PICS from the Community Talk Show "Can a Pill Revolutionize Sex for Gay and SGL Men of Color?"

On Wednesday, May 22, more than 60 folks joined Project RSP! (Ready, Set, PrEP!), My PrEP Experience, hosts David Dodd and Ken Like Barbie, entertainer ButtaFlySouL, Gustavo Varela and Sybil Hosek at Center on Halsted to discuss a revolutionary new way to protect ourselves from HIV called PrEP. Some pics from this community talk show below - more on the Project RSP! page on FB.

The Chicago Black Gay Men's Caucus, and others, Tweeted about the event.

Check out the right hand side of this blog for info and links to learn more about PrEP. Another community talk show on PrEP will be held later this year on the south side of Chicago. Watch this space!

The event was made possible through the collective efforts of the following organizations: Blackstone Avenue Marketing, Clubhouse Productions, Gilead Sciences, High Society Entertainment Group, John Stroger Hospital, K Dock Media, My PrEP Experience, National Youth Pride Services, PrideIndex.com, Rails Marketing Group, United Black Pride, and AIDS Foundation of Chicago.

 

Let's Talk About PrEP People! Join Us Tonight at Chicago's Center on Halsted

Can A Pill Revolutionize Sex for Gay and SGL Men of Color?

Join us to discuss/debate.

All the info you need is below and at this FB link. Doors open 6p for appetizers and socialzing, show starts at 7p with ButtaFlySouL. Free, fun, food, FABULOUS. Watch the promo video.

click 2 enlarge

[VIDEO] Damon Does PrEP

Damon L. Jacobs shared his PrEP experience with us in March.

Below is the intro to an interview he just did (May 13, 2013) on PrEP with TheBody.com.

As a licensed therapist working with people living with HIV, Damon Jacobs heard about pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) as an HIV prevention strategy. When he found himself newly single after being out of the dating game for almost a decade, he re-entered a dating pool that was not at all condom-friendly. To deal with this, and to finally come to terms with his distaste for condoms, Damon began taking PrEP in July 2011 to stay HIV negative.

Now, almost two years later, he's never missed a single dose -- and he's become an advocate for education around PrEP, though he acknowledges that it may not be the right strategy for everyone. From dispelling myths around anti-condom attitudes to advocating that people be able to talk to their doctors about all aspects of their sex life, Damon reminds us that sex isn't dirty, and we can have sexual pleasure, but we have to be smart and know our own bodies.

Read the rest of the interview on TheBody.com. Watch Damon below :)

I wake up; I have my breakfast; I have my vitamins; I have my coffee. That was already an established routine in my adult life. Those are important things I do to take care of myself and start the day right. PrEP was just one thing to add into that. It wasn't anything that was inconvenient. It hasn't been something I've forgotten. It's just with the vitamins now. It's on the same little thing that the vitamins sit on, so I don't forget.

"Sex is not the enemy, ignorance is" - ButtaFlySouL

Can a Pill Revolutionize Sex for Gay and SGL Men of Color?

ButtaFlySouL will be performing at a community talk show on sex, love, and PrEP at Chicago's Center on Halsted - Wednesday, May 22 - reception 6p, show starts 7p.

Popular vlogger Ken Like Barbie  and social guru David Dodd host. Free food. Special guests. Great conversation.

PLEASE JOIN US! All welcome - gay men of color and allies.

Learn more about the event.

Learn more about PrEP.

"The ‘use a condom every time’ message just doesn’t work for everyone..."

Center on Halsted - May 22

“The ‘use a condom every time’ message just doesn’t work for everyone. The goal is to increase protection from HIV – and having more strategies like PrEP in our prevention toolbox can help us achieve that.” - Ken Like Barbie

Popular vlogger Ken Like Barbie (pictured left) and social guru David Dodd are hosting a FREE community talk show - "Can a Pill Revolutionize Sex for Gay and SGL Men of Color" - at Center on Halsted in Chicago May 22, from 6p to 9p.

The amazing ButtaFlySouL is performing. Twice.

There will be good food, good conversation - lotsa fun. Will you join us?

Learn more about the event. Learn more about PrEP.
 

Just Adding PrEP to the Mix.... Join us May 22 at Center on Halsted

“We’re not throwing condoms out; we’re just adding PrEP to the mix.”
- David Dodd

The very charming duo of David and vlogger Ken Like Barbie are hosting a FREE community talk show - "Can  a Pill Revolutionize Sex for Gay and SGL Men of Color" - at Center on Halsted  in Chicago May 22, from 6p to 9p.

The amazing ButtaFlySouL is performing. Twice.

There will be food, fun, good conversation.

Hope to see you there.

Learn more.

[VIDEO] David Dodd and Ken Like Barbie Preview Their May 22 Community Talk Show on PrEP

The details:

Can a Pill Revolutionize Sex for Gay and SGL Men of Color?
Presented by Project RSP!
Wednesday, May 22, 2013 from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Center on Halsted, 3656 North Halsted in Chicago – 3rd floor, Hoover-Leppen Theatre.

Social guru David Dodd and award winning vlogger Ken Like Barbie co-host this event, featuring Vocalist, Poet, Actor and Humorist ButtaFlySouL, star of ButtaFlySouL for President, PrEP researcher Dr. Sybil Hosek from John Stroger Hospital, and a young man of color who is using PrEP.

This event is an all-ages, free community talk show directed to young gay men of color and their allies. From 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. there will be a casual reception with appetizers from Hearty Boys. At 7:00 p.m. the doors to the theatre will open with a performance by ButtaFlySouL. David and Ken will then lead an interactive, lively, and fun discussion with the panelists and audience around sex, love, lust, and a new FDA-approved form of HIV protection called “PrEP” which involves taking a medication every day. ButtaFlySouL will close the program with a second special performance specially created for this event.

 

Mash-up Music Video and Diatribe on "Gay Boy Birth Control"

by MAGPIE SUDDENLY

CREDITS:
Text: Adapted from “My Life on PrEP” by JAKE SOBO

Music mashup: “Smells Like Stayin’ Alive” Juan Martinez/Nirvana/Adam Freeland
By KOBALT


THE KEY

to HOOKING UP online HAS ALWAYS BEEN A
Tricky game You gotta show YOUR BEST ASSETS

To TURN ON

Your audience
Without looking like a DESPERATE SLUT

Never mind that MOST OF US Online Are

a)somewhat DESPERATE

and

b)EXTREMELY promiscuous

it’s all about the FANTASY when it comes to CHATTING online
I favor HONESTY OVER Fantasy
A fact that has COST ME SEX

On a rREGULAR BASIS

I’ve never been ASHAMED of my SEX life or my DESIRES for many guys MY HONESTY is a
DEAL BREAKER TOO MANY GUYS out there are deeply ASHAMED of their sex life

it’s
EMBARRASSING
for them
they’d rather  PRETEND that we’re all just GOOD BOYS who  NEVER hook up

but make an  ‘EXCEPTION’
or two…
(or three…)
(or 3,000….)
on our road to MONGAMY when I first started TAKING TRUVADA as PrEP
(which my friends call
GAY BOY
BIRTH CONTROL)

I thought
SOMEHOW
That it would HELP ME CUT THROUGH SOME
Of the BULL SHIT OUT THERE
I could FINALLY HAVE

The kind of
SEX I WANTED
Without SHAME
Or  REGRET
Or GETTING HIV

I supposed I was NAÏVE
Just a few DAYS  AGO
Some guy online
Was Complaining
That only  WHORES
Were lining up to Take TRUVADA

He said:
“Having a THERE’S-A-PILL-FOR-THAT
Attitude…
…is absolutely
DISGUSTING”

I found myself FACE-to-FACE
With the same kind of
SHAMING And  PRETENDING That has PLAGUED HIV PREVENTION
Since the  BEGINNING
This approach to SEX Is just ANOTHER VERSION
Of the
SEXUAL SHAME
You see online

It’s the same
STIGMA
That leads MANY GAY MEN
To
NOT GET TESTED
To NOT DISCUSS
HIV with sex partners
To pretend like onlyWHORES Get HIV …which NEVER includes YOU or ME
Or the guy who CAME in my ASS LAST NIGHT
It’s what’s DRIVING  PLENTY Of INFECTIONS

TRUVADA as PrEP
Can help STOP THOSE INFECTIONS

But dangerously MISINFORMED HATERS SHAME
Gay men Into PRETENDING like THEY DON’T
NEED IT That they are just
“GOOD BOYS” WHO MAKE ‘EXCEPTIONS”
every now and again
taking
TRUVADA as PrEP
doesn’t make me A WHORE
I refuse to feel
DIRTY
Or
ASHAMED
Of the sex I have

TRUVADA as PrEP
Helps keep ne HIV-negative
IT CAN KEEP YOU
HIV-negative too
START  ASKING
For it

LET’S QUIT
The WHORE-BAITING
And start the REAL WORK Of PREVENTION

Remember:
YOU HAVE THE KEY
To your
SEXUAL HEALTH
PrEP
PrOTECT
YOUrSELF

PrEP – What have I done to deserve this? (Part 3 of 3)

This is the third and final installment of a three-part series. Click here to read the first installment. Click here to read the second installment.

I’ve been told that I can look forward to a tremendous reduction in stress and anxiety about seroconverting. I look forward to that. We’ll see. 

bv Marc-André LeBlanc
Gatineau, Canada

On April 5, 2013 I took my first dose of Truvada as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). I won’t deny it. I’ve been feeling very conflicted about starting PrEP.

 

Why do I have access to Truvada when the majority of people who need antiretroviral medication to stay alive don’t have access? I got my hands on this bottle relatively easily. The social injustice is not lost on me. I don’t have relatively easy access to this medication because I deserve it more than anyone else.

So what HAVE I done to deserve access to PrEP? Well, a lot of it is sheer luck, actually.

•    Nearly every time I see the news, I am amazed at how lucky I am. I was born in Canada. Talk about winning the lottery. Out of 7 billion people, I am one of only 34 million people living in Canada. Trust me, it’s a great place to live!

•    I’ve been working in HIV for 20 years, including the last 10 years focussed on tracking biomedical HIV prevention research. This provides me with ongoing access to the latest information.

•    I make a good living. I can access healthcare relatively easily and generally for free or at a cost that has little impact on my standard of living.

•    I have a doctor. He’s young (My age. That’s young. Shut up.), gay, and sees a lot of people living with HIV in his practice. So talking to him about my sex life and about PrEP was not difficult. He keeps up to date on research. After a good discussion, he agreed to prescribe PrEP.

•    Not only do I live in Canada, but I live in Québec, the only province to have a universal public drug plan. As long as the drugs my doctor prescribes are on the provincial drug formulary, I am covered for most of the cost. I pay $500 into the drug plan annually, and PrEP will cost me less than $1,000/year on top of that. And if I ever need other drugs for any reason, I will not pay for them. Because $992/year ($82.66/month to be precise) is the most I would have to pay for all my drugs combined.

I’m not trying to be disingenuous. I know that beyond being lucky and privileged, I have access to PrEP because I’ve taken some very concrete steps as well. I did lots of introspection. I tried to reduce my risk as much as possible through other means. I did a lot of research. I actively sought out access. I make sure I’m very diligent about taking my pills.

I always have been very diligent about that. I take all my antibiotics when I need them. I take vitamins daily. When I was on antidepressants, I never missed a dose in 1.5 years. I follow advice from medical professionals to the letter. Case in point: I’ve needed physiotherapy twice. Both times, the conversation during my second visit went something like this:

Physiotherapist: Wow, you’re made remarkable progress in one week. I’ve never seen anyone progress so quickly with this type of injury. Which exercises did you do?
Me: All of them, like you showed me.
PT: You did ALL the exercise I gave you?! How often?
Me: Every day, like you told me.
PT: You did ALL your exercise EVERY day?! How many times a day?
Me: Twice, like you told me.
PT: You did ALL your exercises, EVERY day, TWICE a day?! I’ve never seen this in all my years of practice! No wonder you’re doing so well!

*SLAP* You’re at risk of HIV!

I might make jokes, but I don’t take this lightly.

Every morning when I wake up it’s the first thing I think about. That might stop after a while. But two weeks into taking PrEP, it’s the same thing. I wake up, and as I ponder about whether I want to go back to sleep again for a little longer, I can’t do it. I immediately think: when I get up I have to take my Truvada pill. Because I’m at risk of HIV.

Each and every time I open the cupboard and grab the bottle, I think: how is it possible that I am so lucky to have such easy access to this medication when millions of people who need it to stay alive don’t have access?

Who needs a coffee? I get a slap in my face every morning. Two of them in fact.

*SLAP* You’re at risk of HIV and STIs!


*SLAP* You’re one of the lucky few who has access to this medication and to this prevention option!

I’ve been told that I can look forward to a tremendous reduction in stress and anxiety about seroconverting. I look forward to that. We’ll see. I’m not there yet by any stretch. But at least I get some measure of comfort from knowing that I’m putting chances on my side by reducing my risk as much as I can in my current situation. Doing my best to stay healthy seems like the right thing to do to honour those who don’t have access to this drug.

***

There are a million other things I have to say about PrEP. Well OK, maybe only half a million. But luckily others have already addressed many of them, and have done it so eloquently. I encourage everyone to check out the following remarkable first-person accounts:

• Len Tooley did a series of interviews on PositiveLite.
• Jake Sobo has been writing a whole series of articles on his blog, “My Life on PrEP”.
• Several other first-person accounts can be found right here on the “My PrEP Experience” blog.

Len and Jake are so friggin’ smart and insightful and articulate, I want to marry both of them. It has been a tremendous source of help and support to read the thoughts of everyone who shared their stories publicly. A big hairy thanks to Jim Pickett for starting the “My PrEP Experience” blog because he recognized that amidst all the heated debates and discussions and policy decisions about PrEP, we weren’t hearing the voices of real-life flesh-and-blood people actually using PrEP.

[VIDEO] Ken Like Barbie: The Frontier of HIV Prevention is Changing - A Video Fact Sheet on PrEP

Chicago's lovable, award winning vlogger Ken Like Barbie tells you what you need to know about PrEP in this video fact sheet. He is co-hosting a free community talk show with social guru David Dodd, featuring entertainer ButtaFlySouL, on Wednesday, May 22 at Center on Halsted.

Join him, and us :)