The New Zealand Medical Journal reports five gay men have been infected with Lymphogranuloma venereum (LGV), a rare STI. LGVis endemic in developing countries but is uncommon here.
It is sometimes caused by chlamydia, and symptoms include rectal pain, bloody discharge, cramping abdominal pain, constipation, lesion and ulcers, fever and headaches. All of the men reported high-risk sexual behaviour and all had also contracted either HIV or gonorrhoea, or both. Read More
Recent NSW public health surveillance data finds gonorrhoea rates among men who have sex with men are at a 4-year high.
Karen Price, the chair of STIGMA and ACON’s HIV and sexual health director, has expressed concern at the “continuing high rates” of STIs among gay and MSM residents in inner-Sydney.
“Gonorrhoea is a bacterial infection passed from penis to mouth or anus that can be easily treated. Condoms provide the most effective protection against gonorrhoea during anal sex. It’s also important for gay men to understand that the presence of STIs like gonorrhoea can increase the risk of HIV transmission. Read More
Every year in Britain, 2,000 men are diagnosed with cancers caused by the HPV virus. The sexually transmitted infection lies dormant, showing no signs or symptoms for years, often decades, until cancer cells start multiplying. At that point, tumours can be found in throats, penises, mouths, anuses, tonsils, and tongues.
A simple, highly effective vaccine exists. It’s just not given to boys. Instead, since 2008, girls aged 11–14 are given the jab, to prevent the virus triggering cervical cancer. These girls are protected for life, and so too are the boys who have sex with them. But gay and bisexual men – or indeed any man who has sex with another just once – can become infected. Read More
The Church and other faith-based organisations have been targeted by the Ministry of Health (MoH) as part of a campaign to improve attitudes and behaviours among vulnerable high-risk groups such as homosexuals and prostitutes, and to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS.
Approximately $298 million is to be spent next year on the programme, which is funded by grants from the United States Agency for International Development. At least 4,535 homosexuals are to be targeted for small-group level HIV preventable interventions. Additionally, 6,537 prostitutes will be targeted for similar interventions during the course of the fiscal year. Read More
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."
Vice sends their cameras to Journey Into Manhood, a gay conversion program, where men pay more than US$600 to attend a weekend retreat to be 'cured' of their same-sex attractions Read More
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We asked attendees at Sydney’s annual Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Fair Day what LGBT issues meant the most to them, with one catch: they couldn’t answer marriage equality. These are the topics people wished got more attention. Read More
Children may be born with parents of the same sex following a breakthrough which scientists believe paves the way for “two dad” families.
Researchers from Cambridge University and Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science say they have shown for the first time that human egg and sperm cells can be made from stem cells in the skin of two adults.