In February 2007, I received a call from my primary care, who’s an amazing family nurse practitioner in SF. It was just about 5PM and I was driving in my car. He’s asking me if I can come in to see him the next day. I thought for a few seconds and [...]
Straight Men Also at Risk for Anal HPV
Prevalence and risk factors for human papillomavirus-related anal lesions were evaluated in 60 men with human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS). Patients underwent anal cytology, anuscopy under colposcopic vision and anal biopsy for detection of the lesions. The mean age was 41.9 years and the mean time of HIV infection was 6.8 years, 88.3% of [...]
Egypt Sentences 5 Men for Homosexuality
An Egyptian court convicted five men Wednesday on charges of homosexual behavior and sentenced them to three years in prison, officials said.
Defense lawyer, Adel Ramadan, said the judge found the men guilty of the “habitual practice of debauchery” — a term used in the Egyptian legal system to denote consensual homosexual acts.
The convictions were confirmed [...]
To circumcise or not?
For nearly all of Nada Mouallem’s pregnancy, she and her husband, Tony, had a running argument. She wanted to have their son circumcised. He didn’t. “Many days, I’d go off and research all the pros. He’d go and research all the cons. Then we’d get together at night and fight,” she says.
Arguments about circumcision often [...]
Florida Group Launches HIV Awareness Campaign for Minority MSMs
Chris Lacharite never thought that in 2008 he would be asking an assembly of gay men to get the word out about the AIDS epidemic.
The HIV prevention manager for Compass thought that message was delivered a long time ago.
“I don’t know when it stopped, but it stopped,” he said last week.
The occasion was a “town [...]
Circumcised men no less likely to get sex diseases
Circumcision does not appear to shield men from the types of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) common in the developed world, according to new research from New Zealand.
While there is “compelling evidence” that circumcision protects men from contracting HIV through sex with women, it is unclear whether circumcised men are at lower risk of other types [...]
When Girls Will Be Boys
It was late on a rainy fall day, and a college freshman named Rey was showing me the new tattoo on his arm. It commemorated his 500-mile hike through Europe the previous summer, which happened also to be, he said, the last time he was happy. We sat together for a while in his room [...]
Sex Diseases in Many Gay Men Go Unfound, Experts Say
Many cases of sexually transmitted diseases are escaping detection because gay men are not being tested each year as advised, federal health officials said Wednesday. And if the men do show up, the officials added, many doctors and clinics are not following screening recommendations.
But more cases could be detected if the government approved new [...]
Burning Bridges
When we come to those hard decisions, especially about our status, we have to pull strength from ourselves. When we have our bad days and are feeling abandoned or isolated, we have to somehow realize that we are never alone. How do we convince ourselves of all this? Psh, I’m still trying to figure that [...]
Study Suggests Shift In Attitude Among Newly Infected Men With HIV Regarding Partners
The study proves what I have heard anecdotally, that people seek (sex) partners with similar HIV statuses, a process called serosorting.
“While the findings showed condom use was up and the number of partners was down, the most startling effect was seen in men choosing to have unprotected intercourse almost exclusively with other HIV-infected individuals,” said [...]