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 [...]
Pose on FX is nothing less than astounding to me. So much could have gone wrong, with the era, the themes, the characters, and – the aspect of the show closest to my heart and my critical eye -- the disease that looms over it all. Trans writers and advocates are better qualified to remark, [...]
A die-in on 5th Avenue during 2019 Pride Weekend in New York City. (photo: Leandro Justin) Our friend Larry Kramer, the godfather of the AIDS activism movement, hasn’t lost his edge. That should surprise no one. In his speech at the Queer Liberation March on Sunday, however, Larry was nearly wistful, reminiscing on [...]
Larry Bryant, Jr., at the Reunion Project in Washington, DC, on June 22, 2019 For many years, I have viewed activist Larry Bryant, Jr. as one of the most highly regarded voices of conscience in the HIV/AIDS movement, and among Black men in particular. At the recent Reunion Project event in Washington, DC, [...]
Jade Elektra performs at the Toronto AIDS Vigil on June 18, 2019. (Bob Leahy) When Toronto drag queen Jade Elektra, aka HIV positive activist Alphonso King, Jr., stepped to the stage of the 2019 Toronto AIDS Vigil on Tuesday night, she knew she had a message. It wasn’t simply that she would become [...]
