Tomorrow is National HIV Testing Day
June 26, 2009
Tomorrow is National HIV Testing Day. Don’t be an “Unknown”- know your HIV status. TKNO (The Know Now Organization) comes to you and provides discreet HIV testing. Check them out, and follow them on Twitter @TKNO.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
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See my band play in Charlottesville on July 11!
Michael Jackson’s History with AIDS
June 26, 2009
I didn’t mean for the title of this blog to be misleading. Michael Jackson did not have AIDS. But I didn’t want to not blog about what everyone will be talking about today. Yes, today I am a follower.
I’ve always been a consumer of pop culture. This is, by far, the biggest loss of a pop star in my lifetime. The only reason why I’m not counting John Lennon is because I was only 5 when he was murdered. In terms of Jackson’s art, I wasn’t a fan of much of anything that wasn’t on Thriller, Jacko’s shining moment. In my eyes, however, one other moment shines much brighter than that album: his stand on compassion for those with AIDS.
In particular, his public support of Ryan White.
I know, *insert boy joke here*. But really, when he and Elton John came forward to pour resources into this fight, they understood how important it was to get the public’s attention and appeal to peoples’ greater sense of good. By choosing to align themselves with Ryan’s own mission to educate and enlighten people on the issues surrounding AIDS, they raised the visibility of the injustice Ryan- and others with HIV- were faced with.
Click to watch the video and hear the song he wrote in tribute to Ryan White. Yes, I admit, it’s cheesy. But hey, I’m trying to focus on my own greater sense of good, and am thankful that he stepped forward at a very scary time in this country’s history, and advocated for the well-being of positoids everywhere.
On a different note, I have to say that “Thriller” is the greatest music video of all-time. He wasn’t kidding when he told the girl in the video that he wasn’t like all the other guys, was he?
Positively Yours,
Shawn
Share the Blog. Not the Virus. (Thanks, Stacia, for the Get Well Coffeeeeeez!)
Teen Vogue Rejects “Condom” Ad
June 24, 2009
Moving along from fake scandals (previous blog entry) to real ones. Just in case you don’t know, Just In Case, Inc. is a company that provides cool little discreet condom carrying cases. “Intimacy Compacts for Women” is how they describe them.
Here’s what they look like.
Great idea, right?
Well, Teen Vogue magazine doesn’t think so. Or they may like them, but they decided to deny them ad space. Of course, the magazine is a business, and can do whatever it wants. But this action speaks to the frustration that is the battle for reality-based sex education/awareness in the United States.
I caught up with Rachael Sudul of Just In Case Inc. to get more pissed off about this.
Q: so Rachael- you have a great product that has encourages healthy decision-making… Tell me what went down with Teen Vogue?
Rachael: We received an email through a separate company trying to sell remnant ad space for Teen Vogue and we thought it was a perfect publication for our product, with the rate of STDs in teens and young adults being 1 in 4. We had hoped to also spark a conversation. When we went to take advantage of the ad rate, we were told that the editors at Teen Vogue didn’t want us to advertise with them.
That blows.
It is a disheartening, yet predictable decision. Interesting however since one of their articles in the June/July issue is: “Modern Romance From kissing to “sexting,” check out what teens consider “hooking up” today.” Sex is used to sell everything even in Teen Vogue; jeans, makeup, food… so we teach our kids and young adults how to seduce in every aspect yet wave our fingers and yell about being abstinent.
And those editors- like politicians who champion abstinence- conveniently ignore their own sexual histories when they were teens. What message do you hope your product sends to people?
What our product represents is people taking responsibility for their sexual health, young or old, if you are CHOOSING to be sexually active, and you are not 100% sure of your own status or your partner’s, use a condom.
When you’re not being cockblocked by Teen Vogue, whom do you advertise with?
We have advertised with Shape magazine and have had a good amount of editorials in large publications such as Shape, Self, Life&Style, and even Grey’s Anatomy magazine. Kate Walsh talked about our compacts on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson - it’s the last few minutes of this interview.
Too cool. So there is hope. Do you have a favorite dumb reaction to your product?
The reaction is always to the condom… “oh I don’t use condoms!!” As if they are reserved for the more promiscuous of us… if we could just normalize the condom by talking about it we could erase the stigma it has… birth control pills had a stigma as well in the beginning and it has diminished over the years. We can advertise Viagra and KY Lubricant during prime time on national TV, but not the condom? Interestingly the STD rates have skyrocketed in seniors with many thanks to that little blue pill since they believe pregnancy is the worst that unprotected sex can bring…
Yeah, sexual health isn’t just for the whippersnappers anymore. Thanks for your time, Rachael, and thanks to you and your mom for creating such a necessary- and cool- product. Viva la condom!
To learn more about the cases, and get one for yourself, go to justincaseinc.com. You can also follow Rachael on Twitter, which is where I first heard about this. Please share this interview with others.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
Share the Blog. Not the Virus. See Shawn’s band play in Charlottesville on July 11!
More Porn Stars Are Positive
June 13, 2009
Yesterday it was announced that at least 16 porn stars have tested positive since 2004, which brings the total to 22 over the last five years.
Unlike me, in high school and college Gwenn went beyond Algebra I pt. 2. She assured me that with roughly 1,200 people in the porn industry each year, five positives a year would mean that you have a .0033 chance of contracting HIV if you enter porn as a career. Of course, prevention is everything, so how you conduct yourself offset and what scenes you star in have some bearing on risk factors.
But what about testing?
At a recent porn convention in L.A. , some in the industry thought the 30-day voluntary HIV tests were doing their job, while others suggested that more were needed. Adult film star Belladonna said, “I don’t think 30 days is good enough. This is our bodies, our life, our
work.” Belladonna also retweeted (on Twitter) that having another active STD makes you more vulnerable to HIV infection. Being informed is sexy, isn’t it?
Unlike the storylines in a porn movie, the plot in this one is thickening by the red, hot and blue minute.
And yes, I know I could have used the word “thickening” in a better context there.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
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Porn Star Tests Positive for HIV
June 12, 2009
A female pornstar has tested positive for HIV, which brings back memories from 2004 when a male performer tested positive and shut the entire industry down amidst safety concerns.
In actuality, the adult film industry as a hole- er, whole- has done very well with their testing programs for HIV.
The article on Poz, linked above, reports that there is concern over the high incidence of chlamydia and gonorrhea infections and how that plays into the push for mandatory condom use in all adult entertainment movies.
Well, unless the industry is really covering up HIV infections, you have to take your jimmyhat off to them. Think about it- how many acts of unprotected sex have been performed by routinely (every 30 days) tested “actors”? To have one infection in 5 years is something to be applauded, not criticized.
Health officials are cracking down. But if California is worried about sexually transmitted infections, then what’s holding them back from invading every college campus in the state? I’m sure that all of the campuses in California combined are reporting more than 60 to 80 new cases of chlamydia and gonorrhea infections a month.
To me, the best thing for adult film stars is to have comprehensive education about how to protect themselves off set, when they are engaging in sexual acts with people whose jobs do not require STI testing. And the best thing for college students?
Take a lesson in HIV testing from a pornstar.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
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Reagan Statue, Like Prez Himself, Is Silent on AIDS
June 11, 2009
Last week a 40-foot bronze statue of Ronald Reagan was unveiled in Washington DC. Here’s a speech given by Congressman John Boehner, who cries, yet again.
Boehner, like many Republicans, has a soft spot the size of the national debt for Reagan. But for people with AIDS, Reagan is not a symbol of a better time. He’s the chief enabler of an act of domestic terrorism. Harsh? Reality can be. Can you imagine 40,000 people dying today and the president saying nothing? (I’m including W. in this hypothetical, too.) Ten Americans get the sniffles today, and Obama would be on CNN with a box of tissues and a tear in his eye.
But then, when Reagan finally spoke, his words were dickish. You can hear them here.
“… let’s be honest with ourselves, AIDS information can not be what some call ‘value neutral.’ After all, when it comes to preventing AIDS, don’t medicine and morality teach the same lessons.” Ronald Reagan, April 2, 1987
Maybe I’m missing the point here. Perhaps that statue isn’t the worst idea, because it will provide school children with an excellent lesson on exactly how Reagan dealt with the crisis, which went on to kill millions upon millions more. “Kids, any questions for the president about AIDS?”
Positively Yours,
Shawn
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Sean Strub on Activism
June 8, 2009
Through my boyish charm and way with the written word, I was able to catch up with Sean Strub online and get his thoughts on the early days of AIDS activism, as well as what went down in Hollywood last Friday at the protest…
Hey Sean, how did the protest in CA go?
Sheryl Lee Ralph was amazing, passionate, well-informed and rallied the crowd. She spoke several times. There was no civil disobedience. The crowd was lively and worked up, but not especially large.
Sounds good. Do activist groups like ACT UP have more potential for change with Obama in the White House as opposed to Bush?
I think it depends on the specific issue at hand. Certainly the potential for change with Obama is vastly greater than with Bush, but the process to affect that change is much different. With Bush, we were totally iced out; with Obama we have people like Jeff Crowley, the former deputy director of NAPWA, as his federal AIDS Policy Coordinator. He’s just one example, but across the administration the level of expertise and experience with the epidemic is vastly greater and comes from a different perspective.
It’s seems like you’d have to be nicer with an administration that might actually help you, but then again, it’s easier to get angry at someone whom you expect more from...
I wish they would have already lifted the ban on needle exchange and other things, but the single most important thing the Obama administration can do for people with HIV is to get universal health coverage. If everything else, in terms of the epidemic, needs to be put on hold in favor of that priority, for strategic reasons, then I am willing to be patient.
While you are being patient, care to reflect on a favorite personal ACT UP moment from the past?
In terms of specific moments the two that first come to mind are when Peter Staley, and I were on top of the roof of Sen. Jesse Helms’ house, unfurling the giant condom.
I love that one. It’s a Will Ferrell movie waiting to happen.
There’s also the moment during the Stop the Church! demonstration at St. Patrick’s cathedral when I took communion. The group I was part of (were we called the “Hail Marys”?) all took communion and when the priest held up the consecrated host and said “The Body of Christ” we would say something like “Safe Sex is Moral Sex!” or “I support a woman’s right to choose!” or whatever. I said “May the Lord bless the man I love who died a year ago today” as it was the anniversary of Michael Misove’s death.
That’s hardcore, Sean. And I love that phrase, by the way, “Safe Sex is Moral Sex”. Thanks for sharing the activist insight, and if there’s ever another home that needs to be fitted with a giant condom, count me in.
You bet.
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Decker’s Daily and AIDS Walk Update
April 20, 2009
Last week I launched a humble little program called “Decker’s Daily Coffee”, offering people a chance to buy me a latte. I was fully prepared to lash out and accuse everyone of discrimination for not supporting me because I have AIDS. (And not for being a shameless mooch.)
Well, to my surprise, I got donations!
One was even a week-long sponsorship from Scott Kramer and Rex in New York City. They’ll be walking in this year’s AIDS Walk NY on the Invincible- Team Pat Benetar squad. Here’s a pic of the latte lovin’ duo with Pat Benatar, the inspiration behind their team of AIDSWalkers, who have raised over $40,000 since 2000.
Love is a battlefield- and an AIDSWalk! (Scott, Pat and Rex)
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Last year, Team Supersnack, the group that Gwenn and I walk with, “defeated” Kenneth Cole by outraising his team, the culmination of a long, drawn-out fake feud that I started on my blog. As it turns out, this year I will not be walking in the AIDS Walk NY. Is it because I will be focusing full-time on iced mocha drinking?
No!
Team Supersnack is turning their attention to DC’s AIDS Walk in October. Recent statistics have suggested that 3% of the district’s residents are living with HIV. Unbelievable. So, before I strap on my favorite walking sneakers to kick AIDS ass in DC, I want to tip my hat to Scott, Rex, Poz and the thousands of people who will be walking the walk next month.
Even Kenneth. (Okay, so he doesn’t actually walk, but he donates lots of money to the cause… how about a latte, Kenny?)
Positively Yours,
Shawn
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Sean Strub, Cable Positive and OMG Rachel Maddow
April 7, 2009
Back in November, I wrote about how President Obama should appoint Poz founder, Sean Strub, as the new White House AIDS Czar because an intelligent and thoughtful positoid in that position would be incredible.
Well, the administration didn’t follow my advice, and Cable Positive has taken advantage and snatched up Sean Strub as their new CEO. So what is Cable Positive?
They are an organization that keeps HIV/AIDS awareness on the airwaves, and have been doing so since 1992 when many in the cable industry noticed the impact of what AIDS was doing to their colleagues and friends. Realizing the potential they had to raise awareness via programming and PSAs, Cable Positive sprung into action. Learn more at their website.
Reducing stigma for those already infected is also a goal for Cable Positive, which makes Sean a natural pick. When I found out he was being unveiled in DC at the Cable Show ‘09 conference, I journeyed to the event. Heavyhitters such as Larry Flynt strolled by in a gold-plated wheelchair and guys in Storm Trooper costumes told (commanded at gun point?) me to write about the new animated Star Wars show on my Facebook page.
Rumor had it that Batista from the WWE was there, too.
But the real heavyweight was Rachel Maddow, who was emcee’ing the Power Awards at the Cable Positive booth. Here’s a clip of Rachel at the conference, speaking about how HIV/AIDS has influenced her life, starting at the 3 minute mark.
Yes, I dig the glasses. No, I didn’t record this myself.
Gwenn and I have been fans of Rachel’s ever since seeing her on Al Franken’s Air America show years ago. The big thrill, of course, was being there to support the guy who basically started my writing career by giving my Positoid column a greenlight back in 1997. Meeting Rachel? That was just an added opportunity to make an ass of myself by fawning over her…
So imagine my shock when- as Sean was introducing us- Rachel said she knew who I was?
“I’ve been reading about your love life for years!”
I wasn’t prepared to be humble. Not in any way. And throwing the inner-switch from Fawning Jackass to Humble Writer/Educator was a seven notch swing, but I managed to perform the task with as much grace and poise as I could muster.
“Yer on TV!” I shouted, all buck-toothed and pointing. (Okay, that didn’t happen, thankfully.)
As mutual fawning ensued, Sean Strub proudly smiled on as I was once again reminded of just how small the HIV/AIDS universe is. Not since I slept in Sean Sasser’s pajamas had I been shown such an obvious example of that. And Rachel’s own involvement in raising awareness about HIV/AIDS isn’t surprising- one of the reasons why I like her work so much is because she is very open-minded and compassionate.
Just like the new CEO of Cable Positive.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
PS… hats off to Larry Flynt for stopping by the Cable Positive booth and shooting a PSA for HIV/AIDS awareness. He’s got a gold heart to match those gold wheels. Once “Larry the Cable Positive Guy” is on YouTube, I’ll post it on the blog.
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Pedro & Sean & Me
April 3, 2009
I am so relieved- MTV’s “Pedro” was a good movie. I got teary-eyed, it hit all the right notes and it was interesting to see the details portrayed in Judd Winick’s graphic novel, Pedro & Me, come to life in this film.
It didn’t hurt matters that the screenplay was written by Dustin Lance Black, either.
One of my worries is that the film would gloss over the trouble that Pedro’s partner, Sean Sasser, had in the final weeks and months of Pedro’s life. Zamora’s family held Sasser at bay, telling him that Pedro no longer needed “a lover”. I remember reading this back in 1997, when Poz did a cover story on Sean.
It really broke my heart.
Gay rights was a no-brainer, but the article really made me think about why gay
marriage needed to be- and still needs to be- legalized as well. I’d
made so many friends in the HIV/AIDS community, and couldn’t bear to
think about any one of them not being to see the other if something
happened. So kudos to the team behind Pedro for including some of what Sean went through. It was also fun to see a cameo by Judd and Pam, and their kid.
In the last blog I shared a run-in I had with Puck several years ago. Here’s a story about Sean Sasser… it’s long, so maybe read a little on Friday, then Saturday and then finish on Sunday.
———————
When I went up to New York to be interviewed for Poz magazine- the first interview I ever did about being HIV positive- I was so nervous. I thought about my positoid heroes, Ryan White and Pedro Zamora, took a deep breath, and just said. “Be yourself.” In a strange way, that was comforting. I knew my life was changing, and I felt like I had their blessing.
After the first visit to New York, I got a job offer to manage Poz’s web site; they didn’t know that I knew nothing about internet programming, but assumed I did because I had a web site. I also got a job offer at Community Prescription Services, a mail order HIV meds pharmacy run by Stephen Gendin.
WIth Sean Strub and Stephen Gendin in 1997.
I lived in New York briefly and gave it a shot, but after a month I was exhausted and a bit embarrassed by my lack of skills in web-making. On the CPS front, I was completely fearful of screwing up some positoid’s drug order. I was also lazy- I didn’t want to memorize HIV meds combos and nicknames. Also, I was still afraid of getting sick and having to someday be on them.
Spending every afternoon at CPS was like a daily reminder of that fear.
I was still thinking about quiting, but I didn’t want to let Stephen or Sean
Strub down. Then one day, a positoid was roaming around the Poz
office. We started speaking, and went to grab lunch. He’d gone to a
Mennonite school in Virginia, and was eager to get started in New York
City, but wasn’t sure about job opportunities and thought Poz would be
the only place that would hire him.
“I think I know about an opening somewhere else,” I said. He took my spot at CPS
When I told a co-worker at CPS that I was going back to Virginia, she must have been relieved. The other staffers- all positoids, a requirement at CPS- must have been relieved. They were carrying my weight for a while. “What will you do?” “I want to talk about HIV.” She wished me well, and said that it was obvious to her that this is what I should be doing.
I got home to Virginia, and immediately I came down with a nasty bronchial infection. I spent a few months laying low, getting back into my blog and figuring out what the next thing to do was. When I pitched a column to Poz, they decided to give me a shot, and soon after the magazine with my interview came out I was writing the Positoid column.
Several months later, I returned to New York- the Poz with my interview had come out, as well as my first couple of columns. I popped into CPS to see my co-workers. “You’re famous!” I was happy my identity of “office slack off” had changed and I’d found my rhythm, much more a peace making positoids life than worrying about messing up their drugs. Another thing I noticed was a picture in my old cubicle.
“Is that you with Sean Sasser?” I asked the kind positoid who took my spot at CPS.
He said yes.
After I got home, I sent a gushing email to Sean and was overjoyed when he wrote back. He knew who I was from the column in Poz, and I immediately saw just how small the positoid universe was. We met at a Poz Life Expo (pictured here) in New York City, then a year later I went to Los Angeles for another Expo. I’d never been to San Francisco before, and Sean was kind enough to invite there for a visit.
Sean gave me some advice on educating, and how important the prevention message is, that just telling an audience you’re positive is not enough. Later that night, Sean was aghast that I had not brought pajamas, and couldn’t believe I didn’t own a pair.
Years later, Gwenn would share his confusion on that particular void in my life. (I now have several pairs.)
Sean lent me a pair of his, and that night I thought for a long time before going to sleep… I couldn’t believe how far I’d come. That I was an active part of a community, raising awareness and spirits by being myself. I wasn’t the guy who ignored his status, only reminded when he watched The Real World.
Also, as I went to sleep that night I couldn’t believe that I’d gotten into Sean Sasser’s pajamas.
Watching Pedro brought back a lot of these memories, and how the Real World San Francisco played such a crucial role in planting a subconscious seed that started to change how I felt about my HIV status. That shift in attitude is what led me to meet Gwenn, discover my love for writing as well as my passion to educate others about HIV.
So thank you, Pedro Zamora. You are still with us in spirit.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
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