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.

This is also important because it's in women and girls, who are often not targeted when it comes to taking PrEP and should be consulted more when it comes to PrEP.

For people with vaginas as well people need to have more PrEP (this includes neo-vaginas) and is taking PrEP they can quick start the pills by taking two pills a two hours before having sex, and then need to continue taking the pills for a week afterwards at about the same time. Preferably people should take it every day to make sure there's enough in the tissue, but the quick start is

People who just have anal tissue don't need to have as many pills and can just take it for up to 48h afterwards.

But either way it's still hard even for people without stigma to remember to take things if they have a lot of other things going on.

There's some additional tests on people in the UK and the US to see whether the pill or the jab is better over time, especially in at risk populations (such as drug users and sex workers). So it'll be nice to see more info come out on this.

In the meantime it's a good idea to annoy the producers of lenacapavir to make sure it's affordable for all people in all countries. We could get rid of HIV in a generation or two!

“𝐎𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐚𝐲: ‘𝐎𝐡, 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐠 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐬, 𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐡. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐩 𝐢𝐭. 𝐈𝐭’𝐥𝐥 𝐠𝐨 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲.’ 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐭𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐚𝐲: ‘𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲, 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐜!’ 𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐝𝐨𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐈 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐑𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐬𝐚𝐰 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝.” Elizabeth Taylor chats with Whoopi Goldberg on the debut episode of The Whoopi Goldberg Show, originally broadcast in syndication on September 14th, 1992. An early trailblazer in the fight against HIV/AIDS and a staunch and outspoken LGBTQ+ ally, Elizabeth committed her time and energy to the cause when her friend and co-star Rock Hudson was diagnosed with AIDS prior to his passing in 1985. Elizabeth went on to become a co-founder (alongside Dr. Mathilde Krim) of the first AIDS research center amfAR, and later founded her separate Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation in 1991 with the specific focus of providing nutritious meals (as well as medical and financial assistance) to people living with HIV and AIDS. She also lobbied the U.S. congress to contribute more money for AIDS research and education, devoting the last twenty-six years of her life to the cause. After Elizabeth passed away in 2011 at the age of 79, a large portion of the $115,932,000 raised at the Christie’s auction of her legendary jewelry collection was bequeathed to her charity in order to continue providing the services and assistance she believed were important in perpetuity. Still actively raising funds today, Elizabeth’s grandson Quinn Tivey is now an officer and co-trustee of her foundation. Reflecting on his grandmother’s humanitarianism and advocacy, he recently stated: “The fight against HIV/AIDS was such a vital part of her legacy, and although the fight is far from over, I’m honored to see the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation continue her work, educating legislators, raising awareness for the public, disproving myths and decreasing fear and stigma. Grandma stood up for what she believed in, living boldly and courageously. She would never buckle under pressure, and she certainly would not support the status quo if the status quo didn’t feel right.”

Xena: Warrior Princess is the most tv show

* Gay

* Strong women with swords

* Absolutely endless fucking clown show of over-the-top camp nonsense (affectionate) (honorific)

* That time in s2 when a trans woman won the beauty pageant

* Bruce Campbell is here

Let's not forget that Karen Dior was openly HIV+ at the time they did shoot the kiss scene.

Amazing, honestly. Cured my depression.

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.

My mum’s a nurse and had to take HIV prophylactics once or twice throughout her career afaik, though hers were 6 weeks of medication I think. That stuff can save lives!

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) confronted a CEO Thursday for pricing a drug designed to reduce the risk of HIV transmission at $8 in Australia but over $1,500 in the U.S.

“You’re the CEO of Gilead. Is it true that Gilead made $3 billion in profits from Truvada in 2018?” Ocasio-Cortez asked Gilead CEO Daniel O'Day.

“$3 billion in revenue,” he clarified.

The current list price is $2,000 a month in the United States, correct?“ she asked, referring to Truvada.

“It’s $1,780 in the United States,” O'Day responded.

“Why is it $8 in Australia?” Ocasio-Cortez countered.

“Truvada still has patent protection in the United States and in the rest of the world it is generic,” O'Day explained, adding, “It will be generically available in the United States as of September 2020.”

“I think it’s important here that we notice that we the public, we the people, developed this drug. We paid for this drug, we lead and developed all the patents to create Prep and then that patent has been privatized despite the fact that the patent is owned by the public, who refused to enforce it,” Ocasio-Cortez said.

“There’s no reason this should be $2,000 a month. People are dying because of it and there’s no enforceable reason for it.”

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/444091-ocasio-cortez-confronts-ceo-for-nearly-2k-price-tag-on-drug-that-costs-8-in

Pop

Off

Bitch

COULDN’T REBLOG FAST ENOUGH

everyone is deleting the caption to this but this work is called “perfect lovers” by the gay artist felix gonzalez-torres. the piece is about the illness and death of his HIV-positive partner ross laycock:

“Don’t be afraid of the clocks, they are our time, time has been so generous to us. We imprinted time with the sweet taste of victory. We conquered fate by meeting at a certain time in a certain space. We are a product of the time, therefore we give back credit where it is due: time. We are synchronized, now and forever. I love you.” (Gonzalez-Torres, 1988)

Wow wtf HIV/AIDS was discovered by Flossie Wong-Staal, an Chinese-American woman, and she’s the reason the HIV test even exists. AND THEN she invented the molecular knife that lead to treatments for HIV/AIDS. And she’s STILL ALIVE. We don’t hear about the contributions of Women of Color enough, my word. Madness.

https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flossie_Wong-Staal

FACTS!

We really do need intensive sex Ed in schools

Brass Eye S01E04: ‘Sex’  

When news outlets report on Trump’s many promises, they need to give the context. Sam Bee gives a good example.👆

Jesus.

There’s a reason why so many LGBT leaders from that era are women. 

And there’s a reason why gay culture essentially had to reboot itself. 

and there’s a reason saying ‘you’ll survive’ is bullshit. 

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/may/30/black-gay-men-aids-hiv-epidemic-america

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2017/12/29/trump-administration-fires-all-members-of-hivaids-advisory-council/?utm_term=.0b834730c8cf

There is a current, ongoing HIV/AIDS crisis in gay black men.

Saying “well we survived Regan” and “well we survived Bush” is bullshit.

Maybe *you* survived, but *we* didn’t. Not all of us. Not enough of us.

Anyway please continue to be very loud about the fact that the AIDS epidemic isn’t over, that it’s disproportionately harmful to gay black men, and that the current administration is doing everything that it possibly can to ignore it.

Every day I learn something new about queer history.

I feel… ashamed? I didn’t know any of this

What a legend

October is LGBTQ History Month.

Because of generations of activists who came before us, we have made incredible strides toward justice.

Because of unconscionable hate in the White House and beyond, we have so much farther to go.

Because of brilliant, dedicated people fighting all over the world for what’s right, we will get there.

Jesus.

Look at this, and remember it next time someone says that the gay community survived the AIDS epidemic.

We didn’t survive, we started over. We lost all but an entire generation.

This is what “we survived Reagan, you’ll survive Trump” looks like. No, we didn’t.

I had a student for whom basically all the adult men in his life were hiv positive.

Y'all, it’s only Day 1, and things are looking GRAVE AF. Today Trump re-instated a law that will kill thousands of women – and I am not exaggerating here. He did this 2 DAYS after the women’s march, surrounded by a group of smirking old dudes. Lovely. The policy is called the “Global Gag Rule”.

Here’s what you need to know:

The Global Gag Rule bans health organizations around the world from receiving US funding if they so much as *mention* abortion. The organizations are also banned from providing abortion services – even though other funding sources, like donations, are used to pay for them. (The Helms Amendment bans the use of US funds for abortion.)  The GGR is not a budget cut, it is a special stipulation for funding targeting reproductive health organizations specifically.

As you might imagine, this policy puts international health centers in a very difficult position. They either lose funding for things like STI screenings and birth control, or they leave patients seeking an abortion to do it on their own.

We saw the devastating impact of this policy when President Bush signed it into effect in 2001. Take Ethiopia, where unsafe abortion is the second-leading cause of death (after HIV/AIDS). Organizations there decided they could not turn women away, and thusly experienced a massive birth control supply crisis as punishment. 16 other countries also saw US donations of contraceptives and condoms abruptly cut off.

I know it’s not their thing, but the GOP desperately needs to put on their thinking caps here. What happens when you cut off birth control access? Oh yes! More people get pregnant! And what happens when you cut off safe access to abortion services? Oh, right. People die. Every year 50,000 women die from a lack of access to safe abortion. The last time the GGR went into effect, the abortion rate INCREASED. There are literally 90 katrillion studies showing that banning abortion *does not stop abortion from happening*, it just means they happen in dangerous conditions. That’s a fact. And, at least to this chick, facts still matter.

Then there are the effects that GGR has on HIV/AIDS prevention efforts. In some of the communities affected by the rule, HIV infects as many as 1 in 4 people.

Overall, this is a law that has well documented effects of death and destruction. On what fking planet is this policy “pro life”? I’m pissed, naturally. It’s unbelievable (well, not really) that our government would put women around the world in this much danger FOR LITERALLY NO REASON. Seriously – WTF?? I will not stand for it, and I hope you’ll join me in sending a vocal NOPE to our leaders.

This week, Senator Gillibrand and Senator Shaheen are introducing bi-partisan legislation to permanently REPEAL the Global Gag Rule. They are calling it “HER Act”. It’s unclear to me what is possible given that we have a 1-party government now, but given that lives are on the line, I am going to do what I can to fight back at every turn. 

PLEASE call your reps and tell them what you think of the Global Gag Rule:  http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/

Mike Pence attended Hamilton and the cast had something to say to him: “We are the diverse America who are alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not protect us.” (x)

They’re going to try and kill him.

He’s probably already dead

BOOOOOST THIS

YOOOOO

seriously guys boost this

I don’t care if it looks ugly on your blogs THIS COULD POSSIBLY SAVE LIVES

Nigerians are about to save the world

Governments are gonna kill this guy.

his name is Maduike Ezeibe, a professor at the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike, Abia State. this is huge

The world won’t get serious about this unless a post goes viral and that’s sad af You rather talk about a vine video or popular culture ok that’s fine and all but there’s a cure for HIV/Aids and america is lying There is a cure for HIV/Aids and no one will spread the news for those who are diagnosed with it, so that THE WORLD COULD WAKE TF UP There is hope for those who have been diagnosed with a disease that may have given them 20 or so years to live For the first time in the history of the world there’s is a possible preventative cure for one of the most deadliest viral diseases

The problem with HIV is that this virus is extremely fast in evolving and that means it becomes resistant to a certain temporary cure in a brief time.

That said, if this man really found out a cure for this contemporary HIV version of the virus IT IS VITAL TO SPREAD IT NOW as the virus changes VERY QUICKLY