After '82: The Documentary

I found out earlier today about a new British film, due to shortly be completed. After '82 has been filmed over a period of three years and is close to completion. The film contains multiple interviews with people who were instrumental in highlighting the AIDS crisis in the UK in the 80's, people living with HIV, activists and campaigners today. Split into two halves, the first half of After 82 looks at the history behind the AIDS crisis, whilst the second half examines the situation today.Without wishing to be depressing or doom laden - After 82 has a lighter touch than you might expect from such subject matter - the film IS a wake up call that asks why is there still so much ignorance surrounding the topic and why is so little currently being done by the UK government?

There are some short exerts on their website, and it's a timely British companion to the extraordinary US documentary, How to Survive a Plague. 

Let's Talk About Bareback

Apologies for the lack of posts recently.  I'd like to say I'll be back posting regularly, but until I get back on track with various writing commitments, I'm afraid I will probably continue to be a little sporadic with my posting.  Let's begin then with a topic that continues to fascinate me, and which I regard as a key issue concerning contemporary gay identity, and the regulation of identity, bareback sex.

I finally for around to watching the How to Survive a Plague documentary.  I'd been really excited about watching it and found it a very emotionally draining documentary.   That said, I think it would have been a little shorter, and it did seem at times to lack the energy that was suggested in the trailer.  The "plague" moment from Kramer - which seems to dramatic in the trailer - actually sent a shiver down my spine when shown in context.  The descent into chaos, argument, and division will be familiar to anyone involved in gay politics and campaigning. Kramer's eruption, and genuine passion - shown in that context - is all the more powerful and underlines the importance of that unifying voice.  The documentary also helped to clarify in my mind the role of TAG in relation to Act Up!  A post on the Petrelis Files blog in recent days reveals how TAG continue to be a controversial group, and this documentary again helps younger gay men like myself to understand those historical tensions.

The documentary also left me wondering whether in the long run, it was worth it.  The trials that people pushed for, didn't work, and the documentary seemed to suggest that actually we would have got to the same destination whether there had been any intervention by the LGBT community or not.  Potentially incendiary stuff.   On a personal level, the documentary persuaded me to order a HIV home testing kit.   If it does nothing else, but inspire many viewers to do that, I suspect the film-makers will be pleased.

A really interesting post on BuzzFeed also caught my attention.  It's a blog by Kyle Bella who wonders why it's so hard to talk about bareback sex.  After all, we know more and more men who have sex with men, are having that sex without condoms.  Bareback is - I would argue - already normative in gay pornography, and will - if it isn't already - become normative in sexual practice.  We also see HIV rates continuing to rise, creating ever more socio-legal pressure for responses, health-policy responses such as we've seen in LA regarding pornography, and also specific campaigns such as that currently being waged against bareback company Treasure Island Media (albeit a particularly botched effort).

The puzzlement of Bella is - I suspect - shared by some, but I think most people know the reasons.  The trouble is the reasons are inconvenient, both politically and in policy terms.   If for example, we accept that bareback sex feels better - that it is a much more sensory engaging experience, then the arguments of safer sex campaigners over recent years will be seen as being less than completely honest.  It is also an emotionally different experience, and this again is not truly engaged with by many campaigners.

Our continued socio-legal pre-occupation with bareback sex, also furthers any fetishisation of bareback sex, whilst - and I can't emphasis this enough - the failure of large sections of 'our' community to be dropping dead from bareback sex, or popping up on a Friday night in a club looking like hell, dying from AIDS makes any 'HIV is a bad thing' message difficult to deliver.  Not that anyone has been trying to.  Recent years have seen campaigns focus on testing, and HIV campaigners seem more focused on discrimination than health needs (all of which fuels silence about being positive, or knowing if one is positive).

Then we have direct attempts to silence debates around bareback. This has taken the form of attempts to snuff out companies like Treasure Island Media (which I would suggest reflect back the reality of our sexual play) and, as this Queerty story revealed last month, Facebook banning a page about bareback (after it hit 20,000 likes).

Can we all honestly state whether we engage in bareback sex, and why?  I don't think our culture currently allows for that.  If we can't even be honest about our own behaviours, we are not going to get to grips with this subject.

Your Mother Liked It Bareback

Mark S King has written an absolutely brilliant piece on bareback sex.  You can check it out here.  He responds to some of the recent stories about bareback sex and contextualises it in a medical and cultural framework.  I can't recommend it enough.

Postal HIV Testing Kits

The previous oral test

Pink News carries an intriguing piece this evening.  They report that the Terrence Higgins Trust and the Health Protection Agency are co-launching a pilot project that will allow gay and bisexual men to access HIV home sampling kits by post.

Read the full story here.

It follows other trials via the post - and I think this is a very welcome move.  However, my puzzlement comes as I don't see how it is compatible with the HIV Testing Kits and Services Regulations 1992.  You can read those regulations here.  I've long thought that the regulations need revising to allow home testing - and I'm sure that the HPA and THT are aware of the regs.   I must be missing something, but how have they therefore got around the regulations now?

A Double Life

Interesting piece in the Guardian Magazine today by Marco Roth who will shortly publish a book entitled 'Two Scientists:  A Family Romance' (priced at £9.59 on Amazon).  The book is autobiographical, and the Guardian piece is an edited extract from the book.

When Roth's father - a scientist - died of AIDS, the story that he had become infected in the course of his scientific work (a lab accident) began to be questioned.  So too, did his fathers sexuality.  This book chronicles Roth's journey of exploration as to his fathers 'double life'.   The extract makes for interesting reading, although I'm not sure it entices the reader to go beyond what is published in the Guardian.

Check out the extract here.

HIV+ Guys Have Sex...and they Enjoy it...What the Deuce?

It's been a while since I blogged about the ever controversial US bareback porn studio, Treasure Island Media (TIM).  Their latest release -Drunk on Cum 6 - focuses on oral sex, and the consumption of semen.  However, as a bareback studio, they come under (what I find to be) surprising amounts of criticism for these oral scenes.

The Sword blog posted a little blog piece (NSFW - explicit sexual imagery) with a typically bitchy (and funny) little post, introducing the embedded trailer with: 'Don’t worry, you needn’t have seen Drunk On Cum 1, Drunk On Cum 2, Drunk On Cum 3, Drunk On Cum 4, or even Drunk On Cum 5 to understand the plot.'

The film features extensive scenes of oral sex and semen drinking (or 'cum guzzling' to use the parlance), including (going off the trailer) one scene of someone swallowing the semen contents of a glass jar and also semen being drunk from a condom.

The film is familiar ground for the studio, and the title -so studio honcho Paul Morris once told me - are a tribute to the d.o.c (drunk on cum) lust letters between Paul Beckford and Kevin Dax.  Here's the Amazon blurb for that text:

'The first book of its kind to combine true erotic stories with an intimate look into the developing experiences and relationship of one adventurous gay couple. Documenting the real-life e-mail romance of Kevin and Paul, D.O.C. Lust Letters is a shockingly explicit and movingly honest glimpse into the sexual and emotional lives of two gay men. Readers can follow the writers as they cruise the wild California gay scene of the late 1990s - from San Francisco to Los Angeles and everywhere in between - and journey deep inside gay erotic haunts, from underground sex clubs and bathhouses to parks and highway rest stops. Candidly exploring the writers' passion for multiple partners, a memorably diverse cast of characters - from bi pierced punks to buff go-go boys to shy married men - populates this unapologetic paean to a world weary of safe sex.'

It is a rather wonderful book and TIM did for a time sell the book themselves, but don't seem to anymore.  You can however still buy it through various booklets such as Amazon (a good used copy can apparently sell for as little as £6.09 or as much as £335.07).  It does contextualise the use of the film title - and the appropriateness of still using it.

Anyway, on to my main point.  When I read the post on The Sword, it wasn't the blog that surprised me, but rather the comments of readers.  I'm used to blogs and reports objecting to the bareback sex for which TIM is so well known, and I've written on that before.  What astonished me was the reaction to guys engaging in oral sex, and arguably, 'safer' sex.

There are the (understandable) connoisseur conversations about the semen consumption:

Marty says:
January 7, 2013 at 6:34 pm
Am I weird? The coming in the mouth straight from the dick was so freakin hot, but the pouring from the jar and condom made me want to barf (literally) big time, so gross

sxg says:
January 7, 2013 at 7:36 pm
You’re not weird about a guy cumming in another guy’s mouth. That is fucking hot! A shame there are some studios that still don’t allow that. As far as that cup and condom, that just doesn’t look like it’s all cum, which makes it a bit sick. If it was in fact all white creamy cum, then I might have liked it a little.

J2 says:
January 7, 2013 at 8:02 pm

There’s something distasteful about bodily fluids that have gone cold. Obviously you have a mouth full of spit, but if you spat into a container then waited a while for it to go cold, it would be utterly repulsive to put that back into your mouth.

Well, fair enough.  However, the tone then changes in a series of other comments:

Eddie says: 
January 7, 2013 at 8:31 pm 
I think the best sex is the one that makes people happy and satisfied. It’s like a play where you give and receive care. I find quite impossible obtain this in a group sex. When I see a T.I.M. scene like this it’s like a bunch of men ( or even a couple ) trying to dig pleasure for themselves :’ Alone ‘ among all others. Something selfish. The fuck is more a ‘ masturbation ‘. From T.I.M., with all that HIV-bugchaising thing, sex can’t be fun and it is always portrayed as something humiliating, gross dirt, sick, sad, lonesome. They seem to be always searching for the pathetic: Do you remember the last ‘ milking scene ‘ post here? For Treasure Island Media sex is as fun as a sordid shock treatment to cure lust or… a nightmare.  

Say What? says: 
January 8, 2013 at 5:33 pm 
TIM isn’t searching for the pathetic. It has found it and embodies it. 

And:

Slyvon says: 
January 7, 2013 at 8:54 pm 
I know people have a problem with this studio, but I think the stuff Treasure Island puts out is hot! No bullshit, no star drama, just guys who wanna fuck! Usually cock sucking movies gets boring but if its TI I’ll watch it to see what they do next! 

DPS says: January 8, 2013 at 12:45 am 
I know what you mean. The facial wasting is so fuckin sexy. 

Say What? says: 
January 8, 2013 at 5:34 pm 
So are the distended bellies. 

And these series of individual comments: 

Mike says: 
January 7, 2013 at 9:50 pm 
Customers are saying how most of the loads are weak. So a bunch of nastiness with day-old jizz and the fresh jizz is scarce? Pass. MAJOR pass 

half porco says: 
January 8, 2013 at 6:27 pm 
Looks like cum mixed with poo and several HIV strains. Sexy…:s  

Nick says: 
January 8, 2013 at 10:53 pm 
Do you guys think these TIM models compare viral loads on their off time? It’s like a fun little game they play. They’re H-I-V and oh so P-C. 

OK, so it's only a relatively small number of individuals (although a high percentage of those commenting on this story),  but it reveals a fascinating - and worrying - attitude which rejects the TIM men not for what they are doing, but for what they represent.

The men are positioned as HIV+ (some of the studio performers are, some are not - as with other studios), and as such not only unappealing, but clearly who have no business featuring in pornography.

This attitude to HIV models is simply prejudice.  A culture which has largely banished or silenced AIDS death now apparently seeking to banish the visibility of HIV+ having sex.  The visual presentation of those HIV+ men having sex is evidence that such men are having sex - in this case, not even penetrative high-risk sex - and thus, perhaps they haven't quite learnt their lesson.  Perhaps, one diagnosed as HIV+ they should haul their positive arse out of the limelight?

All of which would seem to lend weight to the inclusion of an extra with the film, which features one of the performers - Mark from scene 7 - who apparently talks about his experiences and his status as HIV positive.

The old Ryan Sullivan's Island film/blog (some NSFW) (what happened to Ryan?) featured a number of guys visiting Morris and talking about being positive, and this 'extra' seems to follow in the wake of them - albeit a couple of years later.

Easy to dismiss as just another sequel, the film is on reflection not only a documentation of authentic erotic experiences, but more importantly, the representation of men - including HIV+ men - having sex, being sexual, being aroused, and experiencing pleasure.

World AIDS Day Brings Third Anniversary of Website Commemorating Bay Area Losses

Launched by the World Health Organization in 1988, World AIDS Day is held annually on December 1. This year, the date coincides with the third anniversary of a unique website commemorating losses to the disease in Northern California. The site offers an online database of every obituary from the Bay Area Reporter, a weekly newspaper for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community. Cosponsored by the BAR and the GLBT Historical Society, the site includes 10,344 notices published from 1979 to the present.

The obituaries database of the GLBT Historical Society and the Bay Area Reporter is free of charge. Visit http://obit.glbthistory.org.

It makes for a tremendously moving resource and historical artifact, bringing back to life the men of yesterday and their stories.

America Decides

Excitement is building as we count down the final hours to America deciding the next President of the United States.  Like many liberals, my preference for Obama is perhaps to be expected.  I have however - as I've often noted on this blog - found him to be something of a disappointment.  On national issues, he has been far too slow in taking the lead on key issues.  He used his political capital on healthcare reform but could have implemented better, clearer, more thought-through proposals than those he did.  LGBT campaigners are now rallying to his cause, but I've not forgotten the number of American LGBT lawyers and activists who  have repeatedly grumbled about his inaction over the last four years.  Yes, DADT has gone (and that took long enough), but there the Defense of Marriage still sits, and Obama has done little to stick his neck out on LGBT issues.

Of course, this view is not shared by all.  The Human Rights Campaign describes him as 'the most pro-LGBT President in American history' which is probably true, but he wasn't up against much competition.

Anyway, the late polls suggest he will squeak on in, and I suspect they're right, although it's been a while since I was over there to get a sense of the mood.   I would expect the Senate and House to end up more or less as they are now, with no change in control.  All of which means 'more of the same' for the next four years.

Beyond the Presidency

Whilst it is this national race which attracts most of the attention outside of the US, we should also consider a number of other races and votes that are taking place.  The first openly LGBT member of the Senate could be elected on Tuesday night with Tammy Baldwin in Wisconsin.  The Democrat candidate has served in the House since 1999 so fingers crossed she has the profile to make the move to the Senate.

Questions of marriage equality will be on the ballot in Maryland, Maine and Washington and a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage is up for the vote in Minnesota.

These ballot measures (kind of like several referenda at once) are an alien concept to Brits, but they involve significant amounts of money.  Take the State of California where the subject of ending the death penalty is up (Proposition 34).   $7,635,861 (around £4,700,000) has been raised by supporters of the repeal and $416,555 by opponents (we can therefore perhaps guess which way the vote will go).    To put that in some perspective, the Labour Party spent a total of just over £8 million at the last General election (and the Conservatives double that).

Another measure on the ballot in California (at least for those in LA County) is an additional measure (Measure B).  This measure will require that porn performers have to wear condoms in LA County during a shoot (and inevitably lead to the creation of 'condom Police' to inspect sets to make sure the law is being adhered to).  Here's the full wording:

'Shall an ordinance be adopted requiring producers of adult films to obtain a County public health permit, to require adult film performers to use condoms while engaged in sex acts, to provide proof of blood borne pathogen training course, to post permit and notices to performers, and making violations of the ordinance subject to civil fines and criminal charges?'

You can read more about the measure here.  The LA Times has been giving a lot of publicity to this measure, and seemingly seems to support the law-reform, at least based on their coverage and commentaries.  However, they've also recommended that people vote 'no' - suggesting that the reform is well meaning but ultimately un-enforcable (read their full explanation here).

The National Record:  Obama

Nonetheless, it's the national record that remains the focus.  As much as I might find Obama's record disappointing, his campaign website details a pretty comprehensive list of achievements during his four years:

STANDING UP FOR ALL FAMILIES

Affirmed his personal support for same-sex marriage
Opposed the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act and endorsed the Respect for Marriage Act, a legislative effort to repeal DOMA

EDUCATION AND YOUTH

Hosted the first-ever White House conference on bullying in schools to provide information from various government agencies on how kids, teens, young adults, parents, educators, and others in the community can prevent or stop bullying
Created the Inter-Agency Task Force on Bullying to tackle bullying in our schools, including bullying of LGBT youth
Recorded an “It Gets Better” video in support of LGBT youth facing bullying at school

HEALTH CARE

Signed the Affordable Care Act into law, expanding access to health care and critical preventive services
Extended hospital visitation and medical decision-making rights to LGBT patients and their partners Awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal to Janice Langbehn, a lesbian mother and activist whose story paved the way for the extending hospital visitation rights
Affirmed the administration’s commitment to creating an AIDS-free generation Included specific data on health needs of lesbian and bisexual women in the Health Resources and Services Administration’s “Women’s Health USA 2011” report for the first time Promoted equal access to quality health care by enabling searches for health plans with same-sex partner benefits on Healthcare.gov
Included proposals to improve LGBT Americans’ access to health care and provisions to continue the fight against HIV/AIDS in the administration’s 2013 federal budget proposal
Created a National Resource Center for LGBT seniors and awarded a grant to SAGE (Services and Advocacy for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Elders), supporting the first community center for LGBT seniors

JOBS AND THE ECONOMY

The administration worked to protect federal LGBT employees from workplace discrimination by adopting an equal-opportunity employment policy that includes both sexual orientation and gender identity
Ordered the federal government to extend key benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees Clarified the Family and Medical Leave Act to ensure family leave for LGBT employees who need to care for their children.
Set a precedent in hiring LGBT employees by appointing more openly LGBT administration officials than any other president in U.S. history Continues to support the Employment Non-Discrimination Act

TRANS EQUALITY

Ended the Social Security Administration’s gender “no-match” letters and ensured that transgender Americans can receive passports that accurately reflect their gender identity
Established guidelines to help protect transgender federal employees from discrimination in the workplace
Established policy regarding the respectful delivery of health care to transgender veterans

HOUSING

Announced HUD’s new rule protecting against housing discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity
Released America’s first comprehensive plan to prevent homelessness, including homelessness among LGBT youth Awarded a grant to the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Community Center to work with LGBT foster youth

NATIONAL SECURITY

Ended “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” so gay and lesbian Americans can serve the country they love without hiding who they are Permitted military chaplains to officiate same-sex marriages where legal

INTERNATIONAL AND LGBT CITIZENS ABROAD

Ended the ban that prohibited people with HIV/AIDS from entering the United States Created the first-ever U.S. government strategy dedicated to combating human rights abuses against LGBT persons abroad
Made it clear the United States will use all the tools of American diplomacy to promote LGBT rights abroad
Fought for the rights of LGBT persons worldwide by co-sponsoring the first UN resolution focused solely on LGBT rights
Directed agencies working abroad to combat the criminalization of LGBT status
Directed the Departments of State and Homeland Security to ensure LGBT refugees and asylum-seekers have equal access to protection and assistance
Prevented the removal of sexual orientation from a UN resolution condemning extrajudicial killings Implemented a U.S. Agency for International Development policy to encourage contractors to implement and enforce non-discrimination policies for sexual orientation and gender identity 

So, that pretty much puts me in my place - but he's not holding anything back from this list -recording a  video message, saying overseas agencies should 'work' against LGBT criminalisation are not 'big' policies (would a British national leader feel the need to record he'd made such a video?), but nor can they be dismissed.

The National Record:  Romney

I also took a look at the Romney campaign website.  He has a grid of all his 'sub-groups'.  In the interests of fairness, here they are:

AMERICANS OF FAITH FOR ROMNEY
ASIAN AMERICANS & PACIFIC ISLANDERS FOR ROMNEY
BLACK LEADERSHIP COUNCIL
CATHOLICS FOR ROMNEY
EDUCATORS FOR ROMNEY
ENERGY VOTERS FOR ROMNEY
FARMERS & RANCHERS FOR ROMNEY
FORMER OBAMA SUPPORTERS FOR ROMNEY
HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS FOR ROMNEY
JEWISH AMERICANS FOR ROMNEY
JUNTOS CON ROMNEY LAWYERS FOR ROMNEY
POLISH AMERICANS FOR ROMNEY
PUBLIC SAFETY PROFESSIONALS FOR ROMNEY ROMNEY
VOTERS FOR FREE ENTERPRISE SPORTSMEN FOR ROMNEY
VETERANS & MILITARY FAMILIES FOR ROMNEY
WOMEN FOR MITT
YOUNG AMERICANS FOR ROMNEY

Yep, I'm afraid there's no LGBT group for Romney.  So, I took a look at the sight to make sure there wasn't a section outlining some specific policies targeted at the LGBT population.  Nope, not one.

I'll be live tweeting my way through the election results.  If you're not already following me, you can find me at @lawandsexuality