21 Photos of the Pride Warriors of Vicenza
www.advocate.com/pride/2019/5/31/21-photos-pride-warriors-vicenza
21 Photos of the Pride Warriors of Vicenza
www.advocate.com/pride/2019/5/31/21-photos-pride-warriors-vicenza
What happens when you put 16 sexually fluid singles on an island together? We’re about to find out!
MTV just announced the that the upcoming season of its hit reality series Are You the One? will feature a sexually fluid cast.
No, not a sexually fluid cast member. An entire sexually fluid cast. As in, every single person on the show will have absolutely no gender limitations when it comes to who they love.
According to The Hollywood Reporter:
Following Are You the One?‘s signature format, 16 singles will travel to Hawaii in hopes of finding their “perfect match” and splitting the $1 million cash prize. But, for the first time ever on a dating competition show in the U.S., there will be no gender limitations, as each castmember identifies as sexually fluid.
Terrence J. will return as this season’s host. He will be joined by newcomer Dr. Frankie, a “relationship expert” who helps singles deal with the after effects of things like ghosting, benching, and stashing. His job will be to help coach the contestants and hopefully steer them away from falling into these dangerous dating traps.
MTV says this season of Are You the One? will also feature coming out moments, as well as teaching audiences about the nuances of sexual and gender identity and share powerful stories about finding love as a sexually fluid individual.
You can read about each cast member and see their individual photos HERE.
Season eight of Are You the One? premieres on MTV on Wednesday, June 26.
Related: 14 young artists who are changing the way we think of gender
CBD: The Next Weapon in the War Against Opioid Addiction?
CBD, or cannabidiol, is everywhere, with word on the street saying that it can cure everything from a bad mood to cancer. However, most of these claims are not based on scientific evidence. Animal studies suggest that CBD might be beneficial for some health indications, such as pain, inflammation, arthritis and anxiety.
However, until recently, the only medical indication that CBD has been proven to treat in humans is seizures associated with pediatric epilepsy. Now, however, a recent study suggested that CBD curbed cravings in people with opioid dependence. This is one of the first double-blind controlled trials, the gold standard for drug research, to show benefit of using CBD outside epilepsy treatment. Thus, researchers can say with greater confidence that CBD may be helpful in fighting the war against opioid addiction.
While this study is very exciting, as scientists who study drugs and addiction, we want to stress that this study was very narrow and used specific, standardized amounts of CBD. Thus, the results do not suggest that buying a bottle or jar of over-the-counter CBD is going to help with opioid cravings – or any other medical conditions.
In order to understand why CBD might be useful to treat opioid addiction, it is helpful to take a closer look at how addiction alters normal behavior. Addiction is broadly defined by the American Psychiatric Association as “a complex condition, a brain disease that is manifested by compulsive substance use despite harmful consequence.” Addiction is classified as a disease because addiction hijacks and alters the way how the brain processes information.
Specifically, areas of the brain critical in controlling the perception of daily and pleasurable activities are susceptible to the influence of addictive drugs. Due to the rewiring of the brain under addiction, the individual often perceives the world in context to their drug of choice. The brain learns to associate drug paraphernalia or the physical location of drug partaking in the context of receiving a drug. These cues become integral reminders and reinforcers of drug use.
These events occur with most known drugs of abuse, such as cocaine, alcohol, nicotine, methamphetamines as well as opioids.
Addiction is often thought of in terms of the pursuit of the “high” associated with the use of a drug. However, most addicts continue to use, or relapse when trying to quit using their respective addictive drug. This difficulty, despite the desire and often pressure by friends, family and co-workers to quit, is often due to the negative effects of drug withdrawal.
Depending on the drug, the symptoms of drug withdrawal can vary and range from mild to severe intensity. In the case of opioid withdrawal, symptoms often include anxiety, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal cramps and rapid heartbeat. An individual going through opioid withdrawal experiencing extreme conditions of anxiety is likely to take opioids to alleviate that anxiety. This sort of behavior can be repetitive, leading to a what is called a feed-forward loop of dependence on an abused drug.
A person is often referred to as “dependent” on a drug when the drug must be present for the individual to function normally. Importantly, anxiety and depression are correlated with opioid dependence.
For dependent individuals, ongoing use of a drug is not perceived as a conscious choice, but rather an evil necessity. Medication-assisted treatment with drugs like methadone or buprenorphine, allows for an individual to undergo recovery from an opioid use disorder. The use of medication assisted treatment significantly decreases the likelihood of an individual to relapse and fatally overdose due to withdrawal or dependence symptoms.
CBD was tested in several clinical trials and was shown to work and to be safe in treating a rare form of epilepsy. A pharmaceutical grade CBD, Epidiolex, gained FDA approval in June 2018 for this specific usage.
CBD is currently only prescribed as the drug Epidiolex. That is because, up until now, CBD has only been shown to be safe and effective in the treatment of intractable pediatric epilepsy.
Importantly, CBD binds to different receptors than those that lead to opioid addiction.
In experiments reported in 2009, rats were trained to press a lever to receive heroin. CBD did not decrease the amount of heroin that the rats self-administered, or the drug seeking behavior displayed by the rat while taking heroin. However, when rats were taken off heroin and given CBD, there was a decrease in drug-seeking behavior when the animals were exposed to a heroin-associated cue.
Initial studies of CBD in humans verified that CBD, when co-administered with fentanyl, is safe and well tolerated in healthy, non-opioid dependent individuals. A 2015 report of a small double-blind study conducted in opioid-dependent individuals found that a single administration of CBD, in comparison to a placebo, decreased cue-induced craving of opioids and feelings of anxiety. A double-blind, placebo-controlled study means that doctors and patients in the study do not know who is getting a real drug and who is getting a placebo. That is to guard against what is known as the placebo effect.
A double-blind placebo-controlled study published on May 21, 2019 adds to these findings by demonstrating that the Food and Drug Administration-approved Epidiolex can reduce cue-induced craving in individuals that had been former heroin users. Furthermore, in these individuals, Epidiolex reduced reports of anxiety, and blood levels of cortisol, a hormone known to increase under conditions of stress and anxiety.
Although further studies are needed, these studies strongly suggest that Epidiolex or CBD may hold promise as a critical weapon in fighting the opioid epidemic.
This could be a big deal.
Before rushing out to purchase over-the-counter CBD to treat any medical condition, there are several practical considerations that should be considered.
Only Epidiolex is FDA-approved for a medical condition – pediatric seizures. All other forms of CBD aren’t regulated. There have been numerous consumer reports that show that the actual amount of CBD in over-the-counter products is significantly less than what is reported on the label. Also, some of these over-the-counter products contain enough THC to show up on drug tests.
Although Epidiolex was found to be safe in clinical trials, it can interact with other drugs prescribed for migraines and bipolar disorder. This could mean that taking CBD with certain drugs could diminish or enhance the effects of prescriptions, leading to problems controlling particular medical conditions that were once well-managed, or increase side effects of the other medications. For this reason, it is incredibly important to talk to your doctor or pharmacist about potential drug interactions before using CBD.
Jenny Wilkerson, Assistant Professor of Pharmacodynamics, University of Florida and Lance McMahon, Professor and Chair of Pharmacodynamics, University of Florida
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
The post CBD: The Next Weapon in the War Against Opioid Addiction? appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis Signs Pro-Equality Legislation into Law
Today, HRC celebrates Colorado Governor Jared Polis signing into law HB 1129, which protects LGBTQ youth from the dangerous practice of so-called “conversion therapy,” and HB 1039, which removes a restrictive and unnecessary surgical requirement for updating birth certificate gender markers and allows for a non-binary gender marker option. Polis is the nation’s first openly gay man to be elected governor. Colorado is now the 18th state to protect youth from this egregious practice; Maine’s governor signed similar legislation earlier this week.
“Today, we witnessed the nation’s first openly gay man elected governor, Gov. Jared Polis, sign into law two pro-equality pieces of legislation, including a bill that protects LGBTQ youth in the state from the dangerous, debunked practice of so-called ‘conversion therapy,’” says HRC President Chad Griffin. “Governor Polis has been a trailblazing champion for LGBTQ rights and representation, both in Colorado and for LGBTQ people across the nation. While there is much work to be done to ensure that all of us are treated equally under the law, this is a great day for progress — for Colorado and for our community.”
California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico all have laws or regulations protecting youth from this harmful practice. A growing number of municipalities have also enacted similar protections, including at least fifty cities and counties in Arizona, Florida, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Wisconsin.
There is no credible evidence that conversion therapy can change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity or expression. To the contrary, research has clearly shown that these practices pose devastating health risks for LGBTQ young people such as depression, decreased self-esteem, substance abuse, homelessness, and even suicidal behavior. The harmful practice is condemned by every major medical and mental health organization, including the American Psychiatric Association, American Psychological Association, and American Medical Association.
Transgender and non-binary people with incongruent identity documents frequently experience violence and discrimination. Colorado law previously contained the unnecessary and discriminatory requirement that transgender residents undergo surgery before they were allowed to update the gender marker on their birth certificate to align with their gender identity. HB 1039 removes this harmful restriction and allows transgender residents to update their birth certificate gender marker based on self-attestation. Additionally, this law creates a non-binary gender marker option that allows non-binary residents to have their gender accurately reflected on their birth certificates.
HRC has partnered with LGBTQ advocates across the state including One Colorado to advance pro-equality legislation in Colorado. HRC has also partnered with the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), the Trevor Project and state equality groups across the nation to pass state legislation protecting youth from conversion therapy. More information on the lies and dangers of efforts to change sexual orientation or gender identity can be found here.
Congratulations to Adele and Larry from Canada!
The heart that loves is always young. Adele feels young at heart. She writes: “Larry and I connected on Zoosk with a shared interest in our dogs. I was 45 minutes late to our first date, but he waited for me and the restaurant even remained open a full hour longer than usual to allow
The post Congratulations to Adele and Larry from Canada! appeared first on Zoosk.
about.zoosk.com/en/blog/success-stories/congratulations-adele-larry-canada/
Project THRIVE Launch
Homophobic Philippines President Says He ‘Cured’ Himself of Being Gay
President Rodrigo Duterte repeatedly accuses political enemies of being secret homosexuals.
www.advocate.com/world/2019/5/31/homophobic-philippines-president-says-he-cured-himself-being-gay
Ohio wanted to force a restaurant not to have gender neutral restrooms
Good Company in Cleveland, Ohio is a laid back eatery where you can grab a sandwich, an ice cream or a cocktail. But the state government recently threatened to revoke its liquor license unless it put a “men’s” and “women’s” signs on its gender neutral restrooms.
Vice reports, “According to the terms of the Ohio Liquor Control Commission, restaurants and bars must have ‘separate toilet facilities for men and women’ in order to have a liquor permit.”
The restrooms already had door symbols — one with a toilet and one with a toilet and urinal — making it clear which one would work for folks who want to pee standing up. But apparently that wasn’t enough.
The restaurant’s owner Jonah Oryszak, told Vice, “I thought that was using their own sort of antiquated system against them by being like, well, the state of Ohio is going to associate a urinal with men because you know, it’s backwards and stupid so that’ll be good enough.”
When a state inspector came to see the restaurant’s newly installed patio, the inspector noticed the gender-neutral restrooms and threatened to revoke the establishment’s liquor license on the spot unless the owner added gendered signage immediately.
Adding gendered signage on restrooms is sometimes needless for small businesses because it creates unnecessary hurdle for any patrons who want to quickly use the toilet without waiting when there’s an empty but gendered restroom available. Gendered restroom signage also creates an extra hassle and potentially harassment for trans, genderqueer and non-binary patrons who don’t want others policing their appearance and toilet use.
Either way, Oryszak was forced to write a “M” and “W” on the restroom doors, lest he lose a major source of revenue for his business.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Good Company (@goodcompany.cle) on
In a public Instagram post (above), Good Company wrote:
It saddens us to say that The State of Ohio has bullied us into putting genders on our restrooms at Good Company today. We fought it the best we could but ultimately they held our business hostage stating we wouldn’t be able to operate until we added an “M” and a “W” to the restroom doors. We even asked to see the law which says “restrooms available to both sexes.” To us that sounds like we were operating within the law as we had restrooms available for EVERYONE. We will move forward operating within the law as it currently is written but rest assured that we will be fighting this behind the scenes. In the meantime we obviously will not be enforcing this – use whatever facilities you choose! ?? ?? ? ????
The Ohio Department Of Commerce, which operates the state’s the liquor commission, claims that “The liquor permit was never in jeopardy of being ‘shut down,’” but their statement directly contradicted Oryszak’s experience.
Oryszak has since said that Jim Canepa, Ohio’s Superintendent of Liquor Control, contacted him, called the incident a misunderstanding and apologized.
In a more recent Instagram post, Oryszak wrote:
“Jim Canepa the Superintendent of the Liquor Department just called us to personally apologize for the restrooms. He said as far as he sees it we were complying with the law by having two available restrooms. As long as they are labeled as restrooms he doesn’t see the need to assign gender to them. Thank you for everyone’s support!”
Oryszak noted that right-wing commenters who typically crow over less government oversight and the right for businesses to refuse service to gay people supported his being forced to gender his restrooms.
Lea DeLaria Tells Wendy Williams About Her New Provincetown Nightclub, Where Rosie O’Donnell Will Perform on July 5: WATCH
Comic and actress Lea DeLaria recently bought a nightclub in Provincetown, called “The Club”, and told Wendy Williams all about it, including the announcement of a headliner guest she has arriving for the busy July 4 holiday: Rosie O’Donnell.
For those of you who know Ptown, The Club is in the space where the old Pied Bar used to be, across from Spiritus.
Said DeLaria: “I have Rosie O’Donnell July 4 weekend. It’s July 5,6, and 7. On July 4th, The Club is having a crazy July 4 party where we are having a kissing booth, a hot dog-eating contest, right on the water, so we will see the Provincetown fireworks….”
There will be another big name in town at the same time as Rosie. South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg will be holding a rally at Town Hall and fundraiser on July 5.
And for anyone coming to Provincetown over the summer at any time, follow our Facebook page and Instagram for Ptown Hacks, Towleroad’s 6th annual guide to Provincetown. Our 2019 guide will be dropping very shortly and you will be first to hear about it, and everything new that’s happening in town this summer.
Check out Lea’s interview below:
The post Lea DeLaria Tells Wendy Williams About Her New Provincetown Nightclub, Where Rosie O’Donnell Will Perform on July 5: WATCH appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.
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