Rod 2.0:Beta

26 AIDS Activists Arrested in Capitol Hill Needle Exchange Protest

UPDATE: John Aravosis at AMERICAblog reports the "White House website pledge to support repeal of the federal ban on needle exchange appears to be gone."

Can't say you didn't see this coming. Capitol Hill Police arrest 26 HIV/AIDS who shut down the Capitol Rotunda to protest the Obama Administration's reversal on campaign promises to overturn the ban on funding needle exchange programs.

[Police] said the group entered the rotunda, located beneath the Capitol dome, and linked themselves together with a white chain at about 10 a.m. The area is usually crowded with tourists, but police restricted the traffic while they made arrests. The activists carried signs in support of funding for needle exchange, HIV/AIDS housing and programs aimed at fighting AIDS. They chanted, "Fight global AIDS now," and, "Clean needles save lives." They marched in a circle before lying down on the floor.

Omolola Adele-Oso of DC Fights Back questioned why lawmakers were bailing out financial institutions instead of devoting more dollars to AIDS programs. "HIV is not in a recession," Adele-Oso said in a written statement from the coalition about the demonstration.

As soon as two weeks after the election of President Barack Obama, Rod 2.0 reported the new Administration was backing away from campaign promises to overturn the ban. In May, the Administration reversed itself and banned federal funding for needle exchange programs in the FY 2010 budget this year.

Far from a recession, HIV/AIDS has dramatically increased in the inner cities and the South. Black gay men are the most likely to become infected with the virus. Perhaps the White House and Congress are just waiting for a "better time" and are "too busy" to fund needle exchange programs "now"?

Report: HHS Revises Caseload Data Due to HIV Travel Ban Rule

Politico publishes an interesting, behind-the-scenes report on the Obama Administration's decision to change HIV-related travel and immigration policy. The "Under the Radar" blog reports the Department of Health and Human Services "put forward and then retracted some scary-looking estimates of new HIV infections."

The new version of the proposal goes online today and Politico compares the two proposal. The revised data estimates the number of immigrants living in the U.S. with HIV after five years as 676. The original estimates the number after 20 years—a whopping 37,780 new HIV cases. "Calculating 20 years out obviously had made the cost higher, too ... over $952 million, or what critics could easily call 'nearly $1 billion.' "

Good thinking on the Administration's part, especially with the "health care" reform on the menu. Last thing we need are conservatives attempting to derail repealing the HIV travel ban because it would be "too expensive."

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LA Sheriff to Expand Condom Distribution to Gay Prisoners

At the same time many states and municipalities are reluctant to distribute condoms in prisons, Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca may expand an eight-year-old program at Men's Central Jail that distributes condoms in a unit for gay men, the Los Angeles Times reports.

"The nonprofit Center for Health Justice has been visiting the jail almost weekly since 2001, when Baca approved a small but groundbreaking program that allowed the health group to pass out prophylactics to inmates in a segregated unit for gay men. [The Center] has distributed more than 43,655 condoms to inmates since the project began, but said that is not nearly enough. ... The sheriff is pondering whether to expand it by doubling the number of condoms distributed to the 300 inmates within the segregated unit. It would be one of the most aggressive measures in the nation's jails and prisons to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS, experts say."

LA County Sheriff officials say about 65 new HIV cases are detected each month.  On average "there are about 1,400 people in L.A. County jails with HIV each year" and the health cost is about $2 million per year.

Currently, only several jails in the United States—including some in San Francisco, New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.—offer condoms to inmates. Condoms are also available to prisoners in Vermont. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) has sponsored legislation that would require condoms in federal prisons.

Obama Administration to Lift HIV Travel Restrictions

You are looking at a global map that details countries that impose HIV travel and residence restrictions. (Expands when you click.) The United State is one of many nations colored "red" that impose restrictions against HIV-positive foreign nationals from entering the country. The Obama Administration has taken the first steps in lifting the regulatory ban that was signed into law last summer by George W. Bush.

The Office of Management and Budget posted a notice on its site Friday afternoon indicating that the department of Health and Human Services could move forward with steps to change a regulation that has restricted HIV-positive people from gaining entrance into the United States.

The proposed change will likely have an impact on both travel and immigration to the United States. Under current regulations, non-U.S. citizens who are HIV-positive cannot travel to the United States unless they are granted a waiver by the Department of Homeland Security. Immigrants have also been required to be tested for HIV. The actual regulatory change, however, will not be available until next week, and advocates are waiting to analyze the exact language.

The new regulations will be published in the federal register tomorrow and must undergo several review periods. "We’re hoping it will take effect by the end of the year," says Steve Ralls, communications director for Immigration Equality.

The HIV travel ban is a mean-spirited relic of the Jesse Helms era. It was approved in 1987 and codified by Congress in 1993. Good bye and good riddance ... and kudos to the Obama Administration for taking the first steps to lift the ban.

UPDATE: Duh. Didn't post the map earlier.

UPDATE2: HRC Backstory reports the new regs will be published in the Federal Register tomorrow "which will signal the start of the public comment period."

"Greet the Press", NYC Pride Event on Black Gays and New Media

Pride week kicks off in New York City with "Greet the Press", a panel discussion on the lack of black gay, traditional media outlets—and how many new media and social networking platforms are filling the void. The event was produced by Dwight O'Neal, Cornelius Jones and Nathan Scott (right), who also hosted, the New York City-based promoter and co-host of The AND Show, the popular black LGBT YouTube channel.

Panelists included: Derrick L Briggs, co-star of the new independent film Finding Me and host of ADTV on YouTube (bottom photo, black shirt); Sheldon DeSouza of the Black Gay Network; GBMNews.com's Antonie Craigwell; Dex Star G, photographer and blogger; blogger Maurice Runea; and DJ Baker, host of the popular Da Doo-Dirty Show podcast.

Baker, seen above with the microphone, tells Rod 2.0 that last night's event was "great" opportunity to network "but we needed more youth in the building, some new faces." Baker adds: "Our community has yet to [determine] how to gauge youths' needs. We know they are out there working on [media] projects. We need to stop talking about working together and start doing."

Author and activist Nathan James also attended the event. James tells Rod 2.0: "The exploration of new forms of media communication and its relationship to the LGBT community of color is crucial to an understanding of who we are. Kudos to 'Greet The Press' for raising our awareness."

One of the standout discussions was lead by Sheldon DeSouza, above, who calls attention to a disturbing exchange on Wendy Williams' radio show. A 23-year-old black gay man called last month and asked radio personality Wendy Williams for "advice" on how to deal with a male love interest who is HIV positive. DeSouza explains: "Wendy said, 'You're 23, you don't need to be dealing with that. If I were 23 years old ... you have your whole future ahead of you. You don't want to deal with that." DeSouza says Williams laughed and conducted a random poll of her staff and asked if they would ever date someone HIV positive. DeSouza called into the show and was reprimanded on-air for challenging the radio personality's "advice." Listen to that "advice" here.

AFTER THE JUMP, video of Sheldon DeSouza describing the outrageous "advice" on HIV and relationships given by Wendy Williams, nominated by LOGO for their NewNowNext Awards. Why so many black gay men idolize this hateful woman escapes me.

Top Two Photos: "Greet the Press" on Facebook
Last Two Photos: Dex Star G

Despite Criticism, CVS Continues to Lock Up Condoms in Black and Hispanic Neighborhoods

An update on a story we reported in March. CVS locations in Washington D.C. have been accused of limiting access to condoms and locking them up in black and Hispanic neighborhoods. The practice is apparently nationwide, reports POZ.

Change to Win, a coalition of labor unions, believes that CVS’s practice of locking up condoms at certain stores—commonly in communities of color—creates a barrier to access for young people who are less likely to ask a store associate for them. The group asserts that CVS’s anti-theft policy puts those communities at risk for unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, including HIV.

By surveying more than 2,200 CVS drug stores nationwide, the labor group found that, in nine of the 19 markets where prophylactics are kept under lock and key, the company was at least three times more likely to lock up condoms in communities of color than in predominantly white neighborhoods.

"We do know from studies that free access to condoms cuts down on sexually transmitted infections," said Neerav Desai, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. "For someone that has any hesitation about use, this could be another reason for them not to use condoms."

CVS locations in Washington D.C. have been accused of abusing this practice. In Chicago, some black gay activists have accused several Walgreens locations of refusing to sell condoms to gay men.

CVS Criticized for Condom Lockup [POZ]

Did You Read ... ?
Obama to Repeal "Provider Conscience" Regulations [R20]

Evan Ross on Kerry Washington's Transgender Role in "Cracktown"

Evan Ross continues to impress. In a new interview with BET.com's Clay Cane, the actor and Hollywood "it" boy talks about his new role in the intense addiction drama Life is Hot in Cracktown. The film is based on Buddy Giovinazzo's collection of short stories by the same name and its directed by the author. Ross tells Cane: "I was taken aback by the script in general. I was surprised they were able to make something like this. It’s hard to get films made that are that dark."

Much of the film's buzz has been around Kerry Washington who plays a drug-addicted pre-op transgender prostitute. Ross says hers is the best role in the film: "Kerry Washington’s character and just her in general in the film .... I was so taken aback by her mannerisms and different things she was doing. You can tell she wasn’t thinking about it at all, it was so precise and amazing."

The actor later adds: "People can gain understanding of reality [from the film]. No matter where they are in life, no matter how much money they have and where they are coming from. We’re all trying to find out who we are. "

Evan Ross has chosen a number of edgy roles that have landed him on the critical radar. In 2007 the actor, who is the son of the iconic Diana Ross, played a self-destructive gay, HIV positive teenager in HBO's Life Support. Many critics said this was his best work so far.

AFTER THE JUMP, watch Evan Ross and Kerry Washington in the trailer for Life in Cracktown. There are two versions of the trailer. Enjoy.

Porn Star Darren James Talks to LA Times About Testing HIV Positive

Last week Los Angeles County health officials announced a porn actress tested positive for HIV, creating a huge panic and public relations nightmare for the adult industry. Since then it has been revealed "at least 16 additional unpublicized cases of HIV have been confirmed in adult film performers" in straight porn. The new cases bring renewed scrutiny to the $12-billion-a-year industry's long history of resisting regulation and condom use.

Popular adult performer Darren James—described as "well-endowed and extremely muscular performer for his slender frame"—tested positive for HIV in April 2004 and found himself "at the center of an HIV outbreak in the San Fernando Valley's multibillion-dollar porn industry", reports the Los Angeles Times. James infected three actresses he had worked with before learning that he was HIV-positive and porn production was shut down for a month. The former porn actor speaks out for the first time some five years later.

By April 2004, he was at the pinnacle of his career, traveling to foreign countries to shoot films, sometimes working six days a week and two or three scenes a day. "You're like Superman. Especially with the amount of work that I had? It was nonstop," James said. "I'm thinking, I'm invincible. . . . That's just the way our mentality was. It was, you get the test, you're clean, not realizing that in between the tests, and after the tests, you know, other people, you don't know what they're doing."

The call that changed his life came as James was getting ready to book tickets to Japan for another international shoot. The Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation clinic officials told him he was HIV positive. And, he said, they told him they planned to release his name publicly. He asked them not to—in part out of concern for his parents who did not know how he made his living—but they did anyway. "It was like a hit in the gut," James said. "My whole world stops. . . .Life was pretty much over."

Distraught, James said, he bought a bus ticket to Tijuana, planning to disappear. But the news spread quickly. In Mexico, he saw TV footage with a photo of him smirking as if, he said, he was smirking at the situation. In Tijuana, James said, he tried to kill himself. After the attempt, he woke up days later in a hospital near San Diego. It took him months to recover, he said. He later found out that his mother learned about his diagnosis, and his porn career, on TV at her church.

The former porn actor sued the  Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation clinic and several of its officials, alleging medical negligence and invasion of privacy. The case was later settled out of court. Darren James is sharing his story now and hopes it will spur "the porn industry to require condoms, rarely used in straight porn films."

Don't see that happening anytime soon. Do you?

Report: 30% of Chicago Black Gay Men HIV Positive, Most are Unaware

The new data on HIV seroconvcersion among black gay and bisexual men in Chicago is "sobering", according to statistics released by the Chicago Department of Public Health and reported in the Windy City Times. A survey finds almost one in three black gay and bisexual men in the city are HIV positive and the  vast majority are unaware.

CDPH surveyed 570 men who have sex with men ( MSM ) and 91 or 17.4 percent tested positive. "HIV prevalence was 30.1 percent among Blacks, 12 percent among Hispanics and 11.3 percent among whites. Black MSM under the age of 35 were seven times more likely to be infected than white MSM in the same age group." Two-thirds or 67 percent of the black gay and bisexual men who tested positive were unaware of their positive status. 

The new Chicago data continues a disturbing trend reported on Rod 2.0 on the rate of HIV infections among young black gay men, who are the demographic hardest hit by the epidemic. The CDC reports more HIV infections occur among young black men who have sex with men than any other group. Black gay and bisexual men who are poz are much more likely to be unaware of their status.

Some Background ...
CDC: "Alarming" HIV Rates in Young BGM in MS [R20]
Jonathan Perry in "The Advocate" [R20]
Ending Black Homophobia Will Reduce HIV [R20]
CDC: Young Black Gay Men Hit Hardest by New HIV Infections [R20]
HIV Spreading in NYC at Three Times National Rate Black/Latino Gay Men Hit Hardest [R20]
CDC: "Troubling" Rise in HIV Among Black Gay Men [R20]
GMHC's "I Love My Boo" Campaign [R20]
HIV Rates Rising Among Black NYC Gay Men [R20]
CDC Tracking "Serious" Strain of Syphilis [R20]
The HIV Morning After Pill? [R20]
Black Gay Men and "The Pill" [R20]
Do You Disclose Your HIV Status? [R20]
Primetime Reports Black HIV Epidemic [After Elton]
"Out of Control: AIDS in Black America" [R20]
POZ Examines Race and the Down Low [R20]
HIV Rates Rise Among NYC Black Gay Men [R20]
POZ Examines Race and the “Down Low” [R20]
"Urban Rally Against AIDS" [R20]
The ABCs of Black HIV [R20]

Outrage After Swazi MP Suggests HIV Positive Should Be "Branded"

A Swaziland member of parliament is forced to distance himself from remarks made last week when he suggested HIV positive people in the small kingdom should branded on the buttocks.

Earlier this week at a workshop for MPs, Timothy Myeni, an evangelical Christian and the leader of a gospel group, suggested HIV testing should be mandatory. Myeni said: "Once you test positive, you should be branded on the buttocks. Before having sex with anyone, people will then check the buttocks of their partners before proceeding with their mission." Myeni has apologized and says he was "misquoted." 

The widely-reported comments drew outrage from HIV/AIDS action groups and sparked an uproar in Southern Africa and in Swaziland. The landlocked mountain kingdom is one of the world's poorest nations and has the highest HIV prevalence in the world. An estimated 43 percent of its citizens are HIV positive.