This is the story of the insidious influence of Big Pharma on our HIV/AIDS leadership and policy-making, and how an experienced activist like me was tricked into delivering messages for the HIV pharma giant Gilead Sciences. I was bamboozled because I didn’t do my homework, and I acknowledge this. I relied upon institutions I trusted [...]
Okay, I will admit I had no idea who Gareth Thomas was, beyond hearing on Saturday that a major rugby star in the United Kingdom had disclosed his HIV status. But anyone living with HIV could relate to the heart-breaking video he released announcing he is HIV positive. His apprehension is palpable, and he makes [...]
A choral performance during Plenary II of the USCA. (Photo: Luke Hammerman) A picture, and sometimes a video clip, can tell a thousand words. Sometimes they shout those words, or even sing them to you. In these amazing pictures and video clips from the 2019 United States Conference on AIDS (USCA), the activists, advocates, and [...]
Jade Elektra at USCA (Photo: Scott Henrichsen) Toronto drag personality Jade Elektra captivated the Saturday plenary of the United States Conference on AIDS (USCA) with her live rendition of “Undetectable,” part of a program devoted entirely to the “Undetectable Equals Untransmittable” (U=U) movement. Jade Elektra is the stage name of Alphonso King, Jr. [...]
Activists disrupt the USCA opening plenary. (Photo: Derrick Mapp) Dr. Robert Redfield, the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) surely saw it coming. Protests are part of the DNA of the United States Conference on AIDS (USCA), and conference organizers have never shied from welcoming dissent from activists. In [...]
Treasure Island Media Leave it to science and rational thinking to ruin a popular sexual taboo. The “bareback” label for sex without a condom has faded in the age of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and U=U. People not living with HIV who are taking PrEP are protecting themselves from transmission, while people living with [...]
There is a lot to unpack about this week’s FDA Advisory Panel hearing on Gilead’s new cash cow option for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), Descovy. I want to point you to the coverage that best suits you, including terrific reporting from an Australian radio show (!) that typically focuses on kinky sex (not that there’s a [...]
To say that Pose is an unlikely hit is an understatement. It’s a goddamn miracle, and while we’re at it, Pose is also a gift to LGBTQ history, to the visibility of marginalized people, and to HIV awareness in the here and now. It challenged me, then, when the most recent episode, “Blow” (7/30/2019), left [...]
A coalition of HIV activists have released a statement that tears into the recent testimony of Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) Chief Brian Hastings, while the policy he outlined to separate parents with HIV from their families is being walked back – but not, as of yet, officially stopped. The group statement, below, goes even [...]
(UPDATE 7/26/2019: Are you as horrified by this policy as I am? Please re-post and/or tweet this story using hashtags #nofamilyseparation #closethecamps and tag your elected official if you can. One thing this has made clear: immigration is an HIV issue. We must not look away.) The slow-motion train wreck once known as the [...]
