As we look beyond the 25th anniversary of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, more black and black gay activists are rallying their communities around prevention and treatment. In the current print edition of The Advocate, the editors profile several activists on the front lines of the battle.
Twenty-four year old Demetrius Meiller spent much of his adolescence as a runway and in the juvenile corrections system. He was 21 years old when he seroconverted. Initially, he says his new positive status was "a blow", only to be compounded by friends and associates who cut themselves off.
Antidepressants and a lot of conversation with his odler friends helped Meiller get his life back on track. Now he is an HIV peer education counselor for the New York State Men of Color Health Awareness Project. Several times a week Meiller talks to young people about safer sex and HIV testing. "I go to bars, community events, high schools, colleges, everywhere," he says. "I mingle and socialize and I say, 'Are you interested in learning about safe sex?' Some people know how to use a condom and what to know how to make it feel better."
Frankie Edozien's article goes into more detail about the recent report by the Minority AIDS Council that was discussed here several times. "Perhaps the most important factor in reducing HIV risk for black gay men," noted activist Phill Wilson is quoted as saying. "Is the one that usually receives the least attention: Eliminating the homophobia and related stigma, discrimination and violence experienced by black gay men."
Now that the balance of power has shifted in our nation's capitol, Wilson says the report has the attention of some members of Congress. "Whether that attention is sufficient to generate early change, we will see."
Urban Rally Against AIDS (The Advocate)
Some background ...
Ending Black Homophobia Will Reduce HIV (Rod 2.0) Jonathan Perry in "The Advocate" (Rod 2.0) Is HIV A Gay Disease? (Keith Boykin) Should Homophobic Churches Receive HIV/AIDS Funding? (Rod 2.0) Do You Disclose Your HIV Status? (Rod 2.0) "Out of Control: AIDS in Black America" (Rod 2.0) Primetime Reports the Black HIV Epidemic (After Elton) A Conversation with Keith Boykin (Rod 2.0) "Being a Gay Black Man" (Rod 2.0) The ABCs of Black HIV (Rod 2.0) The HIV Morning After Pill? (Rod 2.0) Black Gay Men and "The Pill" (Rod 2.0)
Damn you, Rod. Now I have to start reading The Advocate again.
Posted by: j. brotherlove | 22 January 2007 at 13:22