Tag Archives: HIV

Lambda Legal Sues Pentagon For Firing HIV+ Airmen

Just in from Lambda Legal: Today, Lambda Legal and OutServe-SLDN, with partner law firm Winston & Strawn, filed a lawsuit on behalf of two HIV-positive members of the United States Air Force who were given discharge orders just days before the holiday season. Lambda Legal and OutServe-SLDN filed the lawsuit, Roe and Voe v. Mattis, in the U.S. District Court …

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BRITAIN: MP Discloses HIV+ Status To Fight Stigma

The Guardian reports: The Labour MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle has used a debate in the Commons to announce he is HIV positive, making a personal speech he said was intended to tackle the stigma still associated with the condition. The first parliamentarian to make such an announcement in the Commons, and the second MP to announce they are HIV positive, Russell-Moyle …

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Pentagon Defends Plan To Expel HIV+ Service Members

Bloomberg reports: The Trump administration defended a new military policy that will allegedly result in HIV-positive service members being fired in violation of their constitutional rights when it takes effect Oct. 1. The “Deploy or Get Out!” directive is intended to improve military readiness by weeding out soldiers who can’t deploy overseas for more than 12 consecutive months “for any …

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DNC Blasts Trump Over HIV/HPV Report: Americans Need A President Who Actually Knows The Difference

From Lucas Acosta at the Democratic National Committee: I’m sure you saw the news yesterday that in ​multiple​ meetings President Trump asked Bill Gates the difference between HIV/AIDS and HPV. Seriously. Maybe Trump should ask some of his friends for some advice before he starts asking Bill Gates? He could have easily started by asking members of the Presidential Advisory …

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Bill Gates: Trump Asked Me At Two Separate Meetings If There Is A Difference Between HPV And HIV [VIDEO]

The Guardian reports: Bill Gates, the billionaire entrepreneur and philanthropist, has claimed Donald Trump twice asked him the difference between HIV and HPV and knew a “scary” amount about Gates’s daughter’s looks. The remarks were recorded at a recent Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation meeting, where Gates took questions from staff, according to MSNBC’s All in with Chris Hayes show, …

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BRITAIN: HIV+ Man Gets Life Sentence For Deliberately Infecting Grindr Hook-Ups And Then Taunting Victims

The Guardian reports: A hairdresser has been handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 12 years at Brighton crown court after deliberately trying to infect 10 men with HIV. Daryll Rowe, 27, from Brighton, showed no emotion as he was sentenced for five charges of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and five of attempting to do so. …

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Conchita Wurst Reveals HIV+ Status After Threat

The BBC reports: Eurovision winner Conchita Wurst says she is HIV positive, and has been receiving regular treatment for “several years”. The 29-year-old star said she had intended to keep the information private, but an ex-boyfriend had “threatened to go public”. “I will not give anyone the right to frighten me and influence my life,” she wrote on Instagram. “Coming …

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Aetna To Pay $17 Million For HIV Disclosures

STAT News reports: Health insurer Aetna has agreed to pay $17 million to settle claims that it breached the privacy of thousands of customers who take HIV medications. Attorneys for the plaintiffs announced the settlement Wednesday in Philadelphia. Court documents say the Hartford, Conn.-based company sent a mailing in envelopes with large, clear display windows that revealed confidential HIV information. …

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NEW YORK: Appeals Court Rules Woman May Sue State Over Photo Used In HIV Awareness Campaign

The New York Daily News reports: A Brooklyn woman’s lawsuit against the state for using her photo in an ad promoting the rights of HIV-positive people can proceed — because society has yet to fully accept people who have the virus, an appeals court ruled Tuesday. Avril Nolan — who does not have HIV — sued the state’s Division of …

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Membership

ABOVE: At the 1985 Xmas party described below: Me, Michael, and Barney. Originally posted May 2004. Reposted for World AIDS Day. Michael didn’t look good. We were at his annual Christmas luau party. Tons and tons of people in the house and the backyard. Standing in his kitchen, wearing a grass skirt and a ridiculous Santa hat covered in sequins, …

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Trump’s First World AIDS Day Proclamation Makes No Mention Of Gay Men, Trans People, Or People Of Color

Trump just issued his first World AIDS Day proclamation and it rather pointedly makes no mention of the lopsided impact of HIV infection on gay men, trans people, or people of color. Trump does, however, single out “adolescent girls and young women.” For comparison, here’s a bit of Obama’s 2016 message: In the United States, more than 1.2 million people …

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Aetna Envelopes Reveal Patients’ HIV Status

STAT News reports: Thousands of people with HIV received mailed letters from Aetna last month that may have disclosed their HIV status on the envelope. The letters, which Aetna said were sent to approximately 12,000 people, were meant to relay a change in pharmacy benefits. Text visible through a small window on the envelopes listed the patients’ names and suggested …

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STUDY: Life Expectancy Now Near Normal For Young HIV Patients On The Latest Antiretroviral Therapies

CNN reports: The latest treatments for HIV mean that young people living with the virus could live up to a decade longer, a new study says. The paper, published Wednesday, found that 20-year-olds who started with antiretroviral therapy in 2010 are predicted to live up to 10 years longer than those who first underwent similar treatment in 1996 — when …

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UTAH: State House Panel Advances Republican Bill That Would Criminalize Non-Disclosure Of HIV+ Status

Ben Winslow reports for Salt Lake City’s Fox affiliate: A bill that requires someone to disclose their HIV or AIDS status before engaging in any sexual activity or face a criminal penalty has passed a House Committee. Rep. Justin Fawson’s House Bill 369 passed out of committee Friday morning over objections from the ranking Democrat on the committee and an …

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Bill Gates Funds Implantable PrEP Pump

GeekWire reports: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is committing up to $140 million to help Boston biotech company Intarcia Therapeutics develop an HIV prevention device. The funds will help Intarcia adapt its Medici technology program to deliver a steady stream of HIV medication to healthy patients over an extended period of time. The matchstick-sized device is similar to a …

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Feds Add HIV To List Of Carcinogens

The change was made last week but we were rather busy with other things. Reuters reports: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said on Thursday it added seven new agents, including the HIV virus and an industrial solvent, to its list of carcinogens. The list identifies factors including chemicals, agents like viruses, X-rays and ultraviolet radiation, and divides …

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USB Stick Performs At-Home HIV Viral Load Monitoring

Gizmodo reports: Scientists in the UK have developed a USB stick that can quickly and accurately measure the amount of HIV is in a patient’s blood. The medical device was created by scientists at Imperial College London and tech firm DNA Electronics, and all it needs is a simple drop of blood to measure HIV-1 levels. It then creates an …

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Researchers Dispel HIV “Patient Zero” Myth

Scientific American reports: HIV probably arrived in the U.S. around 1971—a decade before AIDS was recognized as a disease and a dozen years before scientists discovered the virus that causes it—according to a new analysis of viral genomes from New York City and San Francisco. The genetic evidence upends a longstanding myth that a French-Canadian flight attendant started the U.S. …

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Glee Star Alex Newell Blows The Roof Off In Innovative HIV Prevention Dance Track For The CDC [VIDEO]

An innovative campaign and the song really IS fantastic. Mark King breaks it down at My Fabulous Disease: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has produced a music video that joyfully educates gay men about HIV prevention options. And it is foot-stomping fabulous. The song, “Collect My Love,” was released by The Knocks and it features vocals by …

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Prince Harry Live-Streams His HIV Test [VIDEO]

The BBC reports: Prince Harry has been tested for HIV in an effort raise awareness about the condition and encourage others to get checked out. The prince walked into a sexual health clinic in Burrell Street, central London to have the finger-prick test – for which he tested negative. The 31-year-old has made raising awareness about HIV and Aids a …

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