Australia: Indigenous community lacks resources to prevent LGBTI suicide

Indigenous-run mental health services are struggling to attract funding for suicide prevention programs, according to Aboriginal mental health workers. Indigenous people are twice as likely as other Australians to take their own life.

In some areas young Aboriginal people take their own lives at 7x the national trend. Mental health advocate Dameyon Bonson said the situation was getting worse for LGBTI communities: "As a gay Aboriginal person myself, I [had] just got used to there not being any resources," he said.

Mr Bonson used crowd-funding to raise $26,000 for the awareness project via donations from the public. Indigenous mental health advocates said grassroots organisations should not be left to do important work without government support.  Read More via ABC

US: Dating apps fire back at billboards linking STD spread

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation is defending an ad campaign in Los Angeles that links popular dating apps with the spread of sexual transmitted diseases. The group has sponsored billboards and bus benches that are aimed at reminding users about the risks of casual sex and offering free STD tests.

"In many ways, location-based mobile dating apps are becoming a digital bathhouse for millennials wherein the next sexual encounter can literally just be a few feet away — as well as the next STD," Whitney Engeran-Cordova, senior public health director for the foundation, said in a statement.

Tinder sent a cease and desist letter claiming the campaign falsely associates the dating app with the spread of venereal diseases: "These unprovoked and wholly unsubstantiated accusations are made to irreparably damage Tinder's reputation in an attempt to encourage others to take an HIV test offered by your organization," a lawyer for Tinder wrote.

The foundation sent a letter to Tinder denying that it disparaged the company and saying it would not remove the reference to the app.  Read More via AP

US: For black gay men, HIV is a perfect storm

Over the course of my career as an HIV/AIDS epidemiologist, my peers and I have documented and helped answer a public health mystery affecting black gay men in the United States. Namely, why are HIV infection rates so high among this population, compared to two other communities that comprise the overwhelming majority of HIV cases in the nation: black Americans and gay men in general?

The statistics are hard to ignore and even harder to fathom. Gay men make up only 1.4% of the total black population in the U.S., yet they account for an astounding 53% of new HIV infections in the black community. And while new HIV infection rates have decreased among black women and injecting drug users, infections continue to rise among black gay and bisexual men. In addition, although gay men are 40x more likely to get HIV than the general population, that figure rises sharply to 72x more likely among black gay men.

There is, of course, no single factor that has led to black gay men being one of the groups most disproportionately affected by HIV in the U.S. Instead, it is a multifaceted “perfect storm” of problems involving social, cultural, and economic forces interacting in a variety of ways. Read More via the Advocate

South Africa: Young sexual minorities face increased HIV risk at university

In South Africa, young men who have sex with men are increasingly exploring their sexuality at university, without always understanding the HIV and other health risks they are taking. Yet there are few programmes and awareness campaigns address that focus on young men who have sex with men to address these issues.

A study across 14 higher education institutions involving sexual minorities, found risky sexual behaviour is increasing the risk of HIV transmission among these population groups. The study found that young gay and bisexual students are coming out of the closet, particularly in tertiary education institutions where they are more likely to meet their counterparts. But it is important to understand that not all men who have sex with men identify as gay. The study found that some men who identify as heterosexual engage in unprotected sex with other men, as well as having unprotected sex with female partners.

Based on its findings the study calls for more programmes at education institutions, and greater involvement of male students who have sex with men in such programmes, to help reduce the risk of HIV transmission. At the University of Western Cape a programme for men who have sex with men, as well as people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex (LGBTI) is improving the lives of many students.   Read more via Key Correspondents

WHO: Treat all people living with HIV, offer antiretrovirals as additional prevention choice for people at "substantial" risk

Anyone infected with HIV should begin antiretroviral treatment as soon after diagnosis as possible, WHO announced Wednesday. With its "treat-all" recommendation, WHO removes all limitations on eligibility for antiretroviral therapy (ART) among people living with HIV; all populations and age groups are now eligible for treatment.

The expanded use of antiretroviral treatment is supported by recent findings from clinical trials confirming that early use of ART keeps people living with HIV alive, healthier and reduces the risk of transmitting the virus to partners. Read More via WHO 

Spain: Suing the health ministry to have a baby

A lesbian couple has lodged a case against the Spanish health ministry, regional authorities and a Madrid hospital after they were denied artificial insemination purely because they are gay.

Women’s Link Worldwide, the human rights group helping the couple, say the two women were refused as the government regulation states artificial insemination can only be given to couples who have tried for a year to get pregnant through sexual intercourse.

This regulation, according to the group which was only imposed in November, is discriminatory as it excludes lesbian couples. Read More via Gay Star News

Kenya: LGBT rights must be protected to ensure healthy lives for all

Next week, 193 governments will attend the UN’s General Assembly in New York to adopt new sustainable development goals. But for sexual minorities the question is: how serious are governments about ensuring no one is left behind in the goal to ensure healthy lives for all?

After battling with acceptance of his HIV status, Joshua* visited a local hospital because he had genital warts. He recounts the painful experience: “When the nurse found out I was gay she started shouting and asking me why I was doing such bad things.”

Some medical practitioners refuse to offer services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people (LGBTI), citing moral or religious reasons. Fear of such discriminatory treatment has led to low access of services by LGBTI people and threatens global progress on the HIV response. Read More via Key Correspondents 

Sweden: First LGBT retirement home - a model for rainbow ageing?

There's a lengthy waiting list for a place at Sweden's first retirement home for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, its success highlighting a growing demand for accommodation specifically for elderly LGBT people.

Sweden is ranked as one of Europe's best countries for LGBT rights, according to an index that ranks European countries based on legal benchmarks for LGBT equality. Opened in 2013, Regnbagen, or rainbow house, doesn't look any different from the other modern apartment blocks in the quiet, leafy Stockholm suburb that overlooks the city's port.

Christer Fallman, Regnbagen's founder, said he liked the idea of creating a home where elderly gay and bisexual people could peacefully retire. "We are a group of people that has been harassed and seen as criminals and dismissed by law," he said. "The whole question started within myself: what will I do, what are my possibilities as a single man if I don't find anyone to live with, what will my older days look like?" Read More via Reuters

Italy: Researcher suggests that homophobia is a 'disease to be cured'

Society has come a long way since homosexuality was classified as a mental illness. Now, a controversial study published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine suggests that it may be homophobia — not homosexuality itself — that has elements of a psychiatric disorder.

“After discussing for centuries if homosexuality is to be considered a disease, for the first time we demonstrated that the real disease to be cured is homophobia, associated with potentially severe psychopathologies,” senior author Dr. Emmanuele Jannini, a professor of endocrinology and medical sexology at the University of Rome Tor Vergata, said in the press release.

Jannini and his team surveyed university students to measure their levels of homophobia, defence mechanisms, attachment styles, and psychopathologic symptoms. There’s “a remarkable association between dysfunctional aspects of personality and homophobic attitude,” concluding that psychoticism and immature defence mechanisms can predict to a certain extent whether people are homophobic. (Things like depressive symptoms, meanwhile, were more closely linked to the absence of homophobia.)  Read More via Business Insider

Argentina abolishes gay blood ban

Argentina lifted its ban on blood donation from gay and bisexual men, a bold move that puts the country at the forefront of the blood equality movement. At a signing ceremony, Health Minister Daniel Gollán declared that the change is “scientifically and technically accurate” and based on a medical approach that replaces that old concept of ‘risk groups.’ ” Gollán explained that, under the new policy, Argentina could finally “move toward a national blood system that is safe, caring, and inclusive.” It joins a growing minority of countries, including Italy and Spain, which assess donors based on individual risk rather than excluding an entire class solely because of their sexual orientation.

Unfortunately, the United States still leans heavily on the widely debunked concept of “risk groups.” The Food and Drug Administration plans to revise America’s current lifetime ban for gay and bisexual men, allowing them to donate if they’ve been celibate for a year. 

Read More via Slate
 

Seven ways the gay community is failing our youth on HIV

At a passing glance, it would seem as if gay men in America were on top of their game. After all, gay characters are more visible in the media than ever, public opposition to homosexuality has drifted into minority status, and same-sex marriage isn’t just a geographical privilege, but a national right.

But while the mainstream status of the young gay man has drastically improved, the status of his sexual health isn’t looking so good. A new research analysis reported that young people ages 13 to 24 now account for a quarter of new HIV infections, with only 7% of youth in the study reaching undetectable viral levels after diagnosis. This number, which is far below the national undetectable average of 30%, gives insight as to why HIV infection is up 132.5% among young gay men in the same age range over the past decade.

This stain on the gay rights report card demonstrates a glaring omission in our advocacy work. While we have been teaching young gay men the importance of business, family, and law, sexual health has been all but omitted from the curriculum. In honor of the 7%, here are seven ways we are failing young gay men.  Read More via the Advocate

US: Zero gay men contract HIV in two and a half year PrEP study

Researchers at the Kaiser Pemanente Medical Centre in San Francisco have given over 600 people Truvada to use daily across a two and a half year period – with not one person contracting HIV. 

Lead researcher Jonathan Volk said these results represent a unique opportunity to truly understand the usage of Truvada and PrEP in a real-world setting. “It suggests the treatment may prevent new HIV infections even in a high-risk setting,” he said. Volk was referring to the fact that many of the men in the study claiming to have highly active sex lives – often sleeping with multiple partners in a short space of time.

“Until now, evidence supporting the efficacy of PrEP to prevent HIV infection had come from clinical trials and a demonstration project,” he added. However, while none of the participants contracted HIV, 30% did contract an STI within the first six months of the study. This number increased to 50% after one year.  Read More via PinkNews