SEPTEMBER hfl« justiout|i>
CHOOSE FROM 130 FRAGRANCES
24,000 Attend International
AIDS Conference
Jamaican reggae singer Sizzla (Miguel Collins)
cannot perform in the Cayman Islands because
his lyrics target gays.
Bounty Killer, for similar reasons.
In 2004, Sizzla’s tour of the United Kingdom
was canceled after gay activists objected to lyrics
such as “Burn the man who rides a man from
behind” (“Fire fi di man dem weh go ride man
behind”) and “Shot a queer, my big gun went
boom” (“Shot battybwoy, my big gun boom”).
In an interview at the time with BBC lXtra,
Sizzla acknowledged “I sing ‘fire burn for homo
sexuals’ ” and said, “They’ve got to apologize to
God because they break God’s law.”
Gay activists in several nations also have tar
geted Jamaican dancehall singers Elephant Man,
Vybz Kartel, Beenie Man, Buju Banton, T.O.K.
and Capleton.
Argentina to Lift Military Gay Ban
Argentina will delete a law that makes it a crime
for members of the military to engage in gay sex.
In late August, the national government will
submit to Congress its plan to abolish the entire
Military Justice Code and create a new military
justice system. Among scores of changes, the new
laws will not prohibit gay relationships.
The ban was “nonsense,” said Col. Judge
Advocate Manuel Lozano, a member of the legal
commission designing the new system. “It’s a
matter of people’s private lives.”
Some 24,000 delegates from 170 nations
attended the 16th International AIDS Conference
from Aug. 13 to 18 in Toronto.
In an opening session address, Microsoft billion
aire Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda, co-chairs of
the Bill &. Melinda Gates Foundation, called for
increased focus on women, accelerated research on
microbicides and stepped-up global prevention and
treatment efforts. Other celebrity attendees includ
ed President Bill Clinton and actor Richard Gere.
“These are the things that 1 think we have to do
as we leave here,” Clinton said. “Money. Money
spent more effectively. Prevention. More testing—
not compulsory but voluntary and empowering.
Lifting the status of women. Continuing the search
for medical answers through microbicides and vac
cines. Reaching the hard-to-reach population.
Developing the infrastructure. And getting treat
ment out to every single soul who needs it.”
More than 4,500 scientific abstracts were
presented. Key areas of focus included vaccines,
new types of treatment, pre-exposure prophylaxis
(giving HIV drugs to HIV-negative individuals at
high risk for infection) and the connection
between HIV and tuberculosis. Much attention was
paid to the vast disparities in prevention and treat
ment across the planet.
“There are still far too many instances where
punitive laws, stigma, gender inequities and lack of
access to needed prevention and care services con
spire to fuel the HIV pandemic," said conference
co-chairman Mark Wainberg, director of the
McGill University AIDS Centre.
Julie Overbaugh of the Fred Hutchinson
Cancer Research Center in Seattle highlighted
accumulating evidence that HIV-positive people
who engage in unprotected sex risk becoming
reinfected with a different strain of the virus that
could be more aggressive or drug-resistant.
At the same time, Julio Montaner of the British
Columbia Centre for Excellence in H1V/AIDS
cited emerging evidence that HIV-positive people
whose viral load is undetectable because of success
ful anti-retroviral therapy are “very unlikely” to
transmit the virus during unprotected sex. Other
scientists quickly responded that such transmission
does happen nonetheless.
On Aug. 17, members of South Africa’s
Treatment Action Campaign physically attacked the
South African government’s exhibit booth, which
suggested garlic, olive oil, lemon and
beets are HIV treatments. They
chanted, “Fire Manto now."
South African Health Minister
Manto Tshabalala-Msimang has been
under sustained fire from activists for
several years for promoting unortho
dox HIV “treatments,” suggesting
that standard HIV drugs are poison
ous and questioning whether HIV is
the cause of AIDS.
About one-seventh of South
Africa’s 47 million citizens are
believed to be HIV-positive. ©
!
R ex WtXXNER has reported for the
gay press since 1985 He has a
bachelor’s degree m journalism from
Bill and Melinda Gates called for accelerated AIDS
research at the 16th International AIDS Conference.
Drake University and started his career
as a radio reporter.
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PFLAG
ROBERT BERNSTEIN
Speaks at PFLAG Portland
Tues, September 12,2006
7-9pm
F irst U nited M ethodist C hurch
1838 SW J efferson S t . • P ortland
Join PFLAG Portland
September
on
2004
to
renowned
12,
hear
author
and lecturer Robert
Bernstein. A Former
US Department of Justice Supervisory trial
attorney and law professor, Mr. Bernstein I*
the author of Straight Parents, Goy Children,
for
which
won
he
award
an
Best
for
Scholarship on the subject of Intolerance
from the Gustavus Myers Center for the study
of Human Rights in America.
Mr. Bernstein was the national vice president
of PFLAG from 1988-1995.
PFLAG PORTLAND MEETS AT THE FIRST
3638 SE H awthorne B i . vif .
UNITED METHODIST CHURCH 7 9PM ON THE
2ND TUESDAY OF EACH MONTH.
503.236.7976
REMTMflER,
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