Tag Archives: HIV/AIDS

HIV Study Confirms Undetectable = Untransmittable

The Guardian reports: An end to the AIDS epidemic could be in sight after a landmark study found men whose HIV infection was fully suppressed by anti-retroviral drugs had no chance of infecting their partner. The success of the medicine means that if everyone with HIV were fully treated, there would be no further infections. Among nearly 1,000 male couples …

Read More »

ARIZONA: GOP Gov. Doug Ducey Signs Repeal Of “No Promo Homo” Ban On LGBT-Inclusive Sex Education

ABC News reports: A controversial 28-year-old Arizona law that bars HIV and AIDS instruction that “promotes a homosexual lifestyle” was swiftly done away with this week. The Arizona Legislature quickly voted on Wednesday and Thursday to advance Senate Bill 1346, which contains an amendment to repeal the provisions concerning homosexuality. Gov. Doug Ducey signed it minutes after the state Senate …

Read More »

Arizona Sued Over “No Promo Homo” Education Law

The Arizona Republic reports: Two gay-rights organizations are suing Arizona over its so-called “No Promo Homo” law, which bans public district and charter school HIV/AIDS instruction that “promotes a homosexual lifestyle.” The National Center for Lesbian Rights and Lambda Legal filed the lawsuit Thursday in federal court on behalf of Equality Arizona, a nonprofit that advocates for LGBT residents. An …

Read More »

Trump’s 2020 Budget Includes $280M To “Defeat HIV” But Also Cuts Global HIV/AIDS Relief Program By 22%

Time Magazine reports: President Donald Trump’s proposed 2020 budget includes nearly $300 million meant to “defeat the HIV/AIDS epidemic” in the U.S. — even as it calls for a 12% reduction in total funding to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The proposed budget calls for $140 million for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to …

Read More »

Second Man Ever “Cured” Of HIV Infection

The New York Times reports: For just the second time since the global epidemic began, a patient appears to have been cured of infection with H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS. The news comes nearly 12 years to the day after the first patient known to be cured, a feat that researchers have long tried, and failed, to duplicate. The …

Read More »

Top Pence Aide Apologizes For Old Column Attacking The “Perverted Lifestyles” Of People With HIV/AIDS

The Daily Beast reports: Vice President Mike Pence’s incoming chief of staff Marc Short disparaged people living with HIV and AIDS and claimed that the transmission of the disease was largely the result of “repugnant” homosexual intercourse in an early ’90s column for his college newspaper. Writing in a conservative publication at Washington & Lee University, Short criticized what he …

Read More »

REPORT: Trump To Pledge An End To HIV At SOTU

Politico reports: President Donald Trump plans to use Tuesday night’s State of the Union address to promise an end to the HIV epidemic in America, four individuals with knowledge of the planned remarks told POLITICO. Under Trump’s 10-year strategy, health officials would target the U.S. communities with the most HIV infections and work to reduce transmissions by 2030. The strategy …

Read More »

I Will Hold You Ten Times

As longtime readers know, there are four or five JMG entries that I repost every year. This is one of them. My dear friend Daniel Johnson, who threw the most kickass Groundhog Day birthday parties for himself, would have been 62 years old today. His was a life that burned brightly and I am illuminated still. Daniel Johnson, 1957-1997. I …

Read More »

Trump Administration Shuts Down NIH Study That Uses Fetal Tissue Implanted In Mice In Search For HIV Cure

The Washington Post reports: The Trump administration has shut down at least one government-run study that uses fetal tissue implanted into mice even before federal health officials reach a decision on whether to continue such research, which is opposed by antiabortion groups. A senior scientist at a National Institutes of Health laboratory in Montana told colleagues that the Health and …

Read More »

Membership: A Memory For World AIDS Day

ABOVE: At the 1985 Xmas party described below: Me, Michael, and Barney. Originally posted May 2004. Reposted for World AIDS Day. Membership 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 …

Read More »

DNC Blasts Pence For Multiple Lies In World AIDS Day Address, Failing To Mention LGBTQs For Second Year

Via press release from the Democratic National Committee: Today, Mike Pence hosted the White House’s World HIV/AIDS Day event. During the event, Pence failed to acknowledge the LGBTQ community for the second year in a row and lied about the administration’s record combating HIV. Here are some of the lies he told, and some of the truths he forgot to …

Read More »

BRITAIN: High Court Overturns Patent On PrEP Drug

Gay Star News reports: Britain’s High Court today ruled to overturn pharmaceutical company Gilead Science’s patent extension on Truvada. The HIV medication is also used for PrEP (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis). When taken as advised, this stops HIV negative people acquiring HIV. PrEP is not yet available on the NHS in England and Wales. The NHS is currently conducting a trial to …

Read More »

Prince Harry Sings At London’s Hamilton [VIDEO]

CNN reports: Prince Harry stole the show at London’s West End after bursting into song at the hit US hip-hop musical Hamilton. The Duke of Sussex gave those in the theater something to remember on Wednesday night after breaking into song at the end of a charity performance of the show, treating the cast to a song sung by the …

Read More »

Ricky Loved Madonna

Gentle readers, today is Madonna’s 60th birthday. Below is a short story that first appeared on JMG on this day in 2006, a date which, as you’ll see, plays a role in the story. Ricky Loved Madonna Twenty years ago today, August 16th 1986, I was a few months into a new job with AMC Theatres, a position that I …

Read More »

Famed “No Obits” Headline Turns 20 Years Old

Twenty years ago today San Francisco’s Bay Area Reporter published its now-famous “No Obits” headline, marking the first time in many years that the paper had no AIDS-related deaths to report. The accompanying article’s author, Timothy Rodriques, who at the time had himself recently tested HIV+, reflects this week in the same paper: That the article had such an impact …

Read More »

Bill Clinton: There Can Be No “Brexit” In HIV/AIDS Fight

Agence France-Presse reports: Bill Clinton pleaded with the world Friday not to abandon the campaign to rein in the HIV virus which still kills nearly a million people every year and infects twice as many. The world must “hold the line” until a vaccine or cure is found, or face “calamitous” consequences, the US ex-president told the 22nd International AIDS …

Read More »

Prince Harry And Elton Launch $1.2B AIDS Initiative

People Magazine reports: Following in the footsteps of his late mother Princess Diana, Prince Harry is continuing to prove himself a people’s prince this week at the 2018 International AIDS Conference in Amsterdam. With the help of longtime family friend Sir Elton John, 71, who also performed at Harry and Meghan Markle‘s wedding reception in May, the Duke of Sussex, …

Read More »

Trump Administration To Pay For Detention Of Migrant Children By Siphoning Funds From HIV/AIDS Program

Slate reports: The Office of Refugee Resettlement is preparing for the possibility of another surge in family separations. Internal documents obtained by Slate show that ORR has modeled a scenario in which the Trump administration’s border policies could require the detention of thousands more immigrant children. To help cover these potential costs, the documents say, HHS will seek supplemental appropriations …

Read More »

NIH Reports Advance In Search For HIV Vaccine

Via press release from the National Institutes for Health: An experimental vaccine regimen based on the structure of a vulnerable site on HIV elicited antibodies in mice, guinea pigs and monkeys that neutralize dozens of HIV strains from around the world. The findings were reported today in the journal Nature Medicine by researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and …

Read More »

Coming Soon: Documentary Series On Elizabeth Taylor

Deadline Hollywood reports: Bad Robot has set its first episodic television documentary since making a deal earlier this month with Undefeated producer Glen Zipper to generate non-fiction fare. It’s a documentary series on iconic actress Elizabeth Taylor. Bad Robot will do a series sanctioned and in partnership with House of Taylor. The aim is to make the definitive look at …

Read More »