Someone I consider dearly is HIV+ and people think that HIV doesn't happen anymore, people aren't dying at the rate they were in the 80's and people think that it's just a N-word, Spic or homo disease. I am writing a script where a white woman had committed suicide because she was a 'respectable white woman' not someone who would be 'likely' to have HIV.
I was talking with my boyfriend and I said to him: White people in my experience don't think they can contract HIV, and he said: I worry about that and I said: It's because you're a gay man that you worry about it, not becuase you're white.
But that's not to say that in minority communities the apathy is any different. People with HIV are shunned by their churches: God is getting those homosexuals and fornicators and sometimes their family.
The end of this: Getting rid of that sex negativity and homophobia by being open about it in our schools and in our homes, unless we actually TALK about this and stop talking about a spiritual belief alone, we can do this. Now I know many people have those beliefs, but we have to acknowledge the reality of sex, and the fact that there are a lot of feelings attached to it as well...which is one thing I believe comprehensive sex ed doesn't do often.
From: Jake <jakewest_tn@yahoo.com>
To: Peckers_Pics@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, November 30, 2011 11:00 PM
Subject: [Peckers_Pics] Male/Gay Health-Discussion-PICS Hair Wars-Dec 1, 2011-Trump-TARGET-FOX NEWS-Salvation Army
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- Members should join our President Barack Obama group . (Health Care & Gay Rights, Gay Marriage, Repeal DOMA, Don't Ask & Don't Tell).... Osama Bin Laden is killed (May 1, 2011)! President Obama was totally involved and viewed the entire operation in real time. President Obama made a very serious decision that worked! Bravo!!!
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Diet & Fitness:
- Reminder: Did you complete your Diet Journal today?
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Health, Wellness, Exercise, Reflections:An end to AIDS? In USA, complacency is a major barrierBy Anita Manning, Special for USA TODAY; Nov 30, 2011Maybe not. Three decades into the AIDS pandemic, health officials say they have the medicines and other tools to stop the spread of HIV, the AIDS virus. But one of the biggest barriers is complacency."We are no longer in crisis mode after 30 years of HIV," says Kevin Fenton, Director of the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, part of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Certainly in the United States, the sense of crisis has waned. But the reality is that people are still becoming infected and people are still dying of this disease.''The Kaiser Family Foundation, in a survey released in June, found a "declining sense of national urgency and visibility of HIV/AIDS." It ranked seventh among national health concerns, after cancer, obesity, the uninsured, heart disease, health care costs and diabetes.Yet for the first time, the goal of eradicating the disease is possible. Research reported recently by the National Institutes of Health found that people infected with HIV are much less likely to pass it to others if they're being treated with antiretroviral drugs in combination with safer behaviors.Talk to your kids about AIDS
It's never easy for parents to talk to kids about sex, but when it comes to HIV and AIDS, "it's one of those things we have to do anyway," says psychologist D'Arcy Lyness of Nemours' KidsHealth.org. "Teens are notorious for thinking `that will never happen to me,'" she says, so it's important they know how to safeguard their health. Her tips to get things started:Admit your discomfort. It's OK to say you're embarrassed, "but we have to talk about it because I want you to be healthy and safe."Start early. Begin talking to kids when they're young about personal topics appropriate to their age. By the time they're teens, discussing HIV and AIDS will be "part of a large, ongoing conversation about safety and health and behavior."Don't be put off. Some teens will say they already know all about HIV. Ask them to tell you two or three important points, or what they would tell a younger sibling about it."Remember, you don't have to have all the answers," Lyness says. "You have to be in the discussion."New research shows "treating people with HIV (is) 96% effective in reducing transmission," says Joel Gallant of Johns Hopkins University, vice-chair of the HIV Medicine Association. "Nothing has been that effective - not condoms, not abstinence. That should be a call to action."The new research "brings home that treatment is prevention," says CDC Director Thomas Frieden, who on Tuesday announced new funding for state and local health departments to boost HIV testing and treatment. "We have the tools to stop HIV spread in individual patients and the tools to greatly reduce its spread in communities."But the CDC says of the 1.2 million Americans with HIV, only 28% are being treated effectively, so that the level of virus in their bodies is low enough for them to be healthy and unlikely to pass the virus to others. Only 20% of those who are infected are aware of it, only 51% of those are getting ongoing treatment. Among those receiving treatment, 77% have suppressed levels of HIV.Yet, says Gallant, funding for clinics may be in jeopardy, and because of strapped state budgets, thousands are on waiting lists to get medicines."People are getting on treatment much later, and during that time are potentially creating more HIV cases. It's not a moral way to go.''The HIV Medical Association is concerned that health-care reform may make matters worse by cutting or eliminating funding for the federal Ryan White CARE (Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency) Act, which provides grants for AIDS clinics and other services, and transferring HIV coverage to Medicaid.If the clinics lose funding the infrastructure that supports the services patients need will disappear and they will be more likely to get spotty or inadequate care, he says."It's critical that we keep patients in treatment, because if they stop it can create resistance to the drugs," he says. "Helping people to stay in care is not just beneficial to them, but also to society."
Take Action:
- Boycott Bill O'Reilly and FOX News and their advertisers. Bill discussed a French commercial by McDonalds that was meant to show that McDonalds is Gay Friendly. Bill said what is next? Is McDonalds going to be Al-Qaida friendly as well? Imagine - Bill O'Reilly compares Gays to Al-Qaida! Further, Boycott Fox's Owner "Rupert Murcoch" and get him thrown in jail for illegal - political donations, corruption, greed, bribery, hacking!
- Boycott Target, Best Buy, Gold's Gym - for donating money towards anti-gay political candidates/organizations. Update: (12/26/2010): Target is continuing to donate to anti-gay groups/causes/politicians. Update 03/08/11 - Lady Gaga Ends Target Partnership, Reportedly Over Target's Poor LGBT Stance. Update 3/25/2010 - Target displays their hypocrisy and Sues California Gay Rights Group for Lobbying Outside Stores. Target is attempting to block the LGBT right of free speech! STOP SHOPPING AT TARGET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Update 4/8/2011: Target lost its case to stop the LGBT from canvassing in front of their stores. A huge PR Disaster for TARGET! Perhaps Target should go out of business as they betrayed their investers and customer base. Target contributed massive funds to a politician who would like to exterminate gays. Now, Target can not stop us from Boycotting them, nor picketing, nor talking to customers near their stores; although, Target allows a anti-gay company such as the Salvation Army to stand outside their door and speak with customers and raise money. Isn't this a double standard?
- End DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act). Prevents Federal employees and Gays in the Military from gaining equal benefits. Prevents Gay Partners from gaining equal benefits.
- Pass a LGBT friendly ENDA (Employee Non-Discrimination Act). ENDA would prevent employment discrimination of LGBT workforce.
- Boycott Salvation Army as they will not hire Gays! "DO NOT DONATE TO THEM."
- BOYCOTT "Chick-fil-a" for donating money to anti-gay groups.
- BOYCOTT KOCH INDUSTRIES PRODUCTS- to include their products: Angel Soft toilet paper / Brawny paper towels / Dixie plates, bowls, napkins & cups / Mardi Gras napkins and towels / Quilted Northern toilet paper / Soft 'n Gentle toilet paper / Sparkle napkins / Vanity fair napkins / Zee napkins / Georgia-Pacific paper products & envelopes / All Georgia-Pacific lumber & building products (INVISTA Products) / Lycra / Stainmaster Carpet. The billionaire - Koch brothers are ultra republican - tea bag founders/supporters that do not support causes of the LGBT community.
- Boycott WALMART - The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force criticized Wal-Mart for denying employee benefits to same-s-x partners and for failing to prohibit discrimination based on gender identity. By comparison, the group said two other chain stores with a strong presence in New York, Costco and Walgreens, did much better.
- "Tune Out Trump", Boycott all Trump Hotel, casinos, holdings, The Apprentice and NBC Network! At CPAC, Trump said he is considering a run for president as a Republican. In a interview with the Des Moines Register, Trump added that he opposes all forms of legal recognition for gay couples, not just marriage. "They should not be able to marry," he said. So why does NBC keep the Apprentice when Donald Trump has stated he may run for president? After making racist remarks about Obama and recv'g public backlash, Trump decided not to run for president after NBC renewed his awful TV Show. How can NBC re-new the clown's show after he pulled such hateful shenanigans?
- Boycott Georgia for Execution of Troy Davis @ 11:08 EST, Sep 21, 2011:
Former US President and Former GA Gov. Jimmy Carter felt that TROY DAVIS should not be executed and deserved a re-trial. The Former Director of the FBI felt that TROY DAVIS Was Not Guilty! Do not drive through Goergia as it is dangerous. Do not fly via Atlanta. For your safety -Do not travel to GA. TELL YOUR COMPANY NOT TO PARTICIPATE IN A CONVENTION IN GA! "Georgia Executes Innocent People!"
And Now, Our War of the Fittest!
This group is called "Peckers Pics." The English - slang definition of "pecker" is to pluck at the truth. Therefore, we peck at items such as Gay Men's Health, Male Fitness, Gay (LGBT) Politics & Issues. In this section you may peck at each photo in order to decide the winner of the "war of the fittest!" Whereas, you should select the "Male Athlete" that may inspire you to exercise and "get fit!" Warning: This may stoke you!
Your participation in discussion of health / news articles - appearing in this message is greatly appreciated.
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Provincetown Carnival; Aug 18, 2011
Stoked?
Stockholm Pride; Aug 6, 2011
Being Gay in the 21st Century
Important Notice: Our ObamaBiden2008 Group works hand - in - hand with Peckers PICS (Both groups were co-created to work with each-other). To prevent duplication of articles and questions, all members of this group are urgently recommended to join ObamaBiden2008. We have the LGBT boycott list and discuss end of DADT, etc... There are 3 gay teen suicides in the USA - daily! There are Hate crimes against gay people. There are gay people who are fired over their sexual identity. There are gay people who died for our cause! These groups are focused towards Yahoo Members who sincerely care about LGBT rights and are interested in Gay Mens Health! Most important, we have a most critical election in 2012 that shall determine the future of LGBT rights and our health care (as many suffer from pre-existing illness)! Please Join Now!Huffington Post; Nov 30, 2011; David Leddick
"Being gay is just like being Swedish. It's a little different, but in no important way."
That's precisely what I thought in 2005, as I was prompted to write my new book after beginning to get a grip on what it is like to be gay in the 21st century.
It's all so very different now.
I have seen a lot of gayness. Eight decades. I was a child in the 1930s, and in high school in the 1940s. The first time I heard the word "fairy" was during football practice, when the coach shouted, "Come on, you guys are running around like a bunch of fairies!" I was standing beside my childhood chum Junior Schultz. We looked at each other, and although neither of us had ever heard the word in that context, we knew what he meant: "girlish men." I don't think either of us thought it was something so terrible.
In my youth no one even knew what homosexuality was. In rural Michigan it was still like the 19th century, and I don't think anyone thought very much about boys fooling around together. There were a couple of promiscuous girls in high school, but other than that, women just weren't available. This was long before the pill.
In college I had a couple of roommates who had been in the service, and one of them said something about someone on our floor "being gay." I had never heard that word before.
Then, when I was in the U.S. Navy (as a very young and inexperienced officer), and at Bikini Atoll for the hydrogen bomb, the enlisted men on our small ship gave parties and danced with each other. I was considered very special when I dropped in and danced with them, too. There was a kind of subtext there that men got it on together, but nobody verbalized it.
I think the 1960s changed all that.
Performers like Mick Jagger (who learned everything he knew from his warm-up act, Tina Turner) were really "girly." It was OK. There were a lot of drugs, and people let go. Words like "queer," "queen," and "faggot" replaced "nancy-boy" and "fairy." But most people thought only those very effeminate young men were "homosexual."
In the 1960s I lived in Manhattan in Sheridan Square, right across the street from the Stonewall Inn. On that famous night, I can remember getting up, closing the drapes and thinking, "Those queens are up to it again." It was in no way as big a deal as has been publicized, but OK, Judy Garland was dead; they had to do something. I can remember being at gay parties in Greenwich Village and the police would raid. We would walk out of the building between a double line of policemen. A friend of mine often said as we exited, "At least they let you leave like a lady."
But the Stonewall fracas changed all that. Gays came out and took a stand. Quite suddenly it was all right to be a doctor, lawyer, or college professor and not be married. Unheard of before. The public realized that not all gay men were hair dressers or airline stewards. Suddenly there weren't just three gay bars in Greenwich Village. There were dozens. Being gay wasn't just a matter of picking men up off the "Meat Rack" (the west side of the fence around Washington Square and, later, Christopher Street). Everybody came out, including your Uncle Harry, and the 20th century style of being gay became all about sex: lots of promiscuous sex, many less closeted gays, "I'm here, I'm queer, get used to it!"
But, should you get married to a woman? Should you tell your parents? These and many other questions about jobs, money, lovers, their clothes and their looks still bothered gay men. Me? Much less. After the Navy, I moved to New York in 1955 and danced with the New York Metropolitan Opera's Ballet Corps (know back then as "The Sex Squad," hence the name of my second novel... but we'll get to the writing part later).
When I turned 28, I left the ballet and joined the "mad" world of Madison Avenue advertising through the 1960s, '70s and '80s. I rose to fame and became the Global Director of Revlon's worldwide advertising. They were very interesting years. As you can imagine, I saw it all, and then some.
I wasn't really in worlds where being gay meant much of anything to anyone. But I was observing my friends and co-workers. The seeds of this book were planted way back then. In the mid-'90s, I decided to begin my fourth career, this time as a writer.
Fast forward to 2005. As we got further into the 21st century, I realized that a lot of gay men were still living, emotionally, in a world that had pretty much disappeared physically.
In my book I say, "There's nothing wrong with being gay, but a lot of people are doing it wrong." I think we owe a lot of this new century's attitude to younger people, who really are not uneasy about gayness, whether they are gay or not.
A lot of this attitude has to do with having enough distance to look back on the 20th century and not want to do things the way they were done there. I wanted to handle this in my new book in a non-lecturish way, so it's full of witty and wicked photos and opinions (but I wanted to make a point). In my lifetime we've gone from knowing little about homosexuality, to homosexuality being something awful that needs to be hidden, to homosexuality being something most people know all about and the younger ones don't find to be a problem at all.
They are much more concerned with getting a job, not destroying the Earth with pollution, and not being killed in wars nobody really wants to fight.
How to Be Gay in the 21st Century is about being in a world where everybody, gay or not, wants to lead a fulfilled life. They no longer think that being rich, being famous, or being competitive in business are the answers to being happy. And even the conventional wisdom that a heterosexual marriage with kids is the answer is being questioned.
I have a blog, "David's Gay Dish," and about half of my hits are from women. And when I do a show, women usually make up half of my audiences. That suggests to me that gay problems and everyone else's problems are getting to be very much the same.
What do you think? Now that we are past the first decade of this new world, and now that we have all had time to absorb what it's really like now, let me know:
What do you think about being gay in the 21st century?http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-leddick/being-gay-in-the-21st-century_b_1108476.html
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