A little noticed Mexican health norm first approved in August and then published in the country's regulatory Official Federation Diary on October 26th has gone into effect today essentially doing away with a two-decade ban on blood donations from gay and bisexual men, reports Animal Político.
The old norm (NOM 003-SSA2) explicitly banned gay and bisexual men from donating blood based on their "practices" and their "increased probability of acquiring HIV or hepatitis infection".
The new norm (NOM 253) eliminates specific bans on gay and bisexual men and instead bans blood donations from people with HIV or hepatitis and their partners and people who engage in "risky sexual practices" regardless of their sexual identity.
In the new blood donor norms "risky sexual practices" are defined as those that may include "contact or exchange of blood, sexual secretions or other bodily secretions between someone who might have a transmittable disease and areas of another person's body through which an infectious agent might be able to penetrate."
The United States and a number of Latin American countries which include Argentina, Chile and Colombia have been mulling lifting similar longstanding bans that have been in effect since the HIV/AIDS crisis broke through decades ago.
If this report is correct, Mexico might be the first country in the American continent to lift such a ban.
In the statement, the governmental body applauds the move to base blood donor criteria on risk factors rather than on discriminatory perceptions about certain social groups. Here is a translated excerpt from the statement:
The previous NOM contained several explicitly discriminatory requirements that kept people from donating blood based on their sexual preference or orientation; instead, from now on, medical/scientific criteria will be used to identify pathogens in the blood and the focus will be turned to risky behaviors rather than social groups.
In making these discriminatory distinctions, the [previous] norm explicitly violated the prohibition against discrimination present in the Constitution and the Federal Law to Prevent and Eliminate Discrimination, as well as Article 24 of the American Convention on Human Rights and Article 26 of the International Civil and Political Rights Treaty, among other international instruments of law, which establish that every person is equal before the law regardless of any condition.
In closing, the agency vows to engage administrative and medical entities to make them aware of the new regulations and train them so that the new policy is promptly adopted in order to eradicate the stigma and discrimination contained in the previous norm.
UPDATE 2 (Dec. 28, 2012):GEN, an online site that focuses on genetic engineering and biotechnology, notes concerns raised by CONAPRED that a separate section of the new norm might still discriminate against a group of people. From GEN's article:
The previous NOM requirements explicitly excluded people who could
donate blood based on sexual preferences or orientation or even social
status, according to Mexico’s National Council to Prevent Discrimination
(Conapred), which also points out that despite this progress, there is
still a degree of discrimination in the wording in the new NOM ruling.
Specifically, subsection 6.10.6.1, Point J, excludes people on a
temporary basis from donating blood "[who have] been hospitalized for
more than 72 consecutive hours in penal or mental illness. The
organization maintains that this subsection stigmatizes prison
populations and people with mental disabilities.
Moment of the year, captured on video: By a margin of 33-27, the Argentinean Senate voted to approve a marriage equality law in the early morning of July 15th and, by doing so, Argentina became the first Latin American country to allow gays to marry. President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner signed the bill into law on July 21st and couples started getting married on July 31st.
They weren't the first couples to marry in Argentina, though. That honor went to longtime HIV prevention activists and Argentinean LGBT Federation members Jose Maria Di Bello and Alex Freyre, who got married on December 29th, 2009, after a court gave them the go-ahead.
They also became the first gay couple to marry in all of Latin America. Mexico City might have approved their landmark marriage equality law on December 21st, 2009, but the law only went into effect in March of 2010.
Best television ad of the year: In the days before the Argentinean Senate vote, we saw the following incredible television ad. It was produced and written by Mati Caseaux and directed by Juan Schnitman. I'm not sure if it has gotten any end of the year "Best Commercial of 2010" accolades, but if it hasn't, it should.
Fidel Castro says he is to blame for past persecution against the LGBT community in Cuba: In August, former Cuban president Fidel Castrotook responsibility for all past abuses against the LGBT community in the island. It was a stunning admission, tempered by his assertion that he personally has never had a homophobic bone in his body and that, if gays were sent to "internment" camps, well, that should be blamed on the incidental homophobia among the Cuban population at the time.
NYS Senator Ruben Diaz says marriage equality will happen in New York State soon --- as a sign of the end of days: I know! Isn't that special. Read all about it here. Thanks for the marriage equality endorsement, Reverend!
NYS Senator Ruben Diaz thanks Blabbeando: I know! Isn't that special. Read all about it here. WTF!
Jacobo Piñeiro goes to prison: In a case I have followed since March of 2009, a man who confessed to brutally stabbing a gay couple in Vigo, Spain, was finally convicted and sent to prison after an earlier verdict had cleared him of all murder charges.
That earlier verdict was vacated by a higher court earlier this year and, after a new trial was ordered, Piñeiro was released after three years of being held in prison.
Venezuelan mural defaced by homophobes, repaired: A street mural in the Chacao District of Venezuela portraying two men kissing which was defaced with dark graffiti paint and homophobic epithets. The mural, which urged tolerance towards others and was part of a campaign sponsored by the Chacao Mayor's Office to improve the city's living environment. Darient, the graffiti artist who painted the mural, returned and painted another male couple kissing. Instead of urging "tolerance," the new mural promotes "respect."
Miami homobigots protest Ricky Martin and Univision: The protest didn't really go anywhere but it was certainly shameful.
And I'll close with one of my favorite stories of the year: The Argentinean version of Big Brother drafted this cutie-patootie as one of the contestants!
...aaaaaaaaaand that's a wrap! That was the Blabbeando year that was.
The law would survive a constitutional challenge filed at the behest of Mexican president Felipe Calderón when the country's Supreme Court ruled in August that it was constitutionally solid. The court would also rule that granting adoption rights to same-sex couples was constitutional and that all Mexican states were required to legally recognize any and all same-sex marriages recognized by the Mexico City (not all states are happy about it).
Washing trans blood from the Peruvian flag: In March, I also wrote about an unusual transgender rights protest in the northern Peruvian city of Tumbes in which, in front of cameras, participants called for the church and state to stop discriminating against them and urged those in power to create a better employment environment for them. What made the protest unusual and striking was that the women pulled out a Peruvian flag they said had been stained with their blood and, using a bucket of water and soap, they proceeded to wash the flag to call attention to all the hate crimes committed against the transgender community throughout Peru.
Hiram, a friend no more: Locally, disgraced former New York City Councilmember and New York State Senator Hiram Monserrate lost a last-ditch attempt at remaining in politics by embracing homophobia. Once a marriage equality ally, Monserrate was one of the few Democratic State Senators who a marriage equality bill and helped to sink it. To think I once called Hiram a personal friend.
A Cardinal talks, the authorities follow: In April, I wrote about Cardinal Nicolás de Jesús López Rodriguez of the Dominican Republic and his latest pet peeve: The public behavior he'd observed at Duarte Park, a popular public gathering spot for members of the LGBT community of Santo Domingo. Aparently, he used a Sunday sermon to blast the "abhorrent" behavior he'd seen. His work carries power and, for the next week, local media parroted his calls for authorities to clean up the park. Within days the police department was telling media that they had linked illicit drug sales in the park to a group of homosexuals and giving a vow to shut down any park vendor activity that attempted against "morals and good behavior." It's a sign of how much sway the Cardinal holds over the local authorities. Scary for a man of the cloth who has been known to describe gays as "faggots".
How that could be interpreted as anything but saying eating non-organic chicken could make some men gay escapes me, but the Bolivian government's defense later argued that Morales had said no such thing - and that the charge of homophobia had been a ploy by imperialists nations to overshadow coverage of the environmental summit.
Local Bolivian LGBT organizations begged to differ and sent a letter asking for clarification. The government responded by saying the wished to affirm their support for the LGBT community in Bolivia --- and stating, once again, that Morales "under no circumstance" had been referring to homosexuality in his speech. Watch the video and see if you agree.
Soccer players in love: I also found what must be one of the hottest gay scenes to play in a Latin America telenovela. It's from "Botineras" and, in it, two men who play soccer players and have fallen in love have sex for the first time. Doing some follow-up, I also found scenes from a shoot one of the actors - who says he's straight - did for a gay webportal. Meet Cristian Sancho.
Hey ladies! Oh, and Puerto Rican salsa/reggaeton singer Lisa M.came out (it's a video from VEVO, which means it might not be available to watch in your region).
As I was writing what I thought would be an objective post in which I would not take sides on whether the ad was an effective or ineffective ad, I found myself admiring the willingness to shake up the status-quo and the use of shock tactics to wake up gay men - and particularly young gay men - out of the complacency that seems to have settled over the community when it comes to HIV/AIDS.
I've seen a lot of the leading gay bloggers write non-committal posts asking readers to express whether they find the ad effective or ineffective. But a few have taken sides.
..and, ehm, me? At least that's what I sorta said in my last post.
Expressing outrage about the ad were:
The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) and the Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC) which released a joint statement calling for the ad to be withdrawn
There are also all the telling pro- and anti-ad reader remarks posted by readers at Joe.My.God. and Towleroad, among others.
Tonight, though, there is a great opinion piece by POZ Magazine copy editor Trenton Straube which nails exactly why the ad has drawn such divergent reactions as well as why the hunger for a frank discussion of the issues that lead to HIV transmission among gay men in this day and age still do not excuse the use of scare tactics for the sake of it.
From his essay:
Personally, I oppose sugarcoating reality--if the facts are scary, then so be it--and I suspect that most people, especially young men who have sex with men, are oblivious to the accurate statement "It's never just HIV." Let's tell that truth. It's important, especially in light of the bareback pornification and sexualization of, well, most everything nowadays, and in light of the growing believe that HIV is a manageable disease (surely, all the recent news about Truvada as a pre-exposure prophylaxis will convince some folks that high-risk behavior isn't so high risk after all).
However, let's talk about the PSA's tone and presentation. This 30-second horror show is one thunderclap away from parodying those "Gathering Storm" ads that warned about the impeding dangers of marriage equality. Such melodramatic delivery overshadows the important message. I get that the campaign is in line with the city's other fear-based PSAs against smoking, which relish in images of clogged arties, diseased lungs and amputated fingers.
But do we really need to see a mutilated anus in association with HIV and men who have sex with men (MSM)? The ad does more to stigmatize anal sex than people living with HIV. Cigarettes and HIV aren't synonymous and the two shouldn't be treated identically in a campaign. As other online commentators pointed out, smoking, unlike sexuality, isn't part of your intrinsic identity as a person. Sexuality subjects you to discrimination in terms of human rights, religious equality, loving relationships, etc.
Read the entire piece here. It's certainly worth it. And my easily impressionable mind is back on the 'no to the NYC DOH ad' column.
If you've lived in NYC over the last few years, particularly if you are a smoker, you are probably highly aware of a series of increasingly graphic print and television campaigns the New York City Department of Health developed to discourage people from smoking and encourage smokers to quit.
In its first incarnation, you saw "Ronaldo Martinez" speak to the camera and talk about getting a cancerous growth removed from his throat and taking his ability to speak away without the help of a machine (surprisingly, I haven't been able to find the televised version of the ad anywhere except in a different version apparently appropriated by an anti-smoking agency in Australia of all places).
I'm not a cigarette smoker but that specific ad seemed to have a punch to it. Sure, I changed the channel every time it came on, but you could certainly understand the ad's plausibility when it comes to long-term cigarette smoking.
The ads made an immediate impact, specially among friends who smoked. They called NYC's #311 help line and ordered the expensive smoking-cessation kits that the Department of Health offered on a limited basis.
Researchers called the campaign a "huge success", at least in its early stages. But it's not clear to me whether they took into account that the Department of Health was initially offering access to nicotine patches for free nor the fact that the city was increasing taxes on cigarettes
Not that I'm complaining. As an infrequent cigar smoker, I can say that one of better legacies of the Bloomberg administration is having barred smoking in bars. And, apparently, some statewide programs still offer free nicotine patch or gum "starter kits" (click here).
But then came the other ads. The ones that said that smoking would make you lose your fingers (I kid you not). Or give you brain tumors. Or promote cavities. And I personally thought they'd gone off their rocker and gone punch-happy on negative messaging. Truthfully, the more graphic and preposterous it got, the less effective I felt the campaign was.
They even tried to replicate the scare tactics - laughably some may say - with campaigns to stem consumption of sugary drinks and the way they make people fatter. Gross, yes. Effective? Eh...
Which brings us to...
I've long been a critic of the public health policies developed by the New York City Department of Health under the Bloomberg administration and their reliance on scare tactics. And yet, I am inclined to like this ad. Why?
Well, it's certainly graphic and gross. But it speaks to the potentially horrible side-effects of being HIV positive. Does it say that everyone with HIV will develop these symptoms? No. But the ad does strongly imply that people with HIV are at a higher risk of being at risk of these illnesses - which I believe does act as a forceful HIV-prevention message.
Now, call me when the NYC Department of Health starts running messages saying that people with HIV are more prone to cut off their fingers as a scare tactic but, if memory serves me well, just a couple of years ago HIV prevention advocates were bemoaning that HIV prevention messages portrayed people with HIV as being all happy-happy and ultra-healthy when the reality of living with HIV wasn't nearly as cheerful.
Interestingly, a few of Michael Bloomberg's most vociferous critics seem to be backing this campaign while a number of advocates and organizations are calling for the Department of Health to pull the ads.
As the leading video attests, openly gay New York City Councilmember Danny Dromm is asking for the ads to be removed immediately as does the South Asian Lesbian and Gay Association (SALGA).
Tonight, they've been joined by the Gay Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) and the Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC) which released this statement. An excerpt:
Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC), the nation's oldest HIV/AIDS prevention, care and advocacy provider, today joined the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), the nation's leading lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) media advocacy and anti-defamation organization, to demand that the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene pull a sensationalistic and stigmatizing television public service announcement aimed at gay and bisexual men.
The PSA, which is intended to encourage condom usage among gay and bisexual men, claims that those with HIV face a higher risk of bone loss, dementia, and anal cancer. While older adults living with HIV may be at greater risk of these conditions, the PSA creates a grim picture of what it is like to live with HIV that could further stigmatize HIV/AIDS, as well as gay and bisexual men.
"We know from our longstanding HIV prevention work that portraying gay and bisexual men as dispensing diseases is counterproductive," said Marjorie Hill, PhD, GMHC's Chief Executive Officer. "Studies have shown that using scare tactics is not effective. Including gay men's input, while recognizing their strength and resiliency, in the creation of HIV prevention education is effective. Gay men are part of the prevention solution, not the problem."
Both GLAAD and GMHC have reached out to the department to demand that the commercial be pulled and to offer assistance with framing the conversation around HIV/AIDS more accurately.
"While it's extremely important that we continue to educate New Yorkers about HIV/AIDS prevention, the sensationalized nature of the commercial, including its tabloid-like fear tactics, misses the mark in fairly and accurately representing what it's like to live with HIV/AIDS," said GLAAD President Jarrett Barrios. "It's our hope that the department will work with us to create a PSA that promotes safety and solutions, rather than stigma and stereotype."
The funny thing (as funny things go when discussing these issues) is that one of the top Bloomberg administration critics when it comes to HIV prevention seems to be bending over-backwards not to say a bad thing about this.
And that, my friends, is truly as bizarre as it gets. As for the ad... do you think it's effective? Do you think it sucks? I am inclined to like it but haven't yet made up my mind. What are your thoughts?
Update: Via my friend Michael Petrelis, Larry Kramer chimes in:
to the nyc dept of health:
thank you. it's about time. this ad is honest and true and scary, all of which it should be. hiv is scary and all attempts to curtail it via lily-livered nicey-nicey "prevention" tactics have failed. dr hill knows this and her remarks below, once again, show her to be living on another planet. and since when is GLAAD in the hiv-prevention business? god help us if it is. gmhc is bad enough.
can we finally get real here? we are in the 32nd year, more or less, of a plague.
ONE OUT OF EVERY FIVE GAY MEN IN AMERICA IS HIV POSITIVE. AND FIFTY PER CENT OF US DON'T KNOW IT!
these are appalling statistics.
And dr hill and some dude at glaad is telling me that prevention efforts, as they are presently constituted, are working.
of course people have to get scared. i have said this since day one and i say it today. they need to be scared into using condoms. into getting tested, into being responsible human beings. nothing so far has been able to bring a sufficient result to these requirements. why can't anyone see that? why can't our oldest aids organization see that? to say as dr hill does below that "studies have shown that using scare tactics is not effective" is, i believe, an out and out lie. i have never seen such research. if it exists, then it is as irresponsible as dr. hill and mr/s glaad.
i see a lot of doctors regularly during the course of looking after my own health. every single one of them is telling me that they are seeing more and more young and usually white men who are educated and should know better, sero-converting.
and with all the hoopla over hiv negative people taking this new once-a-day truvada "miracle cure" just so they can have sex without a condom, is going to be a nightmare of the highest order. i firmly believe this.
just as i firmly believe that NO prevention efforts can be rendered with the sugar coating it has been receiving since 1981.
i congratulate the nyc board of health for finally getting real. i look forward to even more and scarier public service announcements.
larry kramer
Michael actually does not like the ad. For his comments, go over to his blog.
Lucé Vela, wife of Republican Puerto Rican Governor Luis Fortuño, says there is a cure for AIDS.
At least that's what Vela told a reporter today while participating at a World AIDS Day event in San Juan (Primera Hora currently lists it as their lead story on their web portal and has video of the brief interview as well).
This could have just been a slip of the tongue or some sort of unfortunate brain fart but, even if it was, it shows terrible lack of awareness about HIV/AIDS today of all days!
There has yet to be a statement from Vela or the island's governor explaining her comments. If there is a forthcoming statement, expect the power couple to laugh it off as an unfortunate slip up.
I wasn't planning on writing about World AIDS Day. I know the date is meant to raise awareness about the issue and there is some merit to that. But, as someone who worked at an HIV prevention agency for almost fifteen years of my life, I also find a lot of the World AIDS Day observances to be self serving and - to a surprising degree - homophobic as well - particularly among those agencies that work with communities of color. Agencies will highlight their work with children and women with HIV/AIDS or talk about their faith-based HIV prevention work while downplaying the gay angle to the disease.
And so governments will organize very special ceremonies and mourn the dead very respectfully. And the White House will hang a huge red AIDS ribbon while President Barack Obama addresses the topic in a 45 second video. And corporations will chime in: The Gap resuscitates it's (RED)™ campaign. Stars like Justin Timberlake and Lady Gaga - who are as gay friendly as they come - will play dead ans silence their Twitter accounts for a "Keep a Child Alive" campaign that doesn't mention gays at all.
And so, on to Puerto Rico's first lady and her comments. Here is my translation of the interview caught on camera at Primera Hora:
Reporter: This is, eh, the First Lady, your comments, please, regarding this [World AIDS Day] march... Lucé Vela: Look, this is the second time that I participate in these marches to create awareness about HIV. We did it last year. We are also present this year and we want, in this way, with all the people who have shown up this morning, to create awareness and that people know that this has a cure. That we can - if detected on time - if we can test people who are at high risk on time - look, that there is a cure for this. That it could be people like the many people who are here with us this morning could be of benefit... Reporter: Of benefit to society... Lucé Vela: ...it could be of benefit to society that they get tested to be able to get the necessary treatment to push ahead and be healthy.
Yes, she said it twice.
What ads insult to injury is that Puerto Rico has such a sorry track record in providing appropriate care to people living with HIV/AIDS in the island.
Three years ago, I was able to assist New York Times reporter Erik Eckholm in translating interviews with HIV positive individuals in Puerto Rico during three-way telephone calls he made as the groundwork for a groundbreaking article titled "Puerto Rico's AIDS Care in Disarray over funds".
In that respect, Lucé Vela should be ashamed of implying people should get tested in order to be cured of AIDS.
One of the persons who blew the whistle on the 2007 scandal featured in the New York Times is José Colón, a longtime hero of mine, who could very well be described as the Larry Kramer of Puerto Rico. He posted the following Spanish-language video on YouTube today in observance of World AIDS Day and I am posting it here just in case the Puerto Rican Governor's Office checks in:
As for Larry Kramer himself, my friend Rex Wockner just alerted me to the fact that he is also none too happy with the Obama administration's World AIDS Day response. You can check out an interview he did with the New York Daily News here.
The Summit International Awards, an international agency based in Portland which recognizes "companies and individuals that produce outstanding marketing, advertising, design and interactive communications" has just announced their 2010 roster of Summit Creative Awards winners and, among them, is two mentions for an HIV prevention campaign developed by the Coordinadora Gai Lesbiana de Catalunya (CGL) from Spain.
Dos Manzanas reports that the awards are seen as the Oscars of the advertising world. They also reached out to Antonio Guirado, Coordinator of the CGL, who said:
It is an unexpected honor to have received this double award, in competition with designs from 24 countries from the whole worlf and authors of great stature. We dedicate this double award to all the volunteers who fight against HIV/AIDS, as well as those who have been taken by this illness.
The advertising agency who designed the print and video campaign is Barcelona's Suigeneris. The video posted below begins with the words:
To you, who has fucked us during so many years, who CRUSH us all, young people, older people, women, men, heterosexuals and homosexuals. To you, ABOMINABLE being... we say...
Late breaking news from Tierra Del Fuego this afternoon.
The judge of the city's Children and Family Court, Marcos Meillien, has determined that what was the first ever same-sex marriage in all of Latin America is "non-existent" under the constitution and has, in fact, annulled it.
According to today's Sur 54, the civil wedding between Alex Freyre and José Maria Di Bellowas challenged by a local district attorney, Karina Echazú, on the grounds that the national constitution did not give gay couples the right to marry.
For years, Freyre and Di Bello (right) had fought an uphill battle to be able to marry until a Buenos Aires court gave them the go-ahead in November. Plans to marry on December 1st were placed on hold when local authorities stepped in and put a stay on the order (they had chosen December 1st as a symbolic date since they are both HIV positive and the date marks World AIDS Day).
Working behind the scenes, LGBT rights advocates sought a friendly government official with the power to perform a civil wedding and found her in the Governor of Tierra del Fuego, Fabiana Rios, who agreed to marry the men on December 28th, 2009.
As I wrote yesterday, there have been another three positive court rulings allowing gay couples to marry in Argentina since Freyre and Di Bello tied the knot. One of those, the ruling allowing Damian Bernath and Jorge Esteban Salazar Capon to marry, has also been annulled.
That leaves Martin Canevaro and Carlos Alvarez and Norman Castillo and Ramona Arevalo as the only two same-sex couples in Argentina with unrevoked marriage equality rulings.
LGBT advocates have been pressing the Argentinian legislature to act upon the rulings and pass a federal marriage equality law but it's unclear where these set backs leave those efforts.
A Buenos Aires court has given a gay Argentinean couple the green light to get married in what would be the second such marriage to occur in all of Latin America. From an AFP news brief posted this evening:
A judge on Tuesday authorized two men to marry in Buenos Aires in what would be the country's second same-sex marriage.
In December, two Argentine men, Alex Freyre and Jose Maria Bello, became the first homosexuals to legally marry in heavily Roman Catholic Latin America, after the governor of southernmost Tierra del Fuego province allowed them to wed in the provincial capital, Ushuaia.
Judge Elena Liberatori gave her approval to the second couple, two men whose names were not immediately released, to set a date to wed at the Civil Registry.
She said they were exercising their rights even if current laws "are not in line with the times."
When a court ruled in Freyre and Bello's favor back on November 11th, the men made plans to marry on December 1st in observance of World AIDS Day (both said they were HIV positive). They knew that theirs would be a historic marriage ceremony and they wanted to draw attention to to the plight of those living with HIV/AIDS.
That plan ran into trouble when another two city courts stepped in and asked for a stay on the proceedings at the very last minute and when the office of Buenos Aires Mayor Maurico Macri asked the Supreme Court to clarify if the city should follow the extraordinary court ruling.
That petition was dismissed by the Supreme Court and Freyre and Bello eventually were able to get married in a surprise wedding that took place on December 28th in Tierra Del Fuego, the southernmost region in the American continent.
One truly hopes that the travesty that was this summer's session in the New York State Senate has a silver lining. Namely that the shame that the circus-like proceedings brought upon the legislative body will result in prompt and drastic changes to the way New York State is governed (not that I am holding my breath, but one does hope).
In the meantime, there is this 22-minute video taken shortly after 3am this morning, in which my long-time hero (and State Senator) Thomas K. Duane lets it rip on the state of HIV/AIDS today as he pitched a bill that would help people with the illness to meet their rent.
It was first picked up by Elizabeth Benjamin over at the New York Daily News, who posted the following video transcript excerpt:
Let me take you back to the early eighties. Visiting friends in hospitals. We'd go in. We'd go in one night, in the morning they'd be dead. I'd bring them food. My family, bring them food. My friends bring someone food. But whoever was in bed would be dead before they could eat it.
We'd leave it - maybe the nurses would take it home. No! They wouldn't eat it! 'Cause it's contaminated. Contaminated! Wouldn't touch it. Wouldn't go into the room. Wearing masks. Gloves! Gowns! Someone gets sick in the afternoon. They'd be dead the next day. Dead! And that went on for months, and then years. Dead! Dead!
You think if you got sick and your friends were dying that I would sit there and do nothing? No. But that's what happened. That's what happened. Every cold. Every virus. Every temperature. I thought I'd be dead, and so did so many people that I knew. Dead! You think you scare me? You think you can make be back off? Nothing scares me.
The bill, one of the last ones to be brought to a vote in the State Senate floor during this spectacularly awful session, was approved by an amazing margin of 52-1, and had former senate Democrat defectors Hiram Monserrate and Pedro Espada up on their feet and applauding. It still needs Assembly approval before being sent to the governor to sign into law.
Now, I don't usually write about what all the other gay or LGBT blogs are writing about (in part because few cover LGBT Latino issues in English and because others might have a better take than I would on issues such as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" or "Hate Crimes"). But I have to say that I was struck by the number of times that I was sent a link to the video today and asked if I could write about it. I was first made aware of it by POZ magazine founder and publisher Sean Strub but, since then, a number of folk have reached out as well. Most of them moved by the speech and alerting me to it.
In less than 24 hours, it's become a rallying cry. Which - without taking away from the powerful message - says a lot about what it takes for folk to listen to anything related to HIV/AIDS nowadays.
I have to say that, usually, it takes a lot to make my blood boil. Buy yesterday, as I was researching articles for the post on Reverend Wilfredo De Jesús ("Homophobic Latino preacher in line to join Chicago's City Council"), I found myself fuming and trying hard not to go off on a tangent.
Yes, there was the issue of De Jesús white-washing his homophobic outbursts from the past to seem more palatable to those who might have the power to select him for a vacant seat in the Chicago City Council. But, hey! We have Pentecostal preacher Ruben Diaz, Sr. here in NY with his homophobic outbursts and you have Pentecostal preacher De Jesús there in Chicago with his very own hateful version of 'loving the sinner, hating the sin'.
No, those outbursts are actually par-for-the-course considering the messengers and I have learned to take them in stride. They actually inspire me to keep on exposing their hypocrisy.
What made me do a double take was the comments from a Latino HIV/AIDS service organization called Vida/SIDA defending De Jesús. From Tuesday's article in The Chicago Tribune:
Zenaida Lopez, manager of Vida/SIDA, a social-service agency that serves AIDS patients near De Jesus' church services, took issue with "outsiders" trying to influence the issue. A supporter of De Jesús' candidacy, Lopez said many community groups are based in Lakeview and don't understand De Jesus' relationship with his Latino constituents.
"People in Boystown are telling us what to think when we wouldn't even be welcome in that neighborhood," she said.
A Latino HIV/AIDS service organization defending De Jesús and calling any criticism as being the work of "outsiders"? Yup! That did it. As someone who worked in the Latino HIV prevention field for almost 15 years myself, I immediately thought of some of the Latino organizations I encountered from time to time who received funding to do HIV prevention in Latino communities but chose to focus specifically on women, children and IV drug users, with an aversion to even addressing or mentioning the needs of HIV positive Latino gay and bisexual men.
Not wanting to rush to judgment, I did a perfunctory search for "Vida/SIDA" and what I found pissed me off even more. From a 2004 Windy City Times article:
In subsequent years, Vida/SIDA grew and adapted its mission to embrace education and prevention strategies among the fastest growing HIV+ populations—Latina women and sexually active young people. Moreover, it broadened its scope and provided education and services with respect to other sexually transmitted diseases.
Throughout most of the first decade of the AIDS crisis, prevention strategies fell short in communities of color. While impressive organization and action politics took place in Boy's Town, other areas of the city lagged far behind. Although exported to several communities, intervention models based on gay-Anglo sensibilities were meaningless in places such as West Town. Vida/SIDA was one of the first community-based expressions of 'one size does not fit all' problem solving. The strategies were designed by Latinos and nuanced for a Latino community.
That idea continues. 'The approach and the language you use for a middle class, gay White man is not the same approach you would use with a 17-year-old Puerto Rican gang member. That has nothing to do with a difference in intelligence; it has everything to do with culture, identity, and comfort.' said Colon. 'If you don't establish a connection ... some empathy, you're not going far.'
Notice anything missing? Yup! No mention of gay or bisexual Latinos when it comes to Vida/SIDA's HIV prevention strategies and a reiterated echo of distrust towards white (or Anglo) gays from Chicago's Boystown meddling into Latino Humboldt culture.
Now, I have been in Chicago, but that doesn't mean I know Chicago or its diverse communities. But the dynamic of local community organizations and individuals standing up for someone who they consider "their own" and rejecting the influence of "outsiders" - despite any shortcomings that their hero might have - is as classic as ever.
Here is my mea-culpa: I rushed to judgment. Vida/SIDA does indeed reach out and address some of the needs of gay and bisexual Latino men in the Humboldt area of Chicago (as well as Latino and Latina transgender folk). I found the above image on their MySpace page, as well as images of a drag-queen beauty contest.
But it doesn't mean I've changed my mind that they are wrong in supporting De Jesús. As with Reverend Diaz in NY, those who argue that the poorer neighborhoods of the city are often neglected by the powers that be are quite right, which makes it easy for folk like Diaz and De Jesús to turn local community members against their better interests (in this case playing into people's ethnic pride as a means to draw support for their political interests).
This does make it easier for Anglo (or white) gays from elsewhere to pass judgment on De Jesús (or Diaz, for that matter) and grab on to a sense of righteousness without stopping to think for a moment on the local dynamics or the complexity of the issue. Which actually feeds right into the hands of homophobes like De Jesús and Diaz as they try to paint the opposition as being 'the other'.
And then there is this message left by Xavier Luis on my last post:
I was one of those 30 people who attended the meeting at La Bruquena restaurant that day with Pastor De Jesus. The vast majority of those who attended did not live in the 26th Ward.
Interestingly enough, it was from those very people that questions about important community issues like gentrification, the development of Paseo Boricua, violence...etc were absent. It was from those activists who live and work in this community, who organize LGBTQ events (which most of De Jesus' discontents do not attend), and fight homophobia and transphobia on a daily basis in the schools, programs, and institutions of Humboldt Park, that a real dialogue took place.
Please name an evangelical pastor who would meet with a group of LGBTQ leaders? Which evangelical pastor would explain herself/himself on hers/his beliefs to such a group? Which evangelical pastor would support the construction of a gay homeless shelter in Humboldt Park?
For those who live and work in the 26th Ward would know that a great Alderman like Billy Ocasio would never choose a replacement who would not work for and support the diverse experiences and initiatives of this community. Furthermore, it is from De Jesus' discontents whom I see building the racist, sexist, and elitist so-called "Boystown" and not those institutions of Paseo Boricua-Humboldt Park that are in the 26th Ward. Furthermore, as the Puerto Rican (and Latina/o) community continues to suffer gentrification (which De Jesus is against) then there will not be a forum in which to dialogue about important issues such as these. Being a "Latina/o leader" means nothing if you do not have a community to lead. ¡Fuácate!
I reprint it here with an interest of giving fair play to those who might be gay and still support De Jesús [Xavier has additional thoughts on the issue over on his blog]. Still, to his rhetoric question of:
Please name an evangelical pastor who would meet with a group of LGBTQ leaders? Which evangelical pastor would explain herself/himself on hers/his beliefs to such a group? Which evangelical pastor would support the construction of a gay homeless shelter in Humboldt Park?
I say: An evangelical pastor who has his eyes on a political career and will say anything to get there (see Pentecostal preacher Ruben Diaz, Sr.'s damaging path through the NYS Senate to see where I am coming from). Harsh? Maybe. But that's my sense and I hope that others won't fall for De Jesús' claim that he will do right by LGBT Latinos once he gets to the City Council when his record shows otherwise.
Last weekend I attended the annual Queens Pride Parade. I wasn't planning on it, but a friend was visiting from Venezuela and wanted me to take him.
As it turns out, it was quite alright, considering the wonderful weather and the increased participation of community groups at the parade (a surprise since participation had dropped consistently over the last few years).
Eventually, I ran into a few other friends and ended up at Friend's Tavern. It was so crowded that we never made it to the back patio this year. But, back in 2006, that's where I ran into my friend Carlos Arboleda for one last time (see photo above, right).
Carlos was a comrade in arms. A gay man born in Colombia, like me, who worked in the HIV prevention field, like me, and who, along with former buddy Daniel Castellanos and I, were sometimes referred to as "The Colombian Mafia". Over the last two decades, Carlos worked for a number of leading HIV prevention organizations and institutions including Gay Men's Health Crisis, the National Minority AIDS Council, the National Development and Research Institutes, the National Community Research Initiative of America, and POZ Magazine, among others, and was one of a long list of unsung Latino gay leaders in the fight against AIDS.
By the summer of 2006, though, I had lost touch with Carlos, which is why I was so glad to bump into him at Queens Pride in 2006. Unfortunately it would be the last time I saw him. In late April I received word that Carlos had passed away which was confirmed by a notice sent out by NMAC and, later, POZ. I also missed a memorial ceremony held at GMHC on May 26th, which I regret, but the one true thing remains: Carlos is gone and he leaves a silent legacy behind.
His friends and family have created an online memorial and, if you only found out that Carlos had passed away recently, I am sure they would appreciate you leaving a message on the site.
To do so visit this site which also has additional photos of Carlos provided by his friends.
A wonderful person and one of the three Colombian musketeers, he will be missed. Love you, Carlos. Rest in peace.
in my blood…my friends are my blood, my family is my blood, my father’s brother, tío José who died of AIDS, may he rest in peace, is my blood….Titi Rosi, one of my mother’s four sisters, is my blood. She was infected by tío Josean, her first love, may he rest in peace. She found out she was HIV positive the day more life came to her life, the day she found out she was going to be a mom, which we celebrated last Sunday here in New York [on Mother's Day]. My two cousins, her children, who thank God are negative, are also my blood.
I was thinking…
About the Caribbean, about how “polluted” we supposedly are, that for some, we are like a plague, just like AIDS. Because in the Caribbean we have been able to mingle as a people, because we are and have been able to take in all races, all colors…
And I was thinking…
That if I’m Caribbean… that if I am a son and I’m the blood of strong, brave and wonderful women, that I also have to have "the ovaries", the strength, to dare to be positive to HIV, to dare to get tested…. to dare to talk about it openly with my family….with my friends… And I call upon all Latinos to pay tribute to our mothers…and to be positive to AIDS. It's the best way to prevent it, to fight it, and to finally find a cure for it.
And I am still thinking…
With those words, the Puerto Rican reaggaeton superstar has agreed to become this year's International Ambassador for the Latino Commission on AIDS through a press release to be made public later this afternoon. His girlfriend, Denise Quiñones, who won the Miss Universe crown in 2001 and was also a past Ambassador for the Commission's, has long supported HIV/AIDS and LGBT rights as well, so it was along-time coming for the singer to publicly join her in advocating for an end to AIDS.
As perhaps the most popular singer in reggaeton, René's influence on Latino youth cannot be underestimated. It is my hope that he will use his newfound visibility on the issue not only to address HIV/AIDS in our communities but also how it overwhelmingly affects Latino gay men in what is still a homophobic culture. Calle 13 speaking out on homophobia and it's impact on the Latino community - and it's role on HIV transmission - would be the next step. Let's hope he goes there. And soon.
Bronx-native Ronald Gonzalez, who dedicated his life to improving the life of disenfranchised youth and was a long time HIV prevention and gay men's health advocate, was among those who died when a plane crashed a week ago just outside Buffalo.
Ronald Gonzalez, the director of the New Brunswick School-based Youth Services Program, was among the passengers who were on Continental flight 3407 when it crashed outside Buffalo Thursday night, killing 50 people.
Gonzalez, 44, was on his way to visit family in Buffalo, said Jeffrey Vega, president of New Brunswick Tomorrow.
The youth services program, which provides services to city schools, such as mental health counseling for students and their families, case management, youth employment, tutoring, and New Brunswick High School's Parent Infant Care Center, is part of New Brunswick Tomorrow, a private, non-profit organization.
"He wasn't somebody who had an ego. It wasn't about him, It was all about the children," said Vega. "He was dedicated to helping kids and families that were disadvantaged."
Vega said Gonzalez worked long hours, and moved three blocks from New Brunswick High School, where his office was, just to be closer.
"He worked round the clock, very hard, to make the program a success," said Vega
Gonzalez came to New Brunswick from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in Princeton, where he was a National Urban Fellow. Previously, he was executive director of Alianza Latina, a nonprofit organization addressing HIV/AIDS in Buffalo, N.Y.; and also education services director and community educator of AIDS Community Services in New York.
Gonzalez also volunteered at a fitness center in East Harlem, N.Y., where he led free exercise classes for the poor.
Yes. He certainly seems to have been an amazing guy and, considering he worked in similar fields, I am a bit surprised we never met.
Amazingly, the Ledger's account of his accomplishments is only partial and so is that of New York City's WCBS, Rochester's Democrat and Chronicle and even that of he Associated Press, among other mainstream media. You wouldn't know, by these reports, that Gonzalez was an openly gay man or that he also was known for his work in promoting better health practices by gay men.
Leave it to gay community newspapers and blogs to tell that story.
Gonzalez, an openly gay man, worked to educate gay youth and young adults about health and safe-sex both through his work at Aids Community services and in collaborative programs at Gay and Lesbian Youth Services of Western New York.
My friend and 'Bottom Monologues' co-coordinator Erik Libey informed me today that his friend and colleague, Ron Gonzalez, was aboard Continental Flight 3407 when it crashed last week, killing all 50 passengers and crew members. Ron has a long history of fabulous work within the Gay Men's Health movement, and will be missed.
Trevor's post elicited a response by Erik which reads, in part, as follows:
In the days since the accident, much press has been written about Ron---and all of that press has highlighted the amazing man that he was...but much of it has also "de-queered" him by failing to reference him as a gay man. For me, however, Ron was above all else an articulate, intelligent and EMPOWERED queer man. He was unashamed of himself or his community and he worked tirelessly, both professionally and personally, to make the lives of queer people better. It is profoundly heartening to see his life celebrated in queer spaces by queer people.
A hunch tells me that the omission in details of Gonzalez' past work with LGBT communities probably stems from any official statements released by his family highlighting his life's work rather than from media oversight.
At the time D'Amico said they were in a "serious dating relationship."
I don't know if the relationship survived over the years but the Star Ledger certainly knew that there were other aspects of Gonzalez' life which were kept off the profile they printed after his death.
Archbishop Rosendo Huesca y Pacheco, leader of the Puebla Archdiocese in Mexico, has said that seminary candidates will not be tested for HIV - as originally announced on January 26th - as part of enforcing a church ban on gay men and HIV positive individuals ("Puebla Archdiocese cancels conducting HIV tests on priesthood hopefuls", NotieSe).
The plan had drawn an outcry from Mexican human rights advocates who warned that the church was in violation of anti-discrimination and right-to-privacy federal policies.
In a press conference held on Tuesday, Huesca said that the HIV ban was still very much in effect but claimed that the church would drop plans to test every potential seminarians due to lack of funds to implement the plan. Instead, according to NotieSe, Huesca "invited" those interested in joining the priesthood to get a general medical check-up before joining the church.
Huesca said that the Puebla Archdiocese "values, respects, promotes and defends the human rights of everyone without distinction, for which it will never approve any form of discrimination" and said that banning HIV positive men from priesthood was akin to telling a potential mountain climber to refrain from the sport if a medical test detected heart disease.
He said that the church banned all men with HIV because such an individual "dies half way through, will only lose his years, his strength" and because the church "does not have the means to cure him."
In a press conference held a week ago, Puebla Archbishop Rosendo Huesca Pacheco (right) announced that all those who wish to become priests by joining the city's seminaries will be tested for HIV and rejected if the test comes back positive, a practice that was now in effect.
"They undergo tests including HIV, so that someone who is sick can't get in through the cracks," he said, "We pay attention to this, we are not asleep, but sometimes things get past us, but if you are sick we do not accept you" (Proceso, Jan. 26, 2009).
He reiterated that gay men were banned and said that those who wished to become priests would have to undergo a series of "psychological" tests as well to make sure they were fit for priesthood.
Archbishop Huesca was responding to an initiative by Violeta Lagunes Viveros, a legislative representative from the region, who said she would introduce a bill to modify the Civil Code of Puebla to define pederasty as a crime - and include aggravated charges for church ministers or educators who are found to have abused children.
"The crime of pederasty does not exist in the legislature, as such, since there is a designation for crimes of corruption of minors, human trafficking, child pornography, rape and kidnapping", Lagunes said while asking for the Archbishop's support of the bill (Milenio, Jan. 20, 2009).
But wait! What does child abuse have to do with HIV positive men who seek priesthood? Or gay men for that matter? Ah, never mind, this is the leadership of the Mexican Catholic church we are talking about. They think all of it falls into the same basket.
Which brings us back to the Archbishop's actual response to the petition that he back a bill that would punish pedophiles:
“I do not have that data [on numbers of members of the priesthood that have abused children], it seems to me that it's a topic on which I have no knowledge nor do I master it, this being criminal law, I have no idea how penalties are determined, in terms of canonical law, pederasty is indeed punished, the first step of punishment is suspension, where [a priest] cannot lead mass or anything, but continues to be a priest, and the next is to completely remove him from the priesthood" (Periodico Digital, Jan. 25, 2009).
In other words: No, he will not support a bill that condemns pederasts.
The archbishop's statements have caught the attention of civil rights leaders in Mexico. Brahim Zamora Salazar, director of the non-profit organization Democracy and Sexuality, says that the church in Puebla is violating federal laws that prevent discrimination against HIV positive individuals.
“It is irresponsible for the priests to conduct a discriminatory act defined by the 'Federal Law to Prevent and Eliminate Discrimination' and by the 'Mexican Official Norm 010-SSA2-1993 for the Prevention and Control of Infections by HIV'," he said, "Worst of all is that, then, with what moral quality will they ask that there be no corruption, impunity, if they are the first to disrespect the law?" (NotieSe, Jan. 29, 2009).
Zamora said that a group of leaders from non-governmental organizations be traveling to Puebla to personally hand a copy of the law to Archbishop Huesca since "it is obvious he doesn't have knowledge of it".
He also said that, with access to appropriate treatments, someone who was HIV positive can be as healthy as others and engage in any activity or lead his or her life as anyone else does and questioned defining anyone who is HIV positive as being sick or ill.
I must have met the man more than a few times but, for the life of me, I can't remember a single encounter. I wasn't living in New York when he became the first openly gay Latino man to be elected to the New York City Council in 1991, but I certainly was involved in city politics by the time he left the Council in 1997, and had become well-aware of his notorious reputation.
Last week his name crossed my mind as in "Whatever happened to..." Now comes word that Antonio Pagán (right) died on Sunday at the age of 50 at Beth Israel Medical Center of a heart attack.
You might think that the Latino LGBT community would be mourning his loss and declaring him the Harvey Milk of our generation but let's say that: 1) Aside from past articles archived at The New York Times there is little online material to make others aware of his historic run for office (I mean, was he the first openly gay Latino to be elected to political office in the United States?); and 2) Hm, how can I put this gently? By all accounts he was a brilliant man but also an asshole who held petty grudges against enemies and pushed policies that were an anathema to the people he represented (not that I can't think of a few people in political office that fit that description).
Paul DeRienzo put it best when he wrote the following in response to a NY Times' City Room blog report on Pagán's passing:
Antonio Pagan was a brilliant man, but also a petty and personally vindictive one who did not embody the values of the majority of residents of the Lower East Side. He was an advocate for landlords and big business and a close associate of Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Mr. Pagan’s decisions closed community gardens, community centers and evicted residents, while driving up rents in what is still fundamentally a poor and struggling neighborhood. He was also directly involved in instigating a police riot in Tompkins Square Park on August 6th, 1988 that caused hundreds of injuries to local residents. That riot happened because Mr. Pagan and others made decisions about the rights of homeless people living in the park in secret, while conspiring with police officials behind the back of the community. Mr. Pagan will not be missed as a political leader in our neighborhood, but most feel sorrow that a young man should be cut down in his prime. My condolences to his family, but to all the poor people who suffered because of Mr. Pagan’s desire to have as he once said "my piece of the rock,” they deserve condolence as well.
At that site, some defend him but most are vitriolic in the hate they spew against Pagán (he would probably rejoice in the fact that his actions still bring so much venom a decade after his City Council stint).
As for the cause of death: There is some online chatter that Pagán might have died after a longtime battle with HIV/AIDS which certainly is pure speculation at this point in time. But if that is the case, and those close to him are uncomfortable with disclosing his HIV status, what does that say about a man who was among the founding board members of the still-existing nonprofit organization Hispanic AIDS Forum? Or - if it is true that he had been battling HIV/AIDS - was it his personal wish that if he died others would not find out that he was HIV positive?
If that is the case, it certainly honors Pagán's conflicting personae, but it also speaks to how in a certain segments of the Latino community - even among openly gay folk - AIDS is still silenced.
Interestingly, since Pagán was elected to the City Council representing the Lower East Side of Manhattan, his successors have also been of Puerto Rican descent and openly gay. First came Margarita López who held the seat from 1998 to 2005 before she sought higher office when term limits came into effect, followed by Rosie Méndez who currently holds the seat.
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