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silverfoxesclub-digest In this issue:
-Group Roams Chat Rooms to Talk to Gay Men About AIDS
----------------------------------------
Subject: Group Roams Chat Rooms to Talk to Gay Men About AIDS
From today's NY Times.
Edward
Group Roams Chat Rooms to Talk to Gay Men About AIDS
WHERE men meet men for sex, health agencies are sure to follow. In San
Francisco, the bars in predominantly gay neighborhoods teem with safe-sex
posters, baskets of free condoms and fliers for counseling services.
Health officials hope that their message sticks in the mind of a patron
as he leaves with a willing partner.
But what to do when the meeting place is virtual, yet the sex that
follows is just as real? The Stop AIDS Project, a nonprofit agency that
has fought the spread of H.I.V. in San Francisco since 1984, is expanding
its outreach from the usual venues to include increasingly popular places
for arranging sexual encounters: Internet chat rooms.
The San Francisco Department of Public Health last month gave Stop AIDS a
$130,000 grant to expand its presence into chat rooms. The agency will
train four disease-prevention counselors to roam through chat rooms
popular with gay and bisexual men and answer questions about safe sex.
Recent studies have concluded that gay men are more likely to use the
Internet to find a sexual partner than lesbians and heterosexuals and
that people who use the Internet to arrange sexual encounters are more at
risk for sexually transmitted diseases (S.T.D.'s). Health officials say
gay men online and in general are not disclosing their H.I.V. status as
consistently as they once did.
"If we're working where people are meeting to have sex," said Steven
Gibson, program director for Stop AIDS, "we have to find ways to work on
the Internet."
While online, Marcel Miranda, the deputy director of outreach and
organizing, chats under the moniker StopAIDSMM. He works on an old
Macintosh Quadra 610 in the Stop AIDS office, which is between a pet
groomer and an exotic leather shop in the mostly gay Castro
neighborhood.
Mr. Miranda has answered dozens of queries from chat room participants in
the last month. Many express surprise that Stop AIDS is online, then
pepper him with sexually explicit questions about what constitutes risky
behavior.
Mr. Miranda writes back in graphic prose rarely heard from most
disease-prevention counselors.
"We're not the sex police," reads his America Online profile, which any
chat room participant can pull up. "We just want to make sure you have
the information to make informed choices."
In San Francisco, where city health officials estimate that 15 percent to
20 percent of the adult men are gay, the Internet has become a likely
place to find willing sex partners. In chat rooms like one on America
Online for gay San Francisco men, homosexuals can scan the profiles of
potential dates and carefully choose partners by age, race or sexual
interests. Suitors exchange telephone numbers or addresses, then often
meet for sexual encounters in which the participants know little more
than their partners' online nicknames, said Dr. Jeffrey Klausner,
director of the sexually transmitted disease unit at the city's public
health department.
The efficiency of such a system worries health officials because it
allows diseases to spread outside small groups of partners. In August
1999, San Francisco officials traced a cluster of six syphilis cases back
to the AOL chat room. Some of the men with the disease said they knew
their partners only by their online nicknames. America Online refused to
divulge the men's names to health officials, so PlanetOut, a Web site for
homosexuals, was dispatched to advise chat room members to seek disease
testing.
"Disease-prevention agencies are chronically understaffed and
underfunded," Dr. Klausner said, "so this new venue which facilitates
disease transmission places new demands on an already overstretched
prevention system."
In a study in San Francisco, which has not yet been published, one-third
of the gay men surveyed by public health officials reported having met
sexual partners on the Internet in the last year, compared with 13
percent of heterosexual men and 6 percent of women.
"We recognize that at least for some gay men, this is a very common way
in which they hook up with other partners," said Dr. Ronald Valdiserri,
deputy director of the AIDS division at the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention in Atlanta.
The Internet's role in the spread of sexually transmitted diseases is
still a relatively small worry for health officials, Dr. Valdiserri said,
noting that many people who were at risk could not even afford a
computer. However, he said public health workers should present their
programs wherever people were meeting for sex, including the Internet.
"Our approaches to H.I.V. and S.T.D. prevention have to evolve as
technologies evolve," he said. The Stop AIDS program "is not, in
practice, different from providing outreach services on a street corner
where injecting drug users might hang out or in a public park after-
hours where sex takes place."
Mr. Miranda, 44, proposed the online outreach largely because in the gay
chat rooms he visited, men would describe their physical features and
sexual interests, but rarely disclosed their H.I.V. status.
"There's a lot of assumption," Mr. Miranda said. "We're not disclosing
our H.I.V. status like we were a few years ago."
Several Web portals for homosexuals, like PlanetOut and Gay.com, offer
chat sessions and H.I.V.-AIDS resources, but the H.I.V.-AIDS resources
are often limited to one section of the site.
For Mr. Miranda and the project team he will soon assemble, the challenge
will be getting closer to the action without disrupting the interaction.
The grant from the San Francisco health department also includes money
for 10 Stop AIDS moderated chat sessions, called cyberforums, and two
real-life parties for chatters.
Most Friday evenings around 7, Billy Axelrod, 29, tosses on a red Stop
AIDS windbreaker and walks into a bar like the Giraffe, the Cinch or
Reflections. He introduces himself to the bartenders, then strikes up
conversations with the clientele. At the end of each conversation he asks
the other man to fill out a Stop AIDS sex survey.
He suspects that the denizens of an Internet chat room would find that
behavior intrusive.
"It's a different culture online - it's a different etiquette," Mr.
Axelrod said. "We don't want to go into a chat room and change the nature
of what's going on. We want to be a passive presence."
But that method raises concerns for some gay advocates. What's to stop
someone with no training from masquerading as a Stop AIDS counselor?
Elizabeth Kennedy, director of community for PlanetOut, said she
appreciated the intentions of Stop AIDS but planned to watch how its
counselors interacted on PlanetOut.
"Our primary concern is to assure that accountability and reliability are
kept a priority," she said. "We'd want to put in systems where users can
be assured that people are who they say they are."
Most nights on America Online there are five or six chat rooms
specifically for gay and bisexual men in San Francisco, each with 23
slots. On a recent evening, all the rooms were full. A participant in one
of the rooms said that Stop AIDS, if it conducted itself properly, should
find a welcoming crowd.
"As long as they aren't pushing themselves on people," the person wrote,
"I think it's a good thing."
------------------------------
Subject: Kissing may spread Kaposis sarcoma
Grabbed from one of the news WWW sites.
Edward
Virus that causes AIDS-related cancer found in saliva
Nov. 8 - A form of the herpes virus that causes an AIDS-related skin
cancer appears to spread through kissing, researchers report.
HERPES VIRUS 8 was discovered six years ago and causes a skin cancer
called Kaposi's sarcoma, which causes purple skin blotches and can also
attack the internal organs. In the United States, the cancer occurs
almost exclusively in people with AIDS.
Some had suspected that the virus was transmitted through sexual
intercourse, but the new research from the University of Washington,
reported in this week's New England Journal of Medicine, contradicts that
idea.
Doctors had already known that the herpes strain is found in 11 percent
to 20 percent of otherwise healthy gay men. Among men infected with the
AIDS virus, the rate ranges from 30 percent to 54 percent.
Dr. John Pauk and others tested 39 gay men who were infected with the
herpes virus but did not have Kaposi's sarcoma. They found the virus in
30 percent of their saliva samples and mouth swabs, compared with 1
percent of anal and genital samples. When present, the virus levels were
also much higher in saliva than in semen.
"The important thing is it suggests that oral-oral contact plays some
role in transmission, although more study is needed to confirm that,"
Pauk said.
The study also found that homosexual men who engaged in "deep kissing" -
kissing that involves a lot of contact with saliva - appeared to be at
substantially higher risk of catching the virus.
Kissing is not generally considered a high-risk behavior for passing
sexually transmitted diseases.
"Our findings suggest that safer sex practices, such as consistent use of
condoms, although important in preventing other sexually transmitted
infections, may not protect against [herpes virus 8] infection," the
researchers said.
The findings are especially significant for people who have AIDS. In
healthy people, the virus generally does not cause illness. But like many
other diseases that kill people with AIDS, it usually affects those with
weakened immune systems. Thirty percent to 50 percent of HIV-infected
people who catch herpes virus 8 will eventually get Kaposi's sarcoma.
The research "definitely has public health implications for people
infected with HIV," said Dr. Ronald O. Valdiserri of the U.S. Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention. However, he said there was not enough
data to recommend that people with HIV avoid deep kissing.
Kaposi's sarcoma has been present for centuries in Southern Europe, the
Middle East and Africa. But it was rare in the United States until the
start of the AIDS epidemic in the early 1980s.
Experts say the virus is still largely confined to homosexuals in the
United States, and that is why kissing has not yet spread herpes virus 8
among heterosexuals.
Dr. Anna Wald, another University of Washington researcher, noted that
herpes virus 8 is closely related to the common Epstein Barr virus, which
causes mononucleosis, long known as the kissing disease.
"Teen-agers tend to get this when they start kissing," she said. "The
reason they get Epstein Bar virus and not herpes virus 8 is that most
people have Epstein Bar virus, but relatively few have herpes virus 8."
Dr. Patrick S. Moore of Columbia University, who discovered the virus,
said exposure to saliva may explain the high rate of infection in parts
of Africa, where more than 70 percent of people may carry herpes virus
8.
Other forms of the herpes virus cause chicken pox, shingles, cold sores
and genital herpes.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
Subject: RE: Kissing may spread Kaposis sarcoma
So what's the point.
There are three things that come to mind when I get
this kind of stuff:
1. Stories like this have every element that makes for good
news paper sales. That's why they get published. The
word "MAY" covers a lot of territory.
2. If we all live in fear, no one will have sex with anyone
and the human race will no longer exist. (Huh, might not
be a bad idea).
3. Be responsible in your sexuality, remember, even sex
with yourself can be dangerous.
end of comment.
------------------------------
Subject: Election protests
Ben Boxer notes: I have been
reading the world press and its
reported opinions of the election.
The consensus appears to be that
democracy is working because both
candidates are waiting on the
sidelines to see what happens next
instead of pushing each other aside
or allowing their supporters to
muscle in and seize power. There is
also much shaking of heads over the
antiquated Electoral College. The
Electoral College has been an issue
in other elections as well, but it has
always died down the instant the
losing side concedes and the new
powerline is established. What is
happening now is unprecedented. It
may be the straw that breaks the
back of the Electoral College system
if enough people rise up in protest. A
subscriber to one of the lists has
posted a Web site which records
what some people are doing about it.
I found it very interesting. It may also
interest some of you. The protests
are scheduled for Saturday,
November 11, 2000, which happens
to be the day the Electoral College
meets in Washington, D.C. However,
it all may be resolved by then
anyway, so don't get too excited yet!
Headline:
Text:
Of course we can't count on Bush to
do that, therefore a revote should be
held in Palm Beach County, where
over 19,000 Gore voters' ballots
were thrown away. Bush's lead in
Florida is less than 2,000 votes.
We The People need to show the
media and the parties that this will
not stand.
When Slobodan Milosevic clung to
power after a narrow election
defeat, thousands of protesters
rallied in every Yugoslav city, forcing
him to give up. Wouldn't it be ironic
if democracy was today stronger in
Serbia than in the USA?
The Web site is located at
http://geocities.com/countercoup/
Headline:
Text:
(The following is from an article on
the Web site of Podium Productions
Ltd.)
United States Congressman Barney
Frank was one of the first openly gay
U.S. politicians. First elected to
Congress in 1980, and now serving
his tenth consecutive term in the U.S.
House of Representatives, Barney
Frank has distinguished himself with
his impressive track record.
In a recent evaluation of Congress,
The Almanac of American Politics
said "Frank is one of the intellectual
and political leaders of the
Democratic Party ... political theorist
and pit bull at the same time."
A powerful and engaging speaker, he
is a fierce proponent of legalized
same-sex marriages, sexual
orientation counseling in public
schools, gays and lesbians in the
military, and a multitude of other civil
rights issues.
From: "SGMS"
Subject: Re: Frank coasts to easy victory
- ----- Original Message -----
Subject: Frank coasts to easy victory
A powerful and engaging speaker, he
is a fierce proponent of legalized
same-sex marriages, sexual
orientation counseling in public
schools, gays and lesbians in the
military, and a multitude of other civil
rights issues.
And he looks absolutely delicious!
Wonder how Barak felt about shaking a gay man's hand....
GRS
Subject: Re: Frank coasts to easy victory
Well, since Israel recently lowered the age
of sexual consent for homosexual males to
16, finally matching the same age as that
permitted for lesbians and heterosexuals,
I suspect it was a glad hand he extended
because I am sure he felt it made him look
good to a new constituency of teen-age boys!
Privately, he probably cringed, undoubtedly
aware of ol' Barney's once famous penchant
for party boys of the commercial variety
(over 17, of course)! BTW, what is the legal
age for gay male sex in France these days?
- ----- Original Message -----
Subject: Re: Frank coasts to easy victory
Wonder how Barak felt about shaking a gay man's hand....
GRS
Subject: Re: Frank coasts to easy victory
- ----- Original Message -----
Subject: Re: Frank coasts to easy victory
(over 17, of course)! BTW, what is the legal
age for gay male sex in France these days?
I *suppose* it's 16 like (almost) everywhere else in the E.U. Being 33
myself, attracted to older men, and therefore not worried about age limits
and the like, I have to admit I've never paid much attention to that kind of
issue.
Mind you, not many people *do* heed the law in that kind of domain. The
French aren't into underage stuff anyway on the whole, and there are
sufficient right-wing extremists (thwarted would-be aristocrats with names
which begin with "De La" or "Du") in the police and justice system who will
bust you anyway for public disorder or indecent exposure whatever your age
is.
GRS
Subject: Fw: Frank coasts to easy victory
- ----- Original Message -----
Subject: Re: Frank coasts to easy victory
The
French aren't into underage stuff anyway on the whole, and there are
sufficient right-wing extremists....
GRS
Subject: The Only Votes that Really Count
Ben Boxer says: Everybody wants to
know about the Electoral College
ONLY when election time comes,
mostly after the fact. This year, of
course, lack of knowledge about it
has made some people go out on a
limb and scream and yell, but I have
pulled together some facts below
Bob's letter to help you understand
what the College is.
Of course, what is really going on at
this time has little to do with the
Electoral College and a lot to do with
the same bipartisan fighting that has
blighted our government since the
Democrats took away the White
House from the Republicans in 1992,
fighting which has at least temporarily
changed the character of the way
business is done in Washington's
corridors of power. The spirit of
compromise, if not dead, is lame, like
our present lame-duck presidency.
I have found this election both
fascinating and exciting, as I did the
presidential races between Harry
Truman and Tom Dewey in 1948,
John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon
in 1960, and the heady time of my
intense involvement in the early days
of Ross Perot's 1992 run when I
campaigned for him in Northern
Nevada.
----- Original Message -----
Subject: Democracy?
Hi, Bob and guide dog Harley here. It
has always troubled me that we still
have the electoral college system; it
has been established that Gore won in
the popular vote, but still may not be
elected. This is not democracy to my
way of thinking. I think that all
elections should be based on one
person, one vote, and whoever gets
the majority wins. I do not understand
the reasons for the electoral college
system, or why it has been let to
stand. I know it had something to do
with the north against the south.
Bob and Harley
(Ben Boxer presents info below on the
Electoral College.)
Headline:
Text:
The electoral college is an invention
of the Founding Fathers, who, in
drafting the Constitution, sought a
way to achieve a national consensus
at a time of fierce local partisanship.
By giving each elector two votes and
requiring that at least one be for
someone not from his own state, the
organizers hoped to foster national
unity in the selection of a president.
It was once common for states to split
their electors based on the voting
breakdown within the state. Today
the candidate that wins a state takes
all of its electoral votes in every state
except Maine and Nebraska. Each
state decides for itself how to award
its electoral votes.
Electors are usually state party
officials or others chosen by the party
for their loyalty, but in rare instances
some have voted for candidates other
than their party's nominee. In 1976,
for example, a Washington elector
voted for Ronald Reagan instead of
the Republican Party's nominee,
Gerald Ford, and in 1988 a West
Virginia elector voted for Democratic
vice presidential candidate Lloyd
Bentsen for president and for
presidential candidate Michael
Dukakis for vice president. Many
states try to guard against such
"faithless electors" by administering
fines or other penalties to those who
are said to betray the public's trust.
Despite election day fanfare and
screaming newspaper headlines
announcing the winner in most
presidential elections, the outcome
does not become official until more
than a month later. On the first
Monday after the second Wednesday
in December (Dec. 18 this year),
electors gather in each state to vote
for president and vice president. They
then send the results to Congress,
where votes from all the states are
counted on January 6. Two weeks
later, on January 20, the candidate
who received the greatest number of
electoral votes is inaugurated as
president.
------------------------------
|
Ben Boxer notes: Barney Frank is one
of my personal heroes. He is openly
gay and has great presence which
demands respectful attention to his
opinon whether people approve of his
sexual orientation or not. He makes
no pointless display of being gay, but
simply IS what he IS. IMHO, that's
the way it should be.