Unfinished Business: Taking bolder action to address HIV among gay and bisexual men and other men who have sex with men

MSMGF held the Civil Society Hearings Side Event, Unfinished Business – Taking bolder action to address HIV among gay and bisexual men and other men who have sex with men, at the United Nations in New York City in close consultation with the Global Platform to Fast Track the HIV and Human Rights Responses Among Gay, Bisexual Men and Other Men Who Have Sex with Men (The Platform), and supported by UNAIDS, UNDP, OGAC/PEPFAR, and the Global Fund. The event exceeded expectations with over 100 participants 

MSMGF notes: Following the Side Event and the Civil Society Hearings in New York, it is even more evident that activists, advocates and civil society organizations must work together tirelessly to influence the United Nations High-Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS (HLM) in June. We must ensure that gay and bisexual men and other men who have sex with men are adequately included and prioritized in the political declaration to emerge from the HLM, which will directly influence the global AIDS response for years to come. It is clear we will not come close to approaching the progress we need without partnerships and avid community activism. Read more via MSMGF

Botswana: Gaborone City Council rallies behind LGBTI community

Members of the Lesbians, Gays, and Bisexuals of Botswana (LEGABIBO) were yesterday in a jubilant mood after the Gaborone City Council (GCC) passed a motion calling on government to decriminalise same sex activities in order to support HIV/ AIDS programmes and policies.

The motion, which was tabled by councillor Sergeant Kgosietsile of Marulamantsi ward, wants government to extend HIV/AIDS services, information and materials specifically to gay groups, who have previously been discriminated against or stigmatised.

In support of the motion, Difetlhamolelo (Block 9) councillor Sesupo Jacobs said that one of their pillars as Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) stating that ‘no one is left out’ speaks of a system in which all citizens are entitled to protection under the Constitution and are brought to the social and economic mainstream of the society by accessing appropriate services that are beneficial and well managed. 

Read more via Mmegi

Australia: Transgender people could change birth certificates

People could soon change the gender on their birth certificates without having to undergo sex reassignment surgery.  The Victorian attorney-general's department  has signalled that it is working to "remove barriers to new birth certificates for trans, gender diverse and intersex Victorians", in line with a Victorian Labor election commitment.

In a letter to a parent of a transgender child, the attorney-general's chief of staff advised that the office was "progressing work to address discrimination in Victoria's birth certificate laws".  

The current laws are complex and confusing. If a person wants to change the gender on their certificate, they must be unmarried, 18 years of age or over, and to have undergone sex reassignment surgery.  Read more via the Age

Scotland: First Minister confirms Scotland will make its own decision on PrEP

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has confirmed Scotland will make its own decision on pre-exposure prophylaxis or PrEP, after NHS England extended trials for two years. The leader of the SNP said she was “keen” for Scotland to go its own way on PrEP and said it wouldn’t necessarily be the case Scotland follow recommendations made in England.

Fears about PrEP in Scotland arose, when it was reported that the Scottish Government was to accept the findings of health chiefs south of the border. When asked if she could see Scotland differing from NHS England’s decision and rolling out PrEP, Ms Sturgeon added: “Absolutely. It’s not necessarily the case that we would follow that [sic: two years further testing] in Scotland. I think we will take our own decisions.”

Last month, NHS England kicked the roll out of PrEP into the long grass, stating that it had to show it was cost effective. 

Read more via PinkNews
 

UK: Doctors are failing to help people with gender dysphoria

Dr James Barrett, the lead consultant psychiatrist at Charing Cross Gender Identity Clinic and president of the British Association of Gender Identity Specialists, warned about the issues facing trans people in the British Medical Journal: “In the experience of those of us who work at gender identity clinics as many as one in five GPs won’t prescribe for people with gender dysphoria, even after expert advice from an NHS clinic.

“Reasons that GPs have given me for this refusal include concerns about it being dangerous (it isn’t), difficult (it isn’t), expensive (it’s not, particularly), and I’ve also heard disturbingly frank admissions that it was against ‘deeply held Christian beliefs’ or that ‘we are trained to treat illnesses, not to change nature’.

“NHS England’s guidance on specialised commissioning makes it clear that GPs are expected to care for people with gender dysphoria just as for any other group with an uncommon condition easily managed with a joint care model.  Read more via PinkNews

UK: AIDS activists go bare to target austerity

As part of a global series of direct actions in cities on five continents, naked activists from ACT UP London stood in the lobby of the pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences, displaying the slogan “Pharma Greed Kills”. Gilead produces Truvada, a type of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) which is used to treat HIV in adults and teenagers. Yet at £446 per month, Truvada’s price makes it too expensive for it to be viably considered under the National Health Service.

Whilst the high cost of PrEP has a negative effect on those living with HIV by making medication more difficult to obtain, ACT Up London’s protest is about more than challenging the price of these medicines. Pharmaceutical companies are one part of a wider healthcare establishment that values profit margins over public health. As massive cuts to the NHS take effect on people living with HIV, this is a timely and important concern.

The medical industry is based on the premise that healthcare is a product that can be bought and sold, rather than a means to create dignity and social uplift. ACT UP London is the latest iteration in a series of AIDS campaigns that have, historically, focused on the affordability of drugs, and the speed at which they are released to market.  Read more via the Guardian

US: The APA on discrimination-related stress and its effect on LGBT lives

Discrimination is a fact of life for many in the LGBT community. The American Psychological Association’s recently released Stress in America report found that nearly one-quarter of adults who are LGBT say that they have been unfairly stopped, searched, questioned, physically threatened or abused by the police, and a third say they have been unfairly not hired for a job. Other forms of discrimination reported by LGBT respondents include day-to-day discrimination such as being threatened or harassed, receiving poorer service than others, or being treated with less courtesy or respect.

Regardless of the cause, experiencing discrimination is associated with higher reported stress and poorer reported health. Adults who are LGBT who have experienced discrimination report higher average stress levels than those who say that they have not. 

Adults who are LGBT are more likely to say their stress has increased in the prior year and are also more likely to report extreme stress levels compared to others (39 percent versus 23%). The survey found that money and work typically top the list of stressors, but LGBT adults are also stressed about their continued employment, with almost six in 10 saying that job stability is a source of stress for them, compared to just one-third of their non-LGBT counterparts. This is hardly surprising when you consider that 29 states offer no protections against workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation, and 32 states offer no protection against discrimination based on gender identity.   Read more via the Advocate

China: Lesbian couples resort to foreign sperm banks to evade domestic restrictions

As China does not acknowledge gay marriage and unmarried women are not allowed to use assisted reproductive technology, more and more lesbian couples in China are now seeking foreign sperm banks and IVF clinics. Experts said as the country is aging, fertility rights of the LGBT group should be guaranteed which will help alleviate the imminent old age problem.

Dou and Zhi, a lesbian couple living in Beijing, had their twins not through natural means, but through in-vitro fertilization (IVF) performed with sperm provided by a sperm bank based in the US. Zhi got pregnant last October and the couple spent about 300,000 yuan ($46,380) on their fertility trip to the US.

"I've always wanted to have my own child. When I met my wife, I knew it was time to do it," said Dou, 34, an NGO worker. Since gay marriage is not legal, it's impossible for lesbian couples to use IVF in China.  Read more via Global Times

Cuba: Gay scene and HIV education as borders open

As a youth growing up in Chicago, Phill Wilson had a Cuban fetish. The Spanish literature major romanticized the island nation, which was off-limits to U.S. travelers since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1963.

A half-century later, Wilson — now the out president of the Los Angeles-based Black AIDS Institute —would find himself en route to Havana, not just to soak up Cuban culture, but to see what the U.S. and Cuba could learn from each other in the fight against HIV and homophobia.

Wilson led a delegation of 15 gay men, many of color, to Cuba for two weeks starting on Christmas Eve; that was less than a year after President Obama helped normalize the once-strained relationship between the U.S. and communist Cuba.

Wilson says his team was greeted warmly, meeting with government officials, everyday Cubans, and people living with HIV. Wilson was impressed with the nation’s response to the disease, which has been greatly aided by the public information campaign of Mariela Castro, the LGBT-supportive daughter of Cuban president Raul Castro.

“From a public health perspective, from a human rights perspective, they are light years ahead of where we are with HIV,” Wilson says. Read more via the Advocate

Global health group takes on gay conversion therapy

The world's largest organisation for psychiatrists - the World Psychiatric Association - has announced their opposition to the so-called practice of "gay conversion" or "reparative" therapy, declaring it unethical, unscientific and harmful to those who undergo it.

"There is no sound scientific evidence that innate sexual orientation can be changed," the group said in a statement released this month. "Furthermore, so-called treatments of homosexuality can create a setting in which prejudice and discrimination flourish, and they can be potentially harmful. The provision of any intervention purporting to 'treat' something that is not a disorder is wholly unethical."

As the WPA membership contains countries that criminalise homosexuality or may condone "reparative therapy", they hope this will force governments to re-evaluate the rights of their people. Read more via BBC

Mozambique: Enduring discrimination leaves gay men untreated for HIV

Despite a veneer of progressive policymaking, bias against the rising number of men with HIV remains commonplace in Mozambique, deterring many from seeking treatment
In June, Mozambique dropped a colonial-era law criminalising homosexual activities. The change passed relatively quietly in the southern African country. After all, no one had ever been convicted.

A few weeks later, Tony Andrea felt like he was coming down with malaria. The 22-year-old went to a government health clinic. Andrea is gay and, despite the recently overturned prohibition, had always felt safe being open about his sexuality. He certainly never suspected it might interfere with his ability to access malaria treatment.

When he arrived at the clinic, “the nurse told me, ‘People like you, you lie a lot … You don’t have malaria,’” he says. Andrea said he was not sure why she suspected he was gay, but he put it down to his dress or speech. Aside from being demoralising, discrimination against men who have sex with men is jeopardising government efforts to reduce the high incidence of HIV and AIDS. At 11.5%, Mozambique has one of the 10 highest HIV rates in the world. But in Maputo, the capital, among men who have sex with men and are aged 25 years and older, that rate nearly triples to 33.8%. Read more via the Guardian

Using saliva as lube for anal sex significantly increases risk of gonorrhea

Saliva use as a lubricant for anal sex is a common sexual practice in MSM, and it may play an important role in gonorrhoea transmission. Almost half of rectal gonorrhoea cases may be eliminated if MSM stopped using partner's saliva for anal sex. 

The cross-sectional survey was conducted among MSM attending Melbourne Sexual Health Centre between 31 July 2014 and 30 June 2015. Read more via NCBI