Photo Of The Day

(Via - Truth Wins Out)

Lisa Lampanelli Vs. Westboro

Over the weekend comedian Lisa Lampanelli vowed to donate $1000 to the Gay Men's Health Crisis for every Westboro protester that show up at her Topeka, Kansas show.

GMHC Responds To Ruben Diaz

Majorie Hill, CEO of the Gay Men's Health Crisis, has issued a statement directed at NY state Sen. Ruben Diaz, who has again scheduled a massive anti-gay rally on the same day as the AIDS Walk in Central Park.

Sadly, in the mid-afternoon on the 15th, a march against same-sex marriage will be hosted by state Senator Ruben Diaz, Sr. in the Bronx.We are distressed that Senator Diaz would focus his attention on increasing homophobia which is a lethal driver of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. A recent study reported that gay couples who are affirmed in their relationships are less likely to place themselves at risk for HIV. Similar findings by other studies have shown that anti-gay bullying and other forms of homophobia can place lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals at higher risk for HIV.

Research has also shown that same-sex marriage has disproportionately positive effects for gay and lesbian couples of color. From our work each day, we know that homophobia and stigma still affect people living with HIV/AIDS and can create barriers to accessing healthcare and support.GMHC as an organization and AIDS Walk New York as a fundraiser promote social justice, equality and equal access for all. To show support for people affected by HIV/AIDS and solidarity for same-sex couples who will soon have the same human rights as heterosexual couples, New Yorkers are encouraged to join us and walk for AIDS Walk New York."

It sounds a bit like Hill is discouraging counter-protesting at the Diaz event.

(Via - Steven Thrasher @ Village Voice)

Larry Kramer: AIDS Is A Plague That Was And Is Allowed To Happen

As the world approaches the 30th anniversary of the first noted cases of AIDS, famed activist Larry Kramer publishes a typically blistering editorial for CNN International in which he shouts that AIDS is a plague that was allowed to happen. And still is. An excerpt:

Governments and bureaucrats and presidents and politicians and the people who run this world lie to people. They tell us HIV is under control. They tell us case numbers are decreasing. They tell us that all is being done that can be done. They tell us HIV is too complicated to eradicate. They tell us gay people and people of color have made more progress than ever before. These are all lies. [snip]

For some 30-plus years, I have been trying to tell the world where this plague came from and why, and I will continue to do so until I die, too. You see, I simply can't get the memories and the ghosts of just about every friend I had out of my life. And since there is no doubt in my mind that this plague of HIV/AIDS that took them from me was and continues to be allowed to happen, I am duty bound to tell this hideous history as best and as fully as I can. It's the least I can do. That is correct: This plague of HIV/AIDS was intentionally allowed to happen. It still is. Nothing has changed in the intentionality department. Hate has a way of hanging around forever and too often winning out in the end.

Please read Kramer's full piece, especially his "ten realities about AIDS." And read the comments, where AIDS denialists and anti-gay Christians are rushing to attack.

GLAAD & GMHC Call On NYC To Yank Graphic New HIV Prevention Ad

GLAAD and the Gay Men's Health Crisis are calling on New York City to cease airing an HIV prevention ad that the groups says is "sensationalist and stigmatizing."

The PSA, which is intended to encourage condom usage among gay and bisexual men, claims that those with HIV face a higher risk of bone loss, dementia, and anal cancer. While older adults living with HIV may be at greater risk of these conditions, the PSA creates a grim picture of what it is like to live with HIV that could further stigmatize HIV/AIDS, as well as gay and bisexual men. “We know from our longstanding HIV prevention work that portraying gay and bisexual men as dispensing diseases is counterproductive,“ said Marjorie Hill, PhD, GMHC’s Chief Executive Officer. “Studies have shown that using scare tactics is not effective. Including gay men’s input, while recognizing their strength and resiliency, in the creation of HIV prevention education is effective. Gay men are part of the prevention solution, not the problem.” Both GLAAD and GMHC have reached out to the department to demand that the commercial be pulled and to offer assistance with framing the conversation around HIV/AIDS more accurately.

Here's the clip, which does seem over the top. One image in particular may be quite disturbing.

Positively Proud Art Show: June 24th

The exhibit runs June 24th - Sept. 30th. More details here.

Turmoil At GMHC Over Headquarters

NYC-based Gay Men's Health Crisis is under fire over the search for a new home to replace their longtime headquarters on West 24th Street, which they must vacate by the end of this year after losing their lease. According to cofounder Larry Kramer, the new building being considered is unacceptable.

Somehow a building was eventually located that GMHC's leadership felt they could afford. It is in the Associated Press building on 33^rd Street and Tenth Avenue. For people with AIDS it will be an awful and unsatisfactory home. It is an indication of the board's desperation that it has been willing to accept terms and restrictions that are out of another era. Here are only some of them: No kitchen or cooking facilities will be allowed. GMHC is famous for its daily hot meals, which, for many clients, is the only food they get. I repeat: for many of their clients this is the only food that they get. Clients will be forced to enter through a special entrance and use a special elevator,lest the regular tenants see them. Staff will be allowed to use the regular entrance and elevator. This represents an institutionalized apartheid that past leaders of GMHC would have denounced and refused to countenance.

No medical facilities or activities will be allowed. This could literally be a real killer. Most clients come to GMHC for regular testing, counseling, clinical trials, to see their doctors, and to receive related services, all under one roof. The medical and testing facilities are located on the ground floor of their current West 24^th building. These services, which provide grant funding for GMHC, are financed by generous contributions by the David Geffen Foundation and the Michael Palm Foundation, and are administered by New York Hospital/Weill Medical Center. Without these facilities located in the same place as their daily hot meals, (which they will now also not begetting) what reason would clients have to come to GMHC at all? Indeed, the new building is located in such an inconvenient neighborhood that it will be arduous for many clients to come there. It is a fifteen minute walk to many subway stations, a ten minute walk to others. There is a 34^th Street cross-town bus to take them the very long blocks to these subways, but I keep having images of sick people standing in the snow and rain on a freezing winter day waiting for that cross-town bus.

Read Kramer's lengthy diatribe for more of story.