THT in the Sauna

Let me begin by saying I have nothing but respect for the Terrence Higgins Trust (THT). I think they do amazing work in the fight against AIDS but a recent story in the Pink Paper has led me to wonder they are on the right policy track. According to the paper, gay sauna Chariots will now be receiving out reach visits by THT to promote safe sex including now the offering of testing to clients. This follows earlier trials at similar venues. On the face of it I think the move is a brilliant one, on the other hand (and the story doesn't really cover this) I wonder about the visibility of these new testing services. Won't people be put off visiting the sauna? Particularly men who have sex with men, and those who identify as straight? Yet when I take a look at the cruising listings for the venue there doesn't seem any talk about the new service or expressions of concern so my minor worries seem unfounded. As the presence of testing becomes more the norm in commercial PSE venues I wonder whether their will be a commensurate rise in risky sex in other PSE environments- the cottage, cruising ground and dogging car park as men who fear being tested retreat to the open air sex venue.

Police Discretion

BBC News is reporting today on a possible move to give the police greater discretion in applying the law following a series of trials. The move is an attempt to replace targets and strikes me as potentially significant move. One BDSM discussion board is already covering the story today from an Operation Spanner angle with a variety of views. For me this has broader application - to possible HIV transmission/barebacking cases, public sex instances and thanks to the recent Criminal Justice and Immigration Act, violent pornography. Such a move palces greater responsibility on 'experts' and activists such as myself to ensure that the Police approach these issues in an informed and measured way. A story to watch.

AIDS Moral Panic?

Really interesting long comment piece on Poz by Tony Valenzuela. He caused a stir back in 1999 when he wrote about openly barebacking and it not being a terrible thing (yes, shock horror!). Given how a similar comment would go down today to an audience consisting of academics/campaigners/health workers/out reach workers etc, I can but imagine how horrendous the outpouring of opposition must have been. The truth is that if ever there was an example of there being no gay community, this issue would be it. You have some groups of individuals engaging in unprotected sex fully aware of the risks but choosing it, others bug chasing, others stealthing, others 100% safe sex, some unprotected in a relationship and so on. There is a mass of opinions and more and more gay men seem prepared to have unprotected sex but that's a view that can't be accepted by a sort of gay establishment. Anyway, that's perhaps for a longer piece and a longer piece of research I'm hoping to complete later this year that examines this very issue within a public policy legal framework.

For now, take a look at his excellent comment piece and on there you will also see a link to his original 1999 article: http://www.poz.com/articles/killer_gay_sex_hiv_401_14539.shtml

Gaydar on More4

More4 news carried a feature tonight on Gaydar - looking at how it has 'revolutionised' gay life. The report ended with an HIV slant (as seems the current fashion) with apparent shock (from the presenter who is a former Pink News editor) at the number of men willing to engage in bareback sex.

The message seems to be yes the Internet has had a massive impact and yes some men no longer go on the scene or use the scene differently. My own experience is that the scene today is very different to that ten years ago when I was discovering it for the first time. I can only comment on Newcastle and Manchester but in both instances the scene seems far more dominated by gay "stereotypes" - that is to say men (and it does seem to be much more male orientated) who appear camp or dress in a particular way or whose gestures are more effeminate. There seems less (and I hate this term) 'normal' or (hate this term even more) 'straight acting' guys on the scene than there was ten years ago. In contrast almost everyone I have talked to or met through Gaydar has fitted into this category. All this is just my personal experience and pretty sweeping but it does make me think. The scene today seems far more exclusive than ten years ago. I am surprised given the greater 'equality' enjoyed by 18 year old gay men and women today enjoy, that a young generation continues to be keen to carve out a clear gay identity - not apparently to challenge law or seek social changes as may have been the case in decades gone by but for some other reason.

Alternatively it could be that with the increase in acceptability of gay relationships those men who would consider themselves 'straight acting' can now socialise and met other men in reasonable comfort on the straight scene thus reducing the gay scene to the core it has always been with each generation.

I don't know but I do find it interesting to wonder - has the legal reform of the last ten years transformed the gay scene in ways never imagined?

The More4 news site contains a story on this with additional quotes viewable at: http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/science_technology/the+internet+hiv+risk/1872047

The broadcast report is viewable here.

CPS on HIV Transmission

The CPS has published guidance on HIV transmission. In a press release on their website they state that they have 'published a public policy statement and guidance to prosecutors to explain how it deals with cases involving the intentional or reckless sexual transmission of infection. To date 11 such cases have been prosecuted.'

The policy document can be viewed at: http://www.cps.gov.uk/publications/prosecution/sti.html

The Legal Guidance can be viewed at:
http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/section7/chapter_h.html

Gay Blood Ban

Pink News is running a story on the 'gay blood ban'. They challenged challenged the National Blood Service to 'explain why it continues to discriminate against any man who has ever had sex with another man'.

I went on to the National Blood Service website where you can work through a series of questions to see if you are eligible to give blood. Sure enough, question 12 asks 'Are you a man who has had oral or anal sex with another man (even if you used a condom). If you select yes you receive the message 'thank you for your time but it seems that you are not able to give blood'.

The report goes on to note that the Campaign group BloodBan.co.uk has branded current guidelines "outdated and discriminatory" and called for an overhaul of the policy. Read the full story at: http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-7064.html

Meanwhile a story emerged in Canadian news that Canadian Blood Services is conducting research to determine whether it should lift its total ban on blood donations from gay men. Read that story at: http://news.sympatico.msn.cbc.ca/Blood+agency+studies+lifting+ban+on+gay+donors/Health/ContentPosting.aspx?isfa=1&newsitemid=blood-gay&feedname=CBC-HEALTH&show=False&number=5&showbyline=True&subtitle=&detect=&abc=abc&date=False

This comes after The Advocate reported that Canada’s two blood-collection agencies decided Thursday to uphold a lifelong ban on donations from gay men. Read that story at: http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid52550.asp

I await the results of the Canadian study with real interest. Though uncomfortable with it, I support he ban at present on the basis that the safety of our blood supply is of paramount importance but we should keep an open mind on this issue.

Newsnight: Bareback Porn

Newsnight included a controversial and revealing item last night on the bareback porn industry. The report has had a follow up on Pink News and the mainstream British media.

It includes a description of one company that sent eight boys out to France in July last year to make a barebacking porn video. One guy had been HIV- before he went out but found out he was positive after the shoot. It turned out he was positive after the shoot (he had therefore actually been positive during the shoot). 3 further models were infected and another company, Load XXX subsequently released the scenes showing the models being infected in their barebacking scenes.

The whole item names numerous well known groups in the gay community including the massive group behind the Gay Times and Pink Paper plus Gaydar. I have a feeling that this has the potential to be really explosive in the UK gay community. You can view the item via the BBC iplayer at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/check/player/nol/newsid_7280000/newsid_7280500?redirect=7280560.stm&news=1&bbram=1&bbwm=1&nbwm=1&nbram=1

Read the Pink News item at: http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-7042.html

You can read the original item about the DVD in Boyz published last year: http://www.boyz.co.uk/pdfs/848/pdfs/04_BOYZ_In_The_Know.pdf

You can keep up to date in this general area in this amazing blog by Edwin J Bernard: http://criminalhivtransmission.blogspot.com/

Condom Packaging

This blog recently came to my attention and a really interesting post about condom packaging. Essentially, the post draws attention to the use of the phrase 'vaginal use' in condom packaging and raises some interesting questions about the reluctance to highlight the fact they are also used for anal sex. Well worth a read: http://www.eyeweekly.com/fun/lovebites/article/19269

The Comfort Zone

The New York Times published a really interesting article at the weekend. The article focussed on 'The Comfort Zone' - one 'sex venue' in NY and the health official responses. It notes that: 'Citing a 33 percent rise in H.I.V. diagnoses from 2001 to 2006 among New York men under 30 who have sex with men, the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene began a review last fall of its policy on establishments like gay bathhouses and sex clubs'. I like the ending of the article which states: 'At the Comfort Zone on this wintry night, a burly man in a navy sweatsuit stood quietly by the entrance, removing his clothes until he was clad only in briefs and a tank-top undershirt.

“What would you do if this place closed down?” he was asked. The man paused for a moment. “I’d go someplace else,” he replied softly before disappearing down the dark corridor. '

Of course, he's right. The closure of such venues would be crazy. Far better to develop partnerships that promote safe sex. Closing these venues will merely displace the men to the cruising grounds and cottages/tearooms.

Read the full story at: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/17/nyregion/thecity/17bath.html?_r=2&ref=thecity&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

Egypt: New HIV Arrests

A troubling story from Egypt on the Human Rights Watch website. They report that 'Cairo police arrested four more men suspected of having HIV, signaling a wider crackdown that endangers public health and violates basic human rights...The recent arrests bring to 12 the number of men arrested in a campaign against people police suspect of being HIV-positive. Four have already been sentenced to a year in jail and eight are still in custody'. Read the full story at: http://hrw.org/english/docs/2008/02/15/egypt18064.htm

Government Funds Gay Sauna Training

There is an interesting story on Pink News about Government funding for a Terrence Higgins Trust project. A 'Code of Conduct' has been developed for saunas and other locations that public sex occurs. The document is called 'Play Zone: Code of Conduct' and does nto yet appear to be available from the THT website. The Department of Health has given £20,000 to develop the project as a pilot in London and Brighton with a view to eventually rolling it out nationally. It seems an interesting idea and I look forward to reading the full code and seeing how it worked.

Read the fulll story at: http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-6858.html

HIV Criminalisation

There's been a lot of academic literature generated in the last couple of years around HIV infection. There is an interesting Canadian perspective on xtra.ca together with a video interview with Ryan Handy who faces 25 years in prison. View it at: http://www.xtra.ca/public/viewstory.aspx?AFF_TYPE=1&STORY_ID=4239&PUB_TEMPLATE_ID=9#video

USA300 Can Be Cured!

The Pink Paper reports focuses on the stories around USA 300 which I blogged on last week. This 'flesh eating virus' can in fact be cured. The infection can be killed by ordinary washing with soap and water, and it is only fatal if left untreated for so long that it spreads to the lungs. The article criticises much of the media for creating a hysteria. Like this blog, much of the stories stemmed from local SF reporting. The story can be viewed at: http://www.pinkpaper.com/pinkpaper/story.asp?aid=3226

New York Bathhouses and HIV

There was a really interesting story in the New York Observer this week entitled 'Tearoom trade in 2008'. The article argues that the panic reaction of health departments in closing down bathhouses as a response to rising HIV rates is not the answer. It makes for an interesting read in an area that I haven't made my own mind up about. In our health financing model (the NHS) there is an argument that we owe a duty to one another not to become sick if avoidable due to the financial drain on society in terms of meds. In an insurance based model that isn't the case so do we still worry about HIV/AIDS too much in our era of modern medicine or is that exactly the kind of irresponsible comment that is leading to this growing trend of infection rates? I don't know but I don't think it's as simple as some activists and health professionals claim.

Read the full story at: http://www.observer.com/2008/tearoom-trade-2008

Stephen Fry: HIV and Me

BBC showed the first part in the new Stephen Fry documentary - HIV and Me tonight. Part of the first programme took Stephen Fry to the gay village in Manchester Whilst there he was shocked to hear one story about a 19 year old who had journey to Birmingham to be "pozzed up" by five HIV-Positive men. This is a phenomenon that I had assumed was relatively well known given the media coverage in recent months and years and given the extent that people seek out "barebacking" on gay dating sites like Gaydar. Essentially this involves an individual seeking to become HIV-Positive. During the programme I spoke to a gay friend who is the same age as me but who was utterly shocked by the documentary which reminded that my views and awareness is not necessarily representative or indicative. Nonetheless I was disappointed that the documentary did not seek to explore the reasons behind this behaviour further. It was as if to say well we can't understand that so we won't discuss it further. ironically, that's precisely the kind of view that will allow this activity to flourish. This behaviour is also called "gift giving" but whilst the HIV is often seen as the "gift" (as indicated in this programme) the gift is the "freedom" achieved by a positive status. For those men who fear contracting HIV to an almost pathological extent, to become HIV-Positive can be on some level liberating. It is also on some level a psychological equivalence to impregnation. These issues could have been explored much more and contrasted with those who seek "barebacking" because they enjoy unprotected sex as opposed to those who seek deliberate infection.

I can't find the British 80s ad but the controverial "Grim Reaper" ad from Australia first shown in 1987 gives a feel for the hard hitting style then adopted that proved so effective. The link to the Stephen Fry fronted project is: http://www.gijonny.co.uk/index.shtml