August 2009 Archives

The CDC's 2009 HIV Prevention Conference in Atlanta was inspirational. From the opening session (which included a wonderful speech by Regan Hofmann, POZ's editor-in-chief) to the closing session, I saw a great mix of people dedicated to finding new methods for HIV prevention.

Using new media in HIV prevention was a theme throughout the conference, including a social media lab where people could drop in for hands-on peer-to-peer tutoring on using new media (I was a volunteer tutor). On Tuesday, August 25, Michelle Samplin-Salgado, new media strategist at AIDS.gov, moderated the session that I was a panelist on titled "Voices from the Public and Private Sector on Using New Media in Response to HIV/AIDS."

My fellow panelists included: Erik Ireland from the San Francisco AIDS Foundation (SFAF), who described the ins and outs of podcasting and The SFAF Podcast; David Novak from Online Buddies, Inc., which owns the gay social networking site Manhunt, who explained their STI partner notification initiative called Manhunt Cares; and Andy Woodruff from ISIS, Inc., who detailed two of their HIV prevention text-messaging campaigns, SexInfo and Hookup.

In the photo, from left: Samplin-Salgado, Ireland, me, Novak and Woodruff.

I talked about the new media strategies we use here at POZ, including POZ TV and social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. I spent most of my time talking about lessons I learned in my first year as a blogger for the POZ Blogs.

We had a full audience for our panel and the social media lab was constantly busy while I was there. I hope that attendees to both found our suggestions useful.

Thanks to all of the folks at the CDC and at AIDS.gov for making my experience as a panelist so enjoyable!


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I'm attending the 2009 National HIV Prevention Conference in Atlanta this week to participate in a panel on Tuesday about using new media effectively as a tool for HIV prevention. Sunday was the opening session of the conference and I'd like to share some highlights.

Tom Frieden, the new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), gave a videotaped welcome to the crowd. His mention of the Obama administration being committed to HIV prevention got a big applause from the crowd.

Kevin Fenton, the director of the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention (NCHSTP) at the CDC, was in person and also got a big applause when he mentioned the Obama administration. Fenton emphasized routine HIV testing as one of the important keys to reducing new HIV infections.

Fenton introduced a special video message from Jamie Foxx introducing "I Know" as the second stage of the "Act Against AIDS" campaign. Other celebrities in this new series of messages included Jody Watley and Beverly Johnson.

He also mentioned that Tuesday evening would be the first in a series of town hall meetings by the Office of National AIDS Policy to get input from the HIV/AIDS community on forming a national AIDS strategy.

Then our own Regan Hofmann, editor-in-chief of POZ, took the stage to moderate stories from people with HIV, including her own.

She shared an anecdote of someone being surprised at her being HIV positive. "Twenty years into the epidemic, it shouldn't shock anyone that I have HIV," she said.

Regan also talked about how the fight against breast cancer evolved and has found widespread support.

"We need to make fighting AIDS just as cool," she said. She received a slow but steady standing ovation, which started a trend for each following speaker.

The stories of people with HIV included: Craig Washington of AID Atlanta, who shared his experience as an African-American gay man, stated the importance of destigmatizing queerness in communities of color; Cecilia Chung of the San Francisco Human Rights Commission, who shared her experience as an Asian-American transgender woman, stated that topics such as immigration and economic justice are linked to the fight against HIV/AIDS; David Munar of AIDS Foundation of Chicago, who shared his perspective on health care reform as a "game-changing" development, wore a T-shirt with the phone number 800-828-0498 encouraging people to call Congress; and Del Rosa Harris of SisterLove, who gave a great quote in reference to black women not feeling empowered enough to change their behavior: "HIV is a symptom of this disease."

Then Magic Johnson spoke and also gave a great quote: "I've been good for HIV, but I've also been like a curse."

He explained that he understood that too many people took his example of being able to live successfully with HIV too far, not understanding the real world consequences of having to take HIV meds and dealing with HIV stigma.

During his speech, Magic walked around the cavernous auditorium, which was lined with pieces from the AIDS quilt. He was followed by dozens of admirers seeking photos with him, adding an unusually festive atmosphere to the serious subject matter.

Magic was challenged by a member of the audience to repeat the aforementioned quote as part of a media campaign to the general public. He responded by mentioning a new partnership with the CDC wherein he may address that subject.

Jonathan Mermin, director of the Division of HIV/AIDS at the NCHSTP, then gave a presentation on the state of the epidemic. Some of the points that stayed with me were: what if 20 percent (not the current 5 percent) of the federal budget were spent on HIV prevention; effective HIV prevention would save us billions of dollars; routine HIV testing is key because knowledge of HIV status is an effective prevention tool.

The session ended with a performance by the Atlanta Gay Men's Chorus. Of the three songs they performed, I was most impressed with their version of "Over the Rainbow." It promises to be an informative and energetic conference.


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The Qantas Wallabies, the Australian national rugby team, has posed for a series of photos to fight homophobia in a new media campaign in cooperation with the AIDS Council of New South Wales (ACON), Australia's largest community-based HIV/AIDS and LGBT health organization.

The ACON "This is Oz" project is an online photo gallery where people can upload images of themselves, friends and family with messages in support of LGBT issues. For this project, the Wallabies posed for photos with the Sydney Convicts, a gay rugby club.

The photos speak for themselves. I can't imagine a major professional sporting league in the United States even considering such an overt display of support for the LGBT community.

Here's a photo of the Wallabies:
Here's a photo of the Wallabies and the Convicts:
To see more photos, please visit the "This is Oz" photo gallery by clicking here.

Hat tip to Advocate.com for this story.


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File this story under WTF: An HIV-positive man who was almost gay-bashed to death has written a letter to the perpetrator apologizing to him for instigating the incident. He wrote: "I was at blame so it is to my strongest degree that you get out as soon as possible."

According to Gay City News, Dwan Prince was attacked in 2005 in Brooklyn by Steven Pomie. Prince flirted with Pomie, who responded by beating Prince twice with other assailants. Pomie tried to attack Prince a third time but was stopped by witnesses.

Pomie was convicted in 2006 by a jury for first-degree assault and first-degree assault as a hate crime. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison. However, a state appellate court in 2008 dismissed the conviction and ordered that Pomie be tried on lesser charges of second-degree assault and second-degree assault as a hate crime.

A trial date has been set for September 1st. In the letter, Prince writes that he hopes Pomie receives a lesser sentence of five years in prison. No doubt the letter will now factor into the proceedings moving forward.

Pomie beat Prince until he was bleeding and unconscious. He left Prince partially paralyzed. The New York Times reported in 2006 that Prince attempted suicide as a result of the attack. Nonetheless, Prince now believes that Pomie did him a favor by attacking him because it made him straight.

Prince told Gay City News: "I am looking to change my life these days ... I am looking for a female who I can marry and have my sperm washed and have children ... With me going to church, I feel myself that I must try to live by the Bible, I must try to live by God's law."

I can't make sense of this story. I know the writer, Duncan Osborne, is a journalist of the utmost integrity, so I know this story must be true. But how can it be true?! It is a sad and strange tale from the deep and dark corners of the homophobia zone.


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"HIV is Still a Big Deal" is a series of web videos that discuss HIV prevention and safer sex for men who have sex with men.

The first episode in 2006 covered safer sex and disclosure of HIV status. The second episode in 2008 covered HIV testing. A third video is being planned.

They recently subtitled the two current episodes in Spanish. I would've liked more information on the actual transmission risks, but these videos do a good job at making you think.

Watch the videos:

A la mañana siguiente (The Morning After)

La prueba (The Test)

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