November 2007 Archives
Transamerican Love StoryBy on November 30, 2007 12:07 AM | 3 Comments
In a first for American television, the queer network LOGO intends to air a new reality show starring transgender author / activist / actress Calpernia Addams (whose story informed the 2003 film, Soldier's Girl). The show will be Batchelor style, with Calpernia eliminating one of eight potential love interests in each new episode. Wowza!
And, PS, isn't Calpernia one of the best names in the world? Loves it!
Accepted!By on November 29, 2007 4:24 PM | No Comments
So a few days ago I lamented the rejection of my two proposals to the 20th annual Creating Change Conference taking place in February '08 in Detroit. In a lovely turn of events, the proposal I submitted with fellow UM'er Paul Farber has now been accepted! Here's the description we submitted for the conference program:
Making it Work!: Mobilizing Lesbian and Gay Identities in the 21st CenturyHow do we organize around increasingly fractured identities? Coming out as lesbian or gay was once automatically considered a radical act, but for many this is changing. Moving forward, we need to re-envision our strategies -- particularly in light of the Internet and changing geographies of gay life. What do we hold on to, and what do we let go of? Workshop participants will draw upon their own experiences as organizers while we explore strategies for change.
Hope to see some of y'all there!
Top 10 Amusing Search Strings for My SiteBy on November 29, 2007 3:22 PM | No Comments
So I have this little statistics package with my web hosting service that tells me, among many other things, what search strings people typed in that led them to my blog. Most of the are obvious - generally, my name or a broad tag like "politics" - but sometimes strings pop up that are completely ridiculous.
I took a few moments to compile a "Top 10" list of my favorite search strings from the past 6 months. To get the full effect, I think, you really need to imagine yourself in the searchers shoes. Imagine typing one of these bad boys in and winding up on my site!
10. "percisets": Okay, so this actually explains why a very old entry of mine on getting my wisdom teeth pulled is consistently one of the most visited pages on my blog. I have a feeling some auto-generating spam-y percription drug links page picked it up and linked here.First Snow!9. "actual images of ejaculating into mouth": One has to imagine, is this opposed to fake images of ejaculating into a mouth?
8. "gay sissy fags": I wonder what they were looking for...
7. "infamous boy scouts": Are the Boy Scouts really infamous? I had no idea!
6. "desperate housewives uncircumcised": I just like the way that sounds. It's of course referring to this entry about an episode of the TV show.
5. "tapping the glass with a spoon at a wedding": Can you imagine typing this in and winding up on my blog? Poor unfortunate souls! I would imagine this linked to this entry from 2005 about my cousin's wedding.
4. "i didn t get into grad school": Oh, ye web searcher, I feel for you!
3. "racial italian names": Um, what?
2. "videos gay bitch for master": As my dear friend Andre would say, "Hottsie, Tottsie!"
1. "gay men mince inside condoms for sexual pleasure": This is AMAZING! We mince inside condoms? Who knew! Mincing, for those unaware, means to walk daintily - and has tradionally been a derogatory phrase for femme fags. But the real question is: How do you mince inside a condom???
By on November 26, 2007 4:22 PM | No Comments
Today was our first real snow here in Michigan. It's not much to sneeze at (in Michigan standards), but it was rather lovely walking around campus today! Here's the view outside my door:
By on November 24, 2007 2:43 PM | 1 Comment
Leaving aside the annoying fact that they published it in the (I'm sure) poorly read Thanksgiving week issue of Michigan's gay rag, Between the Lines, my "Gay Bitch" article is published and you can see it online here! Click here to see the original version I posted here on my blog - and the revisiting of the topic in regards to Ugly Betty here.
Awww!By on November 20, 2007 9:32 PM | No Comments
Sent from her IPhone, a little puddle of love from Liz and Ethan:
By on November 20, 2007 6:30 PM | No Comments | 1 TrackBack
I spoke too soon! In my Thanksgiving post, I mentioned that I was *hopefully* presenting two workshops at Creating Change in Detroit. Sadly, I just received word that both my proposals were rejected! I am reminded of Eric Rofes' constant struggle with Conference Director Sue Hyde (who I interned with in Boston in the summer of 2003) over his many workshop proposals that were generally rejected. I worry that, now that I'm labeled an "academic," perhaps I'm no longer welcome at Creating Change as I'm no longer a full time organizer / activist (whatever that means!).
I submitted two proposals, both of which I think were timely and reasonably compelling. I wasn't surprised that they rejected my proposal on the ethics social marketing as a tool for HIV prevention (although this was submitted as part of a larger "LGBT Health" mini-track, which I thought Sue had agreed to prioritize), but I was surprised that they rejected the proposal I submitted with fellow UM'er Paul Farber titled "Making it Work!: Mobilizing Gay and Lesbian Identities in the 21st Century" - the premise of which was that, while gay and lesbian were still useful sites of resistance in certain places (small towns, rural areas, etc), their utility in major metropolitan areas was on the rapid decline (San Francisco, for instance, where politically mobilizing gays "as gays" around anything is just about impossible).
If the movement is to sustain itself over the coming years, conversations like this are (in my opinion) *critical*. Too often we simply take for granted that our current modes of organizing are the best or most effective - but this to me is clearly not the case in many places (particularly on the national level, with organizations like HRC existing solely for the purpose of raising money to pay its staff).
Oh well. I'm still going to keep my commitment as a member of the host committee and in particular as a member of the "Youth Engagement" subcommittee (this'll be the last year I'll be a youth at Creating Change!). But, yea, I'm pretty bummed.
What I'm Thankful For, 2007By on November 20, 2007 8:30 AM | 1 Comment
Another year, another Turkey day! Each year as the big day approaches, I'm always given pause to consider the many things that I should consider myself thankful for from the past year. This year I have quite a bit on my list -- most notably that I got accepted (after being denied) to the University of Michigan. I left San Francisco, which although many of my friends do not understand me for saying so, but I'm incredibly thankful to be out of the Bay Area. And I've been pretty darn productive professionally as an academic and activist - productivity enabled by my mentors and generous institutions like UM.
Despite being glad to leave, I'm thankful for the support and love of all of my friends in San Francisco who made my two years there bearable (and at times even rather fabulous!). I miss them all dearly. I miss dancing my gay nights away with Jackson and being invited (weeks in advance!) to home cooked meals with Ethan. I miss coming to work every day to work for Jen and going to Yum Yum House for lunch to dish about all the latest office gossip with Liz. I miss going to overpriced meals and generally being fabulous with the lovely Bonnie -- and later stumbling home from Jen's while speaking (feigning?) drunken French. Yes - for all my reservations about the city - there are many things about my time in SF that I miss, and many people that I'm thankful for knowing.
Which brings me to Ann Arbor! What a tremendous place. I knew I'd be happy here when I first met my gaggle of queers via Cookie, who brought us all together over Gays Craze. And what a fab troupe to have! We're all first years in different programs (including American Culture, Communication Studies, and History). Some of my first-year colleagues in Sociology often lament their difficulties building a social life here in Ann Arbor, but thankfully I've never been able to agree. The day before classes started I already found my base - Paul, Annah, Cookie, and 'Dre! I think we planned a road trip to Toronto within about 5 seconds of knowing each other. What gems!
I'm lucky enough to have even more folks and support here at U of M! What cosmic fate that during my first semester here, one of my academic idols Kane Race would also be here all the way from Australia as a visiting scholar. And of course my time here would have never been possible without the mentorship and support of the lovely David Halperin. I couldn't have asked for anyone better to be on my side!
Transitioning to life in Ann Arbor has, so far, been smoother than I could have ever hoped for. I'm feeling academically and professionally productive. I've got a group of fabulous friends who know how to party and how to study. And, slowly but surely, I feel like I'm starting to understand what exactly a sociologist is - and how I fit into the discipline. And heck, the University is funding my trip to Mexico next month for the "AIDS in Culture" conference where I'll present my Master's research; San Francisco's DPH is paying for me to attend a 2-day summit there in January on rethinking prevention; I'm on the Creating Change Detroit host committee and (hopefully!) presenting two workshops there in February; I've been working with the LGBTI Health Summit organizing committee to strategize for upcoming gay men's health and LGBTI Health summits; and I'll hopefully be attending the Sixth Annual UNITY Conference in Chapel Hill in April. Now that's a whole lot to be thankful for!
Washington Blade breaks HIV Incidence StoryBy on November 14, 2007 3:43 PM | No Comments | 1 TrackBack
I've been hearing for months now that the CDC was preparing to release new data on HIV incidence that would report a *dramatic* rise in new infections - perhaps as much as fifty percent. I'm the first to urge caution in the face of hysteria over new HIV/AIDS data, but this kind of a spike deserves some careful attention. It's no mistake that the CHAMP (Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization Project) Strategy Lab's conference call today features an extended dialogue on the question, "How is HIV incidence measured?" Indeed the subtitle for that discussion is, "Backgrounder for Understanding the CDC's Forthcoming New National HIV Incidence Estimates."
So we need to be look closely at this forthcoming data for a few things. First, were any states added to the mix? In the past, at least part of an increase in new infections could be explained by new states passing mandatory reporting laws (which basically mandate the confidential reporting of new HIV infections to the federal government). My sources tell me that this will not explain the new rise. Second, we need to look closely at *what populations* are driving this spike. MSM (men who have sex with men)? People of color? Women? Which groups seem to have spiked the most - and which (if any) have actually seen a decline.
But get ready, folks. Because when this data gets released - it looks like we're in line for a whole slew of op-eds and exploding talking gay heads. Some of the concern is obviously warranted - but we should be careful to understand exactly what the new data tells us. Not what we want it to!
You can read the Blade story here.
Project Runway 4 Debut - TONIGHT!By on November 14, 2007 9:54 AM | No Comments
Project Runway Season 4 Debuts TONIGHT!!! Are you ready or are you READY? It was over a year ago when Jeffrey walked away with the title (much to everyone's chagrin) - over a YEAR ago! We have waited far too long for the new cylce. PR fans everywhere are practically foaming at the mouth.
Tonight of course is also a new episode of America's Next Top Model (I'm on team Chantal!), and as per usual Paul is hosting a lovely get together. Except tonight we're dressing fancy for the PR debut! I made brownies! Fuck yea!
P.S. In PR's honor, I added a new category for television - because clearly I watch too much of it!
Male Circumcision on Desperate HousewivesBy on November 11, 2007 9:07 PM | 2 Comments | 1 TrackBack
It seems pretty clear to me that male circumcision dramatically reduces sensitivity and sexual pleasure for "cut" guys. Guys I hook up with who are uncut often seem to have way better / longer orgasms. I can't lie - I get jealous! I wish I could cum like that!
Recently, an argument for circumcision has emerged regarding its potential impact on HIV Prevention. Some studies seem to have found a protective effect of circumcision against HIV infection. I think that the jury's still out here. Many of the studies have been conducted in Africa, where hygiene may in fact be the real factor in increasing risk for uncircumcised guys (e.g. getting dirt under the foreskin --> irritation --> greater risk for infection). This probably doesn't work the same in the US, where we've got running water and guys take showers regularly. You can read more about it
here.
By on November 11, 2007 11:31 AM | No Comments
Paul sent over a link to this quite fabulous condom educational video from the Nrityanjali Academy in Secunderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India. It's in a language called Telugu, which is primarily spoken in Andrha Pradesh. It is pretty amazing! They talk about just everything - gay sex, female condoms, scented condoms, where to buy condoms, what they look like, how to apply them, and how to dispose of them. All in 7 minutes! Now that's some good sex education! And the song is quite catchy, too!
Enjoy!
IRMWG Lube Survey Preliminary ResultsBy on November 8, 2007 11:48 AM | No Comments
The International Rectal Microbicide Working Group has released preliminary results of their Internet survey on people's preferences for the lube they used. There's a lot of great stuff here, and you can find the results in Powerpoint format here. In particular, I was interested in the data on why respondent's indicated they sometimes did *not* use lube. You'll see that a majority indicated they instead used saliva and that just short of a majority indicated lube wasn't available.
As we know, liberal application of lube is a prevention strategy - it reduces the potential for HIV transmission. This data gives us a few clues for prevention. First, that we ought to think seriously about the fetishization of saliva use that I think is paired with the fetishization of bareback sex and the idea of "natural" / raw sex (which I talk about here). Second, while this data isn't a representative sample, it suggests that for many people lube still simply isn't available. Finding new ways to distribute it (other than those packets of the cheap, sticky, gross lube that I find just repulsive to pull out during sex) might be a key prevention strategy.
Here's the chart I'm referring to:
By on November 7, 2007 2:06 PM | 3 Comments
My friend Chris Bartlett who works on the LGBT Community Assessment in Philly kindly dug up the original "relative risk" table from the MMWR in 2003 that Will Wong reconstructed for his recent presentation with Jim Picket at the 2007 ManAlive conference in Chicago. He pointed out that this table was a reflection of data collected from *heterosexual* partners, and wondered if this might give those of us thinking about gay men's health cause for concern in using the data for thinking about gay sex. My sense is that, while there may be some variation, it's probably not significant. But he certainly has pointed to a sticky issue of methodology in HIV prevention research! Any ideas out there?
Here's the original table with citations:
By on November 5, 2007 10:00 PM | No Comments
The slides from the lovely presentation by Jim Pickett and Will Wong on Sero-Adaptation are now available. Here's the link.
Check 'em out!
You Know You're a Graduate Student When...By on November 5, 2007 10:44 AM | 1 Comment
You read sentences like this for class:
"And like the god trick, this eye fucks the world to make techno-monsters."- Donna Harraway, 1988.
Ridiculous.
Chicago and the ManAlive ConferenceBy on November 4, 2007 1:35 PM | 3 Comments | 1 TrackBack
A few weeks ago, I got an email from Jim Pickett (who runs the lovely gay mens' sexuality website and blog, LifeLube.org) over one of CHAMP's listservs about a conference on gay men's health in Chicago. I wanted to present, but by the time I found out about the event, all the slots were full! But I decided to go and network with the Chicagoans and see what was happening there.
I arrived in Chicago on Friday night around 8 PM and met up with my friend from UNC, Spencer Derrico. He was kind enough to offer me a couch to crash on for my night in Chicago! We went to dinner with some of his friends, and then out for a second to Roscoe's for some dancing. The crowd was a lil thin, I had to wake up early, and the music was so-so - so we didn't stay long.
I did pick up a copy of "Gay Chicago Magazine," though, and flipped through it to get a feel for the city. I was struck by the obituary for a Detroit native, Danny Majewski (pictured at right), who was also one of the co-owners of a Chicago bar called "Cell Block." Majewski used to bartend at the Detroit Eagle back in the late 80s until he was diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in 1994, when he decided to make Chicago a more regular home. Danny passed away on October 20th at the Detroit Eagle, a death described in the obituary as almost idyllic, really:
"According to [his partner] Frank, “We were in the middle of the best Saturday night we’ve had in over two years. Many guys were in who we hadn’t seen in a long time, and Danny was talking and catching up with many of them. We had been at the bar since 5:30 that evening, and at 1:25 I walked behind the bar and said to Danny that I’d see if the guys could close up and we’d leave at 2 a.m. He looked at me surprised and said, ‘Why?,’ as if it would somehow interrupt everything. Five minutes later, a heart attack took him.'"
This image of Danny's passing stayed with me into the conference the ManAlive next day. In general, I thought the conference had some good programming - though it seemed to be not well attended. I went to a "Creating Dialogue Between Gay Men Across the Ages" session where my friend Tim Stewart-Winter (a University of Chicago graduate student in history) was a panelist. We touched on a few themes, and I regurgitated some of my recent musings on mentorship and gay men.
The highlight for me, though, came after the workshop when I had a lengthy conversation with one of the older guys in the workshop. I believe his name was Tom, but I honestly can't remember. We had a fantastic discussion about the changing nature of the gay ghettos - and in particular the increasing decentralization and privatization of gay life (via the Internet). Halfway through the conversation he mentioned that his lover had recently passed away, and it turns out that his lover was none other than Danny Majewski - whose obituary I had just been reading the night before. Wow.
From that fantastic discussion I headed over to Jim Pickett and Will Wong's Sero-Adaptation workshop, which ended up be extremely useful for me. They both did a *fabulous* job detailing not only the latest data on sero-adaptation, but also the potential benefits and drawbacks to those practices. I really enjoyed the way the discussed sero-adaptation, which basically means a range of practices that reduce HIV risk by employing strategies other than condom use for safety. These can include practices like serosorting (choosing partners based on like sero-status), strategic positioning (e.g. if I'm HIV-neg and having sex with a poz guy, I would choose to top), "dipping" (or just putting your dick inside for a moment without a condom, but not actually fucking), using a lot of lube (since "dry" sex carries a much greater risk of bleeding and thus transmission), and even discussing viral load with Poz partenrs (since greater viral loads generally translates to greater potential for transmission).
Also, Will Wong presented a really fabulous table that I thought was incredibly important and useful for describing HIV risk. Basically, he translated per-incidence risk data (that I cite in my essay, HIV Panic) into relative risk data. Fabulous! His table looked like this (I added the GaySpeak!):
So, basically this relates every sex act to a base risk of "1" for getting a blowjob without a condom. Thus, getting fucked bareback for gay men is 100 times as risky as getting that blowjob without a condom. I think this is pretty useful, as it gives gay men a more clear sense of risk per sexual activity. Helpful, I think!
After the conference, I met up with Spencer for wine and cheese at a lovely Wine Bar. We got into a great discussion about gay sex, and I actually was finally able to articulate my Master's thesis underlying assertion: That a lack of relevant sex education for young gay men leads to their irrational fear of contracting HIV (what I call HIV panic), which then leads to a desire for boyfriend relationships because its the only place they feel safe having anal sex. I'm interested in the relationship between poor HIV education and heteronormative / conservative ideas about sex and relationships. Yay for clarity over wine!