the HIV-positive partner is on suppressive antiretroviral medication—has so far found not even one case of an HIV-positive person with an undetectable viral load transmitting the virus to a partner. But people in your everyday life may still be a little disbelieving.

“The most common response I get from disbelievers is that positive men use ‘undetectable’ as a way of getting people to sleep with them without a condom,” says Tyler Curry, an editor with the new group HIV Equal, who has written about his frustration with gay men still ignorant about what it means to be undetectable. “Positive men don’t want to transmit the virus to someone who is negative just as much as a negative person doesn’t want to become positive,” Curry emphasizes. Read More

Why Are HIV Rates So High in Russia?

In 2013, Russia's national parliament, the State Duma, passed a federal law banning gay "propaganda", amid a Kremlin push to enshrine deeply conservative values. Human rights campaigners said the law had resulted in an increase in homophobic and transphobic violence, along with the suppression of information on sexual health and HIV for the LGBT community.  Read More

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Israel warns public about dangers of ‘ex-gay’ therapies

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Israel’s Health Ministry has formally adopted the recommendations of its country’s Council of Psychologists and the Israeli Psychological Association against so-called reparative therapies aimed at changing a person’s sexual orientation - issuing a public warning against them on Sunday. Read More 

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Xiao Zhen on Trying to End ‘Gay Conversion Therapy’ in China

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A man going by the pseudonym Xiao Zhen is the first person in China to file a lawsuit against a clinic offering “gay conversion therapy,” to change sexual orientation that medical experts criticize as ineffective and harmful. With the help of the Beijing LGBT Center, Xiao Zhen has sued the Xinyupiaoxiang Counseling Center, as well as Baidu, China’s Internet search engine, for posting the ads that led him there. Read More

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Oldest gay bookstore in America to re-open as AIDS charity shop

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When Ed Hermance, the owner America's oldest gay bookstore, announced earlier this year that after 35 years he was getting out of the book business, he said he would not leave Giovanni's Room or the building in Philadelphia to just anybody.

After decades of providing a safe haven both intellectually and physically for the gay community at 13th and Pine streets, he did not want it all to disappear just because of the demise of bricks-and-mortar bookstores.

Earlier this week, he signed a two-year lease with Philly AIDS Thrift, a charity shop that resells donated material to benefit AIDS and HIV programs. A few years ago, it successfully expanded into a double-wide storefront at Fifth and Bainbridge streets, becoming something of a retail and cultural phenomenon itself. Its owners say it raises about $20,000 a month.

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Poor health among LGBT on both sides of the pond

New reports coming out of the UK and US report that LGBT people report poorer health compared to straight counterparts. In the UK, half of the over 27,000 LGBT people surveyed reported negative experiences with the health care system. A randomized sample of LGBT in the US found that lesbian, bisexual, and transgender women in particular have lower physical well-being than either straight women or GBT men. 

Women and PrEP: Dissed By Her Doctor for Wanting HIV Protection

In 2010, Poppy Morgan wanted to stop using condoms so she could have a baby with her HIV-positive husband. She asked her doctor to prescribe Truvada, an HIV drug that can keep her from contracting the virus. But Morgan’s doctor didn’t just say no; she told her that she would no longer treat Morgan if she went ahead with her plan. 

Of the 2,319 Americans prescribed Truvada for PrEP in 2012 and 2013, almost half were women. And women are taking it for good reason. Outside of gay enclaves, another HIV epidemic is flourishing that overlaps with but isn’t the same as, the one in gay communities. The African American community has been devastated by HIV, especially in the South. African Americans make up only 12 percent of the population but comprise 44 percent of HIV cases. And it’s African American women who are among the most at risk.  Read More