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Last month, a council member from Tulua, Colombia, received some international media attention when he proposed a bill that would have required all Tulua male residents 14 years of age or older to carry a condom or face a $180 dollar penalty. The news, the sort of quirky stuff that gets picked up by international media without necessarily being put into context, was seen by some as an instance in which a Colombian town might be ahead than First World nations in addressing HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases. Personally, I couldn't figure out how such a law, if passed, would prevent any Tulua man from carrying a single condom for months on end just for show should he be stopped - and not necessarily for use.What the news DID do, was rise the ire of the Roman Catholic church in Colombia who said it would be akin to giving men a gun to kill people. Today, Venezuela's English language paper, the Daily Journal, picks up on an AP story and says that a 10-6 council vote against the bill, quickly sank the proposed bill yesterday. That AP story also says that Councilmember William Peña plans to "go door-to-door collecting signatures to force a referendum on the mandatory condom issue."
Jorge Saavedra, Director of the Mexican government's National Center for Prevention and Treatment of HIV/AIDS, said the following to participants at an HIV prevention conference this week:Marriage is a factor in the reduction of sexual partners for heterosexuals, it reduces the risk of contracting AIDS, which is why to open that possibility for homosexuals would be positive in reducing infection rates.
This according to an EFE article published today by the Mexican newspaper Cambio. There have been attempts in the past by Mexico City legislators to pass a 'Cohabitation Bill' which would basically extend benefits afforded to heterosexual couples in common law marriages but they have largely failed. A Valentine's Day rally to demand the right to marry for Mexican same-sex coiples (which has become an annual event) drew more than 800 people on February 14th, according to La Jornada, but gaining the right to marry remains an uphill struggle in a country as machista as Mexico.
Back in November at the 4th Central American Congress on HIV/AIDS, Dr. Saavedra was awarded the AIDS Responsibility Project's Leadership Award for his efforts to fight homophobia in Mexico. Under his watch, the gubernmental agency he leads launched a series of groundbreaking radio ads which directly taclked the issue and led an effort to get business agencies to get involved in supporting efforts to fight AIDS in Mexico.
You can download the Spanish-language audio files for both radio spots, "La Cena" and "Preguntas" here (they're a little more than half-way down the page, under the title "Arranca en 7 ciudades campaña radiofónica contra la homofobia".
Talking about e-mail lists from Argentina, about a year ago I found myself in the middle of a discussion about the veracity and realism of "Un Año Sin Amor," a film from Argentina based on Pablo Perez' published diaries of the same name. What was bizarre was that the discussion included several men who were the real life counterparts to those mentioned in the diary and the movie, including "The Sheriff." The consensus was that the film necessarily used some dramatic liberties and that leather life in Buenos Aires in the late 1990's was not as extensive as the film shows, but that the film got other things right.
The diary - and film - tells of the twelve months that follow Pablo's HIV positive diagnosis, his prolonged depression, his escape into anonymous sex and his rebirth - of sorts - when he is adopted by an extended family of gay men who practice sado-masochism in the underground clubs of Buenos Aires.
Dubbed "A Year Without Love," the film opens in New York this Friday and is already getting some good reviews States-side. I have yet to see it but it will be interesting to see that side of Argentina gay culture represented on screen.
Last year a friend brought his Venezuelan friend, a bearish guy living in Spain, to my place of work so he could meet my boyfriend and I. Well, a year has passed and lo and behold, he was back today. This time though, I caught his name.
No wonder I recognized his face: He's the famed photographer, Juan Antino, who has pretty much documented the Bear world throughout Spain, Europe and the rest of the world. Better yet, with collaboration from on of his friends, Javier Hartza, Antino has decided to launch a project to promote HIV prevention in the Bear community and is seeking partners throughout the world to engage in the campaign for free.
So far the campaign has consisted in a series of palm-cards, posters and web banners promoting a sex-positive, condom-positive message in Spanish, English and German. The main message is "Pelos si, a pelo NO" (a literal translation is "Hairs yes, not bare" which they have smartly re-frased in English to "BEARback yes, Bareback NO"). They are already working with bear groups throughout Spain, Costa Rica, the United States and elsewhere.
If you want to see some of Antino's professional photography work you can go to his webpage (where you can also click on the link "Info Gallery Bears Against AIDS" to take a look at the palm cards). Wish direct prevention campaigns like these were being done in the United States. Granted, they might not be for everyone but as targetted community campaigns they can have more effect than generalized HIV prevention messages.
When Ruben Marone of Grupo Nexo called me earlier in the week and said he was in New York City for a few days, it was a great surprise since - even though I've probably known him for more than eight years - we had never met personally.
Ruben is a member of a news e-mail list through which I get most of the information about Argentina LGBT rights issues. Nexo, which started as a group of friends who launched an amazing LGBT rights and HIV/AIDS information magazine called NX, now provide health and HIV prevention services in Buenos Aires (the magazine was a victim of Argentina's economic collapse in 2001 though a few additional issues were printed in 2003).
Last night we went out for drinks and caught up to the latest developments. Aparently he had been told to avoid the bars on Christopher Street so I'm actually glad that I took him to Ty's and showed him that the bars weren't as dangerous as people had made them seem (he he). An observation: Ruben says that he's noticed that in New York, people are friendly but they don't like to touch. He says that in Argentina everyone is affectionate, whatever their gender or sexual identity, and that people grab hands, hug or generally touch you when greeting each other. He says that he understands that this is cultutral and is in no way representative of degrees of friendliness but it's the one thing that has struck him the most in this first visit to the United States.
HIV positive activists and allies stage a surprise public protest at the 3rd Latin American and Caribbean Forum on HIV/AIDS at the November 11th closing ceremony in El Salvador; Bottom photo: Elias Antonio Saca, President of Costa Rica and Abel Pacheco, President of El Salvador hurry off the stage to avoid answering protesters.
So when there are things that give you a bit of hope and give you reason to continue working in the field, it's better to share, no?
From November 8th through the 11th of this year, El Salvador hosted the 3rd Latin American and Caribbean Forum on HIV/AIDS (organized by CONCASIDA). The only major North American coverage I saw of the event was articles highlighting the presence of actress Ashley Judd, yet, over "3,000 politicians, police chiefs, doctors and activists" met at a time when key questions are being raised about the availability of HIV/AIDS treatments throughout Latin America and the impact of free trade agreements - which the United States have been aggressively pursuing to their economic benefit and include stricter regulations - and increasing barriers - to access to HIV meds in the region.
It is not at all easy to keep up with complex governmental trade treaties, much less to be at the table when concessions are made or deals are brokered between governments. And, though I am privy to an e-mail list that is amazingly up to date on the impact of these treaties on HIV prevention world-wide, the language used on the list is English which keeps most Latin American HIV activists in the dark (I know of no similar Spanish-language list).
So when I read news that a large group of HIV positive activists and allies interrupted a series of speeches by governmental leaders by walking into the convention center and holding banners questioning the trade treaties and shouted down some of the Central American presidents who were speaking on the podium, I though "Damn! Great for them!"
Unfortunately, local media such as La Prensa Grafica and El Diario de Hoy mostly disregarded the activists' demands and went as far as to call them misguided and quoted El Salvador government officials who did not waste time in denouncing the protests calling them politically slanted and orchestrated. La Prensa Grafica said that the government was even considering taking legal action against some of the protesters.
In a statement released by the protesters they said the following:
The protest at the closing day ceremony happened because a large number of participants such as ourselves were tired of so the posturing by not only the governmental authorities [present] but also the funding agencies and some individuals 'representing society and people living with HIV/AIDS' who completely forgot how they reached their positions.
They also denied that any one person had manipulated them or orquestrated the protest, or that the protesters were affiliated with a specific political group. They did express fear that there'd be efforts to take action against them due to the public nature of the protest and reminded journalists that in a free democracy they should have the right to protest.
Fortunately, renowned AIDS activist Richard Stern, from the Costa Rica-based Augua Buena Association saw the government response as what it was: An attempt to dissuade public criticism of their HIV policies and intimidate activists and quickly moved to secure international support for the protesters.
Thanks to Richard, UNAIDS released the following statement on November 19th, 2005:
UNAIDS recognizes the efforts made by the Salvadorian National AIDS Programme and all the other organizers of the FORO/CONCASIDA2005 conference and the High Level Presidential Forum on HIV/AIDS for these highly successful events. We believe that the Conference will result in a stronger commitment to HIV/AIDS by all the stakeholders in Latin America and the Caribbean.
AIDS is a shared concerned and all partners need to make their contribution in order to ensure good follow-up to the commitments made at the Conference ultimately leading towards a stronger response to the epidemic in the Region.
Civil society, and in particular people living with HIV/AIDS, are essential partners who are at the forefront of the AIDS response in all Latin American and Caribbean countries.
Their full engagement and energetic activism give voice to the voiceless and make an essential contribution towards pushing the agenda on key HIV treatment and prevention issues. In this context, building a true and open partnership between civil society and governmental partners is a key strategy for an effective response to the epidemic.
An open, considerate and fruitful dialogue between civil society, governmental and all other stakeholders in a country, where all partners listen to one another and each is able to express their views and opinions in a respectful way and without fears of consequences for their safety and well being, is the only way to ensure that our collective response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic moves successfully forward. UNAIDS is committed to play its role in facilitating such dialogue and strengthening partnerships throughout the Region.
Many contacts among PLWA, Civil Society, Government representatives, international organizations and others have being done by the UNAIDS regional office since yesterday, and it seems to us that the situation in the region is taking the route of dialogue. It is our understanding that meaningful conversation have started between the Government, PLWA and civil society.
Best regards,
Nancy Andrade-Castro
UNAIDS
Directora Regional a.i
So, to all those HIV/AIDS activists who were corageous enough to raise their voices and show their faces in demanding access to treatments for Latin America and the Caribbean, my hat goes off to you! On World AIDS Day, your actions are what keeps me going in this field.
On my voice mail last night [Anne's voice in bold]:
Hi this is Anne Northrop and Eric Sawyer [pictured above] from ACT UP calling to urge you to attend an important demonstration that can save tens of thousands of people from HIV infection. US and Ugandan government policies have caused a dramatic 10-month long condom shortage in Uganda, the African country best known for its successful HIV prevention efforts. 32 million condoms remain locked up in Uganda's governmental warehouses while the US government ramps-up abstinence-only prevention programs. Join us on Tuesday, August 30th at 1PM for the "Unlock the Condoms" demonstration outside of Uganda's Mission to the UN - 336 E 45th Street between 1st and 2nd Avenues in Manhattan. Call 646 645-5225 for information. Thank you.
I posted about Venezuela's new $1M dollar HIV prevention initiative and questioned why it was only targetting women and youth when most of the people affected by HIV/AIDS in the country were gay men (and it seemed as if they were totally left out of the media prevention initiative).I also said that I was checking with some of the local LGBT activists (I would have liked to have been proved wrong, particularly because the article I quoted also mentioned that Venezuela had a unique free access HIV treatment program).
But word now comes that the much championed free HIV treatment access program just dropped 7,000 people from its rolls. According to Santiago Farias, an article published on El Carabobeño on Thursday, August 11th (via Agence France-Presse) claims that - despite the new prevention initiative and the lauded treatment program - Venezuela is struggling to keep HIV positive individuals on its treatment rolls and the non-profit HIV awareness organization Acción Ciudadana Contra el SIDA (ACCI) [Citizen Action Against AIDS] is declaring that the Venezuelan government stopped providing HIV meds to the 7,000 people three weeks ago.
Caracas Pride - July 3, 2005 (courtesy of Santiago Farias) 
So today I find an article ("An Ounce of Prevention, Aimed at Women and Youth" - IPS, August 12, 2005) that says that the Venezuelan government has decided to launch an initiative to raise HIV/AIDS awareness in two specific communities: Women and youth.Most of the almost $1M dollar budget will go to broadcast 6 television ads with the theme "AIDS can reach you" and to provide free distribution of condoms on a national basis. This is all great and dandy but I wonder if there are similarly budgeted campaigns already targeting the largest community affected by HIV/AIDS in Venezuela: Gay men [I have asked several LGBT activists in venezuela and will post a response if it comes].Or could it be that producing gay-themed HIV prevention campaigns for television goes against the 'Radio and Television Social Responsibility Law' which President Hugo Chavez signed establishing penalties for broadcasts containing depictions and sounds of violent or offensive sexual practices, among other no-no's? The Law itself does not mention homosexuality explicitly but, in a television interview transcribed in Analitica.com, he addresses issues raised by the legislation by stating: "How is someone like you going to transmit sex scenes during youth programming hours. Or scenes of violence. Movies that champion drug use, homosexuality, those things that are very human, but which are characteristic of the lowest [type of] humanity?"
It seems as if it was just yesterday that we were at Manhattan's Hammerstein Ballroom protesting a Hot 97 concert for featuring some rabidly anti-gay reggae singers (see right).
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