December 1, 2006 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

World AIDS gathering had a message: Time to deliver

by Vanessa A. Forro

Toronto "Time to Deliver" was the theme of the 16th International AIDS Conference this August in Toronto.

Every other year people from all over the globe come together for one cause, one purpose, one motive: to stop the spread of HIV. Although each delegate had their own reasons for attending the conference, the cause is one that every individual infected or affected by HIV or AIDS can agree onit truly is time to deliver.

The conference included an overwhelming number of sessions covering topics such as pathogenesis, harm reduction, epidemiology, public policy, intravenous drug use, sex work, microbicides, vaccine trials, prevention, modes of transmission, treatment, access to health care, nutrition, and more.

Some of the different groups that were represented at the conference included women, gay and bisexual men, youth, aboriginal peoples, Hispanics/Latino(a)s, sex workers, GLBT communities, HIV/AIDS communities, African Americans, Africans, people in the prison systems and drug users.

There were so many sessions and papers included in the week-long event that there were two conference books, each weighing about the same as a phone book.

The conference kicked off with a special concert by Alicia Keys and welcome address by Canadian government officials. The most compelling presentation was by Bill and Melinda Gates, who spoke of the need to accelerate research on microbicides and an oral prevention pill-think pre-exposure prophylaxis.

On the second day there was a fashion show created and produced by teens from

around the world to teach their peers about HIV. For 45 minutes these teens moved proudly to the beat of thumping music and a roaring crowd to tell the world about AIDS and how it impacts them. All of this was done without words, but through their fashions. T-shirts declaring, "Don't spread it, get tested!" and featuring a slice of bread and butter. Jeans with the words "AIDS: Don't fear it!" printed up one leg and down the other.

One of the major messages from youth at the conference was the implementation of long-term programs targeting youth all over the world. There's a growing recognition that you can't just hand someone a condom or a brochure; you have to do community building for marginalized populations in a way that supports leadership and peer support.

13

On the third day of the conference there was a session on Sex Work, HIV, and Politics. There was a lot of arguing about U.S. Agency for International Development and other U.S. policies for HIV funding that have negative effects on international sex work organizations, or organizations that provide services to sex worker populations.

Former President Bill Clinton commented that life is valuable wherever you go and that in order to fight this epidemic we must put aside differences, because the divide only makes the disease stronger. We cannot conquer AIDS without collaboration, creativity, and an understanding that HIV is blind to nationality, race, gender, and ethnicity, social and economic status.

Vanessa Forro is a social worker at the AIDS Taskforce of Greater Cleveland.

U.S. Conference on AIDS reinvigorates activists

by Miquel Brazil

Hollywood, Fla. From September 21

to 25, HIV experts and activists from around

the country and various parts of the world gathered to discuss prevention, treatment, services, and the global pandemic at the United States Conference on AIDS.

Gay men and the Internet: Crisis or opportunity?

by Nathan Schaefer

This year the United States commemorated the twenty-fifth anniversary of the discovery of what would come to be known as the AIDS epidemic. In 1981, the overwhelming majority of disease was found among gay and bisexual men. As HIV spread into more segments of the population over the years, it still remains highly prevalent among men who have sex with men.

In 2004, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that 70% of all HIV cases among adults and adolescent males resulted from male-to-male sex, while only 5 to 7% of all men identify themselves as gay or bisexual. The HIV epidemic has long been associated with gay men, and prevention messages have been targeted to this group countless times over the years. We have to continue asking ourselves why HIV infections among gay men are so high and what do we need to change about our prevention strategies to see a decline in prevalence?

Many leading experts are now looking online for an answer. Sites like gay.com and manhunt.net are places where men meet, chat, and sometimes arrange for sexual encounters. It's a phenomenon that has grown increasingly popular and dangerous. A 2002

study asked over 600 gay men about Internet sex and found that 34% of respondents reported meeting sexual partners over the Internet. Men who met sexual partners online reported higher rates of methamphetamine use, higher numbers of sexual partners, and higher rates of risky sexual behaviors. (Archives of Sexual Behavior, Vol. 31).

While the Internet has become a popular medium for meeting sexual partners, it also provides a new venue for outreach. As more men meet and gather online, sexual networks begin to emerge and prevention messages can disseminated immediately. The questions that arise are how well those messages will resonate and which are most effective.

The AIDS Taskforce of Greater Cleveland has committed to contributing to this research. In the spring of 2007, the Taskforce will host a summit of national researchers and advocates who have completed work in this area. Participants will gather in Cleveland to share findings are devise a comprehensive plan that will help address the growing Internet phenomenon. For more information, contact the Taskforce at 216621-0766.

Nathan Schaefer is the AIDS Taskforce of Cleveland's Director of Education and Public Policy.

Dykes Towatch Out For by Alison Bechdel

who's your daddy?

CYNTHIA IS SPENDING THANKSGIVING BREAK AT THE HOME FOR WAYWARD EVANGELICALS.

BUT DAD, TED HAGGARD JUST PROVES MY POINT!

IF IT WAS A CHOICE, WHY ON EARTH WOULD THE PASTOR OF AN EVANGELICAL GIGACHURCH CHOOSE TO BE GAY?

Participants in this year's conference brimmed with anticipation since last year's event in Houston was cancelled in the wake of Hurricane Rita. Registration exceeded projections and three overflow hotels were needed in addition to the 998-room Westin Diplomat Resort and Spa that hosted it.

As can be expected, a large majority of participants though not all—are members of the LGBT community. Thus, much of the conference's programming revolves around HIV and its effects on this minority. Topics ranged from sex work among transgender groups and the increased risk HIV poses to the down-low phenomenon among African-American men.

Friday morning brought with it the start of several "institutes," day-long presentations providing in-depth focus on various HIV-related issues with topics of interest for every arm of AIDS. Medical professionals, case managers, administrators, program coordinators and outreach workers alike were offered a menu of information to choose from, and many from the AIDS Taskforce group found ourselves "workshop-hopping" to satisfy our interdisciplinary interests and take in all that the institutes had to offer.

Saturday saw the arrival of even more. Workshops, roundtables, and a resourceintensive exhibit hall were rounded out by hours of networking, reunions, and in-depth discussions between colleagues about some of the world's biggest and most recent HIV related news.

The lunchtime plenary was of particular interest because it featured the National Minority AIDS Coalition's vivacious executive director, Paul Kawata. After an entertaining speech about his first years in fighting the epidemic, attendees were presented with a welcome treat. In rare form, the two researchers credited with identifying

YEAH, HE IS A SINNER. BUT NOT BECAUSE HE'S GAY! BECAUSE HE'S A LYING, SANCTIMONIOUS ASSWIPE!

CLICK!

OOPSY.

and reporting the HIV virus and its subsequent link to AIDS, Dr. Robert Gallo and Dr. Luc Montagnier, shared the stage and spoke to a captive audience.

Things began to wind down Sunday and Monday in the final days of the conference. Sunday evening featured the talents of actress and outspoken HIV activist Sheryl Lee Ralph presenting her one woman show, Sometimes I Cry: The Loves, Lives, and Losses of Women Infected and Affected by HIV/AIDS. The audience laughed, cried, and pondered over her riveting performance and departed with a new approach to thinking about how HIV really has affected the women of society.

Afterwards, many people said there goodbyes and felt that they were returning home reinvigorated to continue the work in their communities. What one takes from the U.S. Conference on AIDS is the motivation, the inspiration, the determination that the conference truly instills in its participants. Conferences like this one serve not only to increase knowledge and spread the word, but more importantly, to feed the soul; to remind all of us doing this work that although we've got a long way to go, we truly are making a difference, despite the politics and detractors.

The fighters of this field leave this conference with a revitalized spirit and prepared to dive into another year of helping to save and improve the quality of lives and serve as a pillar of information and leadership in our communities and beyond. Not unlike the pit stops of any NASCAR racing event, we've received our tune-up and we're now ready to push forward and win this race.

Miquel Brazil is the youth support coordinator for the AIDS Taskforce of Greater Cleveland.

UH... WHAT HAPPENED TO THE PLAN OF SWEETTALKING HIM INTO PAYING FOR YOUR LAST SEMESTER?

HE'LL PAY IF I "RENOUNCE" MY SINS. HE WANTS ME TO GROVEL ABOUT MY "REPULSIVE AND DARK" NATURE LIKE THAT SLEAZEWAD HAGGARD, THEN HE CAN HAVE AN ORGY FORGIVING ME. I'D RATHER FRY IN HELL.

©2006 BY ALISON BECHDEL

Nice victory

NO IMPEACH!

500

THNOWFWAKE!

OH, HOW BEAUTIFUL, J.R.! DID CYNTHIA SHOW YOU HOW TO DO THAT?

THANKS FOR WATCHING HER, CYNTHIA...HEY.

www.DykesToWatchOutFor.com

THESE ARE MY IMPEACHMENT PETITIONS! I HAD A THOUSAND SIGNATURES COLLECTED!

UH... I THOUGHT IT WAS SCRAP PAPER.

TRUST ME. IT WAS.

MEANWHILE, MO AND SYDNEY

ARE

PAYING

A VISIT TO

SYD'S

DAD AND STEPMOM.

A TOAST TO A VALIANT BIBLIOPHILE WHOSE QUEST TO SPREAD THE LIGHT OF LITERACY IN THESE BENIGHTED TIMES HAS FINALLY LANDED HER A LIBRARY JOB.

Clink

To MADELEINE!

DADDY!

DAD, MADELEINE WAS MY GIRLFRIEND, UH...A LONG TIME AGO. YOU MEAN MO.

I SAID MO! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU, SYD? ARE YOU GOING DEAF?