US Stats On Condom Usage (Or Not) Among Gay Men

AIDS 2012: On The Female Condom

Joe.My.God. reports:

One group at the AIDS Conference in DC is trying to bring attention back to the female condom for gay men. Via press release:

‘Strange,’ ‘unnatural,’ even ‘squishy’ sounding – these are just a few of the comments overheard in discussions around female condoms. Yet, listen to those who have actually used them and the conversation changes: ‘thinner,’ ‘more pleasurable’ and ‘life saving’ are the descriptors used. Female condoms are even touted by gay men as providing a more “gratifying” alternative to the male condom. So why haven’t we heard more about female condoms? 

The Universal Access to Female Condoms Joint Programme (UAFC), a collaboration of more than 60 global partners, knows that female contraceptives remain taboo in some circles. Just months ago, Michigan State Representative Lisa Brown was scolded for uttering the word…wait for it… ‘vagina’ on the House floor. 

To detract from the adolescent nature of national discourse on topics deemed overly feminine, UAFC is trying something different. Really different. The coalition is aiming to set a Guinness World Record at this week’s AIDS Conference – a chain of 20,000 Paper Dolls (equivalent of almost four miles) intended to get people talking about female condoms, with the hope that it will lead to better (and more comfortable) dialogue surrounding female sexual health and family planning.

Have you ever tried one?

No. It never occured to me. Aren’t a little bit less effective than male condoms when used by Straights? If so, how can it be more effective for gay men than male condoms? They might feel better, but regarding HIV-AIDS prevention, how effective are they?

LOS ANGELES: Porn Producers Threaten To Leave The City After Condom Vote

The Advocate reports:

Some of the major players of Los Angeles’s adult film industry say they will take their productions out of town if the city council enforces the mandatory use of condoms on film sets.

Last week, the Los Angeles city council approved an ordinance sponsored by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AFH) that would deny film permits to productions that violated the already-on-the-books law requiring the use of condoms.

“It’s going to be interesting to see how in fact they do try to enforce [the law] and who’s going to fund it, and all of the time and effort they’re going to spend,” said Steven Hirsch, co-founder of adult entertainment company Vivid, who predicts that the new ordinance will cause producers to take their film shoots out of the city.

Christian Mann, general manager of Evil Angel, agreed. “The only thing that the city could potentially achieve is losing some film permit money and driving some productions away, but you can’t actually compel an industry to create a product that the market doesn’t want,” he said.

“Let’s make one thing clear,” said AHF spokesman Ged Kenslea, “Condom use on adult film sets is, and has been, the law in California under blood-borne pathogens regulations,” he said. “It is just a law that has not been uniformly enforced or followed. This film permit ordinance that the city council approved today provides another enforcement mechanism to make sure that adult film producers are complying with existing California law.”

The measure needs to be approved by Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa before it can be put into effect.

Read more here.

LOS ANGELES: City Council Adopts Condom Requirement For Porn

Joe.My.God. reports:

The Los Angeles City Council has approved a measure requiring the use of condoms in all porn productions. Via press release from the AIDS Healthcare Foundation:

In an historic move, during today’s City Council meeting, the Los Angeles City Council adopted the proposed ordinance, ‘City of Los Angeles Safer Sex In The Adult Film Industry Act,’ a ballot initiative that has recently qualified to be placed on the June 5, 2012 election despite legal action by Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen Trutanich to block the measure from appearing before City voters on the ballot. The ballot measure would condition the issuance of City film permits to adult film producers to condom use in the subsequent adult films shot and produced in Los Angeles.

Today’s news probably makes the ballot measure moot. The LA City Attorney had filed a suit against the referendum, arguing that the state is the supreme authority in workplace safety.

Louis Vuitton Condoms, Designed By Irakli Kiziria 

The Huffington Post reports:

You’ve heard of top-notch bedding and lingerie brands, but is there room in bed for another designer?
One artist seems to think so.
Georgia Republic architect Irakli Kiziria has designed a Louis Vuitton condom, enveloped in the label’s notorious brown packaging and adorned with what looks like raised lettering (for enhanced pleasure, we can only assume). The luxury rubbers are priced at $68 each, according to the “official” website. (Scroll below for photos.)
To put the price in perspective, $68 could buy you about six 12-packs of regular condoms.
But before you head to your nearest Louis Vuitton retailer, you should know the condoms aren’t available in stores. (Bummer, right?)
In fact, Kiziria has no affiliation with the Louis Vuitton company and drafted the condoms in collaboration with Design Provocation as a design-project, according to the website. The team hoped to launch the product on World AIDS Day and donate the proceeds to amfAR, The Foundation For AIDS Research.

AUSTRALIA: Safer Sex Activists Act Out Actual Anti-Gay Letters To The Editor

AUSTRALIA: Safer-Sex Campaign Reinstated After Ad Company Relents

Joe.My.God. reports:

Brisbane’s safer-sex ad campaignhas been reinstated after widespread outrage across Australia. The campaign had been yanked after complaints from an anti-gay Christian group.
Announcing their backflip this afternoon, the company said it had changed its mind because it did not realise it had been subjected to a campaign from the Australian Christian Lobby to remove the posters. “Following ACL Queensland director Wendy Francis’ acknowledgement that the complaints received by Adshel, Brisbane City Council and the Advertising Standards Bureau regarding QAHC’s campaign have been orchestrated by the Australian Christian Lobby, Adshel is reinstating the ‘Rip and Roll’ campaign,” a company press release said. “Adshel earlier responded to a series of complaints by removing the campaign from its media panels yesterday. None of the complaints indicated any liaison with the ACL, so Adshel was made to believe that they originated from individual members of the public.”

Viagra Condom Nears Approval

The Advocate reports:

Forget about taking a pill.The Wall Street Journalreports that a new condom aimed at helping men who have difficulty maintaining an erection is nearing approval in Europe.
The “Viagra” condom, as it has been dubbed in the press, was developed by U.K. biotech company Futura Medical and licensed to the maker of Durex condoms. Research suggests that men who have trouble maintaining an erection are less likely to use condoms consistently and more likely to have unprotected sex.
The Wall Street Journal says Futura Medical has yet to confirm if it will move forward with plans for FDA approval stateside. Unlike Viagra, the condom is not intended for men with erectile dysfunction in general, but for men who have trouble maintaining an erection while wearing a condom.

Click here for more info.

I knew we would come down to this. We haven’t figure out how to help women with their hot flashes during menopause but sure we know how to keep a man hard. It’s a man’s world, babe. 

In Defense of Planned Parenthood

S.F. Distributes Female Condoms to Gay Men

HIV Plus reports:

On Valentine’s Day, San Francisco became the first city in the U.S. to distribute free female condoms to gay men, KGO News reports. 

The condoms, handed out at City Hall and other public places Monday, were courtesy of the San Francisco health department. They are made of nitrile, a material typically found in protective gloves.

The female condoms, marketed under the name FC2, have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration only for use in heterosexual sex. However, the FDA may consider approving them for gay men as well, according to the health department, which said they could be a better option than traditional condoms for preventing the spread of HIV. 

Soon, local buses will show advertisements promoting the use of female condoms for both women and gay men.

Ok, I’m confused. They should get rid off the gender differentiation on the name and come up with other names. May I suggest “Top” and “Bottom” condoms? Too complicated or too graphic?

RUSSIA: Gay Condom Ads Launch

Graphic PSA Warns of HIV Dangers

The Advocate reports:

A New York City department of health PSA graphically warns gay and bisexual men that contracting HIV could lead to other health problems like bone loss, dementia, and anal cancer, in a new campaign launched Tuesday.

The “Never Just HIV” campaign is an attempt to prevent people from feeling that HIV is not as harsh as a disease as it once was simply because treatments are more available and effective. The public service announcement, which briefly shows a person with anal cancer, will air on broadcast television for two weeks and then reappear in January for a additional two weeks. 

“I hope all New Yorkers will heed the stark message of this campaign and take personal responsibility for their health and that of their partners,” Thomas Farley, New York City health commissioner, said in a statement Tuesday. “We have made tremendous progress in the fight against HIV/AIDS, but this is no time for complacency. HIV continues to take a major toll on men who have sex with men — regardless of whether they identify as gay — and the virus is spreading more each year in those under 30. This spot should serve as a wake-up call. Unprotected sex is still dangerous, and more partners means more risk.”

According to the department, the PSA targets men who have sex with men, a group that accounts for about 44% of new HIV diagnoses annually in New York City. 

Along with the PSA campaign, the department makes these recommendations: Use condoms and lubricant when having sex, and avoid alcohol and drugs when a sexual situation may occur because people are less likely to use protection when under the influence.

Don’t watch the video if you’re eating.

Porn Star Derrick Burts Announces He’s HIV-Positive 

The Huffington Post reports:

Derrick Burts, the porn actor that tested positive for HIV, has revealed his identity and called for major changes to the industry, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Burts, who performed in both straight and gay porn under the names Derek Chambers and Cameron Reid, was previously cloaked as Patient Zeta after testing positive at Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation in Sherman Oaks on October 8. He called for mandatory condom use in porn and better sex disease testing.
The clinic announced that he had acquired it through personal intercourse, a charge he disputes. “There is no possible way. The only person I had sex with in my personal life was my girlfriend,” he told the paper.
Burts said the clinic told him that they traced the disease back to a “known-positive” gay cast mate. Before HIV, Burts said he had contracted herpes, gonorrhea and chlamydia in the business.

To come out and say that out loud is a very brave thing to do.

Catholics Defy Vatican, Hand Out Condoms

The Advocate reports:

Some Catholic health workers in Africa have been slipping condoms to the public for years, despite ongoing hostility toward contraceptive devices to prevent pregnancy and transmission of sexually transmitted diseases.Only recently has Pope Benedict XVI said that condom use is permissible in some limited cases, mainly to hinder the spread of HIV. However, Catholics like the Reverend Didier Lemaire in Johannesburg, South Africa, have been distributing safe-sex information, as well as condoms, under the radar.
For more, go to HIVPlusMag.com.

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