This weird and amazing video wants to encourage gay men to use condoms

An HIV charity and the NHS have produced a strange and amazing film to encourage men who have sex with men to use condoms when they have anal sex. The film, titled ‘That Awkard Moment’, was released last week, and hopes to use humour to encourage gay and bi men to talk about issues around using condoms and lube. 

Created by the British Association for Sexual Health, HIV funded Terrence Higgins Trust Scotland and NHS Tayside, the film hopes to “help [men] overcome these issues with the facts in a fun, innovative and engaging way.” Read More

US: New app 'MyTransHealth' will help trans patients find healthcare

MyFitnessPal, Uber and CityMapper are all apps which make things a little easier. However, a soon-to-be released app MyTransHealth is set to change life as we know it for trans people everywhere. The crowdsourced program will allow people to see reviews on doctors before attending an appointment, so they can choose the most trans-friendly. 

Users will be able to see how healthcare professionals match up in terms of inclusiveness under the categories medical, legal, mental health, and crisis. They can then delve even deeper and work out their score in terms of language and insurance issues. Read More

Turkey: No place is heaven for trans people, hell is everywhere for sex workers

Founder and chairperson of the Red Umbrella Sexual Health and Human Rights Association Kemal Ördek was robbed and raped in their home in Ankara. A police officer at the police station reacted by saying “Enough with this tribe of Lot.” 

It has been three days since the attack. At the police station the assailants threatened Ördek by saying, “We know where you live now. They’ll release us anyway and you’ll have to deal with the consequences.” The assailants are free and they continue to harass Ördek on their cell phone.

We met with Kemal Ördek when they arrived at Istanbul for Pride Week and discussed sex workers’ rights struggle. Ördek explains that, as long as it does not include violence, threat, or coercion, sex work needs to be legalized, which would lead to a decrease in sexually transmitted infections since sex workers would be able to freely access healthcare without being discriminated: “Everything starts at legal recognition and guarantees. The current atmosphere of dismissiveness needs to be addressed; dismissiveness also means precarity.” Read More

US: Researchers and iPhone launch landmark study of LGBTQ health

Researchers are preparing the largest national study of LGBTQ health ever. The Population Research in Identity and Disparities for Equality, or PRIDE, Study is the first study of this kind to better understand the health of LGBTQ adults in the United States. It’s a longitudinal cohort study that uses an iPhone app to connect with and track sexual & gender minority adults over time to understand factors related to health & disease in this population.  

The PRIDE Study app is based on ResearchKit, an open-source software framework developed by Apple, which helps researchers gather data more frequently and accurately from participants using mobile devices. For example, other researchers have created apps to measure dexterity and gait in Parkinson’s disease patients and blood glucose levels in diabetes patients. The PRIDE Study is the first to use this platform to study a population rather than a specific disease. Read More

Europe: How to prevent HIV and STI in men who have sex with men

Many European countries have had specific prevention programmes for men who have sex with men (MSM) since the early years of the HIV epidemic. But sex between men is still the predominant mode of HIV transmission across the EU/EEA. In its new guidance HIV and STI prevention among men who have sex with men, ECDC identifies seven key services to reduce and prevent HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STI) among MSM.

The guidance suggests scientifically proven interventions that range from vaccination, better access to testing and condoms to timely treatment and targeted health promotion. For maximum effect, these are best applied in combination. 
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OHCHR: Sexual and reproductive health and rights

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) launched a new information series on sexual and reproductive health and rights. The series includes topics such as Abortion, Adolescents, HIV and AIDS, Violence against Women, LGBTI people, among others. For each topic, it provides the latest data, the human rights standards and the international agreements. Find the series here  

The 29th session of the Human Rights Council concluded on 3 July at a report was presented to updated the Office of the High Commission on violence and discrimination against individuals based on their sexual orientation and gender identity. The report can be read here. 

UK: Roses are red, condoms are blue... if you have syphilis

Three UK teens may have found a way to help couples test for STDs in the privacy of their own home. They've invented a condom called the S.T.EYE that changes color when it comes into contact with the pathogens -- green for chlamydia, yellow for herpes and blue for syphilis. The condom -- created by 14-year-old Daanyaal Ali, 13-year-old Muaz Nawaz and 14-year-old Chirag Shah from the Issac Newton Academy in London -- won top honors in the healthcare category at the TeenTech Awards.

The design is still in the conceptual stage, but the teens have already reportedly been approached by a condom manufacturer about improving their invention and possibly turning it into something headed to a drug store near you. This isn't the first we've seen of color-coded personal products. Last year, a nail polish company unveiled a product that could test for the presence of date rape drugs such as Rohypnol, Xanax and GHB in drinks.  Read More 

New Zealand: STI/HIV health alert issued in Auckland

Syphilis and gonorrhoea cases are on the rise in Auckland, where gay and bisexual men are being urged to get a sexual health check-up. Average monthly syphilis cases have increased 120% over the last 18 months, and average monthly gonorrhoea cases by 170% in the last six months. Recent data from University of Otago shows an increase in HIV diagnoses among gay and bisexual men across New Zealand.

“The STI epidemic is very worrying” says Executive Director of the New Zealand AIDS Foundation Shaun Robinson. “There have been several significant breakouts of STIs amongst men who have sex with men over the last two years and the situation appears to be getting worse. We know that over 85% of syphilis cases in New Zealand affect gay and bisexual men and we are also seeing major outbreaks of gonorrhoea. These can do serious health damage if untreated and spread very rapidly in the community. It is very important that men who have had anal sex without condoms get an STI and HIV test.” Read More 

UK: STIs soaring in gay men - warning

The number of sexually transmitted infections being spread in gay men is soaring, according to Public Health England. Figures for 2014 showed a 46% increase in syphilis infections, 32% in gonorrhoea and 26% in chlamydia. The report said there were "high levels of condomless sex" in general and "rapid" transmission of infections in HIV-positive men.

Dr Michael Brady, the medical director of the Terrence Higgins Trust, said: "The continued rise in both syphilis and gonorrhoea is a worry and evidence that we still have much to do to address the nation's poor sexual health and rates of STIs in those most at risk. We should make better use of new technologies and approaches - local awareness raising through targeted social media based on the geographical breakdown of the data we are seeing today and an offer online testing - to reach those who are not accessing 'traditional' services"  Read More

US: Conversion therapy group committed consumer fraud, N.J. jury says

A New Jersey jury on Thursday found a non-profit group that provides gay-to-straight conversion therapy guilty of consumer fraud for promising clients they could overcome their sexual urges by undressing in front of other men, pummeling an effigy of their mothers, and re-enacting traumatic childhood experiences.

In the first case in the nation to put the controversial practice on trial, the jury concluded that Arthur Goldberg and Elaine Berk, the founders of Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing in Jersey City and life coach Alan Downing to whom JONAH referred patients, "engaged in unconscionable commercial practices" and misrepresented their services. Read More

UNAIDS: Using new media for the health and well-being

UNAIDS, in collaboration with the Global Forum on MSM & HIV, the USAID funded LINKAGES programme and Health Policy Project, hosted health and media experts, including representatives of private dating platforms, programme implementers, researchers, and advocates for a meeting on using new media and communication technologies to affect the health of gay men and other men who have sex with men (MSM). 

Participants consulted to develop a framework to engage the private and public sectors in using new media technologies for HIV prevention.

Geng Le, Chief Executive Director of Chinese app 'Blued,' said: “Undeniably, gay social networking applications can be a great tool. Blued, as a gay dating application with social responsibility, is keen to make our platform available for HIV interventions. We just need to learn how to work more effectively and innovatively.” 

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Canada: Conversion therapy for LGBTQ youth to be banned in Ontario

Ontario has given final approval to an NDP private member's bill that bans so-called conversion therapy for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender children.

New Democrat Cheri DiNovo says therapists should not try to "fix" LGBTQ kids or subject them to what she calls unethical and abusive conversion therapy. DiNovo says not only did Ontario allow conversion therapies to go on too long, the province actually covered the treatments under its health insurance plan, a practice that ends now. Read More