The POZ Staff

By Dennis Daniel (Comptroller, Smart + Strong)

Early this morning, my partner and I, along with Broadway fans everywhere, huddled with our coffee in front of our TV in great anticipation of the moment we look forward to each year-the announcement of the nominations for this year's Tony Awards, which celebrate excellence on the Broadway stage.

But one man who will not have to wait until the June 9 ceremony to find out if he takes home a Tony is playwright and activist Larry Kramer. It has already been announced that he will be awarded the Isabelle Stevenson Award at this year's ceremony. For nearly 40 years, Isabelle Stevenson served as first the president and then the chairwoman of The American Theatre Wing, the organization that sponsors the Tony Awards. Her namesake award recognizes an individual from the theater community who has made a substantial contribution of volunteered time and effort on behalf of one or more humanitarian, social service or charitable organizations.

Kramer is being recognized for his work as the cofounder of Gay Men's Health Crisis, the world's first HIV/AIDS service organization. He is also the founder of ACT UP, the international network of activists who fought for the development and release of most HIV treatments.

By Jennifer Morton (Managing Editor, POZ)

I love birthdays. I know many people like to downplay the fact they are another year older, but not me. I love to celebrate my own birthday and the birthdays of my family and friends. I think everyone deserves a little something special on his or her birthday.

This May, God's Love We Deliver (GLWD)--a New York City-based organization that prepares and delivers meals to people living with HIV/AIDS, cancer and other serious illnesses--is having its 27th birthday. To celebrate, it has launched the God's Love Birthday Bake Sale. For more than 20 years, Chuck "The Baker" Piekarski has baked a personalized birthday cake for every God's Love client in its home-delivered meal program. GLWD delivers more than 2,000 birthday cakes each year.

God's Love Birthday Bake Sale allows individuals to sponsor a birthday cake for $10 each. For many clients, this is the only present they will receive on their birthday.

So please join me in supporting the work of God's Love We Deliver and help spread some birthday cheer. The Birthday Bake Sale runs through May 1.

Visit godslovewedeliver.org/bakesale for more info.

Here's a video about the campaign:

Editor's Note: The birthday bake sale was such a success that GLWD is extending it so people can sponsor birthday cakes all year long!

By POZ Staff

We've seen a lot in our time, but seeing this on dlisted.com made us gag:



In a week, this video has received more than 1 million views on YouTube.

The video has already gone viral with copycats and responses, etc.

Teens do crazy things, but this trend takes things to a very strange place.

Whether you think it's gross or funny (or both), let's agree it's dangerous.

If this were raising awareness about safer sex, we'd be a bit happier.

But it's not.

UPDATE: YouTube has apparently taken the video down. For the record, the video was of a teen girl sticking a condom up her nose and down her throat, then pulling it out of her mouth.

By Shanita Ealey (Intern)

I went to see Tyler Perry's Temptation last week, and I wish the movie had come with a disclaimer. You know, just a little preview preparing me for the unexpected time traveling that would place me in a period when the actions and behaviors of women are considered sinful and egregious. A time when sex was used as a mechanism to control women and create invisible boundaries as to what women can and cannot do. That would have been nice.

I bought my $12.50 ticket expecting to see an edge-of-your-seat erotic thriller with twists and turns. Instead, I was given an antiquated, biblical-type message about the roles of women, marriage, the impact of HIV/AIDS and the apparent innocence of men.

Now, I know how important religious messages are to Tyler Perry. The redemptive nature of religion is a theme heavily imbedded throughout many of his plays and films. And as a spiritual person myself, I can relate to some of his.

However, I have never been a fan of using religion to wage wars or legitimize oppression. Similarly, I have never approved of using it as a means of vilifying women or those who are living with HIV/AIDS. And unfortunately for Perry, this is exactly what Temptation does. It appears as if women just can't get past the legacy of Eve's acceptance of the forbidden fruit. And HIV/AIDS is a disease given to those who partake in sinful behavior and thus are deserving of the virus.

For Perry, the consequences only manifest in the main character Judith, as is noted with the exaggerated distortion of her figure, the loss of her marriage, and her apparent alienation from the community at the end of the film. Let me just point out that the man, Harley, who gave Judith the virus was vibrant during the entire movie and was definitely not ostracized from the community. Thus, suggesting that HIV/AIDS only impacts women who are unfaithful and leaves men virtually unscathed.

Seriously? This is simple and dangerously superficial. It is a misrepresentation of women and those living with HIV/AIDS. It resurrects dated notions about the roles of women and criminalizes those who are HIV positive. Rather than a source of entertainment, Temptation is nothing but a scare tactic supported by chauvinistic beliefs in order to "control" women.

I just want to remind Perry that we are living in 2013 and that it is OK to acknowledge that things have changed. Let's just hope he remembers that the next time he sits down to make a film.

By Jennifer Morton (Managing Editor, POZ)

Today is International Women's Day. Last night I saw a documentary film that reminded me why it's so important to raise political and social awareness of the struggles of women worldwide.

Positive Women: Exposing Injustice tells the stories of four HIV-positive women living in Canada. Produced and directed by Alison Duke, the film tackles the topic of HIV criminalization. In October 2012, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that people living with HIV have a legal duty to disclose their status before any sexual activity that poses a "realistic possibility" of transmitting the virus. In other words, the only time disclosure is not required is during vaginal intercourse in which a condom is used and the positive person has a low viral load. Failure to meet all requirements can result in conviction of aggravated sexual assault.

Too bad it doesn't matter whether there is intent to spread the virus or whether transmission even occurs.

One of the more shocking parts of the film was the story of a woman who was on trial for not telling her partner she was HIV positive at the beginning of the relationship (she later disclosed, but after they already had sex, once, during which they used a condom). Although it is startling to learn that individuals are criminalized for engaging in consensual sex, the truly shocking aspect is that her ex-partner--who beat her, threw her over a railing and threatened to brand her with a hot poker when she told him she was leaving him--was acquitted of assault charges after he filed nondisclosure charges against her.

What? Why the hell was he not convicted with assault? Is it really OK in Canada to beat someone just because he or she has HIV? Sadly, that was just one of the many injustices the women in the film faced.

After the screening I met Jessica Whitbred, one of the women profiled in the film. I was compelled to give her a hug for her honesty and bravery. Turns out she's in New York this week to attend the Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations as the global chair of the International Community of Women Living with HIV. This year's U.N. theme for International Women's Day is "A promise is a promise: Time for action to end violence against women."

I applaud Jessica and the other women featured in the film, as well as countless other women (and men) worldwide, who are empowered to speak out against the injustice of HIV criminalization.

As I headed home I listened to a song that always empowers me:

You can bend but never break me
'Cause it only serves to make me
More determined to achieve my final goal
And I come back even stronger
Not a novice any longer
'Cause you've deepened the conviction in my soul

Oh yes, I am wise
But it's wisdom born of pain
Yes, I've paid the price
But look how much I've gained
If I have to, I can do anything

I am strong (strong)
I am invincible (invincible)
I am woman

Happy International Women's Day. It is time for action. And it's time we all stand up against injustice.

To learn more about the film, visit positivewomenthemovie.org. To learn more about HIV criminalization, visit poz.com/criminalization.shtml.

Here's Helen Reddy singing the full song:


Fun Fact: The United Nations declared 1975 as International Women's Year and named "I Am Woman" its theme song.

By Michael Halliday (Art Production Manager, POZ)

On Monday morning the phone rang at my desk. It was a very good friend I had not spoken with in several years. He was calling from the hospital where he had been admitted with pneumonia about a week ago. He is HIV positive--a fact he knows I was aware of--but he had not told his doctors and did not want to tell them. As he had done for so many years, he was hoping that he could keep AIDS at bay by not admitting he had HIV.

He said to me: "If I have AIDS, I will have to take medications the rest of my life. I will turn into a disfigured monster, and I will be saddled with expensive bills." My job at POZ keeps me well informed, so I explained to him that many people who are properly treated do not have lipodystrophy (body fat changes) and that today's medications have become much more tolerable, so he would most likely be able to manage any side effects. Plus, I knew he had health insurance, so I assured him that his health care costs would be manageable.

I knew he'd read some AIDS denialist propaganda and that he did not want to face the facts. But I also knew that his denial was putting him in grave danger.

I told him that he needed to tell his doctors about his HIV so they could find out what was going on. If they didn't properly assess the issue, then his health could rapidly decline and he could be at risk of dying!

I finally managed to get through to him, and he agreed to let the doctors give him an HIV test. They soon discovered he had pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) and put him on treatment. He was very relieved when he started to recover quickly. For him, it was a wake-up call and a reality check.

For me it was a reminder that many of our HIV-positive brothers and sisters are not well informed. Many do not even know they are HIV positive. This lack of knowledge is putting them at risk. We all need testing and proper medical monitoring and treatment to preserve our health.

I'm glad my friend called me to ask for help. We need to support one another in times of crisis as well as on a day-to-day basis.

Answer the call! That's what friends are for!