Gel Protects Women from AIDS Virus

Illustration credit: www.iusy.org

"WASHINGTON (Reuters) – An Indevus Pharmaceuticals gel formulated to protect women from the virus that causes AIDS appeared to protect about a third of them from infection -- the first time a so-called microbicide has been shown to work, researchers told a conference in Montreal.

Dr. Salim Abdool Karim of the Center for the AIDS Program of Research in South Africa and colleagues said the trial of 3,000 women showed the gel may have protected 30 percent of the women from infection" (Reuters, February 9, 2009).

If this gel is indeed the miracle drug, the elusive panacea, for this deadly disease, then maybe there is hope for millions of people. This is especially true for people of Sub-Sahara Africa, one of the worst hit subcontinents of the world. The statistics are mind boggling:

"Sub-Saharan Africa remains the region most heavily affected by HIV, accounting for more than two thirds of all people living with HIV globally. Of the global total of 2.1 million adult and child deaths due to AIDS in 2007, 1.6 million occurred in sub-Saharan Africa. An estimated 1.7 million people were newly infected with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa in 2007, declining from 2.2 million new infections in 2001. There are currently an estimated 22.5 million people living with HIV in the region" (quote from Reuters, February 10, 2009).

And globally the statistics are equally devastating as reported by Reuters:

"Some 33 million people were living with immunodeficiency virus infections in 2007, according to the United Nations report on the AIDS epidemic. As many as 2.7 million people were newly infected with HIV in 2007. Global deaths from AIDS reached an estimated 2.1 million in 2007."





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Lighting Up, Burning Down: Gays & Smoking

Photo courtesy of http://wearingacapemakesyouasuperhero.blogspot.com/

"It's been over a year since I kicked some smoking butt. I remember having no desire to smoke before I started. I often hung out with people that smoked either at bars or just socializing. I finally accepted their offer to have a drag. One drag turned into half of a cigarette. That single stick turned into several bummed cigarettes a day and eventually a purchased pack. My habit was in full acceleration." This little anecdotal account, and the quote below, come from a longer article on cancers and gay men. It explains why gay men are more susceptible to cancers, the lung one included.

The same article also pinpoints the reason why gay men are more susceptible to lung cancer and other related health problems: "Smoke-filled bars and clubs are common hang outs for some gay men. For this reason, according to the American Cancer Society, gay men are more likely to smoke or be exposed to smoke. A recent gay.com article on gay smoking cites 36 percent of LGBT adults are smokers, compared with 25 percent of all adults. Smoking accelerates the progression of AIDS and increases the risk of lung cancer. HIV also accelerates smoking-induced emphysema." Not only is this an American phenomenon, but in the United Kingdom, an estimated 40 percent of gays smoke (click here for an article).

I see all the time friends at gay bars light up cigarettes without a care in the world. Coupled with the free flowing alcohol (which actually you have to pay for at exorbitant rates), smoking, and cruising seem synonymous with the bar culture. Perhaps for some gays, these behaviors enable them to ignore a difficult reality outside this glitzy fantasy of fashionable, pretty boys; adrenalin rushing music, and materialism galore. Then again, drinking and smoking lowers inhibitions, and allows them to keep on cruising, and cruising.

Ironically, for a gay culture that seemingly is obsessed with sex (I say seemingly, because not all of us are!), smoking actually creates hormonal imbalances that decrease libido. Not to mention smoking also causes yellow teeth, gum disease, and bad breath. And of course, smoking cuts the airflow to the skin, leaving it grey and dull. It is akin to choking you to death, one cigarette at a time.

So now that you know smoking makes you less "sexy," will you stop smoking? After all, we are well past the 1930s, when even doctors are exploited to promote cigarette smoking. Thank god, we are past that now (see the ad below from that decade).

Obama's Lifting of Gag Rule and Gay Men

President Obama's lifting of the "global gag rule" on this past Friday was heralded as a step in the right direction by organizations in the forefront of offering reproductive and family planning services. By lifting this ban on U.S. funding for organizations that provide abortions and any abortion-related services, women in underdeveloped countries no longer have to suffer unwanted pregnancies or worse still, suffer risky abortions performed in medically unacceptable conditions. But what is often less noted is that this gag rule for far too long have also denied local family planning clinics, when they refuse to sign the gag rule, the ability to offer HIV/AIDS prevention education and other related family planning services. In so doing, their critical work, in countries already plagued by poor medical delivery services, on behalf of AIDS patients, which includes bisexual men and gay men, is also impacted adversely. Furthermore, and this has had a devastating impact on contraceptive education, the gag rule effectively prevented non-governmental organization from accessing much needed supplies of condoms and other educational materials needed in the fight against AIDS. All of us should welcome the lifting of this gag rule due its past harsh implications.

Readthis article for more analysis of the impact of this gag rule on women in Third World countries. It makes no direct mention of gay men, however.

Read this article for a quick overview of the fallout from the previous Bush "gag rule."

Down Low: "Cover" (Film Review)

Cover by director Bill Dukes (who made A Rage in Harlem), a movie about lies, betrayal, and infidelity, promises a lot in its promotional material, but falls a little short on delivery. That said, the flick is not unworthy of your viewing time. The second half, after a plodding first half, captured my attention, and kept me watching to the very end.

The plot is somewhat predictable. Valerie Haas, a black woman, is a devout churchgoer married to a psychiatrist, Dutch. Predictably, Dutch is ambivalent about churchgoing, which feeds into the stereotype of gay men who have an "issue" with religion. Dutch also has a former female fling who refuses to give up on him, or so it seems. Valerie gets jealous, as you might expect. She herself has more than one challenge on her hands. A well-known singer with a "gangster" persona and oversexed drive is hot on her heels.

All those disparate parts get tied in at Valerie's weekly women's meetings (one of the women is played by R&B singer and gay icon, Patti LaBelle) at the church. A lone black gay man joins the group, and soon the movie moves in the direction of dissecting the well-known, but secretive, phenomena, the "down-low" culture of black men. The movie is at its best when it raises tough questions on down-low men. The movie acknowledges that the black community's ostracization of gay men has shaped this underground subculture, but it also places some of the burden on personal responsibility.

Then Valerie is charged by an overly ambitious district attorney with the murder of that male singer--a turning point event that seems irrelevant to the marital problems that Dutch and Valerie face. But through flashbacks, we learned of how the small pieces of this puzzle fit together. And the final twist will surprise most viewers.

The acting in this film is uneven. Often, the actors engage in hsyterogenic reactions. Nuanced acting is inconsistent in this film. Raz Adoti, as Dutch, however, turns in a fairly engaging performance. So does vetaran actor Lou Gossett Jr. as the sympathetic detective who interrogates Valerie. Aunjanue Ellis as Valerie, however, could have toned down her hyperbole.

The movie is PG-13 (which means there there is very little skin!) and runs for about 90 minutes. Watch this film after you have watched the DL Chronicles series from HereTV, the gay cable channel. DL Chronicles is far more thoughtful and provocative than Cover. And yes, it has more skin! You can find both the film and series at your local Blockbuster and Hollywood Videos stores.

"The Witnesses" (Film Review)

In his new film "The Witnesses," the talented French filmmaker Andre Techine serves up an insightful study of human foibles and strengths. The film is dramatic, without ever being melodramatic. It is instructive, but never preachy. Techine probes complicated characters whose intertwined lives are tied to a specific place and time in history. And these lives are defined by enigma and contradictions.

All the characters' lives revolve around Manu (newcomer Johan Libereau), a young attractive, somewhat naive, guy from the country who's just come to Paris, in 1984, to move in with his opera-singer sister (Julie Depardieu). This being an historical drama situated between the pre and post AIDS eras, Techine presents Manu's after-dark park cruising with devil-may-care abandon. Manu's first encounter, though not a sexual one, was surprisingly with the middle-aged doctor Adrien (Michel Blanc), who becomes a platonic friend cum spiritual companion, albeit one who harbors a crush on Manu. Complicating matters, Adrien introduces Manu to his married friends, writer Sarah (Emmanulle Beart) and vice-squad detective Mehdi (Sami Bouajila), who have just had their first baby. Sarah learns through the experience that, despite her books, she does not like children. Her husband despairs when she neglects the child, does what he can to fill in, and sometimes parks the child with his parents.

Then on one weekend Sarah and Mehdi invite Adrien and Manu to her mother's house at the seaside. The two younger men go swimming in the sea. But Manu finds himself in trouble, and he nearly drowns. Mehdi saves his life, and what happens next is a surprise to both men, and it is a turn in the movie that will have profound implications for Sarah as well.

One day Adrien sees lesions on Manu's chest and diagnoses him as a victim of the new disease he has started to see in his practice. Thus, the ramifications of this infection for all five characters become manifested and from this point onwards, the dramatic tension in the movie escalates.

Throughout the film, we see the intersections of race, gender, sexuality, and even professions. All the actors turn in fine, nuanced performances. There is no excessive emotional angst here. For gay men, this film reminds us of the dangers of that decade of the 1980s. Even though the film has erotic naturalism, it never ignores the consequences of sexual freedom. See this film for sure. It is in French, with english subtitles, and runs about 112 minutes and is unrated though contains mature subject matter.