Three HIV Groups Merge in SF Without Community Debate

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The dominant HIV service provider in the San Francisco Bay Area, the SF AIDS Foundation, just got a bit bigger today. In a news release on the foundation's web site, they herald merging with two smaller groups, Magnet, an HIV/STD testing and treatment facility in the Castro neighborhood, and the Stonewall Project, which is dedicated to helping gay men addicted to meth.

It may not be a bad thing at all to have smaller service providers gobbled up by the behemoth SF AIDS Foundation, which in recent years was seen less and less as providing much in terms of gay-specific programs, but there is one very troubling aspect to this merger - absolutely no community-wide discussion before it happens.

The release states the following:

"Ask yourselves, 'what would a healthy gay community look like?' and hold us responsible for an answer," [SFAF executive director Mark] Cloutier said.

Here's one answer. A healthy gay community would hold talks in the community before mergers took place, and that would give all of us a chance to discuss the merits, or lack thereof, over a merger. The discussions would also provide much transparency to the process of merging, allow stakeholders the chance to really buy-in and take ownership of the groups joining together. Who could object to that?

But as it stands now, the merging of Magnet and the Stonewall Project into the AIDS foundation has the appearance of a top-down decision made without much, if any, community input and debate.

This sort of decision-making process, one conducted behind closed doors with no public scrutiny, is in keeping with recent changes in the SF world of AIDS.

The SF health department recently announced it was undertaking a major restructuring of the AIDS Office, which would no longer be a stand-alone piece of DPH, and was being integrated into other parts of the department. There wasn't a single town hall forum before this change was announced.

We've also seen DPH launch two new social marketing campaigns, one to encourage disclosure about HIV sero status and another raising awareness about speed use. Neither campaign was discussed in the community before they were splashed all over billboards and bus shelters in the city.

At the same time, we've heard empty and unkept promises from the SF DPH and HIV prevention groups that 2007 would be the year in which we'd have debates about the effectiveness and hostile language of social marketing campaigns targeting gay men.

Well, today is May 1, the start of the fifth month for 2007, and no debates about the HIV and meth ads have been held, and as far as I know, none are scheduled.

A healthy gay community would be one that is fully transparent about operations and mergers of service providers, and also holds ongoing open dialogues.

Gay Bloggers Andrew Sullivan, Dan Savage on HIV Serosorting = Good Prevention

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The word about the fabulous effectiveness of HIV serosorting; positives having sex only with other positives, and how it's reduced new infections by a projected 33% in America's AIDS Model City, a.k.a. San Francisco, is spreading around the gay blogosphere, thanks to this little blog getting the good news ball rolling.

Over the weekend, from Washington, DC, gay conservative Andrew Sullivan blogged about the very large estimated reduction of new HIV transmissions because of serosorting.

And today, gay Democrat and sex advice columnist Dan Savage weighs in the topic, with a great headline, "Sero-Sorting Works," from The Stranger's blog up in Seattle:

And who deserves credit for this “prevention success”? Average, rank-and-file, commonsensical gay men that adopted the practice without any “institutional support.” Credit shouldn’t go to AIDS prevention orgs—at least not until they adopt sero-sorting.

Hey, Andrew and Dan, thanks for using your platforms to bring attention to serosorting as a valid means of HIV prevention. I'm most pleased Dan dishes some deserved criticism at the AIDS groups.

Now if only the HIV prevention groups would finally speak honestly about serosorting, we'd probably see even further drops in new HIV infections.

Second Meeting w/Straight Mormon Recruiter; Kushner's "Angel" Characters

The day before U.S. AIDS Ambassador Mark Dybul spoke at the main branch of the San Francisco public library, I went there to meet a friend and do some research on old MSM stories on HIV not available on the web.

Who should I run into, by himself with his recruiting partner nowhere in sight, but none other than that very attractive beefy straight young male Mormon I attempted to recruit for the gay community back in March.

Elder Adams was using a free Internet-access terminal on the first floor and he stood out like a sore thumb in his dark gray business suit, clean white shirt and tie, and name tag hanging from his breast pocket. I wondered where his Mormon buddy was since I thought these recruiters were required to always travel the streets in pairs.

He remembered me from last month and seem to welcome the chance to chat again. I asked what he was doing at the library and he said doing research on the area where he was being sent to next for his church. Unlike the last time we met, this time he didn't speak about his religion and I didn't try recruiting him into the gay lifestyle.

And since I had my camera with me, I requested another photo of Elder Adams. He smiled and said, "Sure, snap away." Hmmm, for a straight Mormon guy he sure has no problems with a gay man taking his photo!

This second chance encounter with Elder Adams, in which we just made friendly small talk, struck me as a rare and weird opportunity to again simply dialogue with a person so different from me, across religious and political barriers. What are the odds of running into him again, I mean, not at his recruiting location, the BART station at 16th and Mission streets?

I don't know the answer to that question, but I can tell you that my two chats with this young Mormon man reminded me of two characters from Tony Kushner's play and HBO movie "Angels in America." If you've seen or read it, you may recall the closeted gay Mormon lawyer from Utah, Joe Pitt, coming to terms with his homosexuality, and his off-beat and abusive relationship with Louis Ironson, an openly gay Jewish New York legal word processor.

Yes, I see some of Elder Adams in Joe Pitt and much of my politics in Louis Ironson, so in a very small way, my two chance meetings with him are just a reminder of how life can sometimes imitate a tiny portion of the cultural arts.

If I meet up with Elder Adams a third time, I must remember to ask him his first name. I just can't get used to calling such a young man by a very formal title.

Dybul, US HIV Envoy, on Immigration Ban; Goosby Berated for High Salary

(Ambassador Mark Dybul)

There were so few people in the Koret auditorium at the San Francisco main library yesterday, about 15, for the forum with Ambassador Mark Dybul, the U.S. envoy for HIV/AIDS, that I thought I was in the wrong room.

Several of the audience members were executives from the SF AIDS Foundation or staffers from the State Department, and besides myself, the only community member in attendance was black transgender activist Veronika Cauley. Don't know why more people weren't in attendance.

(Activist Veronika Cauley)

In any event, during the Q&A I asked Dybul what he was doing to lift the U.S. HIV travel and immigrant ban, which, I pointed out, was implemented under President Clinton, and he was eager to respond.

He said he was working within the constraints of the law to enact a "blanket waiver" and that the State Department is communicating with the executive branch about the HIV ban. Dybul's response was very diplomatic and his vocal tone contained much earnestness. Nothing newsworthy came from him.

But of course, I was pleased to deliver a message to him and the State Department, that at least one AIDS activist in San Francisco cared enough to show up for the forum and raise the issue of the deplorable HIV ban.

(Bureaucrat Dr. Eric Goosby)

I also berated Dr. Eric Goosby, executive director of the SF AIDS Foundation's Pangaea Global HIV/AIDS Foundation and former top HIV advisor to the Clinton White House, who was a member of the panel on the stage with Dybul.

Goosby made $248,242 as head of Pangaea, according to the group's FY 2004 IRS 990 tax report, which I pointed out was not his current salary that could only assume was more than what he earned two years ago, and that such a pay-scale level was shameful, given that so many PWAs lack basic things like drugs and access to drugs.

He stared intently at the microphone in front of him as I made reference to a report in the New York Times last week about criticism over the salaries of two aides to Paul Wolfowitz at the World Bank.

From the NYT:

A large amount of the discontent over Mr. Wolfowitz has focused on his top aides, Robin Cleveland and Kevin Kellems, both of whom worked with him on defense issues in the Bush administration. Bank officials have claimed that they have been given too much power and that their salaries, in excess of $200,000, are too high.

Goosby choose not to respond to my criticism, which is standard practice for the over-paid, in my opinion, leaders at the SF AIDS Foundation and its Pangaea affiliate.

Finally, after the forum ended I spoke privately with Dybul and said he should aggressively push inside the Bush administration to lift the HIV ban. And I said thanks for bringing his family members, including his partner Jason Claire and his mother-in-law to his swearing in ceremony, a symbolic but nonetheless step forward for gays at the State Department.

SF DPH: AIDS Cases, Deaths Drop Again; HIV Falls 33%

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This new graph from the HIV epidemiology department of the San Francisco Department of Public Health, released on Thursday, while certainly encouraging and showing full-blown AIDS cases and deaths from the disease continue their dramatic fall, it gives a false impression that both categories are at or near zero. (Click on the graph to enlarge it and view it in better detail.)

I don't understand why DPH doesn't expand the graph to more accurately reflect that cases and mortality are in the low hundreds, an issue I will bring up with the DPH.

The latest quarterly AIDS summary was web-posted yesterday and the data below is from Table 9 of the report:

Year
AIDS Cases/AIDS Deaths

1980
3 / 0

1981
26 / 8

1982
99 / 32

1983
274 / 111

1984
557 / 272

1985
859 / 531

1986
1236 / 807

1987
1629 / 876

1988
1762 / 1036

1989
2161 / 1273

1990
2048 / 1362

1991
2283 / 1495

1992
2327 / 1633

1993
2074 / 1584

1994
1784 / 1584

1995
1561 / 1475

1996
1082 / 981

1997
806 / 413

1998
692 / 396

1999
580 / 352

2000
549 / 340

2001
501 / 318

2002
488 / 319

2003
524 / 299

2004
443 / 300

2005
412 / 246

2006
297 / 200

2007 (Jan - Mar)
21 / 35

Even if we are mindful of the reporting delays of data in recent years, which means slight increases will be included in future AIDS epi reports, there is no denying a legitimate downward trend.

I am, of course, very happy to be alive to see these declines continuing and fully expect them to steadily drop even more, because of the HIV cocktails that keep viral loads down in many people with AIDS to undetectable levels, and also thanks to the community-driven and community-created practice of serosorting.

Now, there are skeptics who will read the AIDS stats and say while they're important and reflective of where the epidemic has been, we should be very worried about new HIV infections.

To address their concerns, I must point out an article the National Alliance of States and Territorial AIDS Directors newsletter of February 2007, written by two of the top HIV prevention experts at the San Francisco DPH, about a serious decrease in new transmissions:

While there was a ten percent decrease in total estimated new [HIV] cases, this seemingly modest decrease is actually a much greater prevention success than it appears.

From 2001 to 2006, the estimated number of gay men living in San Francisco increased from 46,800 to 58,343.

The increase was likely due to real growth in the gay community and, potentially, in part the result of an underestimation of the population size in 2001.

When the effect of the increase in the population size of MSM is taken into account, new infections have decreased by an estimated 33 percent. [Emphasis added]

If you want even more good news about the control and decline of HIV in San Francisco, and the practice of serosorting, check out this excellent, but buried deep in the local section, story in today's SF Chronicle. The paper reports on two new studies documenting that HIV serosorting is more widespread then previously thought.

No matter how you slice the HIV/AIDS data and research on serosorting in San Francisco, the news is, you should pardon the expression, positive.

Bush's Gay Global AIDS Chief Talks in S.F. Today

President Bush's openly gay global AIDS coordinator, Mark Dybul, speaks today at the main branch of the San Francisco public library.

You may recall that when Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice swore him in as America's ambassador for HIV/AIDS issues, she and First Lady Laura Bush warmly welcomed Dybul, his family, including his companion Jason and his mother-in-law, at the ceremony.

From the State Department's transcript of the ceremony:

SECRETARY RICE: Thank you. Thank you very much. I am truly honored and delighted to have the opportunity to swear in Mark Dybul as our next Global AIDS Coordinator. I am pleased to do that in the presence of Mark's parents, Claire and Richard; his partner, Jason; and his mother-in-law, Marilyn. You have wonderful family to support you, Mark, and I know that's always important to us. Welcome.

He's speaking at a forum organized by Rep. Tom Lantos and I plan to be there to hear what both men have to say. Let's hope questions and comments will be allowed from the audience.

From the Congressman's press release:

“The San Francisco Bay Area knows the devastation of AIDS like no other place in America,” Lantos said. “From our dawning awareness in the 1980s through the heroic efforts of researchers and caregivers to address the crisis, we have been in the vanguard of responsiveness to this public health challenge. Sadly, HIV and AIDS are still among us in this country, but they have wreaked unprecedented destruction abroad. The United States has taken the lead in every aspect of the fight against HIV/AIDS, and the people of our region should take part in the discussion of what is being done – and what the next steps could be.”

The co-author of the 2003 legislation that funded the $15 billion Global AIDS program, Lantos will spearhead the effort to reauthorize the program next year. One of the legislation’s provisions created a Global AIDS Coordinator position at the State Department. The new coordinator, Ambassador Mark R. Dybul, will be the featured speaker at the event, along with experts in the field.

The forum will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. at the San Francisco Main Library, 100 Larkin Street (at Grove). Members of the public can get further information from Congressman Lantos’ office at 650-342-0300.

SF Chron: Bush is Reading Book About Arnold Rothstein, Gambling Kingpin

The Taliban is resurgent in parts of Afghanistan and Osama bin Laden lives undetected in the caves bordering Pakistan. In Iraq, the White House surge of U.S. troops isn't working as planned and American soldiers, along with Iraqi civilians, continue to die. Here at home, George W. Bush's promise to rebuild the great city of New Orleans is as deep and meaningful as Britney Spears' commitment to marriage. Oh, and dozens of Americans die every day because they lack affordable housing and access to health care.

I would think those problems, and hundred of others worth addressing full-time, would take up not only a good deal of the president's official business day, but also his private down-time and what he chooses to read. Boy, was I wrong. It's business as usual for Bush and his reading material these days reveals how pressing world and domestic issues are not taking up all of his time.

From the SF Chronicle this morning:

"[Chronicle reporter Joan Ryan was at the White House Correspondents Dinner this weekend and her husband,] Fox sportscaster Barry Tompkins, positioned himself [near President Bush] to take a photograph.

"Your husband has a great tuxedo," the president said.

Ryan informed Bush that Tompkins, being a sportscaster who covered a lot of boxing, owned many tuxedos.

Bush lit up.

"I'm reading a book now on Arnold Rothstein," the president said. Rothstein was the gambling kingpin most known for fixing the 1919 World Series, the infamous Black Sox scandal.

"They say he fixed the Dempsey-Tunney fight!" Bush gushed.

The two men then joked for several minutes about characters in boxing ...

As of today, it is only 636 days until Dubya leaves office. And when he does, he'll have even more time than he does now to read for fun, and tend to chores on his ranch, then now, when he should be reading more serious tomes, ones that might guide the country and some of the world to take care of the messes he has visited upon us all.

For some historical perspective about Bush's reading materials, have a look at what one of his top advisors said about the him and the Iraq Study Group book of recommendations. From the December 6, 2006, broadcast of PBS's "News Hour":

RAY SUAREZ: Has the president read the report of the Iraq Study Group?

DAN BARTLETT: I can't say that he's read it completely. We've given him a pretty full day today, but he did have a very constructive conversation with the members of the commission.

Gay Russian Leader Praises Yeltsin For Sodomy Law Repeal

The death of former Russian leader Boris Yeltsin yesterday jogged my memory about something positive he did for gays, and that was to decriminalize sodomy.

Almost 14 years ago, on April 29, 1993, Yeltsin signed a decree that repealed Article 121.1 of the Russian criminal code from the books, which banned consensual homosexual relations. One news account from that time said gay men in prison for violating the sodomy were to be released from penal institutions.

In May 2006, the head of the Human Rights Watch's gay unit, Scott Long, traveled to Moscow to participate in a controversial gay rights march organized by Nikolai Alekseev, and Long had an interesting take on Yeltsin's rapid repeal of Article 121.1:

[It] may have been unfortunate for Russia’s LGBT movement (however fortunate for Russian society as a whole) that Yeltsin repealed the sodomy law so early and so quickly, by decree. There had been little domestic mobilization against it. The movement was deprived of the one issue that could have given it unity and direction. And Russian lesbians and gays were given the partly illusory feeling of freedom, able to lead their lives without immediate fear of arrest, to visit bars and websites and construct cocoons of consumer satisfaction without facing the deeper forces of prejudice and patriarchy in their society and families and homes.

Yeltsin's passing is, of course, being noted by Russia's bravest gay leader Nikolai Alekseev, who issued the following statement on his GayRussia web site:

On Monday 23 April we lost first President of Russia Boris Yeltsin, a man who, risking his life, gave freedom to us, a man, who underpinned democratic values of contemporary Russia.

Russian gay community will always remember Boris Nikolaevich Yeltsin as a man who put an end to almost sixty years of criminal prosecution for male homosexual relations. The law that he signed in April 1993 came into force on 27 May 1993. This day entered into Russian history of LGBT movement. 27 May was chosen as the date for the conduct of the first ever gay pride march in Moscow last year.

Boris Yeltsin is a whole epoch in Russia’s history. He is a man who will always be remembered by our descendants, irrespective of the future development of Russia.

His name is forever written into the history of free and democratic Russia.

When such people as Boris Yeltsin leaving this world everything is shaking inside. Democratic Russia is losing its best people. It is sad that no one is coming to replace them.

First President of Russia made enough mistakes during his long political career but he found strength to apologize to his country. Who else left the highest position in the country with his own will? Who else in Russia said sorry for the political mistakes? Boris Nikolaevich had courage almost alone not only to destroy totalitarian system but also to ask for forgiveness for everything that was not done properly, for the promises that were not realized.

It is frightening to lose such people, it is twice more frightening to lose such people in one of the critical turning points of Russia’s history, when the country is once again at the crossroads of democracy and dictatorship.

Boris Yeltsin gave Russian people freedom, but people, unfortunately, did not learn how to value it. And still there is a hope that Russia will not turn from the democratic way though it is becoming more and more obvious that the country reached some kind of irreversible point which the first Russia’s President, devoted to liberty, was not able to outlive.

Let him rest in peace! Boris Yeltsin will always stay in our hearts!

Taxpayer-subsidized US House Chaplain Promotes Homo-hater Rev. Dobson

Our nation's political and legal doctrine of maintaining a strict separation of church and state should, in my opinion, mean that both the Senate and the House should not open every day with a prayer or sermon from a religious figure, but that's a somewhat naive expectation. Both chambers begin the people's business, when the politicians are actually working, with a few words from their respective chaplains.

The most recent challenge to end the Congressional chaplain offices was in 2004, but US District Court for Washington, DC, rejected the lawsuit. Hence, the taxpayers continue to subsidize two religious figures, and their agendas. Click here for a concise summary and history of these offices.

The Rev. Barry C. Black, a Navy vet and Seventh-day Adventist minister, is the Senate's chaplain, and his annual salary is $143,000. Black is the first African American to hold this position. His web page is basic, with no archive of his opening prayers, list of activities or names of any guest preachers starting the Senate's day.

His House counterpart, the Rev. Daniel P. Coughlin, a Roman Catholic, and he maintains a comprehensive site, complete with an archive of opening prayers, roster of guest chaplains, local places of worship and a dose of promotion for upcoming religious events. Coughlin's yearly pay is $163,700.
To put those salaries in perspective, the Sunlight Foundation notes that the base pay for members of the Senate and House is $168,000.

What's got me irked is that Coughlin is using public dollars to publicize a National Prayer Day event at the Capitol next week, and notorious homo-hater Dr. James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, along with his equally bigoted wife, Mrs. Shirley Dobson.

From the House chaplain's taxpayer-supported web site:

Come celebrate America's 56th annual National Day of Prayer. The National Observance will take place Thursday, May 3rd, from 12:00 noon to 3:00 p.m. at the Cannon House Office Building on Capitol Hill.

Featured speakers include: Honorary Chairman Dr. Charles Swindoll, NDP Chairman Mrs. Shirley Dobson, Focus on the Family Founder Dr. James Dobson, Admiral Timothy Keating, Mississippi Supreme Court Chief Justice James W. Smith, Worship Leader Charles Billingsley, Musical Guest Ernie Haase & Signature Sound.

Admission is free and open to the general public. Doors open at 11:30 a.m. Seating is limited so it is recommended that you arrive early.

Here's a bit of interesting cultural trivia about invited speaker Mr. Smith that I picked up from his Wikipedia entry:

Smith had a minor appearance in the 2006 comedy mocumentary Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan when he was present at the same revival meeting that Borat attended, where he was depicted stating that "The bottom line is, we are a Christian nation now, we were a Christian nation in the beginning, and we'll gonna always be a Christian nation until the good Lord returns". It is unknown what effect this had, if any, on his public image.

Oh, what I would give to have Borat return to the USA, cover this prayer event next week and ask why gay American tax dollars, or any American's taxes, are being used to promote the bigoted Dobson's and their political agenda.

Not only that, but I think it's time for renewed scrutiny of the two Congressional chaplains, their salaries, money for staffs and offices and other expenses, role in guiding lawmakers and their speeches on the Senate and House floors.

If we can't rid our national legislative chambers of this religious incursion into the state's business, let's at least have as much sunshine beaming in on the chaplains.