Happy Father’s Day
June 20, 2010
Love ya dad, you’re the coolest.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
One Condoms Giving Away Free Music
June 18, 2010
My buddies over at One Condoms are celebrating their big splash in Target by giving away 1,000,000 free songs- I’m honored that Synthetic Division is among the bands whose music they will be sharing.
To get your free song, simply do one of the following things via onecondoms.com:
- Signing up for their mailing list
- Becoming a Fan of One Condoms on Facebook
- Following @onecondoms on Twitter
- Signing a Safer Sex Oath
- Filling out a Sex Survey
- Touch Shawn’s Balls
Okay, I stuck the last one in to see if you were paying attention. One Condoms can’t help you out on that last item, but do take them up on their offer for a free song. They provide lots of cool bands and musicians with free condoms that are passed out on tour (much like Synthetic Division did on the recent tour with Bella Morte). I’m sure the bands feel the same way as I do about returning the kindness of One Condoms and giving away a free song.
Enjoy, hope everyone has a good weekend!
Positively Yours,
Shawn
Watch, Friend and Follow me on:
YouTube, Facebook and Twitter
Website: ShawnandGwenn.com Also check out the lovely Gwenn’s Fashion/Coffee Blog
Like what you’ve read? Then buy me an iced mocha or check out my new CD: Synthetic Division, A Symptom of Life, which is now on iTunes!
SHARE THE BLOG. NOT THE VIRUS.
BP = Beyond Prevention
June 17, 2010
So I’ve been writing a lot about the ban on blood donors with any hint of homosexual behavior over the last thirty years, as well as the reason why passions in the hemophilia community are so high. It’s because we know something that is painfully obvious about the United States through our own history as it pertains to the HIV/AIDS crisis.
And that’s that our country doesn’t do prevention well.
Especially if it interferes with another word that begins with “pr”: profits.
As a thinblooded (person with hemophilia) positoid (someone living with HIV) who is a sex educator, I am beyond aware of the fact that prevention takes a backseat in a society that has remedy pills for everything (just please ignore the side effects) and a misguided moralistic streak that ignores human nature and desire…. wait, where is this going?
To the Gulf.
I haven’t blogged about the oil spill because I doubt anyone turns to me for their environmental disaster updates. It’s not that I haven’t been keeping up with it, or thinking about it. In all honesty, I’ve just been bummed out by the whole thing. Can you imagine being a preening, beautiful specimen of a bird one day and then being dumped on by sludgy, toxic shit the next?
Well, now a lot of our human allies have gone from being fisherman to scooping up that sludgy shit with shovels. And where I come in as a commentator on this latest in a long line of unnatural disasters is that this is quickly becoming not only an environmental crisis, but also an issue about preventable/unnecessary illnesses.
As the oil in the Gulf of Mexico wafts through the air like the magnificent fart of a lactose-intolerant Godzilla-esque sea creature, many who live in those coastal towns are starting to get sick with headaches and other symptoms that can’t be explained away by any other cause. And what is BP doing to protect the people working there to clean up their mess?
Nothing.
Worse yet is that those who are showing up with gear that protects their respiratory systems are being told not to wear it- that doing so would result in the termination of that well-paying, cushy summer job. Might have something to do with p.r., as those masks might look scary on TV and, hell, they got away with banning those terribly upsetting images of those dying birds. It’s easy to threaten someone who has just lost their job due to B.P.’s own negligence.
It’s disgusting.
There was Gulf War Syndrome in the early 1990′s, and I bet we’re going to be seeing the after effects of the Gulf Spill Syndrome for years to come. And like the blood crisis of the 1980′s, people are going to try to weasel their way out of culpability. Or look for clever ways to explain these egregious decisions away. Or just ignore all of these issues for as long as possible, knowing that they have legal cover so why even bother.
I just hate to see people in harm’s way. I know what it feels like to be less-than-100% healthy; it’s why I’ve dedicated my life to HIV prevention. There are people on the ground in all of the states affected by the spill doing their best to awaken BP to the health concerns of the clean up crews.
Let’s just hope their terrible record of prevention doesn’t dictate their course of action on this front as well.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
Watch, Friend and Follow me on:
YouTube, Facebook and Twitter
Website: ShawnandGwenn.com Also check out the lovely Gwenn’s Fashion/Coffee Blog
Like what you’ve read? Then buy me an iced mocha or check out my new CD: Synthetic Division, A Symptom of Life, which is now on iTunes!
SHARE THE BLOG. NOT THE VIRUS.
“Comments” Sense on the Blood Ban
June 16, 2010
Thanks to everyone who rescued the Newsplex crew’s Comments Section from the ignoramus known as “Archie”- who is probably just some jackwad trying to be funny. Archie had the post that read: “Good, I don’t want any gay blood in me if I go to the hospital!“ Even if the post were in jest, there are plenty of people who probably share the sentiment. One of them is not Charles, who singled out this “Archie” in his Comment, which is worth the scrolldown I assure you.
Here’s some of your (I say your because I recognize a few names) comments about the gay blood ban issue posted on the link I provided yesterday.
Posted by: Ryan
Location: Virginia
on Jun 15, 2010 at 05:20 PM
I feel this ban is discriminatory and outdated, Other high risk groups
like IV drug users , promiscuous heterosexuals and prostitutes are
deferred from donation only one year from their last high risk
encounter. I know many gay people in monogamous relationships, some
with rare blood types, who are willing but unable to donate LIFESAVING
blood. I’m also a Hemophiliac like Shawn Decker, who receives Factor
VIII three times or more per week to treat my Severe Hemophilia. I was
spared HIV infection in the 80′s from tainted blood products, but my
older brother wasn’t. He passed away in 1991. We are in the year 2010
& no longer in the 1980′s. Science & the times have changed.
It’s time this was changed as well. People’s lifestyles should be
considered when donating blood, not their sexual orientation. Did I
mention that I’m gay as well?
Posted by: Veteran
Location: Louisa
on Jun 15, 2010 at 04:04 PM
Imagine this….serve your country – but be stationed in the UK (in 1985). You
are banned as well from ever giving blood because you could have been
exposed to “mad cow” disease! Well, the gay men can just “moooove” over
and wait for common sense to be used.
Posted by: Cynthia Neff
Location: Charlottesville
on Jun 15, 2010 at 03:20 PM
Banning blood donors based on who they are rather than on bahaviors they engage
in is indeed risky business. Just as people self report that they are a
gay man, they could identify whether or not they have engaged in risky
behavior prior to giving blood. Not allowing gay men to donate blood
makes no sense and doesn’t address the real risk. This kind of
discrimination is just not warranted.
Posted by: Steve C
on Jun 15, 2010 at 03:07 PM
Yeessss
we should be allowed to donate. I could give blood every Monday because
I’m off werrk. If someone can give me directions to the gay-blood-donor
collection center, I’ll drive down in my Prius Hybrid. It will give me
a chance to listen to Pendulum by Foundry over and over!
Posted by: Ray
Location: chicago
on Jun 15, 2010 at 02:14 PM
There is no good reason nowadays to ban gay men from donating if they are
behaving in sexually responsible manner (condoms, monogamous, etc.).
Fine, have a six month ban if you have had sex within that time frame
to make sure there is no HIV infection.
Seriously, you could sleep with 5 women with no protection a couple of
weeks prior to donating and its all good. But have protected gay sex
just once in your life and you are automatically banned? Ridiculous.
Granted, I do have a horse in this fight as I am a bisexual male
(currently nonsexual right now), so yeah, I would like to donate in
good conscience, as I am a type o negative, which is always in short
supply.
Its time to get out of the 80′s. Technology is MUCH better, now and so
there is no need for this draconian policy.
Posted by: J
Location: Charlottesville
on Jun 15, 2010 at 02:11 PM
While there may be some risk, in regards to the previous comment, there is
always a risk, gay or straight. You risk any number of blood borne
diseases no matter the sexual preference. The need for blood is always
high, if it is statistically proven to be a higher rate of infection in
blood from gay men, not merely a stigma, then the blood donation
centers should step up their testing on all bloods coming in. It
shouldn’t be a matter of where the blood is coming from but the
stringency of testing and quality control, as it were, on the blood
supplies. Fear and lifestyle disagreements shouldn’t affect our levels
of blood supply.
Posted by: Me
Location: Here
on Jun 15, 2010 at 01:38 PM
Of course gay men should be allowed to donate! All donor blood is tested
for many things, including HIV, and the testing is no more or less
likely to miss the virus in a straight donor than it is in a gay donor.
How many people are faced with the possibility of not receiving the
blood they need simply because willing donors were turned away due to
sexual orientation?
Posted by: Jack
Location: Cville
on Jun 15, 2010 at 01:35 PM
Does this apply to lesbians as well? How about transexuals? What if they
like country music? Or maybe they’re fat? Be sure to ask these
questions as you are bleeding to death. Homosexuals are not mutants,
what the heck is wrong with you?
Posted by: charlie
Location: albemarle county
on Jun 15, 2010 at 01:22 PM
That’s real intelligent Archie. As if gay blood would somehow make you any
more of a lowlife. Your ignorance is tragic. Hopefully you aren’t
breeding.
—————————————————-
Positively Yours,
Shawn
Watch, Friend and Follow me on:
YouTube, Facebook and Twitter
Website: ShawnandGwenn.com Also check out the lovely Gwenn’s Fashion/Coffee Blog
Like what you’ve read? Then buy me an iced mocha or check out my new CD: Synthetic Division, A Symptom of Life, which is now on iTunes!
SHARE THE BLOG. NOT THE VIRUS.
Blood Ban Opponent
June 15, 2010
I post most of my blogs late at night so you have something to wake up to and enjoy with your morning coffee with. Me? I wake up around noon, and that’s when I head out for my iced mocha… but this afternoon? I woke up to an email and voicemail message regarding last night’s blog entry.
It was from the local news, CBS19 Newsplex. They wanted to speak with me about the FDA’s blood ban for the 5 pm news. I called back. “Oh yeah, I’m just a bit out of town, can we meet at 3 pm?” I lied- I was in my pajamas in my home. Springing into action, I hopped into the shower and drove across town. Ignore my disheveled appearance, it was like 98 degrees today- I pretty much sweated off my friggin’ shower before I hit the first traffic light.
Here’s a link to the interview and story.
Of course, this isn’t about my vanity. It’s about the blood ban debate. In the news story, I was labeled as a “Blood Ban Opponent”; I like that. Has a nice ring to it. Over on the Newsplex web site, a few people have commented on the story:
Location: Cville
on Jun 14, 2010 at 10:56 PM
The ignorance of these comments is about par for the course on Newsplex. Bravo.
Location: cville
on Jun 14, 2010 at 09:24 PM
Good, I don’t want any gay blood in me if I go to the hospital!
Location: Dyke
on Jun 14, 2010 at 08:22 PM
Too risky. This disease is tricky. Why risk sentencing a person to expensive, life-long care, and ultimate death?
So, what’s your take? Take a moment and share your own feelings on this issue: Go here to leave your comment on CBS19′s web site.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
Watch, Friend and Follow me on:
YouTube, Facebook and Twitter
Website: ShawnandGwenn.com Also check out the lovely Gwenn’s Fashion/Coffee Blog
Like what you’ve read? Then buy me an iced mocha or check out my new CD: Synthetic Division, A Symptom of Life, which is now on iTunes!
SHARE THE BLOG. NOT THE VIRUS.
Health and Human Services Backs Blood Ban
June 14, 2010
Late on Friday, a Health and Human Services (HHS) Committee voted 9-6 in favor of keeping the ban on gay and bisexual men from being allowed to donate blood. Senator John Kerry had led the surge to have the ban lifted, and said that the ban prevents access to “blood that could save lives” and discriminates “not because they have engaged in highly risky behavior, but because they are gay.”
Proving myself to be a red sheep, my attitude differs from many of my thinblooded brothers and sisters. Turns out that hemophilia patient groups have come out in support of keeping the ban, which was set in place in the mid-80′s, when there was an absolute need for the ban and an assessment of blood safety concerns, a process which moved along very slowly at the cost of thousands of lives.
At the time, the blood ban wasn’t discriminatory, it was a necessary. A safeguard based on what was known at the time: that gay men were being disproportionately affected by a virus, which gave them something in common with the hemophilia community who were also being infected through tainted blood products. Around the same time that the ban was put in place, the first antibody test for HIV was approved.
Science has come a long way since those frightening times and, these days, the blood ban is as out-of-date as the hairstyles of the mid-80′s… Williamsburg/Brooklyn hipsters notwithstanding.
I understand the scars the thinblood community has collected; the 1970′s were bell-bottoms and hepatitis B. The 1980′s brought HIV and the 1990′s were the decade of C+C Music Factory and hepatitis C. And I’ve gotten every souvenir offered by my reliance on blood products. So I understand the deep mistrust of the blood industry. But I am also a believer in science and moving forward. I’m with the Red Cross and their opinion that that blood ban needs to be repealed.
It seems like the ball may not bounce that way, as it’s assumed that the FDA will follow the HHS’s vote when it comes time to make a decision on whether or not to lift the ban, which deeply upsets me. I think screening should be based on sexual practices, not sexual orientations. It just seems so backwards and wrong at this point.
Hate to start the week with a bummer of a post. I’ll try to dig up something fun for the next entry, all the while hoping that the voices of reason prevail now… just as they did twenty-five years ago when the tough decision to put the blood ban in place was made.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
Watch, Friend and Follow me on:
YouTube, Facebook and Twitter
Website: ShawnandGwenn.com Also check out the lovely Gwenn’s Fashion/Coffee Blog
Like what you’ve read? Then buy me an iced mocha or check out my new CD: Synthetic Division, A Symptom of Life, which is now on iTunes!
SHARE THE BLOG. NOT THE VIRUS.
219,000 Pints… Pass the Plasma, Please
June 10, 2010
Check this story on the Advocate, which explains how a recent study suggests that lifting the FDA ban on blood donations by gay men- or MSMs (Men who have Sex with Men… or MWHSWMs)- could add 219,000 pints of blood to our national supply yearly.
That’s a lot of blood.
The Red Cross supports the lifting of this antiquated ban, as do the American Association of Blood Banks, which is where I keep my money safe, incidentally. Just kidding, I don’t have any money. I don’t have a normal amount of clotting factor, either, and 219,000 pints of blood a year would be enough to aide in 650,000 medical treatments.
According to Philly.com, “the Federal Advisory Committee on Blood Safety and Availability is set to
reconsider the policy tomorrow and Friday at a hearing in Rockville, Md.” Let’s hope they move forward on this and lift the ban.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
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Symptom of Tour Finale
June 6, 2010
The touching, tearful final vlog for the Symptom of Life Tour.
LIFE IN PHOTOS
Face Time fun with my Goddaughter. She was digging our phone chat- even though we were about three feet away from one another.
Making the enemy quit out with @squirrel_munky and @vaineos :)
Closing out the Joe with @gwennbarringer this afternoon.
Caught in full Mocha Mode...
Speaking About Sexual Health
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