It’s Likely Impossible To Transmit HIV With An Undetectable Viral Load
58,000 condomless penetrations, zero transmissions.
The post It’s Likely Impossible To Transmit HIV With An Undetectable Viral Load appeared first on ThinkProgress.
thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2016/07/19/3799667/hiv-undetectable-zero-transmission/
GLAAD sat down with Jackson Bird of the Harry Potter Alliance
Alex Schmider, GLAAD’s Senior Transgender Media Strategist, sat down with Jackson Bird — content creator, speaker, and wizard activist — for a candid conversation at VidCon, the annual online video conference that brings content creators, fans, and aspiring digital filmmakers from around the world to Anaheim, California.
Bird, whose YouTube channel addresses topics from gender identity to social justice, new media and fan activism (as well as addressing the burning question of what happens to various objects placed in a waffle iron) is also the Communications Director at The Harry Potter Alliance (HPA) where he produces the HPA’s online videos, which have been featured on Upworthy, the Huffington Post, BuzzFeed, Mashable, among others.
The HPA, which Bird describes as a “Dumbledore’s army for the real world,” is a non-profit organization that uses Harry Potter and other fandoms to turn fans into heroes by making advocacy work accessible to everyone through the power of storytelling, mobilizing fans and their enthusiasm around social action.
The Protego campaign is the latest effort launched by the HPA. In J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter book series, Protego is a powerful shield spell used throughout the magical world to make it a safer place.The HPA’s Protego campaign is dedicated to equipping people with the tools they need to make the world a safer and better place for transgender people. The goal is to empower trans and gender nonconforming people, educate cisgender (non-transgender) people about how to be effective allies, and provide resources for everyone to take action on individual, community, and policy levels to create safe and affirming spaces. Check out the Protego toolkit.
Watch the full interview to hear more about the Harry Potter Alliance, the Protego campaign, the importance of positive LGBTQ visibility and representation, the power of social media to cultivate community, and an answer to the burning question “Will It Waffle?”
www.glaad.org/blog/glaad-sat-down-jackson-bird-harry-potter-alliance
Trump Used 'We Are the Champions' at RNC Against Queen's Wishes
Queen’s lead singer, Freddie Mercury, died from AIDS in 1991. Trump’s running mate supports anti-gay therapy.
www.advocate.com/election/2016/7/19/trump-used-we-are-champions-rnc-against-queens-wishes
Chris Christie: '93 Percent of the Speech Is Different from Michelle Obama's Speech' (Video)
Last-Ditch Effort to Strip GOP Platform of Anti-LGBT Plank Failed (Video)
Do You Take Your HIV Meds For Granted? These People Consider That A Luxury Of The Few
If you are a gay man living in the United States, here’s a reason to count your blessings today: you probably have access to HIV medications if you need them, whether PrEP for prevention or treatment for infection. In the global scheme of things, that makes you an enormously privileged person.
In his striking – and humbling – new video from AIDS2016 in South Africa, gay blogger Mark S. King takes you inside a massive protest through the streets of Durban, and what he sees might change the way you look at your own life. He also introduces us to advocates, gay and not, who took to the streets to demand that HIV treatment is made available to people in Africa and around the world who need it.
Meanwhile, in a bonus video report, Mark chats with PrEP advocate Jim Pickett from the Chicago AIDS Foundation about why Jim believes the international gathering should now be known as “the PrEP conference.” Jim also has some very choice words for an agency that is trying very hard to block a California bill that would provide education about PrEP to those who need it.
Coming up in Mark’s coverage this week are the activists fighting HIV criminalization, the Global Village, and a candid look at exactly how cruisy the conference really is, with all those healthy gay advocates sharing the city together.
Find out more about the work of MSMGF, the organization working for the health and rights of gay men around the world, or get more information about AIDS2016 or HIV/AIDS at the most comprehensive HIV resource on the net, TheBody.com.
These Two Boyfriends Love Each Other So Much That They Don’t Ever Want To Have Sex
A guy on Reddit says he and his boyfriend have never had sex and maybe never will, but they’re still head over heels for one another.
“Alright,” the post begins, “so my boyfriend of 3+ months and I have not had sex. I’m 23, he’s 22. I’m his first, and I haven’t dated since high school and I barely consider that a relationship so I would say he’s my first too.”
Young love. Cute.
Related: Young Man “Feels Sick” After “Wasting” His Virginity On “Messy” Grindr Hookup
“About a month into it he tried to initiate but I stopped him because I felt it was too soon,” the guy explains. “He told me that meant a lot to him because it showed that I truly love and care about him.”
Awwww.
“I’ve had my share of hooking up, so it’s not like I’m repulsed by [it] or not experienced,” he continues, “I think the difference between him, and the guys I’ve hooked up with, is that we actually share an emotional intimacy that extends beyond physicality.”
So what’s the problem? Well, the guys, says, “because I feel so close to him at that level, I feel like sex would or could possibly damage our relationship.”
Wait… What?
“I guess that may also be due to the fact that I’ve never experienced [it] as an act of love,” he adds, “and all it’s left me feeling is empty and used at times.”
He goes on to explain that they do kiss and cuddle and hold hands, but that’s it.
Related: “Straight” Dude Walks In On Gay Roomie And Realizes He, Too, Is Homosexual
“I see him as my best friend,” he writes, “and quite frankly I don’t want to ‘f*ck’ my best friend.”
About a month ago, he brought the issue up with his boyfriend. Specifically, he says he asked him: “Do you think it’s weird that as a gay couple we haven’t had sex, and are you okay with that?”
A “philosophical discussion” ensued, and ended with both guys agreeing that they did not want to have sex with one another, nor did they want to have sex with anyone else. In other words, they have agreed to a sexless and monogamous yet still very loving relationship.
“Maybe someday we will, maybe we won’t,” the guy continues. “But right now, what matters most to me is continuing to get to know him and build a solid foundation with him. He means so much to me, and I’ve never felt more loved and cared for.”
“To me,” he says, “being gay isn’t all about sex.”
He concludes: “I don’t know why I’m writing this, I guess I’m just venting because it hurts me like hell when I’m told I don’t love him or he doesn’t love me because we don’t f*ck.”
Related: This Dad Won’t Touch His Naked Son “Because It’s Gay”
Naturally, other Reddit users had lots to say about this.
“To be honest, it sounds like you have ‘ruined’ sex for yourself,” one person responds. “Many gays don’t even realize that having casual hookups will ruin what sex means for them. Give it time. Real, intimate sex is amazing.”
“For me sex is the least important in a relationship,” another person adds. “There are so much more important things.”
“I’m asexual so that’s exactly what I want,” a third person says, “a relationship with no sex. … You do you.”
“I’ve been with my guy for 2.5 years and we still haven’t had sex,” a fourth person confesses.
What do you think of this couple’s decision not to have sex with one another or anyone else? How would do you in that sort of situation? Share your thoughts in the comments section below…
feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/76hSnWpqWyo/two-boyfriends-love-much-dont-ever-want-sex-20160719
Samantha Bee: The GOP’s 2016 Platform is the Party’s Suicide Note – WATCH
On Monday night, Samantha Bee celebrated the opening of the Republican National Convention by eviscerating the GOP platform and Donald Trump’s VP pick, Mike Pence.
Said Bee of the virulently anti-LGBT platform, “It’s not so much a platform as it is the Republican party’s suicide note.”
She added, “If you don’t want to read it, and believe me you don’t, here’s the Cliff’s Notes version.”
Bee then showed an image of deceased Westboro Baptist Church head Fred Phelps with one of the group’s more recognizable signs that reads, “God hates fags.”
Bee also went after Mike Pence’s anti-gay and anti-woman record in Indiana politics. Jabbing Pence, she called him, “Roger Sterling during an allergy attack”, and a man who “was loaned out from Republican central casting to play the Governor of Indiana.”
Watch Bee gut the GOP platform and their new no. 2, below.
The post Samantha Bee: The GOP’s 2016 Platform is the Party’s Suicide Note – WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.
‘Looking’ Actor Daniel Franzese Just Proposed to His Boyfriend at the Starbucks Where They Met
Daniel Franzese, who played Damian in Mean Girls and Eddie in Looking, got engaged to his partner Joseph Bradley Phillips at the Starbucks where they met.
Franzese spoke to People about proposing:
When they arrived at the coffee chain, Franzese slipped the ring to one of the baristas, whom he had spoken to the day before about the proposal plan.
And as the barista called out the pair’s coffee orders, she referred to them as “Mr. & Mr. Franzese” – and handed Phillips a different order, saying it was a new drink he should try.
Once Phillips opened the cup with the ring inside, Franzese got down on one knee and said to him: “Since I first saw you here, you have opened your heart to me, and I vow to God that for the rest of my life to honor and protect that heart if you will be my husband. Will you marry me?” the Looking star told his future husband.
More photos at People.
Congrats to both of them!
The post ‘Looking’ Actor Daniel Franzese Just Proposed to His Boyfriend at the Starbucks Where They Met appeared first on Towleroad.
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