Informed Briefs Blog Blog

60 Cdn PHA's Denied Entry to U.S.

B.J. Caldwell — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 15:04:10 GMT

Edge Magazine in Boston was the first to break the story of 60 Canadians living with HIV who were planning to attend the North American Housing and HIV/AIDS Research Summit in Washington D.C. who were denied entry into the U.S. The U.S. Congress has repealed the law that bans HIV positive travelers to the U.S. however, the repeal has not been translated into policy implemented by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The article can be found here.

For more information about the travel ban to the U.S. check out this past week's Xtra for an article (that went to print before the 60 people were barred from entry)

The U.S. remains one of a few countries that still bar any HIV+ people from entering the country. Other countries in line with the U.S. policy include: Armenia, Brunei, China (which has since been removed), Iraq, Quatar, South Korea, Libya, Moldava, Oman, The Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia & Sudan.

Former US President GW Bush passed legislation to change this ban, but the government agency responsible has not yet changed its policies.

25 years later: A Call to Action from the scientists who first identified HIV

B.J. Caldwell — Fri, 08 May 2009 21:17:44 GMT

Dr. Luc Montagnier (L) (formerly of the Pasteur Institute, France) and Dr. Robert C. Gallo (R) (formerly of the National Cancer Institute, U.S) just published a joint article on huffingtonpost.com as a call to action. Dr. Gallo and his team created and pioneered the field of retrovirology (HIV is a retrovirus) and along with the Dr. Montagnier and his team at the Pasteur Institute share the honour of having discovered the viral cause of AIDS : HIV.

An excerpt of the call to action (full article can be found here):

Today we call on international organizations and governments to immediately implement six objectives to end the HIV/AIDS pandemic. We made this announcement today and were joined by Jeff Crowley, Director, White House Office of National AIDS Policy.

Globally, many are acting as though HIV and AIDS are no longer the threat they were 25 years ago when the HIV virus was first discovered. However, in fact they remain an unparalleled global health threat, and despite progress in treatment, could worsen unless determined action is taken. We believe these recommendations are key to reducing and ultimately minimizing the devastation of HIV and AIDS.

Our Global Call to Action is as follows:

1. Invest in medical infrastructure and educational outreach programs in U.S. communities most affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic

2. Promote global development of HIV/AIDS treatment and control programs along with regional research institutions in developing countries

3. Cultivate and inspire young scientists in the field of human virology

4. Enhance HIV/AIDS education and prevention, especially in countries with high infection rates

5. Support cutting-edge vaccine research and the development of new effective therapies

6. Continue the focus on preventing mother-to-child HIV transmission

Here we are, 25 years after discovering the cause of AIDS and we still have a major, public health HIV/AIDS crisis. Never in the history of mankind have we so quickly identified the cause of an epidemic, developed a test for it and begun to develop drug therapy, changing a once-deadly virus to a lifelong condition with proper medical intervention. It is important for governments and organizations from around the world to come together and combat this collective HIV/AIDS emergency.

Scientists reawaken an ancient defense dormant in our genes for 7 million years: Very cool.

B.J. Caldwell — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 14:32:55 GMT

From Ed Yong of Not Exactly Rocket Science (edited for length):

Nitya Venkataraman from the Univeristy of Central Florida has managed to reawaken a guardian gene that has been lying dormant in our genomes for 7 million years --- retrocyclins. They are known to protect monkeys from HIV-like viruses. The hope is that by rousing these genes from their slumber in humans, they could do the same for us.

Retrocyclins are the only circular proteins in our bodies and belong to a group of proteins called defensins, which as they suggest defend against bacteria, viruses, fungi, and other foreign invaders. They have only been found in the white blood cells of macaques, baboons, and orangutans. They have proven to be remarkably good at protecting cells from HIV infections....but in humans the genes don't work anymore. Somewhere in the course of evolution these genes developed a mutation that resulted in a useless retrocyclin.

Here's whats promising:

Despite this lone crippling mutation, the genes are intact (in all of us) and 90% identical to the mokey versions (which have been studied). Now, Venkatarman's group has reawakened them. She found two ways to fix the fault in human white blood cells --- one involving gene transfer and the other using a simple antibiotic. Either way she restored the cell's ability to manufacture the protective proteins. AND, the resurrected human proteins did their job well --- they stopped HIV from infecting a variety of human immune cells (up to 80% of the cells) and reduced levels of virus in cells already infected.

Gene transfer is expensive and an unlikely help in rolling out any future cures, treatments or preventions tools in resource-poor countries. But Venkatarman has also discovered something very cool --- the effect of a certain type of antibiotics, called aminoglycosides.

In bacteria, these drugs work by blocking them from creating proteins. But in the more complex cells of animals, they do something different - they react with the protein-making machinery of our cells so that they make slightly more mistakes than usual. Normally, that would be a bad thing but for retrocyclins, it's an unexpected boon. It means that the machinery barrels straight through the mutation that causes retrocyclins to be built half-finished. It doesn't stop prematurely, and produces a full-length protein.

Venkataraman found that one of these drugs, tobramycin, was especially good at restoring retrocyclins, and did so in both white blood cells and actual vaginal tissue. The drug slashed the rate of HIV infection by about 50% - a respectable figure but clearly a smaller one compared to the sizeable benefits bestowed by the gene transfer method. On the plus side, the technique didn't seem to harm the cells in any way.

These results are promising ones indeed, and Venkataraman thinks that with more work, aminoglycoside-based creams [a form of microbicide] could be used to prevent HIV infections in the real world.

HIV kills by infecting the very cells that are meant to defend us from infections and destroying them. But retrocyclins are something it hasn't encountered before. Humans lost the ability to create these guardians millions of years ago and by reawakening them, we could have a new but ancient weapon against this sneakiest of foes.

Prison Tattoo Program Reduced HIV rates, cost effective: Corrections Services Canada Report

B.J. Caldwell — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 04:23:00 GMT

A pilot program that was cut by Stephen Harper's conservative government was found to reduce the rate of HIV, increase awareness of blood-borne infections (HIV, HepC, HepB), increased employment for prisoners, and resulted in the safer disposal of used sharps. Of course, in the light of this new report from Corrections Service Canada (not known for their embrace of harm reduction programs) the Conservative government has seen the error in its ways, right? Nope. The Sudbury Star online has an article on the issue which includes this repsonse from the Conservatives:

A spokesman for Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan said the federal government has no plan to reverse its decision and resurrect the program.

It is often not on radar of many Canadians, but the rights (including human rights) of those encarcerated in Canadian prisons are not always respected. While some rights of those encacerated are restricted as part of their punishment, a prison sentence does not restrict or remove all of their rights. Their right to the same level of healthcare is one that is not restricted. Yet, this is still a major issue voiced by those living with HIV or Hep C while incacerated, as well as prisoners with drug addiciton seeking treatment while incacerated. There are many other examples.

Prisoners currently do not have access to clean syringes to prevent the spread of HIV and Hep C Despite Needle Exchange Program (NEPs) being available in many other countries. The Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, a world-renowned organization that consults with governments and groups around the world, has the following on their website:

In many countries, including Canada, rates of HIV and hepatitis C (HCV) infection among prisoners are significantly higher than those found in the general population.

Despite the evidence and informed opinion supporting harm reduction measures in prisons to reduce the spread of HIV and HCV in prisons, authorities in most jurisdictions have failed to take decisive action. The failure to provide access to essential prevention, care and treatment is a violation of prisoners' right to health as established by international law.

Some countries have implemented programs — peer education, condom distribution, opioid substitution therapy and needle exchange, for example — to reduce behaviours with a high risk of transmitting HIV or HCV. Similar programs are used in the community at large to prevent the spread of these viruses.

But in other countries, the lack of prison needle exchange programs, unprotected sexual intercourse and sexual violence are all factors driving the worsening HIV epidemic in prisons. Higher infection rates ultimately result in greater health-care costs. And, since most prisoners are eventually released back into the community, the public health implications of imprisoning non-violent people who use drugs cannot and should not be ignored.

Both in Canada and internationally, we promote the human rights of prisoners to have access to HIV prevention, treatment and support services equivalent to those available to in the community.

Another group working locally to provide advocacy, education, and support for those living with HIV and Hep C in prison is PASAN. Their website should be checked out to learn more about the issue, as should Prisoner Justice in Canada.

It is important to remember that human rights abuses occur around the world, and at home here in Canada. When we view people has 'other', as 'less than', it is easy to not think about the rights of others, or to rationalize the abuse as just part of the punishment. This is not acceptable. If we truly are concerned about public health and basic human rights, we absolutely must be concerned with how people are treated while incacerated, and who exactly we are incacerating.

Cuba: A New Anti-homophobia campaign

B.J. Caldwell — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 14:31:18 GMT

Mariela Castro, the daughter of Cuban Presiden Raúl Castro, launched a wide-reaching antihomophobia campaign targetting "agents of change". From Huffington Post:

The 2009 campaign for respect for freedom of sexual orientation, under the slogan "Diversity is Natural", will try to contribute to "the education of society in general, with an emphasis on university students, about respect for people's free and responsible sexual orientation and gender identity, as an exercise in equity and social justice." In an interview with IPS, the head of CENESEX [The National Centre for Sex Education] and daughter of Cuban President Raúl Castro said the International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO) will be celebrated in Havana this year on May 16 and will be devoted to young people, and also to families, so that "parents may better understand" their homosexual or transsexual children.

Another intereseting section of the article:

She added that a date has still not been set for the Cuban parliament to debate a draft law to reform the Family Code, in force since 1975. The reform bill includes proposals on gender identity and the rights of sexual minorities.

"The work that we are doing will help to ease the prejudices behind these processes," she said.

Castro also said that the Catholic Church had communicated its negative views on the proposed reforms to the authorities. "There have been conversations. They were concerned about homosexual marriage, and were told that this is not being proposed," nor the adoption of children by homosexual couples, she said.

The reform bill would allow legal recognition of same-sex unions, and grant them the same rights as civil unions between heterosexual couples.

As for sex change operations for transsexual persons, approved in June 2008 by a Health Ministry resolution, which is another matter of concern to the Catholic Church and other religious denominations, Castro indicated that the decision remains in force.

Resolution 126 signed by Health Minister José Ramón Balaguer established a facility for comprehensive health care for transsexual persons as the only institution in the country authorised to carry out total or partial sex change operations.

Exciting Breakthrough in HIV Research

B.J. Caldwell — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 14:56:07 GMT

Researchers have for the first time captured on video the transfer of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) from infected to uninfected T cells through structures called virological synapses. The breakthrough study could lead to new methods to block the transmission of HIV, and shows that cell-to-cell may be the predominant mode of HIV transmission in the body. Prior studies have mostly focused on free roaming viruses in the body.

Ontario AIDS Network's Response to Provincial Budget

B.J. Caldwell — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 21:50:46 GMT

The provincial budget was announced yesterday. Here are some key measures as they relate to AIDS Service Organizations and to some of the people they serve.

Here is the Ontario AIDS Networks official response to the budget.

For more complete budget coverage, check out the Globe and Mail's Budget 2009 page.

Circumcision Guards Against STIs

B.J. Caldwell — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 01:04:49 GMT

A new study by the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) in the US has shown that circumcision may reduce the chance of certain infections later in life.

In a study of more than 5,000 uncircumcised adult Ugandan males, researchers found that after circumcision, the rates of infection with the virus that causes herpes went down by 28 percent, and the transmission of human papillomavirus (HPV) -- the virus that can cause cervical cancer and genital warts -- was reduced by 35 percent.

In a previous study, the same researchers found that circumcision reduced infection with the HIV virus by 60 percent. Two other research groups -- one working in Kenya and the other in South Africa -- have also had similar findings. [The 60% reduction figure is valid in countries with a predominantly heterosexual epidemic that is generalized/endemic. In countries with much smaller numbers of people living with HIV, it is impossible to assess the effectiveness--Ed]

It looks like the issue of circumcision is going to continue to surface for the foreseable future.

2009 National (US)Magazine Awards Finalists Include LGBT Articles

B.J. Caldwell — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 14:35:04 GMT

Despite the preponderance of Obama and Iraq articles leading this year's finalists for the National Magazine Awards, a few noteworthy lgbt stories are nominated, most of which will be familiar to longtime Thebes readers.

For Feature Writing: from the Atlantic, Hannah Rosin's "A Boy's Life," a nuanced look at the complexities of raising young trans children and the enormous decision of whether or not to give them puberty-inhibiting drugs. This feature piece is a must read for anyone wanting to learn more about trans youth. I REALLY hope this piece wins!

For Profile Writing: from GQ, Andrew Corsello's "Let God Love Gene Robison," about modern Christianity's first openly gay bishop.

For Columns and Commentary: from The New Yorker, three pieces by Hendrik Hertzberg including his editorial on the Prop 8 victory.

For Fiction: from The New Yorker, Annie Proulx's story, Them Old Cowboy Songs, set in the Wyoming Territory of 1885. Primarily twin narratives about a teenage straight couple who are separated by work, the story features a closeted cowpuncher and his memorable advice to a newly hired young husband about the aggressively gay foreman. [Not available online, but this story and her Tits-Up in a Ditch are great enough to warrant buying her latest, strangely uneven collection, Fine Just the Way It Is.]

Winners will be announced in a ceremony at Jazz at Lincoln Center (New York) on April 30.

21st Annual Lamda Literary Award Finalists

B.J. Caldwell — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 14:33:08 GMT

Nominations for the most prominent prizes in LGBT books were announced last night and are comprised of 105 finalists from 72 publishers. The awards ceremony is in New York on May 28th.

And the nominees are:

GAY FICTION

    * Stray Dog Winter, David Francis, Macadam/Cage Publishing
    * The Torturer's Wife, Thomas Glave, City Light Publishers
    * We Disappear, Scott Heim, HarperCollins
    * The Conversion, Joseph Olshan, St. Martin’s Press
    * The Boomerang Kid, Jay Quinn, Alyson

LESBIAN FICTION

    * The Slow Fix, Ivan E. Coyole, Arsenal Pulp Press
    * The Sealed Letter, Emma Donoghue, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
    * Map of Ireland, Stephanie Grant, Scribner
    * All the Pretty Girls, Chandra Mayor, Conundrum Press
    * Breaking Spirit Bridge, Ruth Perkinson, Spinsters Ink

LGBT NONFICTION

    * Me as Her Again, Nancy Agabian, Aunt Lute Books
    * If I Could Write This in Fire, Michelle Cliff, Univ of Minnesota Press
    * Dishonorable Passions: Sodomy Laws in America 1861-2003, William N. Eskridge Jr, Penguin Group
    * Beyond (Straight & Gay) Marriage, Nancy Polikoff, Beacon Press
    * Loving The Difficult, Jane Rule, Hedgerow Press
    * Drifting Toward Love, Kai Wright, Beacon Press

GAY DEBUT FICTION

    * Shuck, Daniel Allen Cox, Arsenal Pulp Press
    * Light Fell, Evan Fallenberg, Soho Press
    * The Screwed-Up Life of Charlie The Second, Drew Ferguson, Kensington
    * The Steve Machine, Mike Hoolboom, Coach House Books
    * Finlater, Shawn Ruff, Quote Editions

GAY POETRY

    * Want, Rick Barot, Sarabande Press
    * Please, Jericho Brown, New Issues
    * Fire to Fire, Mark Doty, HarperCollins
    * Now You're the Enemy, James Allen Hall, Univ. of Arkansas Press
    * My Vocabulary Did This to Me: The Collected Poetry of Jack Spicer, Jack Spicer, edited by Peter Gizzi & Kevin Killian, Wesleyan University Press

BISEXUAL

    * Open, Jenny Block, Seal Press
    * Sexual Fluidity: Understanding Women's Love & Desire,
      Lisa M. Diamond, Harvard University Press
    * The Bishop's Daughter, Honor Moore, W.W. Norton
    * Kinsey Zero Through Sixty: Bisexual Perspectives on Kinsey, Ron Jackson Suresha, Taylor & Francis Journals
    * Rimbaud, Edmund White, Atlas & Company

TRANSGENDER

    * 10,000 Dresses, Marcus Ewert & Rex Ray, Seven Stories Press
    * Intersex (For Lack of a Better Word), Thea Hillman, Manic D Press
    * Two Truths and a Lie, Scott Schofield, Homofactus Press
    * Boy with Flowers, Ely Shipley, Barrow Street Press
    * Transgender History, Susan Stryker, Seal Press

LGBT ANTHOLOGIES

    * A Casulty of War: Gay Short Fiction, Peter Burton, Arcadia Books
    * Live Through This, edited by Sabrina Chapadjiev, Seven Stories Press
    * Love, West Hollywood, edited by Chris Freeman and James J. Berg, Alyson
    * Our Caribbean, edited by Thomas Glave, Duke University Press
    * Big Trips: More Good Gay Travel Writing, edited by Raphael Kadushin, University of Wisconsin Press

LGBT CHILDRENS/YOUNG ADULT

    * Hit the Road, Manny: A Manny Files Novel, Christian Burch, Simon and Schuster
    * Out of the Pocket, Bill Konigsberg, Dutton
    * How They Met & Other Stories, David Levithan, Knopf Children's Books
    * Mousetraps, Pat Schmetz, Carolrhoda Books
    * What They Always Tell Us, Martin Wilson, Random House Children's Books
    * Love & Lies: Marisol's Story, Ellen Wittlinger, Simon and Schuster

LGBT DRAMA

    * Phi Alpha Gamma, Dan Bernitt, Sawyer House
    * Radical Acts: Collected Political Plays, Martin Duberman, The New Press
    * The Second Coming of Joan of Arc, Carolyn Gage, Outskirts Press
    * Two Truths and a Lie, Scott Schofield, Homofactus Press
    * Vile Affections, Vanda, Original Works Publishing

LGBT SCI-FI/FANTASY/HORROR

    * The Archer's Heart, Astrid Amara, Blind Eye Books
    * The Magician and the Fool, Barth Anderson, Bantam Del Rey
    * Wilde Stories 2008, Steve Berman, Lethe Press
    * Sea, Swallow Me and Other Stories, Craig Gidney, Lethe Press
    * Turnskin, Nicole Kimberling, Blind Eye Books

LGBT STUDIES

    * Tomboys: A Literary & Cultural History, Michelle Ann Abate, Temple University Press
    * The Dividends of Dissent: How Conflict and Culture Work in Lesbian and Gay Marches on Washington, Amin Ghaziani, The University of Chicago Press
    * Criminal Intimacy: Prison and the Uneven History of Modern American Sexuality, Regina Kunzel, The University of Chicago Press
    * Political Manhood: Red Bloods, Mollycoddles, & & the Politics of Progressive Reform, Kevin P. Murphy, Columbia University Press
    * Screening Sex, Linda Williams, Duke University Press

LESBIAN DEBUT FICTION

    * Red Audrey & the Roping, Jill Malone, Bywater Books
    * Passing for Black, Linda Villarosa, Kensington
    * Closer to Fine, Meri Weiss, Kensington
    * Love Does Not Make Me Gentle or Kind, Chavisa Woods, Fly by Night Press
    * The Bruise, Magdalena Zurawski, Fiction Collective Two/University of Alabama Press

LESBIAN EROTICA

    * Lipstick on Her Collar, Sacchi Green and Rakelle Valencia, Pretty Things Press
    * Periphery: Erotic Lesbian Futures, Lynne Jamneck, Lethe Press
    * In Deep Waters 2: Cruising the Strip, Radclyffe and Karen Kallmaker, Bold Strokes Books

LESBIAN MEMOIR/BIOGRAPHY

    * Wrestling with the Angel of Democracy, Susan Griffin,
      Shambhala Publications
    * Intersex (For Lack of a Better Word), Thea Hillman, Manic D Press
    * Sex Variant Woman, Joanne Passet, Da Capo
    * Sex Talks to Girls: A Memoir, Maureen Seaton, University of Arkansas Press
    * Case of a Lifetime, Abbe Smith, Palgrave Macmillan

LESBIAN MYSTERY

    * Blind Faith, Diane and Jacob Anderson-Minshall, Bold Strokes Books
    * Whacked, Josie Gordon, Bella Books
    * Sweet Poison, Ellen Hart, St. Martin's Press
    * Losers Weepers, Jessica Thomas, Bella Books
    * Calling the Dead, Ali Vali, Bold Strokes Books

LESBIAN POETRY

    * Interpretive Work, Elizabeth Bradfield, Arktoi / Red Hen Press
    * Kissing Dead Girls, Daphne Gottlieb, Soft Skull Press
    * love belongs to those who do the feeling, Judy Grahn, Red Hen Press
    * Same Life, Maureen N. McLane, Farrar, Straus and Giroux
    * Two Minutes of Light, Nancy K. Pearson, Perugia Press

LESBIAN ROMANCE

    * Finding Home, Georgia Beers, Bold Stroked Books
    * A Pirate's Heart, Catherine Friend, Bold Strokes Books
    * The Kiss That Counted, Karin Kallmaker, Bella Books
    * Hotel Liaison, JLee Meyer, Bold Strokes Books
    * The Lonely Hearts Club, Radclyffe, Bold Strokes Books

GAY EROTICA

    * Best Gay Erotica 2009, Richard Labonte & James Lear, Cleis Press
    * The Secret Tunnel, James Lear, Cleis Press
    * Hard Working Men, William Maltese, Victor J. Banis, Jardonn Smith, & J.P. Bowie, MLR Press

GAY MEMOIR/BIOGRAPHY

    * Bringing Him Home, Aaron Cooper, Late August Press
    * Swish, Joel Derfner, Broadway Books
    * Assisted Loving, Bob Morris, HarperCollins
    * Edward Carpenter: A Life of Liberty and Love, Sheila Rowbotham, Verso Books
    * King of Shadows, Aaron Shurin, City Lights Publishers

GAY MYSTERY

    * The Fisher Boy, Stephen Anable, Poisoned Pen Press
    * Sundowner Ubuntu, Anthony Bidulka, Insomniac Press
    * Mahu Fire, Neil Plakcy, Alyson Books
    * First You Fall, Scott Sherman, Alyson Books
    * Spider Season, John Morgan Wilson, St. Martin's Press

GAY ROMANCE

    * Mexican Heat, Laura Baumbach & Josh Lanyon, MLR Press
    * Got 'til it's Gone, Larry Duplechan, Arsenal Pulp Press
    * The Protector, N.L. Gassert, Seventh Window Publications