While the number of new HIV infections in the U.S. continues to hold steady at about 50,000 a year, infections rates among gay and bisexual men, especially African American men who have sex with men (MSM), continue to rise sharply, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Youth Risk Behavior Survelliance Survey is given every two years to high school students in the U.S. to gather information and help guide policy on such topics as sex education, teen pregnancy, drug and alcohol abuse, smoking and seatbelt use.
Georgia is one of five states, however, that deletes survey questions that address sexual behavior, according to an action alert from Georgia Equality. Georgia Equality, the state's largest LGBT advocacy organization, wants people to contact Gov. Nathan Deal and ask him to include the sexual behavior questions in this year's survey.
Vandals smashed the glass storefront of Boy Next Door early Thursday morning and management of the men's fashion store believes it may be tied to an article published in Fenuxe, a local LGBT magazine. Boy Next Door caters to a gay clientele.
Raymond Dowis, general manager of the store located at 1447 Piedmont Ave., told Atlanta police today he believes the property damage totaling $1,000 is due to his store's advertisement in Fenuxe. The vandals struck at approximately 4:49 a.m. Thursday and shattered the glass of the front of the store.
Fenuxe published an article titled "Why can't we have nice things?" in its Oct. 4 Pride issue critical of the local gay bar scene. The art with the story was a waiter holding a silver platter with a pile of shit on it. The controversy was reported by Project Q Atlanta. Atlanta Pride was held Oct. 13-14 in Piedmont Park.
‘Unity, visibility and self-esteem’ on display in Piedmont Park
Today, Sept. 27, is National Gay Men's HIV/AIDS Awareness Day and the Center's for Disease Control & Prevention is urging gay and bisexual men to get tested for HIV. In the U.S., men who have sex with men continue to be the demographic that has the most new infections each year.
According to the CDC, gay and bisexual men represent 2 percent of the U.S. population,"yet account for more than half of both new HIV infections each year and Americans living with HIV. Since the beginning of the epidemic, nearly 350,000 gay and bisexual men with AIDS have died, and more than 8,000 still die each year."
The drug Truvada has been given its approval by the Food and Drug Administration today to be used as an option for reducing the risk of contracting HIV.
This is the first drug approved by the U.S. government to do so.
Truvada, made by Gilead Sciences, has been used by HIV patients on a daily basis with other drugs for years as part of regimen to keep the virus at bay. In studies, Truvada also proved that when taken in combination with the use of condoms the risk of HIV infection is greatly decreased
Editor's Note: An earlier version of this story stated "Queens on the Green" would be taking place at Piedmont Park. In fact, the film event is taking place at the Evolution Center's drop-in center at 583 Juniper St., Atlanta, GA 30308, on Sunday, May 20.
There will be no Screen on the Green this year because, well, Piedmont Park is busy with other stuff and there's that pesky sponsorship issue that has plagued the popular film series for a few years after some people were wounded by real-live gunfire, not the kind in movies.
But have no fear, some in Atlanta's gay community — as in the Evolution Project — is picking up the slack and will screen "The Devil Wears Prada" on Sunday at sunset as part of its new "Queens on the Green" series. And what better "Queens on the Green" film is there to start things of than a little Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway bitchy realness.
Approximately 50 people marched from Woodruff Park to the state Capitol on Saturday, April 21, as part of the 2012 Worldwide LGBT Civil Rights March that was to take place in cities across the country and world, according to organizers.
At a rally at the state Capitol following the march, numerous people spoke about the challenges lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people face in Georgia and around the world in their fight for full equality.
But they also urged people to be committed and dedicated to achieving equality because the opposition works every day to plant obstacles, target gay-friendly politicians and strategize politically to bring the LGBT movement to a standstill.
One way to show the commitment is to work for candidates who believe in LGBT equality and vote on July 31 in the primary for state and local elected officials.
"Testing Makes Us Stronger," the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's new HIV testing campaign targeting young black gay and bisexual men, is the federal government's first foray into specifically asking gay and bisexual men help stem the wave of new HIV infections with community input into the campaign.
The Atlanta-based CDC determined figures that show that in 2006, there were 4,400 HIV infections among black gay and bisexual men ages 13-29. The numbers jumped to 6,500 infections in 2009 within the same age group, for a momentous increase of 48 percent. This subpopulation represents the only subpopulation in the U.S. to experience a statistically significant increase of new HIV infections during these three years.
Kevin Fenton, the openly gay director of the CDC's National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, said black gay and bisexual men are one of the population's hardest hit by HIV and "the name for this campaign could not be clearer."
CDC's campaign one of first federally focused programs on gay men
As World AIDS Day approaches on Thursday, Dec. 1, officials at the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced today there is "new hope" in fighting the disease after scientific studies show that treatment of those who are HIV positive leads to prevention of its spread. However, the fight is also "far from over," experts said.
Between 2006-2009, new HIV infections in the U.S. stayed stable at about 50,000 new infections a year, according to the CDC. Last month, U.N. AIDS reported the numbers of new infections reached a "plateau" with 2.7 million people newly infected each year for the last five years.
"The bottom line — we are in a time of new hope," said CDC Director Thomas Frieden in a teleconference call with reporters to discuss its Vital Signs report released today.