How a 1966 Police Raid Shuttered a Haven for Gay Men
www.advocate.com/exclusives/2022/8/31/how-police-raid-shuttered-haven-gay-men
Tag Archives: Gay Men
How a Police Raid Shuttered a Haven for Gay Men
How a Police Raid Shuttered a Haven for Gay Men
www.advocate.com/exclusives/2022/8/31/how-police-raid-shuttered-haven-gay-men
15 Photos Celebrating Mothers of Gay Men
15 Photos Celebrating Mothers of Gay Men
www.advocate.com/photography/2022/5/08/15-photos-celebrating-gay-sons-mothers
50 percent of people with HIV are over 50. Here’s how to take care of yourself.
50 percent of people with HIV are over 50. Here’s how to take care of yourself.
As millions of people rock the ribbon in commemoration of tomorrow’s World AIDS Day, we have another milestone to acknowledge: 2019 is the first year when 50% of people living with HIV in the U.S. are over the age of 50 – and by 2030, it’s expected to be 70%.
People with HIV are living longer, healthier lives than ever before. This is striking considering, just a generation ago, it was inconceivable to believe that someone diagnosed with HIV could live even a few years with the disease, to say nothing of living with it for decades. People living with HIV today aren’t just surviving, they’re thriving – but with this progress comes new challenges. The HIV community needs to take steps to ensure people who are aging with HIV are also happy and healthy.
Queerty asked Gay Men’s Health Crisis, the world’s leading provider of HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and advocacy, for tips on aging with HIV that can demystify living a quality positive life so we can age positively.
Here they are. Happy World AIDS Day.
1. Take Your Medicine
Simple, yes? We have to say it. Adhering to your regimen as prescribed is the first step to living and aging with HIV.
2. Set Up Your Dream Team
Maintaining your physical health is your number one priority and you can’t do it alone. As you age, you need more than just one doctor who can monitor your viral loads at a semiannual appointment. It is now time to identify a geriatric specialist, a cardiovascular specialist, and a primary care doctor who can administer vaccines and monitor your overall health to ensure all your medications work well together.
3. Have Fun
For many people aging with HIV, the stigma that comes with their status can be an isolating experience. But the community of people aging with HIV is growing, generating more opportunities to connect. Sharing experiences with others and creating bonds nourishes both the body and soul.
4. Eat Your Veggies
…and don’t forget your fruits, grains, and lean protein. As a person aging with HIV, you need to be deliberate about eating superfoods that contain all the necessary nutrients your body requires to maintain optimal health. Deficiencies can lead to muscle loss and other seemingly minor health issues that can open the door to an attack on the immune system.
5. Ditch the Cigarettes
Studies show that people living with HIV are 2-3 times more likely to smoke cigarettes than those who don’t have HIV. The effects of cigarettes make people living with HIV less responsive to antiretroviral therapy and more susceptible to smoking-related illnesses. Within this community, health should be the number one priority. Given the impact that smoking has on overall health and its linkage to cancers, let’s toss the cigs in exchange for longer, healthier life.
6. And let’s keep the alcohol to a minimum
Drinking too much, in both the short and long term, can damage your body. It can decrease your ability to filter out toxins, harm your kidneys, and weaken the immune system – which is already compromised from HIV.
7. Get moving
Try to get up off the couch and move every day. Staying active and keeping your weight at a healthy level can reduce the chance of suffering additional health problems like diabetes, high blood pressure, and muscle loss. It’s also a natural mood booster and reduces the risk of being diagnosed with dementia. Feel intimidated? The best exercise regimen is one you can stick with, so pick something you enjoy and go for it.
8. Hey ladies
The change is coming…
We tend to focus on men, the majority of LGBTQ in the U.S. who are HIV positive, and all these facts are gender-neutral, but women should pay attention too. The “change” (also known as menopause) is inevitable. It is increasingly important that as you experience bodily and physical changes, you should consult with your doctor to ensure that your health is in good standing. Many menopausal symptoms mirror HIV symptoms, so you should monitor them closely. If one of your doctors puts you on hormone replacement therapy, be sure to consult with your HIV specialist to ensure it doesn’t impact the effectiveness of your antiretroviral therapy.
9. Keep it safe in the bedroom
What you do in the bedroom is your business, but there are ways to maintain a healthy sexual life while aging with HIV. Using protection can greatly reduce the risk of transmission.
10. Use your resources
GMHC recently launched the National Resource Center on HIV & Aging, a comprehensive site that offers easy-to-read information, webinars, conference summaries, slide decks, infographics, short videos, and summaries of current research. An interactive national map, informed by community input, helps users find supportive programs and conferences. The Resource Center was created in partnership with Gilead Science’s Age Positively program, which supports programs focused on improving the quality of life and health for people aging with HIV.
Thanks to Gay Men’s Health Crisis, the world’s leading provider of HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and advocacy, for this article.
Gay Men and Mustaches, a History in Photos
Gay Men and Mustaches, a History in Photos
www.advocate.com/comedy/2019/11/07/gay-men-and-mustaches-history-photos
A superhero mystery, a superhero sorority & the camp of Paul Lynde: What to Watch Halloween edition
A superhero mystery, a superhero sorority & the camp of Paul Lynde: What to Watch Halloween edition
Stepping out on a movie date this weekend? Netflix and chillin? Whatever your entertainment needs, we got your back (and hopefully your mind) with Queerty’s weekly “Culture Club” column with some of the highlights of new releases, streaming shows, classics worth revisiting, and what to drink while you watch.
The Catch: Watchmen
Anyone desiring a bit more gayness with their superheroes—and the moral questions they pose—should make sure to check out HBO’s new series Watchmen. A sequel to the landmark graphic novel, Watchmen picks up 30 years after New York was destroyed in an alien attack. The city of Tulsa has allowed its police force to don masks, essentially creating a vigilante superhero force in the process. The murder of a police chief sets a sinister plot in motion, with only Sister Night (Oscar-winner Regina King) left to unravel the true mystery. King dominates the screen with her tough-as-nails performance, and fellow Oscar alum Jeremy Irons has a ball as the aging gay hero Adrian Veidt. Jean Smart, of Designing Women also gives the performance of her life as the former hero turned FBI agent Laurie Blake. Watchmen has a lot more queerness going for it, though we can’t reveal all the details here. Suffice it to say it’s a groundbreaking series like nothing else out there, and one which dares raise the question: given all the evil in human history, is someone who saves humanity a hero? Or is he a villain?
Airs on HBO Sundays beginning October 20.
The We Know You Wanna: Will & Grace Season 11
Sometimes Halloween comes early. A sudden shifting of the NBC fall schedule bestowed an early gift from the Great Pumpkin on us all: the return of Will & Grace for it’s final final season These last 18 episodes pick up after the wedding of Jack (Sean Hayes) to Estefan Gloria (Brian Jordan Alvarez) and finds Grace (Debra Messing) unexpectedly expecting. Yes, she’s preggo. Karen (Megan Mulally) is also on hand to give Will (Eric McCormick) some lessons in phone sex with his boyfriend McCoy (Matt Bomer). As with old friends, we can’t help but feel comforted sharing in the lives of Will, Grace, et. al. We’ve said goodbye before, and even as we prepare to do it again, can’t help but wonder if we might see them have some new adventures yet again in the future.
Airs on NBC October 24.
The Stream: Gay Chorus Deep South
One of the best—and most inspiring—documentaries this year, Gay Chorus Deep South makes the leap from the film festival circuit to a theatrical release in select cities. The film follows the Gay Men’s Chorus of San Francisco on a tour of the reddest of red states in hopes of bridging the political divide and appealing for queer acceptance. Hate follows the chorus on its journey—though in a twist, it comes from places you might not expect. By turns funny and moving, Gay Chorus Deep South leads by example, reminding viewers that ending division starts with a very simple gesture: making friends.
Opens in LA October 30 and New York November 1. Full theatrical rollout is pending.
The Art House: Frankie
Out-gay director Ira Sachs (Keep the Lights On) returns with another quiet drama, this one featuring an all-star cast that includes Isabelle Huppert, Marissa Tomei, Greg Kinnear, and Brenden Gleeson. Frankie follows the title character (played by Huppert) as she struggles to make peace with her family—including her gay ex-husband–in the last days of her life. Quiet, elegiac and thoughtful, Frankie is not for everybody. That said, audiences that can get on board with a showcase for great actors, or the majestic scenery of the mountains of Portugal, will have found a most peculiar treasure in the film.
In select theatres October 25.
The Binge: Kappa Force
For anyone desiring some queer superheroics in a story not quite as heady as Watchmen, the campfest Kappa Force lands on the streaming service Pluto this week. Set at a major, unnamed university, the series follows freshman Jen (Madeline Weinstein of Alex Strangelove) as she joins forces with a superhero sorority to capture a frat boy supervillain, known only as The Douche. It’s that kind of show.
Streams on Pluto and XUMO October 27.
The Throwback: The Paul Lynde Halloween Special
With Halloween coming up this week, a gay spooktacular seems in order. It doesn’t get much gayer than The Paul Lynde Halloween Special, a campy and weird (and we mean weird) celebration starring the titular staple of Hollywood Squares. Lynde’s co-stars on this oh-so-70s hot mess: none other than Margret Hamilton, reprising her role as the Witch from The Wizard of Oz, Betty White as a Halloween beauty queen and Billie Hayes of H.R. Puffinstuff. It must be seen to be believed: the special is truly bizarre, wacky hilarious and gayer than gay Halloween…which says something.
Streams on Amazon.
The Read: Full Disclosure
On a note far more serious, author Camryn Garrett makes her debut this week with a novel unlike any other. Full Disclosure follows the life of Simone, an African-American teenager who arrives in high school with a secret: she’s HIV+. When a note appears in her locker threatening to expose her secret, Simone works to discover her mysterious blackmailer…and must confront the stigma against HIV. Garrett wrote Full Disclosure as a teenager herself. Now 19, it marks her debut as a promising young author, and brings the history of the disease—and prejudice against it—to a new generation.
Available in bookstores October 29.
The Sip: Witch’s Brew
For a bit of sippage this Halloween–especially necessary if braving The Paul Lynde Halloween Special–sip on this fruity martini. No doubt the treat will have you ready to trick
- 2 1/2 oz Midori melon liqueur
- 2 1/2 oz lemon lime soda
- 2 1/2 oz orange juice
Shake ingredients over ice in a martini shaker. Serve.