This Paramore band totally sucks so we're cruising for guys on my iPhone. According to that amazing app Grindr, there is a gay/bi/curious guy in the building!
Me and Scotty are going to see No Doubt perform tonight at The Palace of Auburn Hills! Wew-hew! Sadly, we have to sit through Paramore open the show - but the wait will be worth it I hope!
Look at their fab set list!:
Setlist:
Spiderwebs
Hella Good
Underneath It All
Excuse Me Mr.
Ex-Girlfriend
End It On This
Simple Kind of Life
Bathwater
Guns of Navarone
New
Hey Baby
Running
Different People
Don't Speak
It's My Life
Just A Girl
Encore:
Rock Steady
Stand and Deliver
Sunday Morning
Agghhh!!!!!! I only wish they were playing "Tragic Kingdom" -- that song is such a fucking powerhouse. Actually I love all the songs on that album. Such a treasure!
"STRAIGHTLACED: HOW GENDER GOT US ALL TIED UP"
Director: Debra Chasnoff
Trevor's Rating: 5 / 5 Stars
I have a confession: I broke down crying in the middle of this screening. This wonderful new feature documentary from Academy Award winning director Debra Chasnoff (from It's Elementary fame) features a variety of youth's perspectives on the impact of gender roles on men, women, and everyone in between.
Radical / separatist feminists have for far too long refused to incorporate an analysis of men's lives into their analysis and politics. Men, they would say, are studied in every other department on campus. Why give their lives any more attention than it already has? I believe that their brand of feminism ultimately ended up becoming the butt of jokes because of this refusal -- because men were made out to be the enemy, and because a feminist analysis gave men few tools to understand how their own gender impeded their ability to live life fully. Old school feminism made it seem like it was always easy to be a man and always difficult to be a woman. This was never true.
Straightlaced presents a new kind of analysis of gender that drops the insistence that it is women who only matter when we talk about gender. In this fabulous piece, we hear from all kinds of young people with a variety of gender presentations -- and a variety of racial and ethnic backgrounds (which, as we all know, work with gender to produce variations on similar themes). It takes young people's voices and experiences seriously, which is certainly where it draws its strength. It avoids jargon. It's matter of fact. And it's incredibly powerful.
As I mentioned at the start, I had a mini-breakdown halfway through the film when they tell the story of a flamboyant young boy who committed suicide. His friends and neighbors were interviewed while planting a memorial garden, and they had colorfully painted picnic tables with messages of tolerance and acceptance. When they panned to a table painted "Hate Free Zone" with a heart around it, the waterworks started coming. I couldn't hold back. The pain of growing up as a sissy boy in an intolerant culture flooded me with emotion. In different circumstances, would that have been my story?
The tears didn't stop there. Hearing so many young people speak openly and frankly about the way that gender restricts their actions, emotions, friendships, and sexualities kept my cheeks damp for most of the film. I can't recommend this film more -- particularly for educators who can use this film as a resource in the classroom. Once released on DVD, Groundspark (the film's producers) will I believe make available a set of classroom resources -- which would be a wonderful asset to educators.
This is 21st century feminism, folks. In fact, we need a new word for this kind of analysis. Feminism doesn't cut it. (Gender studies, perhaps, though it's a bit bland I think.) But whatever the terminology, this is the direction we need to moving in collectively as folks invested in reworking and expanding cultural constructions of gender and sexuality.
Another collection of shorts! This time, it's a collection of short films that all deal with trans issues. "Transtastic!" is an annual series -- last year, my friend Ethan debuted his film dealing with trans health care issues (see my review of the session here). This year, I signed up because I knew me and my friends would go. I didn't take care to look at the selection of shorts -- in hindsight, I should have. This was perhaps the worst collection of films -- barring one truly outstanding short -- I have seen in recent memory. There are some par-for-the-course pieces, but a number of *disastrous* films made for a pretty unhappy experience. I promised my friend Jackson I wouldn't give anything less than one star because the films all featured trannies. Keep that in mind! lol
This was a cute and colorful Brazillian film following the budding romance of a citybus fare collector and a tall, gangly hairdresser by the name of Antony. He invites her into the salon for a free haircut, and the rest, as they say, is history. It's charming, but the editing is a bit choppy and disjointed, creating a kind of jarring viewing experience. The color here is wonderful though, as is the celluloid deliciousness of the film (it was shot with 35mm). And Antony and Esperança are delightful and a treat to watch. It's a fun film, despite a few technical flaws.
Hands down, one of the worst and most trite films I've seen in my life. Seriously bad. I don't even know what to say. It had all the cliches you could possibly imagine in a film dealing with a transwoman. Every. Single. One. Lisa goes on a date with Jason. It goes well. He invites her to friend's birthday party. Friend freaks out when he finds out she's trans, and sexually harrasses her in the bathroom. She runs out (in slow motion, no less), and Jason runs after her. This film felt straight out of a 1985 PSA. Sigh.
"BIG DEAL"
Director: Hilary Goldberg
Trevor's Rating: 3 / 5 Stars
Katastrophe is a trans music rapper / artist here in the Bay Area who's well known around town for his hip-hop beats. "Big Deal" has a touch of electro-trip-hop thrown in for spunk, and the song is generally catchy. The video itself is cute, a retelling of Andy Warhol's attempted murder back in the 1960s, with Katastrophe playing Warhol with aplomb. It's cuteness comes complete with glitter blood. An extra half-star for that.
You can watch the whole thing here:
"BLINK"
Director: Silas Howard
Trevor's Rating: 4 / 5 Stars
Blink is a tension-filled short that gives us a glimpse into a first crush. It was definitely one of the more polished entries here in Transtastic!, and the efforts paid off. It was sexy, dark, and creepy. Sexual tension drips from the film, complete with a skinhead brother intensely greasing up and cleaning his gun. Amazing stuff. But despite it's high-quality production value, the story felt a bit underdeveloped. But for 11 minutes, I guess that's part of the package!
Hands down, the best documentary short I've seen in years. This film is so incredibly fabulous, I'm not even sure where to begin. Here we get a glimpse into the life of Kaden and his partner Monika. Kaden is struggling with trying to maintain a genderfuck presentation while also desiring to take testosterone. Monika wants a "normal" life in the suburbs. There's wonderful tensions and contradictions here, which is truly the best part. Too often we get an edited, "messaged" version of people's lives in documentaries without any of the doubts or anxieties that come with living a queer life. But these tensions are on full display here, and it's beautiful. This film would be a wonderful asset as an "educational" documentary for students RE: gender / trans issues, and I intend to get my hands on it for that reason. It's a real treat.
"L1FE" & "TELL ME THE..."
Directors: Aarin Burch ("L1fe"), Bobby Poirier ("Tell me the...")
Trevor's Rating: 1.5 / 5 Stars
Whoa! Backstreet's back, alright! Joshua Klipp is a trans performing artist who has singlehandedly resurrected 1990s boyband pop all by his lonesome. I mean, it's kind of amazing for the way he brashly goes for cheese without a hint of irony or embrassment. But there's got to be a limit! In any case, Klipp is a hottie and fun to look at. But I left my Backstreet Boys days behind me. Unfortunately for him, so did the rest of America.
Just watch for yourself:
"MICHELLE'S FIRST WEDDING IN A DRESS"
Director: Ann von Hagemann
Trevor's Rating: 1 / 5 Stars
Director Ann von Hagemann told the audience before the screening that she "just wanted everyone to see my wife the way I do!" Clearly, Ann loves her wife very much, and it shows here. But as a cinematic endeavor, the film is, well, kind of terrible. Not to mention the absolute horror of the cliched narratives that keep spewing from her wife's mouth (e.g "Most trans people aren't lucky and never find love") and the suckiness of her judgmental politics (e.g. "I'm so glad I'm not one of those spikey haired, freaky trannies"). Jesus. Well we see her, Ann! I'm just not sure we all share your love.
"TRANSPROOFED"
Director: Andrea James
Trevor's Rating: 3.5 / 5 Stars
I love Calpernia Addams, and she certainly shines here as the star of a movie about a transwoman anxious about going on a date with a straight man. She calls her friend and mentor to help her "transproof" her apartment, which ends up meaning removing all traces of color, happiness, and fun from the space. What's left after their frenzy is a drab, beige depressingness. This is a really cute film, and as I said I have a lot of love for Addams. But again I think we get a lackluster and perhaps a bit melodramatic ending here that just doesn't do the film justice.
This film is an attempt to mock the ways that cinema has treated trans subjects in often exploitative ways. We follow Kaleb -- who bears at times an eery resemblance to Perez Hilton -- who laments the various ways he's exploited in our culture. The film's funniest moment is probably him at the grocery store, complaining against the transgender harassment he finds evidenced by the "No Trans Fat" trend. Very cute. But the film never makes clear who the targets of the critique are. Trans people? Trans filmmakers? Non-trans filmmakers? Is the underlying claim that trans lives really aren't so hard at all? Or is the claim that trans hardships have simply been exaggerated for filmmakers gain? None of these questions are ever answered clearly, and that makes the film's message ambiguously dangerous. You could imagine some folks walking away thinking trans people's complaints are a wholesale joke. But I'm sure that's not what the filmmaker attempted.
This could have been the perfect easy, breezy summer gay flick! The setting was magnificent: Rural Germany, Brandenburg to be precise. But from the moment this film started I could tell it was going to be a disaster. Shoddy camerawork, generic autofocus, and pixellated images due to subpar equipment all work together to poison this film from ever excelling past the made-for-TV level. From the start, I kept screaming in my head to "BACK UP!" The shots were always so close-up and cramped, it made me uncomfortable in my seat. I guess this decision was the result of a crappy camera that couldn't get much detail from far-away, but it made for a very unpleasant viewing experience.
Light Gradient's story is a simple recipe that's been attempted dozens of times. The film chronicles the journeys of Johann and Robin as they travel the countryside together. I expected some awkward rolls in the hay, and they were certainly present. But mostly we got a weird contradiction between general freedom with full frontal male nudity while showering, but when the sex actually got started the camera panned over to farm animals. WTF? With a film so bad, a hot sex scene could have at least made it worth my time. Alas, there was to be no sexytime on film.
The boys -- played by Sebastian Schlecht (Johann) and Eric Golub (Robin) -- are cute, but in a generic kind of way. They never find their stride in front of the camera, and even when making out they lack any kind of screen presence. They seemed to be straight out of bad German porn -- you know, the kind with the dubbed moaning and generically cute boys. That's this pair. Perhaps it's the result of bad direction, but the two are the thespian equivalent of a painfully flat note.
But halfway or so through the film, they wander onto a farm in search of food. We're introduced to Henri, the young boy who lives on the farm. There's an incredibly contrived scene in which Henri -- a beautiful waif of a boy -- holds up Robin and Johann at gunpoint to prevent the two from running away. "Now," I thought, "we're going to see some action!" It was totally the plot of a thousand terrible gay porn flicks from Eastern Europe. "Oh, please! Don't make me do that!" Alas, my thirst for a threeway was never quenched.
But I must say here that Denis Alevi, who plays Henri, is truly beautiful. Unlike Schlecht and Golub, who never shined on camera, Alevi's face comes to life on screen. It's not that Schlect and Golub aren't sexy -- they're very much so -- but Alevi just translates on film. He's got the beautiful hair, the olive-toned skin, and the heart-shaped face that all work together to make him quite appealing. And while his first moments on film are a total disaster, he warms up quickly and finds his stride. I'm not saying his performance changed my life, but in relation to the rest of the film, he was a glimmer of hope.
All in all, I have to say this was a real lemon of a film. Which was disappointing, given the fact that a few reworked elements could have really changed its fate.
I am so sad that Michael Jackson is dead! Late last night, some friends and I walked to campus and held a candlelight vigil listening to "Together Again."
As I woke up early this morning in the bed of a man I like to call Betsy Ross, Good Morning America rehashed the many skeletons littering MJ's closet. Indeed, in the words of one Facebook status on my newsfeed, he "was dead a long time ago." CBS could not help but replay Diane Sawyer's 1995 interview with Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley (who conveniently married in the heyday of Michael's legal troubles) discussing his alleged pedophilic debauchery with pubescent boys.
I think it is disgusting the extent to which Michael Jackson was stigmatized after these allegations hit the press. So let's just set the record straight: if I were twelve and Michael Jackson built meNeverland, I would totally consent to his sexual advances.
Continuing my Frameline coverage, I attended a series of shorts yesterday all hailing from Switzerland. Who knew such a small country could generate such a wonderful assortment of queer cinema? This is a fabulous grouping of films (with one glaring exception), with most of the films beautifully filmed and well constructed. The title was no mistake, this collection of shorts was a real treat!
14h05 is a powerful, very short (clocking in at 6 minutes) film that gives us a brief vignette into the anxieties of new parenthood for a gay couple, Alex and Julien, about to adopt a child. Julien is having doubts about his new role as daddy, but Alex does his best to quell his jitters as they head to the airport to pick up their baby. This film immediately raises questions about transnational adoption that are not explored, with a woman in traditional Indian garb deplaning to bring the couple their new child. I'm guessing they adopted an Indian baby because it's cheaper than adopting in Switzerland, but these intricacies are left untouched. The film left me feeling a bit uneasy because of the way these questions and problematics were left wholly unexplored, but for a six minute adventure it was a strong piece.
This short film (16 min.) packs a lot of punch! It has all the magic I've come to expect from European cinema, artfully taking time to indulge in the wonder of the world around us and the quirks that make life worth living. Here we find Simone stuck in an airport in Switzerland, trying to get on a flight to attend her father's funeral. Planes have been grounded because of the weather, so Simone desperately tries to find a way to get to the funeral. When she can't find a way out, she runs into a mysterious woman who may or may not be living at the airport. The woman says she's "waiting," but for what or whom we're not told. These women share a wonderous night together, finding magic in the nooks and crannies of the otherwise drab and sterile airport. It's a great film. Delicious, light, and endearing.
And the best part? You can watch the entire thing right now! Here:
"COMME UNE LETTRE A LA POSTE"
Director: Filippo Filliger
Trevor's Rating: 4 / 5 Stars
A real delight! Comme une lettre a la poste is a whimsical short that tells the story of a graduate student who suspects his academic adviser has been ripping off his own work. The only problem: he can't prove it and his professor has no interest in helping him graduate! Frustrated, Franco flips through his professor's briefcase where he finds the card of a local professional Dom. Upon revealing this newfound information to his co-workers, they scheme to gather evidence that the professor had indeed been paying visits to the local sex worker and use it to blackmail him into letting Franco graduate. The ensuing antics are totally endearing and manage to make S&M play humorous without mocking or demeaning its practitioners (a careful line, indeed). The title is a French expression, meaning to do something very easily, and indeed Franco winds up getting what he wants -- but not entirely the way he expected. If you can get your hands on it, you should!
"DANCING TO HAPPINESS"
Director: Barbara Seixwe
Trevor's Rating: 5 / 5 Stars
This is a nearly perfect short. It has everything you'd want. It's cute, never boring, and totally endearing. Anna is a cleaning lady at a high-power office suite. Helen (a *fierce* Marianne Hamre) is a high-power broker. Fate unites them for a salsa class, with Helen awkwardly and robotically moving through the steps, and Anna bringing a bit of zest and charm to the dancerfloor. They're an adorable matchup, and the film is oozing with feel-good-goodness.
A strange and somewhat dark drama brings to life the story of a mysterious lady, Lia, who keeps returning to a copy shop to inquire if she's missed any messages. Elena, the copy shop clerk, is bemused by Lia's bizarre antics, until she wakes up from the monotony of her job to find Lia robbing the place blind. A chase ensues, and while Elena manages to tackle Lia to the ground, they of course enjoy their bodies pressed against each other a bit too much for either of them to be upset. It's a charming, if at times strange film. I thought it got a bit sloppy towards the end, with a strange ending that didn't quite live up to the film's possibilities. But it's a nice entry, for sure.
This experimental short has graduate school psychobabble written all over it. A pelican flying over the horizon. Images of gurgling water interspersed with images of a nude woman. Spare me. Film critics might say that I just "don't get it," but for give more feeling like this film is a classic example of "postmodern" tripe. I give it exactly zero stars.
Four minutes long, this is quite a short short! It attempts to tell the story of a young twink who takes piano lessons from an older man, and it ends up with a series of fantasies of the two fucking. But despite the potential for sexy deliciousness, it just didn't reel me in.
"VANDALEN"
Directors: Simon Steuri
Trevor's Rating: 5 / 5 Stars
Vandals is a dark but beautifully and carefully shot story of Sebastian and Johannes, two incredibly sexy young graffiti artists who are embroiled in a lusty affair. Tension sparks when one wants more than the other thinks he's ready to offer -- namely, a public recognition of their secret romance. It's a truly wonderful film, managing just the right amount of attention to detail without coming across as artificial or trite. If you can get your paws on this film, you really should. If you speak Swiss/German, you can find a trailer for the film here.
Here I go! I'm kicking off my film reviews of the 33rd Annual Frameline Film Festival here in sunny San Francisco! For my first film, I attended a screening of a set of shorts from filmmakers across the world. Topically, they're a very interesting and compelling grouping, though from a cinematography point of view the films were at times lackluster. But I'm glad I attended! You'll see why...
"BUSTED"
Director: Poh Si Teng
Trevor's Rating: 3.5 / 5 Stars
Busted (or, Pecah Lobang) documents the experiences of mak nyah (male to female transgender) women living in Malaysia, and their troubles with Shariah law that forbids crossdressing. Curiously, they allowed sex change operations for many years in the 70s and 80s, but the Islamic Council issued a fatwa in 1983 outlawing the procedures, putting an end to the surgeries and also making it impossible for trans people in Malaysia to change their gender on their Identity Cards. This of course poses all sorts of problems for transfolks, most notably securing reliable employment. The film hits on a number of issues, and is useful for folks who are interested in trans legal issues, Malaysia, or Islam. In particular, the film raises very interesting questions about the varying ways that Shariah gets enforced in different countries -- sex change operations are perfectly legal in Iran (see my review of last year's Be Like Others). But while the film was politically poignant, I was left with questions. Most notably, are there transgender men in Malaysia? Is their plight similar or different? It wasn't clear. But on the whole, this film was a gem for the way it documents the stories of unheard voices.
Krudas is a colorful documentary featuring a Cuban lesbian hip-hop duo, who also happen to be lovers. It's a fascinating topic, ripe for analysis for the ways that the group eloquently attack patriarchal and homophobic assumptions about what it means to be a hip-hop artist, what it means to be a Cuban, and what it means to be a woman. Unfortunately, I didn't think the filmmaker did the pair justice. The film lacks a coherent storyline, and wanders aimlessly from person to person without really developing any particular idea to fruition. Instead, you get a random array of complicated ideas that makes for a very frustrating watch. I wanted this film to be so good! But it wasn't. It's a great topic, and the artists deserve praise. But the film feels sloppy and almost incoherent. Nevertheless, Frameline picked up the film for distribution, and you can purchase it here.
"QUEER SARAJEVO FESTIVAL 2008"
Directors: Cazim Dervisevic, Masa Hilcisin
Trevor's Rating: 3.5 / 5 Stars
This short film is a compelling take on Sarajevo activists' efforts to jumpstart a queer film festival in a country (Bosnia and Herzegovina) not known for being particularly queer-friendly. I was struck immediately by the radical rhetoric of the activists organizing the festival -- the festival's website claims the event is a "multimedia, five-day event intended to disrupt, redefine, transgress, fulfill and affirm sex, gender, sexual orientation, sexual identities, gender identities, gender expression, and all other concepts the meaning of which is assumed and accepted as absolute truth." Organizers planned for the festival to take place during Ramadan, which caused quite a controversy among religious conservatives who are shown spouting homophobic vile throughout the film. The festival appeared to be getting off to a fabulous start, with 400 or so people attending the art show that kicked things off. But slowly a protesting crowd begins to gather outside the venue, and they grow increasingly violent and angry. (I think they were shown shouting something like, "FAGGOTS DIE! WE WILL FUCK YOUR MOTHERS' CUNTS.") Eventually all hell breaks loose, with the protesters beating film festival attendees and the police doing little to protect them. One of the guest judges, Andrejs Visockis, was attacked and nearly blinded by the mob (find his account of the night on his blog, here). It's a fabulous window into a homophobic culture that may seem distant or altogether archaic to American viewers, but it's a healthy reminder that violent homophobia is not a thing of the past. The film at times strays, indulging in tangents that weaken its narrative construction. But its story is incredibly compelling, and a must-see for anyone invested in global human rights for queers. You can read about the festival on the organizers' website here.
"WELCOME TO MY QUEER BOOKSTORE"
Director: Larry Tung
Trevor's Rating: 4.5 / 5 Stars
I LOVED this movie! What a divine and fabulous short film. It's a simple idea: Make a short film about the power of the one and only queer bookstore in the Chinese-speaking world, and document its sociological impact in a Taiwanese community where there are few resources for queers. It's a simple idea with a huge payoff. The hero of this film is Gin Gin's Bookstore's owner, "JJ" Lai Jeng-Jer, who was sued by conservatives for distribution of "obscene" material. Taiwanese activists used the lawsuit to their advantage, putting together a fundraiser that raised more than twice the money needed to pay the fines levied against the bookstore. Throughout the film, JJ gleefully walks through his store, telling viewers about the significance of all the various items he carries in his store. I have to say, I was so thrilled when JJ picked up a prostate massager and sung its glories for giving users new ways to experience anal pleasure. He's amazing. But the waterworks really flowed when he stood beside a section of sports bras, eloquently speaking about how important sports bras are for butch lesbians in Taiwan who use them to bind their breasts. These weren't just goods for sale, these were politics for JJ. God bless him. And God bless this film!
The next installment of "The View from the Bottom" quickly approaches! Please submit your most pressing concerns and burning questions to theviewfromthebottom@trevorhoppe.com.
After picking Trevor up from the airport last night, we drove down to SOMA for a party called Chaser. The party is thrown by a local cunty queen, Monistat, and is billed as a party for trannies.
The biggest draw for me was an appearance by Ongina from RuPaul's Drag Race!
For those who aren't familiar, RuPaul's Drag Race was on the Logo channel and was an America's Next top Model meets Project Runway style reality show that featured drag queens competing for the title of next drag super star.
Ongina was my favorite contestant (even though she didn't win.) She's known for her gender-fuck style of drag, as well as her tearful admission of her HIV status.
She was a pleasure to talk to and I'll be damned if she didn't have the softest skin I've ever touched!
Welcome to the first episode of The View from the Bottom, the vlog about gay male health and sexuality as told from the perspective of two bottomless bottoms. This week, Scott and Trevor discuss nairing vs. waxing, the pros and cons of douching, strategies for keeping casual sex casual, and whether or not it's weird to not like getting a blowjob.
E-mail your questions for the next episode to: theviewfromthebottom at trevorhoppe.com (replace the "at" with @ -- clearly)!!!
Speaking of San Francisco, here's a telltale letter to the Bay Area Reporter editor from a reader who left San Francisco to move back to Utah because of the outrageous cost of housing:
SF housing too expensive
I miss San Francisco with all my heart.
My partner of 20 years and I moved to San Francisco in 1990 on Cumberland Street. It was a top floor with two large bedrooms and a huge living room and kitchen and dining area. We had a fantastic view of all the lovely homes on the hill looking north.
When we moved in we were paying $1,100 per month. When we moved in 2004 we were paying only $1,300 per month and that included parking garage and laundry facility. When we moved out the rent went up to $3,500 per month.
It was quiet and perfect, except we were in our late 40s and wanted a home and a yard and a pet dog. But houses were outrageously overpriced.
That made us move back to Salt Lake City, but my heart is still there in San Francisco and I will always call it my home.
We now could never return to San Francisco if we ever wanted to.
When we left San Francisco there were new condo buildings sitting empty because of the economy and the costs. Condos on the wharf were going for $700,000 and tiny and empty.
Here large two-bedroom condos go for about $45,000 to $125,000. But then you have to put up with the gay hating mongrels called Mormons and the freezing winters.
I feel that San Francisco has let greed run us gays out of the city to never return, except for those who can afford it.
John Benoit
Holladay, Utah
When I moved to San Francisco in 2005, me and my friend Troy were lucky enough to snag a 2-br in the Castro (17th / Noe) for $1700. That was a steal. My instincts tell me the market value today of that apartment is upwards of $3000 a month. My friend -- who still lives in that apartment -- called me last week to tell me that the landlord was having it appraised. Danger 5000.
Today I fly to San Francisco for PRIDE! I can't effing wait. My schedule is packed with 11 delicious Frameline films; Juanita More's annual PRIDE party; and a host of wonderful dates with some fabulous friends. I can't wait to see all my friends in the Gay Bay!
Blogging while I'm gone will largely be slow from me -- minus film reviews for those Frameline movies. I'm going to do my best to review all 11 of them here. Hopefully Scott, Daniel, Rostom, and Jackson will have a few things to say while I'm gone. Though I'm staying with Jackson in SF, so he'll have his hands full with my antics!
Anywho. Hope your week is as amazing as I know mine will be.
Ben Goldacre, author of "Bad Science," takes on the scientific evidence against drugs and the largely punitive policies meant to control them, and (no surprise) finds that policies are decidedly not evidence-driven. For instance, RE: cocaine (note the bolded part about the potential harm that anti-drug measures may have):
In the case of cocaine, there is an even more striking precedent for evidence being ignored: during the early 1990s the World Health Organisation conducted what is probably the largest ever study of global cocaine use. In March 1995 they released a briefing kit which summarised their conclusions, with some tantalising bullet points.
"Health problems from the use of legal substances, particularly alcohol and tobacco, are greater than health problems from cocaine use," they said. "Few experts describe cocaine as invariably harmful to health. Cocaine-related problems are widely perceived to be more common and more severe for intensive, high-dosage users and very rare and much less severe for occasional, low-dosage users."
The full report - which has never been published - went on to challenge several of the key principles driving prohibition, and was extremely critical of most US policies. It suggested that supply reduction and law enforcement strategies have failed, and that alternative strategies such as decriminalisation might be explored, flagging up such programmes in Australia, Bolivia, Canada and Colombia.
"Current national and local approaches which over-emphasize punitive drug control measures may actually contribute to the development of heath-related problems," it said, before committing heresy by recommending research into the unintended adverse consequences of prohibition, and discussing "harm reduction" strategies. "An increase in the adoption of more humane, compassionate responses such as education, treatment and rehabilitation programmes," it said, "is seen as a desirable counterbalance to the overreliance on law enforcement measures."
It specifically singled out anti-drug adverts which sought to modify behaviour through fear. "Despite a broad range of educational and prevention approaches, most programmes do not prevent myths, but perpetuate stereotypes and misinform the general public. Such programmes rely on sensationalized, exaggerated statements about cocaine which misinform about patterns of use, stigmatize users, and destroy the educator's credibility. This has given most education campaigns a naïve image and has reduced confidence in the quality and accuracy of these campaigns."
I want to start video blogging about gay male health, sexuality, and cultures. I'm thinking it should be in Q&A format, in which Trevor and I respond to questions y'all email in or leave as a comment on the blog.
So, if you have any burning questions, such as:
"How do you know if you have anal warts?"
or
"Is it acceptable to use a garden hose as a douche?"
etc., then please, drop us a line.
The video blog will also need a name. Suggestions would be much appreciated. Once we've decided on the title, I'll create a vblog email address.
