abstension-only education has got my generation cooked i swear to god

the context is that a trans woman said having sex with your friends is fine and cool actually and alot of people got mad about that (something something sex is a sacred bond you have with one monogamous partner forever) and when asked about the risks of getting hiv she gave the answer "i take pills so that doesn't happen" and people got really mad at that because they think aids should be a divine punishment for people who don't live in a heterosexual monogamous lifestyle, and i am tired.

you're completely right these people genuinely think if you catch hiv you should either die or live in self-hating misery, the idea that someone can have hiv and not only be happy but also still have sex is against "god's plan" or some bullshit like that.

Source

We shouls start executing medical corporate executives for human rights violations.

This is a cool result: current oral PrEP requires a daily pill, but a trial of a twice-yearly injection of lenacapavir has proven so effective that the trial being conducted was ended early to give all participants the drug. Not only do twice-yearly injections avoid the problem of having to remember to take a pill every day, they also may have less stigma, which has been a problem for PrEP in the past.

Covid has pushed us back so far that the covid minimizers have begun minimizing AIDS since several studies show the viral mechanics of covid attacking lymphocytes is eerily similar to HIV. Many virologists and epidemiologists who were pioneers during the AIDS crisis have pointed out similarities between AIDS and long covid. So since we're trying to "It's not that bad" our way out of a pandemic, we have to minimize AIDS now too? Fucking idiots....

Because someone felt the need to minimize covid, I read the phrase "AIDS is just..." for the first time in my life and it makes me want to vomit. "[Disease] isn't life threatening" FOR THOSE WHO CAN AFFORD EXPENSIVE LIFE-LONG TREATMENT. Are you telling me you don't know one person who couldn't afford treatment? Then why don't you care enough to mask for them?

For the details with no paywall:

The article says that the guidelines have been updated. Instead of asking if you’re a man that’s had sex with another man in the past 3 months it asks everyone regardless of gender if they’ve had anal sex with a new partner or if they’ve had anal sex with multiple partners in the past 3 months.

This both opens up blood donation to msm in exclusive relationships or who don’t have anal sex and more accurately identifies hiv risk from people who aren’t msm. This is exactly the sort of guidelines we’ve been fighting for for years. This is a major win for both gay rights and blood donation in the US. Now a bunch of people who couldn’t donate before can donate now.

It has been amazing to see how aids has been controlled, definitely a win for humanity

[id= Tweet from Matthew Hodson that reads:

When I was diagnosed with #HIV twenty-four years ago, I doubted I would live to fifty.

Today I turn fifty-five.

The drugs that keep me alive also mean I can’t pass HIV on.

HIV changed. Tell everyone.

It is accompanied by two pictures of Matthew Hodson, one in black and white where he wears a tux, and he appears very young. The second looks to be from present-day. He is wearing a tank top and airpods and holds his head up high. /end ID]

Stop the ban on blood donation of gay men

today is world AIDS day

a lot of HIV-positive people still face stigmatisation due to prejudices and misinformation. so here is a quick reminder that:

Please share this information, not just online but also with friends and family who might not know it. And if you can, donate to your local AIDS/HIV charity or if you want to support one that’s operating internationally then Elton John AIDS Foundation is the one I’d recommend!

ICYMI - Huge news!

^link to the article for further info & accessibility

nancy and bonnie, lesbian sacred sexuality, by marcelina martin and diane mariechild, 1995

[I was 32 when I tested positive and I made the decision to never have sex or intimacy again. I had just broken up with my girlfriend and my life was a mess. My health was good then. I think my decision was premature. I was frightened about the possibilities. I gave up on living. I had a really strong feeling that I was a poisoned person. I didn’t have sex with anyone for four years. I was into the death part of HIV. I thought I was a dead person, just waiting to die. It was very sacred for me to learn that I wasn’t a poison person. I couldn’t have learned that without sex. Before I was embracing death, I had given up. I had given up on any kind of intimacy with anyone. I was so alone. I was 36 when I met Bonnie and I was totally smitten. My relationship with her changed my attitude about who I am and particularly who I am with this disease. On a day-to-day level I’ve realized that I’m not just a person waiting to die. I can live my life. It has been very life-affirming. Now, I don’t feel so frightened, I’m more comfortable. I don’t even think I was afraid of giving the disease to someone else. I felt that if I approached someone they would react in such a way that I would feel totally rejected. I didn’t want to take that chance. I’ve had a hard time with this disease in the lesbian community. I haven’t always been received graciously. It’s nice to meet people who can see beyond my HIV status. When we first started having sex I was self-conscious. At first I was rigid, no you can’t do this to me, you can’t do that to me. And they were all things I really loved. I wanted to have that flowing sex with someone who didn’t have any boundaries. Bonnie really broke down a lot of my rigidity. We have changed a lot about what we think is safe sex and what isn’t. In the passion of our new relationship we did a lot of things we don’t do now. Truthfully, I don’t love safe sex. I would like sex to be more spontaneous, without any planning, but it can’t always be that way. This is the 1990’s and there is this new disease and a lot of old diseases too. I think lesbians tend to be cavalier about AIDS- we don’t think we can get it. Sacredness, when I was younger, meant the grass, the trees, the lakes. Now that I am in my thirties I think what is really sacred is to be able to be comfortable in a hostile world, to feel like there is something that makes you able to live in the day-to-day world. Something that gives you a cushion. That is what is sacred.]

What a great news!👊🏻

Still in very early stages, but what a wonderful thing it would be if it works out.

https://abcnews.go.com/Health/research-shows-promising-development-hunt-hiv-vaccine/story?id=76904202

Also: don’t stigmatize HIV+ individuals because they all have different circumstances and might’ve  gotten the virus from a variety of sources (sex, occupational, birth, blood transfusions in other countries). 

HIV-related stigma remains a huge barrier to preventing HIV, and is linked to a low level of people testing for HIV. 

The bad news is that Trump is cutting America’s spending on HIV year after year.  He has taken steps to weaken the Affordable Care Act since coming to power.

prep is preventative, pep is what you take after initial exposure

In Capitalist America, sex education is on twitter and tumblr!

On PrEP for about three years now and my master’s degree focused on HIV, so if you have ANY questions about PrEP or HIV please DM me and I’ll be happy to chat. It doesn’t matter where you are in the world, let’s chat about sex and HIV.

72% of women with HIV are black. Talk about disproportionate. The cool thing is there is an organization, Black AIDS Institute, that is trying to fight HIV/AIDS in Black communities! Definitely worth checking out, even if you can’t donate. They’re pretty fuckin cool.

Editor’s Note: The new coronavirus disease known as COVID-19 continues to spread in the United States and around the world. The number of cases has surpassed 2,000 in the U.S. and 145,000 worldwide. POZ has covered the latest news on COVID-19 and will continue to do so.

Although older people, those with other health conditions and people with compromised immune systems remain most at risk of severe illness from the new coronavirus, everyone should be vigilant.

Click here for a slideshow on seven ways to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus and click here for a Spanish-language version. Go to poz.com/tag/coronavirus for our continuing coverage of COVID-19. For questions about the new coronavirus, click here for a related thread in the POZ Forums.

@lavenderpanda

Until last month, HIV drugs for babies and toddlers came in hard-to-swallow pills or yucky-tasting syrups. But now, Cipla, a manufacturer of generic drugs in India, has created Quadrimune. Its pediatric formulation comes in strawberry-flavored granules that allow it to be sprinkled on food or mixed in milk, reports The New York Times.

What’s more, the drug will likely be priced at $1 a day.

The med could save thousands of lives each year, notably in Africa, where nearly 80,000 babies die annually because of HIV.

“This is excellent news for all children living with HIV,” Winnie Byanyima, the executive director of United Nations AIDS agency UNAIDS, told the Times. “We have been eagerly waiting for child-friendly medicines that are easy to use and good to taste.”