Mackenroth talks about the show and making it work with HIV Part of the fun of watching Bravo s hit fashion design competition Project Runway is that it s never predictable. The audience can t guess who might make a horrible dress out of salad greens or who gay judge Michael Kors is going to chew out on the runway or j
A growing chorus of voices this week called on Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee to recant deeply disturbing comments he once made about AIDS and those suffering from the disease. Log Cabin Republicans, Human Rights Campaign and the AIDS Institute all called on the former Arkansas governor to apologize afte
The case of a local HIV-positive Navy chaplain who pleaded guilty last week in military court to seven violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, including forcible sodomy, raises a hornet s nest of legal and religious questions, many of which have ramifications for sexually active gay men. Lt. Cmdr. John Thom
The mainstream media last weekend covered a story the Blade broke last month about rising HIV rates in the U.S. among gay men. The Washington Post, New York Times and Wall Street Journal all picked up the story (and credited the Blade with breaking it, which is always appreciated). Part of what we reported was that the
A Virginia report released last week shows HIV prevention efforts are working among most at-risk groups, including men who have sex with men (MSM). The findings are included in the Virginia Department of Health s new 2008 Comprehensive HIV Prevention Plan and its companion, the Epidemiology Profile: HIV/AIDS in Virgini
Rodney Lofton begins his memoir, The Day I Stopped Being Pretty, in the bleakest of all literary locations: rock bottom. After a failed suicide attempt, he ends up dry-heaving in an emergency room, and his identity as a gay, HIV-positive black man becomes the lynchpin of his journey into and out of despair. As with man
In the weeks leading up to World AIDS Day, Dec. 1, a deluge of new HIV/AIDS statistics have flooded the media. First came the Blade s Nov. 16 report that the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention was preparing a report showing a possible 50 percent spike in HIV infections nationwide. Then the Washington Post rep
One gay New York City man has taken serosorting to a new level with plans for separate sex parties for HIV-positive and HIV-negative men. Robert Brandon Sandor, who s 48 and has been HIV-positive since 1983, founded poz4poz.com in frustration a decade ago because he felt gay men with HIV were social outcasts, both in s
A long-awaited report released this week by the D.C. HIV/AIDS Administration showing that about 12,500 people in the city had HIV or AIDS in 2006 brought renewed promises from the administration to fight the disease. Men accounted for more than twice the number of new HIV infections than women in Washington between 200
THERE S SOMETHING SORT of overwhelming about World AIDS Day, Dec. 1. How can any of us wrap our minds around a disease that infects 4 million people worldwide each year, and threatens the health of 33 million - mostly untreated - who are living with the virus today, according to the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/
AIDS IS STILL a crisis. This is true even though last week, the global number of AIDS cases fell by more than 6 million. United Nations officials said this was mainly due to revised numbers in India , but added that the epidemic likely peaked in the 1990s. Dr. Kevin De Cock, director of the World Health Organization s
FORT LAUDERDALE - In a groundbreaking study released last week, the Florida Department of Health found that HIV infection rates are significantly higher than expected among men who have sex with other men in the state. The study found that one in every 22 men who have sex with other men in Florida were HIV positive las
Proposed new rules aimed at speeding up the process for allowing HIV-positive foreign visitors to enter the United States are more restrictive than the existing rules and could prevent visitors from obtaining permanent resident status, according to two gay advocacy groups. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
ATLANTA - Top investigators in the failed Merck & Co. HIV vaccine study say they are still far from understanding the trend of higher rates of HIV infection in those who received the vaccine as opposed to those who received the placebo. Study investigators, researchers and activists gathered in Seattle Nov. 7 for t
ATLANTA - About two weeks ago, a friend of Atlanta resident Vaughn advertised a bareback sex party on a popular gay hook-up site. Over 90 percent of the guys that hit him up online about it had safe sex, HIV- in their profiles, he said. I think it s funny, yet sad. People aren t honest with themselves and each other.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention is mulling over when to release alarming new statistics showing that as many as 50 percent more people are being infected with HIV each year in the United States than originally reported by the government. According to AIDS advocacy groups familiar with the CDC, mid
Editors note: This is the first in a two-part series taking a frank look at gay sex, condom use and HIV prevention. Next week: Are generations of gay men who endured the height of the AIDS epidemic no longer committed to using condoms? ATLANTA - There was once a time, in the not too distant past, when there wasn t a ga
BALTIMORE - Some gay residents are urging Equality Maryland to look beyond its work for marriage rights and help gay youth and transgender adults who are struggling to survive. At a feedback meeting Monday in Baltimore, some attendees said they appreciate Equality Maryland s efforts toward marriage equality for gay and
ATLANTA - Some U.S. participants in the recently halted HIV vaccine trial co-sponsored by Merck & Co. are being told by study coordinators they may be at higher risk for contracting HIV if they received the actual vaccine and not the placebo. Globally, some 3,000 volunteers participated in the HIV vaccine trial, in
Some U.S. participants in the recently halted HIV vaccine trial co-sponsored by Merck & Co. are being told by study coordinators they may be at higher risk for contracting HIV if they received the actual vaccine and not the placebo. The STEP trial in the U.S. and other countries was halted Sept. 21 after three year
ATLANTA - When news came last month that the HIV vaccine trial by Merck & Co. was discontinued because studies showed the vaccine was ineffective, volunteer participant Scott Smith of Atlanta acknowledged disappointment. I was bummed. But I knew what the chances were, he said. Smith, 39, a volunteer for the vac
Mayor Adrian Fenty was expected to announce this week that the District of Columbia would receive a donation of at least 350,000 condoms from the Princeton, N.J., corporation that produces the Trojan brand condom, according to sources familiar with the city government. Fenty was scheduled to hold a news conference at 1
Campaigns for marriage equality have stolen too much attention from the nation s AIDS epidemic, according to some gay activists. H. Alexander Robinson, executive director of the National Black Justice Coalition, said in a column posted last week on the Bilerico Project web site that presidential candidates have spent m
RICHMOND, Va. - Administrators and caseworkers in southern coastal Virginia have confirmed the findings of a national study that found AIDS on the rise in rural populations among men who have sex with men. A report revised in 2006 by the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies and the AIDS Research Institute, University of
A bill that would provide Medicaid funding to uninsured, poor and low-income people with HIV before the virus progresses to AIDS was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives last week. Lead sponsors of Early Treatment for HIV Act, known as ETHA, introduced Aug. 2, are House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Re
Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty Thursday named a physician from the U.S. global AIDS office as the new head of the city s troubled HIV/AIDS Administration. Speaking at a community health center in the city s Congress Heights section, Fenty announced his decision to appoint Dr. Shannon Lee Hader, an epidemiologist and sen
IN 85 COUNTRIES of the world, it is illegal for men to have sex with other men. Male-male sexual relationships are stigmatized, driving men to hide their activities from friends, family members and health workers, according to a recent report by the International Lesbian & Gay Association. Because these men are for
When the local group Transgender Health Empowerment, Inc., launched its Tyra Hunter Drop-In Center last March in a three-story townhouse on North Capitol Street, organizers expected to provide a variety of HIV prevention and social services to mostly adult transgender women. But in the past two months, younger clients
At first glance, a banner proclaiming Bong Hits 4 Jesus didn t seem to have ramifications for gay Americans. But Jon Davidson, legal director at Lambda Legal Defense & Education Fund, said a U.S. Supreme Court case about the banner could have barred students from discussing gay issues. The court was asked to grant
WASHINGTON - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) and Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) reintroduced the Early Treatment for HIV Act today. The act would provide Medicaid coverage for low-income HIV-positive patients in the U.S. Rebecca Haag, executive director of AIDS Action, said that Medic
Proposed new standards for developing health and sex education curricula for the District of Columbia Public Schools call for teaching eighth grade students that some feel romantically and/or sexually attracted to people of the same gender. The 43-page draft document, Health Learning Standards, also calls for teaching
Local gay and AIDS groups are calling on Mayor Adrian Fenty and his new public schools chancellor, Michelle Rhee, to more aggressively target gay and transgender youth in a proposed new initiative to curtail the spread of HIV among teenagers. Fenty and city health director Gregg Pane announced the initiative during a J
Democratic presidential contenders Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards, Christopher Dodd and Dennis Kucinich have accepted invitations to participate in a gay presidential candidates forum to be televised live before a gay audience. In a joint statement released Tuesday, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation and
James W. Holsinger, the Kentucky physician nominated by President Bush to be the next U.S. Surgeon General, said Thursday that a 1991 paper he wrote saying gay male sex was unhealthy no longer reflects his views. Responding to questions at his Senate confirmation hearing, Holsinger said he was troubled over claims by c
Congress has stepped closer to letting D.C. use its own money for a needle exchange program. House members voted June 28 to drop a measure that prevented the District from spending local tax revenue on the program. The measure, which was dropped in committee, was rebuffed again on the House floor, 216-208. In a separat
Roi Whaley, 42, was born and raised in rural Gumbo, Mo., and has lived in Gulfport, Miss., for the past 24 years. He says the Fourth of July has long been one of his favorite holidays. But this week, Whaley, a supervisor at one of Gulfport s waterfront casinos, says he s struggling to retain his belief in what it means
President Bush threatened Tuesday to veto the D.C. budget bill unless it barred the District from using federal funds to register domestic partnerships. In a memo to Congress, Bush said he opposed House efforts to strike that longstanding stipulation. Under federal law, legal marriage is the union between a man and a w
Nine years after it prohibited the use of D.C. tax money for a needle exchange program, Congress is poised to end the ban. House members are expected to vote next week on a measure that would lift the ban. The bill, which governs the District budget, lacks the prohibition it has annually reiterated since 1998. We are
AMERICA THINKS differently about AIDS today than when the epidemic first appeared, and for good reason: Our knowledge of the disease has grown significantly since the early 1980s. And as the mystery that once shrouded AIDS has faded away, America s fear of gay men has subsided, too. Scientific inquiry, activism and pub
PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH recently doubled the size of his footprint in his effort to stamp-out global AIDS. But in doing so, Bush also delivered another kick in the face to gay and bisexual men across the world - along with others for whom abstinence-until-marriage is impractical or impossible -by denying them access t
The Human Rights Campaign and the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force are calling on the U.S. Senate to defeat President Bush s nomination of a Kentucky doctor to become the next surgeon general. The two groups said physician James Holsinger, a University of Kentucky public health professor and former state health di
AIDS IS NOT over, but HIV research activism has diminished to such a low point that one could be forgiven for thinking the epidemic is no longer a crisis. The Office of AIDS Research Advisory Council of the National Institutes of Health met in April and there were barely more than a dozen members of the general public
Leaders at the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control & Prevention are adopting an increasingly forceful tone when discussing rising HIV rates among gay and bisexual men - demanding that gay men take ownership of their effort to remain HIV-negative, while forcing the rest of society to recognize how homophobia a
Cases of syphilis among gay and bisexual men in Virginia have been steadily increasing since 2003, according to figures from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. A new campaign running through June 3 is targeting gay and bisexual men statewide and stresses the importance of testing, education and preventio
Three leading Democratic presidential candidates pledge strong support of gay issues in new documents, but stop short of supporting marriage equality. Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois and former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina affirm their support of civil unions in various papers out
The national gay magazine the Advocate found itself in the awkward position this week of having to publish a correction saying it falsely reported that famed U.S. and Washington, D.C. gay rights leader Frank Kameny had died of AIDS. Kameny, 82, laughed about the report of his demise Monday night at a meeting of the Ger
Rev. Jerry Falwell, a man whom critics called a tremendous homophobe and leader of American s anti-gay industry, died Tuesday at age 73. Falwell s death, apparently caused by a heart condition, unleashed a flood of reaction from gay activists that offered condolences to the evangelist s family and friends, but condemne
The U.S. debate concerning the Food & Drug Administration s unwillingness to revise a ban that prevents men who ve had sex with men since 1977 from donating blood and bone marrow shows no signs of ending anytime soon. Elected officials in Cathedral City, Calif., this month voted unanimously in favor of approving a
Gay health organizations and others are condemning a New York strategy that encourages circumcision for men who are at high risk of contracting HIV. The strategy, which asks city hospitals to perform the procedure for free on uninsured men, emerged this month after three studies in Africa showed that circumcision reduc
Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty said last week that fighting HIV and AIDS in the nation s capital will be the number one priority of his administration. Speaking at a summit that brought together more than 150 health experts and activists, Fenty said he would boost the District s evolving efforts to combat HIV and treat
The maker of a rapid HIV test kit being readied for home use announced it is partnering with another company to develop a phone and online counseling component. OraSure Technologies produces the OraQuick Advance Rapid HIV-1/2 Antibody Test, which has been used in public health, drug treatment and outreach clinics aroun
The sexually transmitted disease gonorrhea is now among the superbugs resistant to common antibiotics, leading U.S. health officials to recommend wider use of a different class of drugs to avert a public health crisis. The resistant form accounts for more than one in every four gonorrhea cases among heterosexual men in
TWENTY YEARS AGO, the Food & Drug Administration approved the anti-HIV medicine, AZT , the first ray of hope for people living with HIV/AIDS. AIDS community advocates in the Bay Area, who campaigned tirelessly for effective treatments, played a key role in making AZT and other early AIDS medications available for p
Kontar Mosi of Baltimore likes to point out he receives more than free groceries from Moveable Feast. It s kind of like Big Brothers Big Sisters for HIV, said the 32-year-old gay man, who is HIV positive. They re very caring. They don t just drop off bags of food. They drop off bags of cheer. They give me what I need.
NEW YORK - Fifty body bags covered a Wall Street area last week near the New York Stock Exchange and 27 people died in the middle of downtown traffic. The dramatization staged March 29 was the finale of a march for universal health care. AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) co-sponsored the protest along with Healt
PUTTING A CONDOM on reduces your risk of catching HIV and some sexually transmitted diseases. Taking something off reduces risks, too. The something that comes off is foreskin. No, this isn t a plot synopsis for Nip & Tuck. Circumcising adult men reduces their susceptibility to HIV infection by a large enough margi
Whitman-Walker Clinic s Legal Services Program honored U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), the House majority leader, last week for his service to people living with HIV and AIDS. Hoyer received the Joel Toubin Memorial Award at the Clinic s Going the Extra Mile benefit on March 14. I am proud to have joined with Whitman-Wa
Despite several years of outreach and educational campaigns aimed at curtailing crystal meth use, three new studies indicate that the drug remains popular among local gay men and that users have a high rate of HIV infection. Crystal Meth Working Group conducted an informal survey and outreach project during January and
Sen. John McCain, campaigning for the Republican nomination for president in 2008, had trouble answering a question about condoms and HIV on March 16 during a bus ride in northern Iowa. The exchange was reported by several media outlets including the New York Times. McCain was asked if he supported the distribution of
Local gay and AIDS activists expressed concern about a proclamation issued in Washington last week by Mayor Adrian Fenty that calls for educating young people about abstinence from sex before marriage. In a proclamation declaring March 10-17 Abstinence Awareness Week in the District of Columbia, Fenty said the aim of t
The largely unchecked toll HIV/AIDS is taking on African Americans warrants a heightened national response, according to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, which launched a nationwide mobilization among black leaders in Atlanta last week. AIDS among African Americans is in fact a crisis, and it is not a
Opponents of the new sex education curriculum being tested in Montgomery County schools will ask state officials this summer to quash the gay-inclusive lessons. Maryland s schools superintendent Nancy Grasmick, in an order last week, granted curriculum opponents a hearing before the state school board. Education offici
Members of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS expressed concern last week that the position of director of the White House AIDS office has remained vacant for more than a year. During its Feb. 27-28 meeting in Washington, the 20-member advisory panel, known as PACHA, voted unanimously to call on President Bu
Bob Hattoy, the first openly gay man with AIDS to address a major political party convention on prime-time television, died at UC-Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, Calif., on Saturday. He was 54. Hattoy died of complications resulting from AIDS, according to his friend and former partner Bob Pelham. Hattoy sprang int
For almost as long as the HIV/AIDS epidemic has been around, Diana Dodson has been fighting the disease that desperately wants to take her life. The grandmother of five contracted HIV through a blood transfusion in 1985. Over the years, Dodson has been prescribed countless drugs that her body rejects, and the medicines
Dr. Gregg Pane, director of D.C. s Department of Health, has announced a major reorganization of the city s AIDS office, which he says will strengthen its internal management and jumpstart its programs to fight the disease. The reorganization involves the elimination of nearly all of the former Administration for HIV P
President Bush s proposed 2008 budget includes an inadequate level of funding to fight HIV and AIDS, according to leading activists. The AIDS Institute, AIDS Action Council and Human Rights Campaign agreed the proposed budget, unveiled Monday, falls short of providing enough money to effectively combat the epidemic.
Coinciding with Black History Month, National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day carries a heightened significance in Washington, a city with one of the highest HIV infection rates in the nation. Falling on Feb. 7, for the seventh consecutive year, the day is designed to raise awareness, participation and support for HIV pre
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) - Detecting whether patients with HIV/AIDS are infected with even small amounts of drug-resistant forms of the virus can be done with a test developed by researchers at Duke University Medical Center. Findings were announced this week online in the journal Nature Methods. While other tests only pick u
Though not the first organization to benefit from the age-old link between gays and musical theater, Arts in Action, a local non-profit, will again capitalize on that connection in a benefit to be held Tuesday, Jan. 23. Borrowing their model from national organization Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, Arts in Action b
The 39-year-old Washington Free Clinic - which launched the fledgling forerunner to the Whitman-Walker Clinic in 1973 - closed its doors for good last week and is transferring its 1,800 clients and 12 employees to the gay-oriented Whitman-Walker s facilities on 14th Street, N.W. The development marks yet another milest
D.C. Department of Health Director Dr. Gregg Pane took the unusual step last week of naming himself interim director of the city s trouble-plagued Administration for HIV Policy & Programs. Pane announced his decision to take on the dual role of health director and head of the AIDS administration after Mayor Adrian
When her brother committed suicide in 1985 following an AIDS diagnosis, Cheryl Ann Spector mourned for more than a year before deciding that she had to channel her grief into action. Still reeling from her loss in January of 1987, she walked into a Baltimore office space where the planning for the March On Washington f
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