As more and more women become infected with H.I.V. in D.C., the city’s Health Department will begin handing out free female condoms wherever male condoms are handed out. According to reports, Washington D.C. has one of the highest H.I.V. infection rates in the U.S., with 3% of all adults and teenagers in the District infected with the virus.

While the female condom isn’t anything new, this version of it is, hopefully making its use more desirable by consumers. Proponents of the condom assert it is “softer, quieter and less expensive than the original.”

A half-million dollar grant from the M.A.C. Cosmetics company will fund the free distribution of Read the rest of this entry »

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Willi Ninja, known as the Godfather of Voguing and Mother of the House of Ninja, was an instrumental figure in the New York black gay ballroom scene of the 1980s. Although voguing originated in Harlem in the early 1930s, it remained underground until the 1980s when Willi brought visibility to the art form and elevated it to what it is today.

The world was introduced to Willi when he starred in the 1990 award-winning documentary “Paris Is Burning,” which provided an introspective into the New York vogue-ball scene. Willi was also featured in Malcolm McLaren’s “Deep in Vogue” music video and later served as the inspiration for Madonna’s music video “Vogue.” Read the rest of this entry »

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In an effort to increase HIV testing rates in the city of Newark, the mayor’s office and community-oriented agencies will launch a new media campaign utilizing text messaging and social media called Status Is Everything.

On February 4, 2010, during a full day of events, the African American Office of Gay Concerns (AAOGC.org), Mayor Cory A. Booker and the LGBTQ Commission will kick-off “Status Is Everything“, a pioneering, Newark, NJ focused HIV testing social marketing campaign targeting African American men who have sex with men, aged 18-24.  This is the first New Jersey public health campaign of its kind to utilize social media and text messaging to provide residents 24-hour instant access to local HIV/STD testing centers -  text NJ+YourZipCode (NJ07102) to 36363.  1-866-HIV-CHECK access is provided by the New Jersey HIV/STD hotline.

More details after the jump…
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Alicia Keys held a World AIDS Day benefit concert last night (December 1) at the Nokia Theatre in New York City. The proceeds raised from the concert will go to Keys’ charity “Keep A Child Alive,” dedicated to providing live saving anti-retroviral treatment to children and families in Africa and India who have been affected by HIV/AIDS.

Check out video of Alicia Keys World AIDS Day concert after the jump… Read the rest of this entry »

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Today (December 1) is World AIDS Day. It’s a day for remembrance, outreach, discussion and acknowledgment we must continue the global effort to eradicate the virus that causes AIDS. Events are being held around the world to commemorate the day.

In New York, leaders, politicians and activists will convene at Washington Square Park for an evening of reflection, celebration and remembrance called Light For Rights. It’s free for all who come out.

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Winfred Fernandis (L), Daniel Allen (R)

An HIV-positive gay man from Michigan is set to stand trial for biting his neighbor during a fight and using HIV as a weapon. Daniel Allen from Clinton Township, Michigan admitted to reporters that he is HIV positive and he did bite his neighbor Winfred Fernandis, Jr., but contends it was out of self-defense. Fernandis fought back the tears when Fox 2 news broke the news that his neighbor is HIV positive and denies that he is homophobic.

Fernandis has been put on anti-retro viral drugs since the fight.

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Former Lakers player and businessman Magic Johnson has written a soon-to-be published book titled, “When the Game was Ours,” co-authored with former Boston Celtics player Larry Bird. While the book mainly focuses on the former rivalry between the Lakers and Celtics, it also includes claims by Magic that former friend Isiah Thomas questioned Magic’s sexuality after he was diagnosed with HIV. Thomas, the former Knicks coach who recently relocated to Florida to coach at FIU following a federal jury’s findings he sexually harassed a colleague, is angered and hurt by the criticism from someone he believed to be a friend.

“I really feel taken advantage of for all these years,” said Thomas. ” I’m totally blindsided by this. Every time that I’ve seen Magic, he has been friendly to me.”

The NYDN reports, in the book, Magic claims that Thomas made calls to various NBA contacts after Johnson was Read the rest of this entry »

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Social architect/activist Cleo Manago participated in a candid debate on homosexuality in Black communities, civil rights and attitudes behind Black resistance to affirming homosexuals at Al Shaprton’s National Action Network’s 2009 Summer Conference held in Atlanta, GA. Manago was joined by author/activist Kevin Alexander Gray, and National Action Network’s Director of Health & Wellness, Tony Wafford.

According to Manago, “often when I have these discussions in the Black community, someone gets up talking about production, to produce or to not produce being the measure of who deserves the most rights or who deserves the most respect, which is not logical because most sex people have, including heterosexual sex, is not to reproduce.”

Manago further went on to discuss that while HIV is killing us [the Black community] it’s difficult getting heterosexual men involved in part based on myths, judgments and under-discussed issues around manhood in the Black community.

Check out video of this thought-provoking dialogue after the jump… Read the rest of this entry »

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