Study: Gay, Bi Men Have Higher Skin Cancer Rates Than Straight Men

The largest study ever conducted about LGB people and skin cancer uncovers troubling results.

www.advocate.com/health/2020/2/12/study-gay-bi-men-have-higher-skin-cancer-rates-straight-men

Man told his dead husband’s healthy organs are too gay for donation

A man says his dead husband’s healthy organs were refused by a hospital’s organ donation program because of his sexual orientation.

Sean Reinert was the drummer for the band Cynic and Ex-Death. He was considered by many to be one of metal’s most influential queer icons. He died unexpectedly last month at the age of 48.

“My husband Sean was an organ donor,” Tom Reinert writes on Facebook. “He believed that when he passed on if his organs could go to someone in need that it would be a great thing. He was incredibly kind and giving in every way imaginable as many of his closest friends are well aware.”

Tom explains that he was initially contacted by the hospital’s organ donation program the night of Sean’s death. Speaking to a representative from the program, he was asked to a litany of questions about Sean.

“After the first few standard questions she asked if Sean was a sexually active homosexual male,” Tom writes. “Without thinking I said ‘yes’ and almost without missing a beat she said ‘well, unfortunately that means….” and I went numb because I knew what she was about to say.”

The U.S. Public Health Service dictates that any male who has engaged in same-sex sexual contact in the past twelve months is considered at “increased risk” for HIV, Hepatitis B, and Hepatitis C. And while organ donations from these men are not totally prohibited, they are evaluated on a unique case-by-case basis.

The official guidelines state:

Since the emergence of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic, the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) has made recommendations to reduce the risk of HIV transmission associated with organ transplantation. Historically, recommendations included identifying risk factors among organ donors associated with HIV infection to minimize risk of potential transmission to recipients. … In 2013, based on donor-derived transmission events and reports of poor recipient outcome from hepatitis B (HBV) and C (HCV) transmission, the PHS released a revised guideline. The 2013 Guideline added organ donor screening recommendations for HBV (hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and total antibody to hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc)) and HCV (antibody to hepatitis C (anti-HCV) and NAT), in addition to HIV, to reduce the risk of unintended transmission through transplantation.

“Sean did not have HIV, or any other STD’s for that matter,” Tom explains. “But because he was a gay man living in America in 2020 he was not allowed one of his final wishes of donating his organs to help save another person’s life.”

He continues, “The government would rather let people waiting for a transplant die than give them one of Seans organs. As his husband it makes me sick to my stomach and incredibly angry.”

Related: FDA Decides You Shouldn’t Be Banned From Blood Donations For A Lifetime. Just A Year

www.queerty.com/man-told-dead-husbands-healthy-organs-gay-donation-20200212?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

Imagine Dragons frontman Dan Reynolds takes his fight for LGBTQ rights all the way to Capitol Hill

Dan Reynolds just upped his ally game tenfold.

The Imagine Dragons frontman recently took a trip to Washington, D.C., where he met with lawmakers about banning conversion therapy nationwide once and for all.

Reynolds was joined by Neon Trees’ Tyler Glenn and RuPaul‘s Drag Race’s Carmen Carrera. The trio met with several lawmakers, including Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, Co-Chair of the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus, and Rep. Ted Lieu, a Vice-Chair of the Equality Caucus, at the U.S. Capitol to push for a federal ban on conversion therapy. They also spoke with Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Mitt Romney, among others.

“Sadly it takes a straight man with a lot of privilege to come in as well, to actually get things done,” Reynolds said after the visit. “And I think that’s a damn shame, in 2020 something you’d think would not be necessary. But it’s just a truth of the matter.”

Related: Imagine Dragons frontman Dan Reynolds posts about health but fans are focused elsewhere

Currently, only 19 states ban conversion therapy, with Virginia set to become the twentieth state very soon. Last month, the Virginia State Senate passed a bill banning the practice. On Monday, the Virginia House of Representatives passed their version the ban. The two versions are currently being reconciled before a final bill will be sent Gov. Ralph Northam’s desk, who is expected to sign it into law.

In 2016, Reynolds and Glenn co-founded the LOVELOUD Festival to raise awareness to the issues impacting LGBTQ youth. In 2017, Reynolds started the LOVELOUD Foundation as a way to “bring communities and families together to help ignite the vital conversation about what it means to unconditionally love our LGBTQ+ youth.”

In addition to meeting with lawmakers last week, Reynolds, Glenn, and Carrera hosted a screening of the 2018 documentary Believer, which chronicles the first LOVELOUD Festival in Orem, Utah and Reynolds’ mission to push back against the Mormon Church’s discriminatory policies against LGBTQ people.

Last year, as Imagine Dragons was accepting the award for best rock artist at the 2019 Billboard Music Awards, Reynolds used the entire speech to champion LGBTQ youth.

“I just want to take this moment to say that there are 34 States that have no laws banning conversion therapy,” he said. “And on top of that, 58 percent of our LGBTQ population live in those states. This can change, but it’s going to take all of us talking to our state legislators, pushing forward laws to protect our LGBTQ youth.”

Related: VIDEO: Dan Reynolds uses entire Billboard acceptance speech to speak out for queer youth

www.queerty.com/imagine-dragons-frontman-dan-reynolds-takes-fight-lgbtq-rights-way-capitol-hill-20200212?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

Sony May Make Spider-Man Bisexual and Give Him a Boyfriend: REPORT

Back in 2013 Andrew Garfield said he had spoken with Spider-Man producers about the possibility of making the web-slinging superhero a gay man. Now a new report suggests that after seven years his wish might be coming true.

According to We Got This Covered, Sony is developing a live-action version of Into the Spider-Verse which would unite current Spidey Tom Holland with his predecessors Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield.

Writes WGTC: “We’re also hearing that Sony is particularly keen on getting Garfield back, as they want to portray his version of the hero as bisexual and give him a boyfriend in the film.”

Said Garfield back in 2013: “What if (Mary Jane) is a dude? Why can’t we discover that Peter is exploring his sexuality?  It’s hardly even groundbreaking!…So why can’t he be gay? Why can’t he be into boys? … I’ve been obsessed with Michael B. Jordan since The Wire. He’s so charismatic and talented. It’d be even better—we’d have interracial bisexuality!”

Garfield repeated his desires in 2015, saying, “I’m excited to get to the point where we don’t have to have this conversation, where we can have a pansexual Spider-Man. The beauty about Spider-Man, for me, is that he’s covered head to toe. That’s why everyone thinks it could be them in that suit. You don’t see skin color. You don’t see sexual orientation. You don’t see how old the person is, gender, the whole thing. I celebrate that. Anyone can be a hero in their own lives. … We’re scared of things that aren’t us. Love is love. Skin is skin. Flesh is flesh. We’re all wrapped in the same thing. I have no preference.”

The post Sony May Make Spider-Man Bisexual and Give Him a Boyfriend: REPORT appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.

Sony May Make Spider-Man Bisexual and Give Him a Boyfriend: REPORT