Tag: study

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Study: Gays In California More Likely Have Domestic Violence Than Hetros

Lesbians, gays and bisexuals in California are almost twice as likely to experience intimate partner violence as heterosexuals, researchers said. Elaine Zahnd, a sociologist at the Public Health Institute, partnered with the University of California, LA, Center for Health Policy Research in conducting the California Health Interview Survey, which found almost 4 million adults in California reported being a victim of physical or sexual violence from an intimate partner. One-quarter of the 4 million report being forced by their intimate partner to have sex, the researchers said. Almost 28 percent of lesbian or gay adults in California report intimate partner violence during their adult lives, 40.6 percent of bisexuals report intimate partner violence and 16.7 percent of heterosexual adults report intimate partner violence, the study said.

"These findings should cause us to reconsider our assumptions about the root causes of violence, even as we redouble our efforts to eradicate it," Zahnd said in a statement.

Women are almost twice as likely to be victims of adult physical violence as men and are eight times as likely to report being the victim of sexual violence since age 18, the study said. STORY UPI

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Study Conducted Of Gay 'Baby Boomers' Born (1946 thru 1964) Shows How They Live

LGBT Baby Boomers have withstood many years of discrimination and say their approach to retirement and aging has been shaped by these experiences. "Still Out, Still Aging: The MetLife Study of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Baby Boomers," conducted with the American Society on Aging (ASA) and its constituent group, the LGBT Aging Issues Network (LAIN), shows LGBT Boomers will approach retirement differently than the general population and most will delay retirement until they are 70. Largely single and living alone, they will rely more on close friends than family for support as they age. "Boomers in the LGBT population, born between 1946 and 1964, advanced the gay rights movement," said Sandra Timmermann, Ed.D., director of the MetLife Mature Market Institute. "Born into a generation known for social activism, they were activists on a personal mission, forced to fight discrimination in school, in the workplace, in government, in society and among their own families. The result is a cohort of strong individuals who will continue to blaze trails as older Americans." According to Robert Stein, president and CEO of ASA, there are recommendations from the study that ought to be implemented. "We suggest that policy makers look at a number of items, including workplace and benefit changes to address the delayed age of retirement for many and a broader definition of caregivers than those now accepted by the aging industry. We also need to take a look at a greater public role in caregiving for those who say they have ‘no one’ to rely on in an emergency. Finally, there are lessons to be learned by the resilience and self-advocacy skills of the LGBT group that should be shared." The study, which polled 1,200 LGBT individuals and 1,200 people from the general population, shows stark differences and striking similarities between the two groups with regard to attitudes, demographics and aging:

• 60% of LGBT Boomers fear being unable to care for themselves as they age; 35% fear becoming dependent on others; and 10% fear discrimination as they age.
• Of the LGBT sample surveyed, Lesbians (76%), Gay men (74%), Bisexuals (16%) and Transgender individuals (39%) say they are “completely” or “mostly” out. 61% of Lesbians and 57% of Gay men say their families are “completely” or “very” accepting, while that is true for 24% of Bisexuals and 42% of Transgender individuals.
• Members of the LGBT group are more likely to say they will be at least 70 before they can retire, 48% compared with 40% in the general population, mostly for economic reasons. Only a quarter or fewer in the LGBT group say they have saved what they need to live in retirement.
• While LGBT Boomers continue to fear discrimination, 55% of the LGBT sample say they have total or near total confidence that they will be treated with dignity and respect, compared with 39% of the comparison group.
• A higher percentage of LGBT Boomers have completed living wills, health care proxies, rights of visitation and partnership agreements, in comparison to the general population.
• Though both populations are likely to discuss end-of-life issues with their partners/spouses, LGBT Boomers have many more of those discussions with siblings, parents and other relatives.
• In the LGBT group, men and women are equally likely to be caring for a parent or partner.
• Members of the general population are more likely to be in a relationship than those in the LGBT sample, 77% vs. 61%. More than a quarter (26%) of LGBT partners have gotten married, even though only five states grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Many (63%) say they would marry if there was a federal law allowing gay marriage.
• Nearly two thirds of LGBT Boomers say they have a “chosen family,” a group of people they consider family, even though they are not legally or biologically related.

In conjunction with the study, the MetLife Mature Market Institute and SAGE, the world’s oldest and largest non-profit agency dedicated to serving lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender older adults, has produced "Planning Tips for LGBT Individuals and Couples," a consumer checklist to ensure that people have the necessary documents for financial, retirement, estate issues. Methodology To conduct the MetLife study, "Still Out, Still Aging," Harris Interactive collected survey responses from 1201 individuals aged 45-64 who identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and/or transgender (LGBT) and 1206 individuals of the same age from a “general population” pool. Surveys were conducted online between December 10-21, 2009. American Society on Aging ASA is an association of diverse individuals bound by a common goal: to support the commitment and enhance the knowledge and skills of those who seek to improve the quality of life of older adults and their families. The membership of ASA is a multidisciplinary array of professionals who are concerned with the physical, emotional, social, economic and spiritual aspects of aging. They range from practitioners, educators, administrators, policymakers, business people, researchers, students, and more. The LGBT Aging Issues Network (LAIN) works to raise awareness about the concerns of LGBT elders and about the unique barriers they encounter in gaining access to housing, healthcare, long-term care and other services. SAGE Since its inception, SAGE has pioneered programs and services for older people in the LGBT community, provided technical assistance and training to expand opportunities for LGBT elders across the country, and provided a national voice on LGBT issues. In 2005 SAGE became the first official LGBT delegate at a White House Conference on Aging. SAGE is the first LGBT member of the Leadership Council of Aging Organizations. In 2008, SAGE celebrated its 30th Anniversary with its 4^th National Conference on LGBT Aging, sponsored by AARP. For more information, please see www.sageusa.org. The MetLife Mature Market Institute® Established in 1997, the Mature Market Institute (MMI) is MetLife's research organization and a recognized thought leader on the multi-dimensional and multi-generational issues of aging and longevity. MMI's groundbreaking research, gerontology expertise, national partnerships, and educational materials work to expand the knowledge and choices for those in, approaching, or caring for those in the mature market. MMI supports MetLife's long-standing commitment to identifying emerging issues and innovative solutions for the challenges of life. MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET), through its subsidiaries and affiliates, is a leading provider of insurance, employee benefits and financial services with operations throughout the United States and the Latin American, Europe and Asia Pacific regions. For more information about the MMI, please visit: www.maturemarketinstitute.com. "Still Out, Still Aging: The MetLife Study of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Baby Boomers" and "Planning Tips for LGBT Individuals and Couples," can be downloaded from www.maturemarketinstitute.com; on the home page, see "New from the MMI." They can also be ordered by e-mailing maturemarketinstitute@metlife.com or by writing to: MetLife Mature Market Institute, 57 Greens Farms Road, Westport, CT 06880.

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Are The Effects of Pornography Negligible? (men don't want their partner to look like a porn star)

A Université de Montréal researcher, funded by the Interdisciplinary Research Center on Family Violence and Violence Against Women, has launched a new study to examine the effects of pornography on men. "We started our research seeking men in their twenties who had never consumed pornography. We couldn't find any," says Simon Louis Lajeunesse, a postdoctoral student and professor at the School of Social Work. "The objective of my work is to observe the impact of pornography on the sexuality of men, and how it shapes their perception of men and women," says Lajeunesse. To do so, he has so far recruited and interviewed 20 heterosexual male university students who consume pornography. "They shared their sexual history starting with their first contact with pornography, which was in early adolescence. Not one subject had a pathological sexuality. In fact, all of their sexual practices were quite conventional," says Lajeunesse. The research concluded that 90 percent of pornography is consumed on the Internet, while 10 percent comes from video stores. On average, single men watch pornography three times a week for 40 minutes. Those who are in committed relationships watch it on average 1.7 times a week for 20 minutes. Lajeunesse found most boys seek out pornographic material by the age of 10, when they are most sexually curious. However, they quickly discard what they don't like and find offensive. As adults, they will continue to look for content in tune with their image of sexuality. They also rarely consume pornography as a couple and always choose what they watch. All test subjects said they supported gender equality and felt victimized by rhetoric demonizing pornography. "Pornography hasn't changed their perception of women or their relationship which they all want as harmonious and fulfilling as possible. Those who could not live out their fantasy in real life with their partner simply set aside the fantasy. The fantasy is broken in the real world and men don't want their partner to look like a porn star," says Lajeunesse. Lajeunesse refutes the perverse effect often attributed to pornography. "Aggressors don't need pornography to be violent and addicts can be addicted to drugs, alcohol, gaming and asocial cases are pathological. If pornography had the impact that many claim it has, you would just have to show heterosexual films to a homosexual to change his sexual orientation." Source: University of Montreal

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SURVEY SAYS: Dimorphism - Gay Men Fall For The Most Masculine-Faced Men

A new study from a researcher at Harvard University finds that gay men are most attracted to the most masculine-faced men, while straight men prefer the most feminine-faced women. The findings suggest that regardless of sexual orientation, men's brains are wired for attraction to sexually dimorphic faces -- those with facial features that are most synonymous with their gender. The research is currently published online in the journal Archives of Sexual Behavior, and was led by Aaron Glassenberg, while completing his master's degree in the Department of Psychology at Harvard. Glassenberg is currently a Ph.D. student in organizational behavior in Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences and Harvard Business School. Glassenberg's co-authors are David Feinberg of McMaster University, Benedict Jones and Lisa DeBruine of Aberdeen University, and Anthony Little of Stirling University. "Our work showed that gay men found highly masculine male faces to be significantly more attractive than feminine male faces. Also, the types of male faces that gay men found attractive generally did not mirror the types of faces that straight women found attractive on average," says Glassenberg. "Men, gay or straight, prefer high sexual dimorphism in the faces of the sex that they are attracted to. Gay men and straight men did not agree on the types of male faces they considered attractive." The study is the first to examine the facial feature preferences of gay men and lesbian women. Women's preferences are more complex than men's, as indicated by prior research demonstrating that ovulation, contraceptive use, self-perceived attractiveness, and sex drive all affect face preference. In this particular study, straight women preferred more masculine-faced men than lesbian women, while lesbians preferred slightly more masculine female faces than straight women or men. Participants viewed images of faces that were digitally manipulated to be more masculine or feminine, and then indicated which face they considered more attractive. The study was conducted online, and included over 900 men and women. Sexually dimorphic features in male faces include a broad jaw, broad forehead, and more pronounced brow ridge. A sexually dimorphic female face has a more tapered chin, larger lips, and a narrower forehead. Prior research has also shown that women prefer more masculine male faces when ovulating, indicating an evolutionary function for facial attraction. Men who have faces that are higher in sexual dimorphism (masculinity) have been shown to have better health and dominance but lower investment in offspring. Although it is difficult to make substantial evolutionary claims from this study, Glassenberg's work supports the idea that male attraction operates differently from female attraction, regardless of sexual orientation. The research project was supported by Harvard University.

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Teens Reject Sexuality Labels

"Who's gay? This is not an easy question," says Ritch Savin-Williams of Cornell University .  "There are many different ways of defining sexuality." Savin-Williams was speaking at the American Psychological Association annual conference in Toronto.  He said,

"Who's gay and who's not is less clear than it used to be among today's young people — and that's complicating how researchers conduct studies on the sexual behavior of teens"

In an earlier presentation this year, psychologist Braden Berkey said, "Youth are saying they don't want to be defined by gender or orientation."  He spoke about the evolution of sexual and gender labels and how young people today are trying to dissolve them. Braden says the terms created in the early days, such as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender, are giving way to other descriptions, such as polygender or multisex. Young people, he says, reject narrow gender definitions and say they don't want to be defined by their sexuality.

"Estimates could range from as few as 1% of the population to as many as 21%, because many young people do not actually say they're gay, even though they talk about sexual encounters with same-sex partners or same-sex romantic attraction," says Braden.

In his presentation, Savin-Williams cited several studies on the way teens categorize their sexual preferences and behavior, to illustrate the difficulties researchers have in studying adolescent sexuality. Some describe themselves as "mostly heterosexual." He also explained that new research isn't finding some of the differences found in the past that suggested gay youth are more at risk for mental health problems than other teens.  He cited one recent study, for example, that found no greater delinquency or risk for substance abuse among gay youth, despite reports about greater risk in earlier research. Many gays will be glad to see the day when the LGBTQ-A-I-? label will be eliminated.  It's beginning to get ridiculous.  Aren't we all just human beings? For more information, see the full articles on USA Today.

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Unprotected sex better for mental health?

People who tend to use a condom during sexual intercourse appear to have worse mental health than those who do not, according to Professor Stuart Brody of the University of the West of Scotland in Paisley. His findings were based on a survey of 111 Portuguese men and 99 women, who were asked questions about their sex lives and their state of mind. The results suggested that using condoms negates the mental health benefits of what Prof Brody termed "evolutionarily relevant sex". Those who used them were more likely to suffer from depression, suicidal tendencies and be emotionally immature. The results were the same regardless of whether a person was in a stable relationship or not. In a letter to the journal Archives of Sexual Behaviour, Prof Brody wrote: "The more often they have sex without condoms, the better their mental health." He added: "Possible explanations for the interference of condoms with the health benefits of penile-vaginal intercourse include the blocking of antidepressant and immunological agents in semen and genital secretions [and] reduced sexual satisfaction and intimacy." Speaking to The Independent, the American-born academic defended his decision to highlight the research – even though it was not "politically correct" – in the cause of science. He said: "I don't want to let anything get in the way, whether it's political correctness, or religion. "Evolution is not politically correct, so of the very broad range of potential sexual behaviour, there is actually only one that is consistently associated with better physical and mental health and that is the one sexual behaviour that would be favoured by evolution. That is not accident." But the Family Planning Association stressed that condoms were essential for protecting against sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Natika Halil, its director of information, said: "Condoms protect men and women against most sexually transmitted infections, and they're also a very good – 98 per cent effective – method of contraception. "The male condom is also only one of two methods – the other is sterilisation – which men can use to take charge of their own fertility.” This is not the first time that Prof Brody's research has proved controversial. In 2007 a study claiming straight sexual intercourse was the only type that improves "psychological and physiological function" was attacked by gay rights groups. Peter Tatchell accused him of promoting an "unscientific and extreme" agenda, that "flatly contradicted" a previous study by sex researchers William Masters and Virginia Johnson. Mr Tatchell said: "Their study found that levels of physical and emotional satisfaction during and after sex were almost identical for both heterosexual and homosexual couples."

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Smoking Rates Higher Among Gay Men

Men and women who are gay or lesbian are more likely than their heterosexual counterparts to smoke, according to findings from a review study carried out by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The findings, published in the August issue of the journal, Tobacco Control, show that as many as 37 percent of homosexual women and 33 percent of homosexual men smoke. That compares to national smoking rates of 18 percent for women and 24 percent for men in the 2006 National Health Interview Survey. The authors reviewed findings from 42 studies of the prevalence of tobacco use among sexual minorities in the U.S. published between 1987 and May 2007. The findings suggest smoking is a significant health inequality for sexual minorities. Recognizing and understanding the increased risk in a particular population can help policymakers, health-care officials and others provide support for people more likely to start smoking or who may want to stop smoking, said Joseph Lee, lead author of the review and a social research specialist with the Tobacco Prevention and Evaluation Program in the UNC School of Medicine. A number of small or geographically limited studies have suggested that sexual minorities have higher rates of tobacco use than the general population, said Lee, who conducted the review as a master's student in collaboration with Cathy Melvin, Ph.D., at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health and UNC's Sheps Center for Health Services Research, and Gabriel Griffin, a medical student at the Duke University School of Medicine. "The underlying causes of these disparities are not fully explained by this review," Lee said. "Likely explanations include the success of tobacco industry's targeted marketing to gays and lesbians, as well as time spent in smoky social venues and stress from discrimination." "Tobacco is likely the number one cause of death among gays and lesbians," Lee said, "but there is hope. Many gay and lesbian organizations are starting to reject addictive funding from the tobacco industry, and the community is organizing itself to address this health inequality through the National LGBT Tobacco Control Network." —Staff National LGBT Tobacco Control Network: http://www.lgbttobacco.org/ Tobacco Control journal: http://www.tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/

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Why Some People Are Gay

We have known for at least a decade that hundreds of animal species — including birds, reptiles, mollusks and, of course, humans — engage in same-gender sexual acts. But no one is quite sure why. After all, same-sex couplings don't usually result in offspring. (I say usually because when male marine snails pair with other males, one partner conveniently changes sex, allowing for reproduction.) Evolutionarily speaking, homosexuality should have disappeared long ago. A yearlong study just completed at the University of California at Riverside offers several fascinating competing theories about why same-gender sexual behavior has endured. And although it's gay-pride month — and the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots that sparked the gay-rights movement — not all the theories will give same-gender-loving humans a reason to celebrate. (See the top 10 animal stories of 2007.) One particularly charged finding is that in most species besides humans, same-gender pairings rarely lead to lifelong relationships. In other words, when one attractive bonobo male eyes another in a lovely patch of Congo swamp forest, they occasionally kiss and then move on to other oral pleasures, but they don't bother anyone afterward about trying to legalize their right to an open-banana-bar ceremony. In fact, they are likely to move on to girl bonobos: most animals that engage in same-gender sex acts do so only when an opposite-sex partner is unavailable. And yet the study's authors, Nathan Bailey and Marlene Zuk of UC Riverside's biology department, report some exceptions, like the laysan albatross. Last year, researchers studying a Hawaiian colony of albatrosses found that nearly a third of all the couples involved two females who courted and then shared parenting responsibilities. (Albatrosses don't have U-Hauls, so no lesbian jokes, please.) Male chinstrap penguins also form long-term relationships, at least in captivity. And some male bighorn sheep will mount females only after the females adopt male-like behaviors. What explains all these variances? Here are some hypotheses I collected from Bailey and Zuk's paper as well as from some of their original sources: 1. The boys-in-the-locker-room theory. Any guy who played sports in high school knows that homoerotic jokes and towel-snapping are an underlying part of the subculture. Similarly, male bottlenose dolphins use same-sex sexual behavior to maintain and strengthen their social relationships — although dolphins are far more explicit about their homosexual play, regularly mounting one another and (hide the kids' ears here) sticking their noses into certain boy-dolphin parts. (Very regularly: roughly half of male dolphin sex occurs with other males.) Among bonobos, same-sex sexual behavior is also thought to ease social tension and facilitate reconciliation. And among garter snakes, male-on-male contact may allow some solitary males to thermoregulate and, therefore, survive. 2. The emasculation theory. Some male animals might mount other males as a way of denying them access to the ladies. For instance, as the Journal of Natural History noted in 2006, male dung flies often must compete violently to impregnate females. In those situations, "the most sensible strategy for beating a competitor in the race to an arriving female would be to mount him and remain in situ for as long as possible." Then, when the lady dung fly finally sails by, the aggressor male can pull himself out from the dominated male and — because he is on top — get above to the female faster. 3. The "oops" theory. Among insects, same-sex sexual behavior is usually a case of mistaken identity. Male fruit flies, for instance, may romance other males because they lack a gene that enables them to distinguish between sexes. Even more surprising, male toads can't tell the difference between girl toads and boy toads, so males will routinely embrace other males, although the subordinate ones are equipped with a call that quickly results in the dominant male releasing. In other species, the "straight" males get tricked by other wily straight males who dress in animal drag: male goodeid fish, for instance, sometimes have a black spot that resembles a spot that females get when pregnant. Dominant males then court them rather than fight with them. While the dominant guys are busy courting the subordinate, ladylike fish, the latter are able to "sneak copulations with females," as Bailey and Zuk write. I'm going to dub this the Hugh Grant Theory: it's not always the most masculine guy who gets the most girls. 4. The let's-see-how-this-thing-works theory. Younger animals (particularly males, and including humans) sometimes engage in same-sex sexual behavior as practice, which may improve their reproductive success when they are ready for a heterosexual relationship later. Fruit flies who experiment with other members of the same sex as youngsters may have more baby fruit flies later on than those who don't experiment. 5. The two-plus-one theory. Among flour beetles, males routinely force themselves on other males. According to Bailey and Zuk, there's some evidence that sperm deposited during this male beetle rape is sometimes transferred to a female later on, increasing the chances that she will have offspring. What all these theories have in common is that same-sex sexual activity is either an accident or a quirky genetic method of helping males impregnate females. Which raises the evolutionary question of why men and women who are exclusive gay and lesbian exist. One answer is that exclusive gays and lesbians are a relatively new creation: the concept of exclusive homosexuality barely existed before modernity; even a century ago, most same-sex-attracted men and women got married and had kids. (Read "Do Monkeys Pay for Sex?")

As Bailey, Zuk and many others have pointed out, no one has offered an adequate evolutionary explanation for the relatively recent development of exclusive homosexuality among humans. In January, the journal Evolution and Human Behavior published a paper exploring the idea that certain alleles increase the likelihood of homosexuality by blocking the effect of androgens during fetal development. Having all those alleles hampers the masculinization of some parts of the brain that affect personality, making you gay, the theory goes. Brothers of gay men who have only some of the alleles would turn out straight but less aggressive than typical guys. And because those brothers exhibit less psychopathology, they would attract more women and therefore have more kids. It was a provocative theory, but it turned out not to be proved: gay men's brothers don't actually have more kids than straight men's brothers do. So we're stuck at square one. As the 40th anniversary of Stonewall approaches, the question that Alan Miller and Satoshi Kanazawa ask in their 2007 book about evolutionary psychology, Why Beautiful People Have More Daughters, has never been more relevant: Will "the liberation of homosexuals, which allows them to come out of the closet and not pretend to be straight" actually turn out to "contribute to the end of homosexuality?" We may not know for a thousand years, but it's a great question. See photos of animals in love.

• Find this article at Time Magazine:
• http://blog.gorgeousboys.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1905237,00.html

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Do not know they have HIV!

A first-of-its-kind study looking at HIV infection rates found that half of gay men in Chicago who have HIV did not know they were infected, and two-thirds of infected black men were unaware. In addition, infection rates for black men were more than twice the rates for whites and Hispanics. The results of the Chicago Department of Public Health survey are sobering, officials say, but not unexpected. "It's a terrible thing, but it is not surprising," says Jim Pickett, director of advocacy for the AIDS Foundation of Chicago. The statistics prove what some organizations, including the city, have been seeing for several years: That gay black men are among the fastest growing groups to test HIV-positive. The Chicago study found that more than 17 percent of gay men in Chicago have HIV; 39 percent did not get tested in the last year because they were worried about the result. Almost 600 gay men from across the city were tested for HIV/AIDS and interviewed about their lifestyles, including questions about drug use and number of partners. Ninety-one of the subjects tested positive for the virus. Thirty percent of gay black men in Chicago tested positive, the study showed, while Hispanics and white men had rates of 12 percent and 11.3 percent, respectively. A quarter of blacks aged 18-24 tested positive. More than 37 percent of blacks aged 25-34 - the highest of any age group - tested positive. The numbers are similar to national figures.

"What we think we're seeing here is the shifting sands of two epidemics," says Nik Prachand, an epidemiologist with the city of Chicago's STI/HIV/AIDS division. "What we're seeing right now is a new surge in (HIV cases) with black (gay men)."

Prachand says anecdotal data has backed up the information the city collected between August and December last year. He said it is important to understand that the prevalence of HIV in black men can be tied to the elevated rates in the black community.

"It's not that black (gay men) are exhibiting higher risk behaviors in either sex or drug use," he says, pointing to data showing them to engage in less risky behavior than whites or Hispanics. "It's sort of a network effect. When your overall community prevalence is higher, you're going to see elevated rates within subgroups."

Pickett says the study points to a need for an overhaul of how gay men approach health.

"When you focus on one specific thing, it doesn't reflect all the issues," including mental and physical health, depression and substance abuse, he says. More than 40 percent of those surveyed admitted illicit drug use, and whites were more likely to do drugs than any segment.

"We need to incorporate HIV into a broader or more holistic framework (covering) gay men's health needs from top to toe," Pickett says.

That's the city's take, too, says Prachand.

"I think it's important that our prevention points towards healing the whole community. It's an issue of being more holistic about HIV," he says.

But, with HIV's high profile in the community, Pickett and others say more testing is needed. Currently, the CDC recommends that gay men be tested once a year. Ariq Cabbler, co-chair of the Chicago Black Gay Men's Caucus, says two tests a year should be the norm; Pickett recommends three. Cabbler is worried that a new breed of promiscuous young men are not listening to the traditional HIV/AIDS messaging. The study's statistics show that men who tested negative in earlier tests are now testing positive, an indication, Cabbler says, that they are engaging in risky activity during a 90-day period of time when HIV essentially incubates in the body.

"We need to know who makes up these social networks," which include men who meet other men over the Internet or through phone networks, he says. "You're kind of playing Russian roulette."

As part of its response to the report, the health department is proposing expanded testing and condom distribution, more community-level interventions, and outreach programs, including through the Chicago Black Gay Men's Caucus. Pickett said the city has done a good job in making gay men's health a priority.

"I am happy to say that Chicago is a leader in this country in working with the community and working with gay men. I can only imagine what the numbers could be if CDPH hadn't been doing good work."

He said the AIDS Foundation and other groups are stepping up awareness efforts this month. June is Gay Pride Month.

"The moral of the story is we want to catch people early in their infection," Pickett says. "We don't want people to test positive; we want them to test negative. And we want to provide them with the right kind of counseling and the right tools to maintain that negative."

The city is formally releasing the study's results June 9 at a 1 p.m. meeting at the DePaul Center. Health officials will lead a community discussion to see how the city's response can be improved. Story From Alex Parker ChiTownDailyNews

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US Taxpayer's Bar Tab!

US Government researchers are spending more than $400,000 in taxpayer money to hit the bars in Argentina. The National Institutes of Health are paying researchers to cruise six bars in Buenos Aires to find out why gay men engage in risky sexual behavior while drunk -- and just what can be done about it. Researchers are spending more than $400,000 in taxpayer money to hit the bars in Argentina. Doctors and specialists from the New York Psychiatric Institute are using the generous grant from NIH's National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to help tailor HIV prevention programs to work at bars and clubs. Though public health officials say that HIV/AIDS rates are higher in Washington, D.C., than in some parts of West Africa, U.S. government funds are going to help curb dangerous liaisons in Argentina's capital. The study began in September 2008, according to an online abstract, and has already cost taxpayers $198,776, NIH documents show. Check Out The Online Abstract Here

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Casting Call for Way Out

Cable network Showtime, producer of groundbreaking shows Queer as Folk and The L Word, is casting a new documentary series called Way Out.  The show is about gays and lesbians coming out to important people in their lives. Producers Adam Drucker and Bryn Freedman (A&E's Intervention), say Way Out will help the people it profiles and "use the vast reach of television to enlighten and increase understanding of what it's like to feel compelled to hide an essential part of oneself." Drucker and Freedman are looking for people who have made a firm decision to come out to important people in their lives and share that journey with a TV audience.  They say there were compelled to create the new series after reading a recent San Francisco State University study of teenagers coming out to their parents.  The study found that teens who were rejected by their parents after coming out were more vulnerable to depression, drug use, and suicide attempts, but that parents who took baby steps towards accepting their gay children greatly improved their chances at living a heathy life.  Drucker and Freedman say the goal of the show is to increase visibility and awareness in the hopes that parents of gay children watching the show will take those baby steps. To apply to be on the show, CLICK HERE and email a jpeg photo of yourself to casting@wayoutdocumentary.com with your name and subject line in the email. What do you think about this?  Is it a good idea to share your coming out with a TV audience?  I have some doubts myself.  I'm not so sure this is the best way to address the problems raised in the SFSU study.  What happens if the show encourages an at-risk teenager to come out to hostile parents who haven't watched it?  Wouldn't that perpetuate the very problem the show is intended to address?