EMIS – The European MSM (men who have sex with men) Internet Survey conducted the largest study about MSM in Europe with about 180,000 participants and 38 countries. (All results in a PDF file)

According to the study your chances of having sex with as man are the highest in France, Netherlands, Belgium and on Malta. It seems France really is the country of love, 38% of all French guys had over 10 sex partners the last 12 months.  In Netherlands  37% and in Belgium as well as on Malta 33% of all guys had over 10 sex partners the last 12 months. The European average is 20%.

Oral sex is the most popular kind of sex, followed by giving/receiving a hand-job and anal sex. The chances of having anal sex are the highest in Moldova, Russia, Portugal and Spain, Belarus. The most anal sex have guys from Moldova (94% of all guys), followed by guys from Russia, Portugal (91% ) and Spain,Belarus (90%).  On average 85% of all European MSN have anal sex.

If you look for a serious relationship with a man your chances are the highest in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. 53% of all gay guys in Belarus are in a steady relationship with a man, followed by Russia with 52% and Ukraine 49%. On average 38% of all European gay, bi guys are in a steady relationship with man.

The most favourite place to get in contact, meet men is on the Internet. Followed by sex venues, including gay saunas and backrooms of bars, clubs.  59% of all European guys have met a man via the Internet in the last 12 months. Particular in Bosnia Herzegovina (77% of all guys) , in Turkey (71% ) and in Croatia (70%) the Internet was a popular way to get to know men. While 16% of all European guys have met a man at a sex venue.  To meet men at a sex venue is most popular in Netherlands (30%) , France, Belgium(26%) and Switzerland (25%.)

Unfortunately there is also always the risk of getting infected with HIV when you have unprotected sex with a guy. The highest possible HIV transmission risk in the previous 12 months, defined as unprotected sex with men whose HIV status is unknown or different from the own status , was in  Turkey (49%),  Romania (42%) and Belarus (40%). While the lowest risk was in Luxembourg (21%), Switzerland (22%) and Austria (23%). On average 32% of all European men had unprotected sex with other men whose HIV status was unknown or different from their own status.

While its efficacy as birth control is pretty well established in current trials (toxicity is still a concern), studies are also continuing to test whether the acid produced by the injected chemicals lowers the pH of semen enough to kill HIV.

If RISUG passes muster as both contraceptive and prophylaxis, men of all sexual orientations could have the option of undergoing one simple operation and not have to bother with condoms or Truvada (although they should remain aware of its ineffectiveness against other STDs).

Link goes to an abstract by Sujoy Guha, the bioengineer who developed RISUG. I’m choosing to ignore the heterocentricity of the opening sentence—”HIV transmission from the male to the female is a major health problem”—as that may be the case in his home country of India, as it is in parts of Africa (i.e. HIV/AIDS cases on the rise largely due to women being infected by their husbands).

Timothy Ray Brown, a 45-year-old San Francisco man previously known to the medical community as “the Berlin patient,” has become the first person to ever be cured of AIDS.

After a stem cell bone marrow transplant, doctors say his HIV, the infection which causes AIDS, was eradicated.

His bone marrow donor was one of a very small percentage of people who are immune to HIV. He received a second bone marrow transplant after a resurgence of Leukemia, which he’s also since been cured of.

Doctors still aren’t exactly sure what part of his treatment allowed his body to purge the virus, but clinical trials are scheduled to begin in 2012.

more here: http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2011/05/16/apparent-immunity-gene-cures-bay-area-man-of-aids/

Spotted out by Gossiponthis, Will not only said that he doesn’t respect women who keep condoms at home, but think it’s tacky.

With HIV infection rates among African Americans still at an alarmingly high rate, you’d think he’d want to encourage the use of protection. According to these stats from the CDC: by race/ethnicity, African Americans face the most severe burden of HIV in the United States. At the end of 2007, blacks accounted for almost half (46%) of people living with a diagnosis of HIV.

Read the excerpts from the interview below:

ELLE: If you walked into a woman’s house, what one item would convince you that you weren’t compatible?

W: If she had condoms in her house, that would just fuckin’ throw me off. That’s just tacky.

ELLE: Well, okay, I could see if she had a candy bowl full of them on the coffee table. But if she’s got a few in a drawer, wouldn’t that simply suggest she’s health-conscious?

W: I just think, like, if you’re into someone and you guys get to that level, then that’s something you should converse about together and say, “Hey, maybe we should get some.” Another pet peeve is wet sinks.

ELLE: Wet sinks?

W: Yeah, like a wet sink. You don’t wipe the sink after you use it? Dry it off! And if she’s got only dry toilet paper and no baby wipes next to the toilet. You ain’t got no baby wipes?

ELLE: I’ve heard about this particular deal breaker before. Why is that a big deal to you?

W: Here’s proof on why people should have baby wipes. Get some chocolate, wipe it on a wooden floor, and then try to get it up with some dry towels. You’re going to get chocolate in the cracks. That’s why you gotta get them baby wipes.

Although I’m sure Will.i.Am’s statements might be taken out of context, the fact that there would be any stigma among sexually active adults in using condoms in this day and age demonstrates the challenege health care advocates face when trying to fight the spread of sexually transimitted diseases. Plus, lets face it, a lot of guys (of any race) love to “ring the back doorbell” on their lady friends, which is even more reason to keep condoms (and a good, water based lube) in your nightstand, just in case.

It’s not trashy to be well prepared, it’s sexy and smart!

–Thanks to Damon L Jacobs for the tip.

With a daily dose of Feast of Fun, you can overcome practically anything.

A battle is erupting over a new way to prevent HIV infections.

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation launched a national ad campaign to discredit PrEP or Pre Exposure Prophylaxis, a new HIV prevention technique that involves taking Truvada (an existing HIV medication) on a daily basis.

Last time there was a lot of fuss over a little blue pill, Bob Dole was doing Viagra ads on TV.

But by taking this medication prior to getting exposed to HIV people at high risk could increase their chances for staying negative by as much as 73% in some cases.

Why is the leadership of the nation’s largest AIDS organization arguing against a treatment that could potentially save millions of gay men from becoming HIV positive?

Today, gay men’s health advocate, Jim Pickett, from the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, joins us to explain the controversy surrounding this new treatment, and the possible reasons it may be misunderstood.

Jim answers all your questions on health, STD’s and HIV.

Plus- all the hot news:

Chin-AIDS — is there a new form of HIV in China or is this just a manifestation of the anxiety Chinese people have over their bodies?

Doctors hope to get Congress to lift the ban on HIV positive organ donors to save the lives of other HIV positive patients.

and talk about hackers, a 75 year old woman from Eastern Europe took down the Internet for 3.2 million people in three countries by literally hacking a cable in the woods with her shovel.

Visit our sponsors:

LifeLube Your Field Guide to Gay Men’s Health
“How are you healthy?” Send in your answers
and join more than 100 men who have already
shared their secrets.

Featured Music:
Broni – Every Thought I’ve Had Since I Was 10: iTunes

Presently holding the Guinness World Record for the largest drag queen stage show, the Queen of the Whole Universe beauty pageant is on tomorrow in Wellington.

40 boys dressed as girls representing 36 different countries will compete for the crown of QWU® 2011.  And if that wasn’t legendary enough, proceeds from the show go to NZ-based HIV charities such as Positive Women, Body Positive, and New Zealand AIDS Foundation.

I’ve got my ticket to go, and if I’m not totally shell-shocked from atomic levels of fabulousness, I’ll be attending the afterparty at Scotty and Mal’s Cocktail Bar on Cuba St. Just when I was starting to sleep on a regular basis…

This event kicks off the 2nd Asia-Pacific Outgames, a weeklong celebration of sport, art and culture for LGBT people. 1300 are registered to attend, many from out of town. I’ve already seen some gorgeous new faces around here; I will definitely be out and about with my camera.

Look, I’m sorry the dude contracted HIV, but there’s no excuse to blantantly lie about in public… especially when that lie spreads harmful misinformation.

The study team found that 404 people with HIV experienced neurological problems, including seizures, dementia, nerve pain in their hands and feet, memory loss, headaches, migraines, afflictions of the nervous system and movement disorders.

The study also found that those with full-blown AIDS had twice the chance of having brain disorders than people who were just HIV-positive.

–Read more.

The Positive Justice Project seeks an end to HIV-specific criminal laws in the U.S. and around the world was recently launched.

From the Michigan Messenger:

Catherine Hanssens, executive director of the HIV Law and Policy Center says:

“There seems to have been an explosion of new prosecutions in the last two or three years, and federal emphasis on HIV testing also puts into sharp relief the irony that those who respond to this call to test now risk arrest and imprisonment more than ever before.”

–Read more about it

Your new boyfriend may give you a whole lot more than just a box of chocolates. Most people know that using condoms for casual sex is important, but new studies show that an alarming number of HIV infections happen when guys fall in love.

So when is it okay to stop using condoms with your boyfriend and still be safe? How soon is too soon?

Writer and health advocate Jim Pickett, from Lifelube, joins us today to talk about condom use between gay male couples.

If you live in Chicago, be sure to check out LifeLube’s next free community forum, “What’s Love Got to do With It“- a holistic discussion on gay men’s health with new research on the relationship between couples and condom use.

Listen as we take your questions and a whole lot more.

How to find the boyfriend you want.

How to ask a guy at a bar if he’s a top or a bottom.

And Jim helps us bust some myths about HIV, AIDS that many people still think are true- weird fake cures for AIDS, Patient Zero, the monkey myth and the Pope, and one thing every government in the world can do cheaply to dramatically reduce HIV infections, crime and drug use. You won’t believe it.

Check out our sponsor:

Featured Music:
Matt Alber – Hide Nothing: iTunes | Amazon

RSS FEED | SUBSCRIBE ON iTUNES
SUBSCRIBE ON: GOOGLE

Writer and health advocate Jim Pickett is on today’s show talking about condom use between gay male couples. How do you decide if and when to not use condoms?

There has been a lot of research lately on the relationship between couples, condom use and sexually transmitted diseases and the results will surprise you.

Plus:
• How to find the boyfriend you want.
• How to ask if a guy at a bar if he’s a top/bottom/vers.
• Six myths about HIV, AIDS and STDs that a lot of people still think are true.

Ask Jim Pickett Anything!

If you live in Chicago, be sure to check out their Community Forum “What’s Love Got to Do With It? – Is it okay to stop using condoms with my boyfriend?” on Tuesday, Sep. 21 at 7pm, doors open for food and socialization at 6pm.

Moderated by Brian Mustanski, researchers Colleen Hoff (San Francisco State University) and Patrick Sullivan (Emory University) will present their findings on the link between relationships and HIV infection.

Poppers, (not the fried, cheese filled jalapeno peppers) are small little bottles full of a volatile liquid like amyl nitrate or other stuff sold commercially as “air freshener” or “VCR head cleaner” and has been used for decades during sex by people looking to loosen themselves up and get jiggy with it. Its the sexy drug equivalent of huffing airplane model glue.

I’m always giggling at most sports bars and in the frozen food section of my supermarket whenever I see a box for cheese Poppers, whose ad slogan is “bring home the fun.” I’ll say.

How do they work? Amyl nitrite was originally used in medicine  in the early 1900s to counteract the effects of cyanide poisoning and was found to relax the smooth muscles in the body, mostly the anus and vagina.

In the 1970s poppers were popular not just in the bedroom but on the dance floor, and even the Al Pacino film “Cruising” shows him huffing a hankie covered with the fluid on the dance floor.

That’s Al huffing on a rag covered in poppers!

Poppers have a long history of abuse due to the rush of warm sensations and dizziness experienced when the vapors are inhaled. Most often, poppers are used recreationally by men who have sex with men as a sexual enhancer or by young substance abusers.

It also deprives the body of oxygen and heavy use can lead to nerve/brain damage. Plus the use of poppers has been associated with an increased risk of HIV infection. Fun times!

Although its illegal to sell them for human consumption, many gay clubs/bars, sex shops, drug paraphernalia head shops still sell them as “room deodorizers” although the smell isn’t something I’d consider pleasant.

If you’re still wanting to get a bottle, go ask film maker John Waters. In OUT magazine he told the interviewer that he’s not a “poppers pig” but he has a lifetime supply in his freezer.

“I made a giant bottle of Rush for my last art show, and the owner of the poppers company sent me a lifetime supply,” he confesses. “It’s really embarrassing ’cause I forget when people go to get ice and they see, like, a case of poppers.” He emulates an unsuspecting house guest recoiling in horror. “Oh, my God, he’s a poppers pig!” This picturesque expression prompts another tale. “My friend told me the worst story,” he says. “He went home with somebody that really was a poppers pig, who came out of the bedroom with a mask on that was hooked to a bottle of poppers so that he could give blowjobs and breathe poppers at the same time!” Waters laughs. “I’m afraid people think that’s what I am when they look in the freezer and don’t say anything.”

–Read all about it.

Is this what we were fighting for?

In Chicago, health care advocates and people with common sense people are outraged over the Illinois Department of Public Health’s bizarre ad campaign targeting gay men called “He’s the One.” And no, it’s not “He’s the one,” as in “Ooh la la, he’s Prince Charming,” it’s “He’s the one, that will infect you.”

The ridiculous tag line and the spooky montage of men’s faces cobbled together like a Franken Gay monster in the ad are provoking ridicule and angry responses. What was the ad campaign supposed to accomplish, and why did it even run in the first place, in a gay newspaper of all places?

Join us as we talk about all the hot news:

An angry mob of beautiful, pro-gay celebrities including the TV producer of GLEE, Ryan Murphy, call for a boycott of Newsweek after the magazine published an article questioning if an openly gay actor would be accepted in a straight role.

A Russian MP asks the country’s president to investigate claims by a regional president that he met aliens on board a spaceship, and if there are any official guidelines for handling the matter.

A group of cooks from Lebanon make 10 tons of hummus to beat Israel’s world record. Could a garlicky, tasty cold war of hummus take hold in the middle east?

And Young Boozer, the conservative Republican from Alabama is the most un-fun man with the silliest name ever.

Visit our sponsors:

LifeLube Your Field Guide to Gay Men’s Health
“How are you healthy?” Send in your answers
and join more than 100 men who have already
shared their secrets.

Join us at Pridefest Milwaukee
Over over a hundred and fifty acts including Kathy Griffin,
Patti LaBelle, and Joan Rivers! Visit Pridefest.com today
to get your tickets and book your hotel room.

Featured Music:
Derek and the Darling – Rockface: iTunes | Amazon

RSS FEED | SUBSCRIBE ON iTUNES
SUBSCRIBE ON: GOOGLE

Our guest Elizabeth Pisani dazzled audiences in her leather go-go boots at the TED “Ideas Worth Spreading” conference in February this year, where fabulous folks gather to share bold ideas on Technology, Entertainment, Design (get it, T.E.D.?) but on any idea that dramatically changes the way we think of the world around us.

Some highlights of the video include her stories on sex workers and heroin addicts in jail “please let there be some smack when the needle gets to me” and when she tosses out condoms to the audience of distinguished people.

From TED: Armed with bracing logic, wit and her “public-health nerd” glasses, Elizabeth Pisani reveals the myriad of inconsistencies in today’s political systems that prevent our dollars from effectively fighting the spread of HIV. Her research with at-risk populations — from junkies in prison to sex workers on the street in Cambodia — demonstrates the sometimes counter-intuitive measures that could stall the spread of this devastating disease.

The haven’t really said what all the fuss is about but this guy who worked there 25 years ago seems to think he may know what’s up- that they were put on leave for transferring a grant, which can sometimes be incredibly large sums of money, to Northwestern University. Read about that here in “An Open Letter to the Board and Supporters of the Howard Brown Health Center,” and FYI, a “PI” is “The Principal Investigator,” the person who is chiefly responsible for carrying out the operations of a grant.

The CEO Cook resigned and WCT reports that “He cited internal disagreements about ongoing responsibilities and duties” but never with a direct quote, rather, he cites “personal family matters” as the reason for leaving. So what’s up, is it personal or professional?

Chicagoist wants to know What’s Going On At Howard Brown?

Also, they don’t even have a twitter account, but that’s just a personal peeve.

On the fourth season of the reality tv show Project Runway- mens designer Jack Mackenroth abruptly withdrew from the show due to a serious staph infection completely unrelated to his HIV status.

A real life jack-of-all-trades, he is now working on a design-inspired TV show pilot with Kevin Christiana.

He’s in Chicago to promote his Merck sponsored HIV Education Campaign Living Positive by Design– as an honorary guest of Design for a Cure.

And, he’s training to compete in Men’s Swimming at the Out Games in Copenhagen. How does he do it all?

We’ve got the sexy, fashion savvy Jack Mackenroth in the home studio. He’s taking your questions through Facebook and he’s telling it all!

Listen as Jack talks about how he manages to stay healthy, muscular and sexy, how serious he got with fellow reality TV star Dale from Top Chef and what it was like playing a dead body on the TV show Law and Order. Plus, what are the fashionistas REALLY like? Find out on today’s show.

Check out these fun pictures of Jack taken by our friend Jason Smith during the taping of the show.

Featured Music:
Jeffery Straker – Step Right Up: iTunes | Amazon

RSS FEED | SUBSCRIBE ON iTUNES
SUBSCRIBE ON: GOOGLE

Until that day in 1994, Martinez had been a green card resident of L.A. for 15 years. He worked as a vice-president of a film studio, travelling often to Montreal to visit family. He gave little thought to the ban on HIV-positive foreigners entering the U.S.

When the 1987 ban caught up to Martinez, he was deported without the chance of packing up his life. Friends had to crate his personal belongings and ship them to Canada.

“It was a devastating experience. My entire life was destroyed as a result of a customs official going through my bags,” says Martinez, a manager at the AIDS Committee of Toronto, Canada.

He only fully recovered last week, when the U.S. finally lifted the ban on HIV-positive foreigners.

“It’s an historical moment,” says Martinez, adding it ends two decades of discrimination and stigma. Besides: “I have a partner and we want to go see some Broadway shows in New York City.”

There are 57 countries that still restrict entry, length of stay or residency for people suffering with HIV, according to the United Nations. They include China, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Australia, New Zealand, and Russia. In Canada, foreigners with HIV are blocked from entering as economic immigrants if it’s judged they’ll place an “excessive” demand on health or social services.

It was common for the more than 58,000 Canadians with HIV to travel to the U.S., despite the ban. Most simply didn’t disclose their status to border officials, and some lied.

The biggest dilemma was how to hide HIV medications. Some travellers would mail them to their destination, risking they might never arrive.

Rosenes, vice-chair of the Canadian Treatment Action Council, recommended putting the pills in generic plastic containers. Some would instead risk their lives to beat the ban.

Research conducted in 2006 among HIV-positive travellers to the U.S. – published in the journal HIV Medicine – found 11 per cent left their drugs at home out of fear.

“Missing even a small number of doses may lead to the emergence of drug resistant strains of HIV, undermine effectiveness of treatment and ultimately lead to treatment failure,” warned a 2008 UN report.

Those caught without disclosing would, like Martinez, be blacklisted on a U.S. database. He says he was banned from the country for several years. He then could apply for a discretionary “waiver,” issued to enter the U.S. on a case-by-case basis. He never did.

The ban was implemented when ignorance about HIV was more the rule than the exception. Classified as a “communicable disease of public health significance,” it kept out students, tourists and refugees.

Yet “no significant evidence” exists indicating HIV-positive travellers engage in risky behaviour, according to a 2008 UN report. The risks, instead, lie within the U.S. A 2002 study published in the American Journal of Public Health found that most foreign-born people with HIV in the U.S. had been infected after arriving in the country.

In Canada, foreign students or tourists are not required to disclose their HIV status. But immigrants are tested for the virus before becoming permanent residents. Refugee claimants who test positive, along with children or spouses of Canadians or permanent residents, are allowed entry.

Economic immigrants who test positive are barred if it is deemed they will cost the public health care system more than $5,100 a year – the average cost of health care per Canadian, says John Norquay, immigration lawyer for the HIV & AIDS Legal Clinic (Ontario, Canada).

With antiretroviral treatment costing about $1,000 a month, almost all HIV-positive economic immigrants are rejected, he adds.

Martinez is well aware the battles are far from over. In the meantime, he is making plans to see the Broadway premiere of the musical Priscilla Queen of the Desert.

Jan 10, 2010 – Writer:  Sandra Contenta (Toronto Star)

Sexy and for a good cause, Marc Felion teamed up with Outworld.tv to go behind the scenes on the photo shoot for the new Dining Out for Life campaign, featuring lots of hot models in all sorts of poses. Why? Because Chicago’s known as the “City of Big Shoulders,” so why not use some guys with big shoulders?

Generation You- Project Crysp's forum on inter-generational realtionships.

I always try to imagine what we all are missing because of the deaths of so many wonderful people to AIDS. The impact on our culture is so great but do we even know just how great it is? Take a moment and think about the art that will never be made, the stories that will never be told, the costumes that will never be sewn, the play that will never be staged or the hugs and kisses you’ll never get.

So how do we remember?

Chris Bartlett, has started The Gay History Wiki to reclaim the memories of thousands of people who died from AIDS.

You may remember Chris Bartlett, the director of the Greater Philadelphia LGBT Leadership Initiative who participated in the Project Crysp forum Generation You.

From the New York Times Article:

“So much was lost when those lives were ripped out of the heart of the city,” said Mr. Bartlett. “There were 4,600 men who died from a gay male population of about 26,000” in Philadelphia, he added.

And later in the article:

“At this point, everybody knows the value of participating in a social network that’s alive,” said Mr. Bartlett, who is linked as a friend of Dominic Bash online and whose Twitter address is the name of another gay man who is long gone: @Harveymilk. “I’m making the case that the value people offer to a social network does not disappear when they die,” he said.

[Via Lifelube]

It’s World AIDS Day, the international day of remembrance which raises awareness about the AIDS pandemic and honors the struggles and triumphs of people living with HIV.

Today we’re talking to groundbreaking actor and activist Michael Kearns.

In the mid 70s, long before coming out of the closet was considered a career move in Hollywood, Michael Kearns was famous for becoming the out gay model and spokesperson for the popular book, “The Happy Hustler” even though he didn’t write it.

Prompted by the AIDS-related death of “Midnight Express” star Brad Davis in 1991, Michael made history when came forward on television as being HIV positive at a time when so many people were afraid to divulge their status.

He later appeared on the TV shows Life Goes On and Beverly Hills 90210 as a man living with HIV.

Today Michael is re-staging his one man show “Intimacies’” for a 20 year anniversary tour. The show features six characters identified by the placement of a red scarf to tell six diferent monolouges on the AIDS crisis of the early 80s. Never in the history of theater has a red scarf meant so much!

Listen as Michael Kearns talks with us about why he came forward back then, why Hollywood still has a long way to go when embracing gay men and he reveals the juicy details of an affair he had with a major music celebrity.

Who was it? Listen to today’s show and find out. And we mean out.

Visit out our sponsors:

Steamworks Gym, Sauna and Baths.
Visit Steamwork’s website and register to get a discount
on your next visit. Enter “Feast of Fun” on the promo
code field to get the special discount.

Featured Books:
Grant Tracy Saxon- The Happy Hustler: My Own Story: Amazon
Michael Kearns- The Solo Performer’s Journey: From the Page to the Stage: Amazon
Michael Kearns- T-Cells & Sympathy: Monologues in the Age of Aids: Amazon

Featured Music:
Baby Teeth- Hustle Beach: iTunes | Amazon

RSS FEED | SUBSCRIBE ON iTUNES
SUBSCRIBE ON: GOOGLE

When Hollywood’s first openly gay actor, Michael Kearns, first performed “intimacies” in Chicago in 1989 it received a very conflicted and controversial reception. A Chicago Reader review of “intimacies” from 1989 said: “All six of Michael Kearns’s AIDS-infected characters are the stereotypical dregs of society, full of hatred and self-loathing.”

Kearns now says of his characters in the current version of “intimacies” that they “will be different today than it was 20 years ago, because I have 20 years of new experience to bring to all six of them; 20 years of agony and ecstasy; 20 years of maturation as well as insidious addiction; 20 years of deaths and a few births.”

Michael Kearn’s “intimacies” is one night only this Sunday, November 22, 2009 at 7:30pm at Victory Gardens Biograph Theater mainstage, 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue, Chicago.

Michael’s show is the second in a series of performances in Victory Garden’s a Queer Theater Spotlight followed later this season by fellow queer icons Charles Busch and Julie Halston (December 7), and Tim Miller and Holly Hughes (March 15-21, 2010).

sponsored byVictory Gardens Biograph Theater

Today we celebrate 11 years of fabulous shows, once as Feast of Fools, today as Feast of Fun. We’ve managed to dig up a very special guest from way back when, the tragically glamorous Victoria Lamarr!

Back when we started the podcast in 2005, one of our early guests was Matthew Bogseth, a drag queen who went by the name of Victoria Lamarr. Later that year Matthew was in hospital from complications of AIDS.

What was initially a fund to buy Victoria flowers grew large enough to buy her a refurbished iMac. As Victoria Lamarr, Matthew used his computer to create a dozen short movies about her glamorous drag queen life while living in her modest low income apartment building.

Before there was YouTube and video podcasts on iTunes, Victoria Lamarr was one of the first drag queen podcasters and to our knowledge the first person living with full blown AIDS to video blog.

Victoria’s last in-person appearance on the show was taped at the Apple Store in downtown Chicago, where we parodied Steve Jobs and Madonna’s video conference at the MacWorld Keynote.

Shortly after that program, Matthew fell into a severe depression and relapsed into drug and alcohol addiction. He moved to Florida to escape his toxic family and abusive boyfriend and three years later Matthew has been sober for seven months. He’s moving back to Chicago to find a new career and rekindle his past friendships.

Little Miss Vicki is in the home studio answering your questions through Facebook, and plans to hopefully return to Chicago to find a new life and rekindle past friendships.

We just taped a drag-a-liciously funny drag queen video where we force feminize Marc into Daphne Dumount. Even I got into the drag queen fun! Check out these over-the-top photos:

French pole vaulter Romain Mesnil launched a publicity campaign to land a new sponsor by running through the streets of Paris with his long pole wearing nothing but his birthday suit.

Actress Isabella Rosellini returns to her deliciously wacky world of green porn: her short films on animal sexual behavior.

Scientists discover an emulsifier used in ice cream and makeup that may lead to the creation of an effective microbicides, a topical ointment that will protect people from HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.

New iPhone Apps- Skype & the Bump.

And why people should lay off Madonna’s desires to adopt another African baby.

Featured Music:
Tom Goss – Back to Love…: Site

Make a comment on today’s show using twitter- Include #fof962 in your update for it to magically appear on the site. To learn more about Twitter hashtags and how the work, please visit the Twitter Fan Wiki.

RSS FEED | SUBSCRIBE ON iTUNES
SUBSCRIBE ON: GOOGLE

On today’s special edition of Feast of Fun, we’re teaming up with Lifelube and Project Crysp in conjunction with the 2009 National LGBTI Health Summit to bring you Risky Business- a raw discussion with a live audience at the Center on Halsted on the sex and intimacy we crave and the risk we’re willing to take.

How do adult films with bareback sex affect our sexual desires and practices?

Are videos depicting sex without condoms a hot but safe way for viewers to find pleasure or is it a dangerous normalization of risk?

We have a panel of experts here to break down the ins-and-outs of condomless sex.

Tony Valenzuela, Writer and Activist whose work focuses on the politics of gay sex, subcultures and assets based perspectives. He’s known as AIDS activism’s most misunderstood man.

Mufasa Ali, Minister and Activist, as well as co-founder of ONYX, a leather group for men of color.

Dr. Braden Berkey, Clinical psychologist whose practice focuses on gay men, and the director of the Center on Halsted’s Sexual Orientation and Gender Institute.

Chuck Renslow, the founder of International Mr. Leather Conference and Convention, was in the audience to talk about why he recently banned bareback porn at IML and the future of the ban.

This is a frank talk about the kind of sex men have in real life and how they “seroadapt” or reduce sexual harm.

For many people, this is just the start of the conversation surrounding sex without condoms, it is not the final word. If you have any questions or insight, please leave a comment and keep the conversation going. Please be respectful and refrain from personal attacks, inflammatory remarks or general hysteria.

Make a comment on today’s show using twitter- Include #fofrisky in your update for it to magically appear on the site.

To learn more about Twitter hashtags and how the work,
please visit the Twitter Fan Wiki.

Check out today’s sponsor:

How Are You Healthy? Find out at Lifelube.org
A blog on sex, drugs, physical, mental and
emotional health, spirituality and more.

RSS FEED | SUBSCRIBE ON iTUNES
SUBSCRIBE ON: GOOGLE

The fight is on over the future of Healthcare! America may have voted for change but health insurance industry funded conservative Republicans are doing everything in their power, come hell or high water, to misinform the public and stop reform dead in its tracks.

Secret deals with drug companies, Death panels– what’s going on here?

One sad reality is that the only death panels that do exist are inside the health insurance companies, every day life saving treatments are denied to people simply because it doesn’t help their profits.

AIDS activist and writer Jim Pickett is here to help us make sense of it all. Jim is co-chairing the National LGBTI Health Summit, a four day conference to build community networks and share ideas which starts this weekend in Chicago.

How do we inspire a deeper conversation inside our own community around health? What’s at stake if we don’t recognize the needs of gay folks in healthcare reform?

Come to “Risky Business” a live podcast forum at the Center on Halsted in Chicago in Monday, August 17th. Find out how porn – and bareback porn – affect our sexual desires and actions!

In the news:
Will conservative Christians declare the bizarre African frog who feeds her young with her own unfertilized eggs as unholy? You have to see the video to believe it!

The Anti-Gay lobby group Focus on the Family faces hard financial times.

And Viagra ice cream– just another form of P.R. spam or the real deal? On thing that may be the real deal is Peptol Bismol Ice Cream. Would you eat it?

Make a comment on today’s show using twitter- Include #fof1037 in your update for it to magically appear on the site. To learn more about Twitter hashtags and how the work, please visit the Twitter Fan Wiki.

Check out today’s sponsor:

How Are You Healthy? Find out at Lifelube.org
A blog on sex, drugs, physical, mental and
emotional health, spirituality and more.

Featured Music:
Kristine W – The Power of Music: iTunes | Amazon
Kristine W – Be Alright (single): iTunes | Amazon

RSS FEED | SUBSCRIBE ON iTUNES
SUBSCRIBE ON: GOOGLE

Gay Marriage may be the next big thing to come to Illinois. Today we’re talking to Illinois State Representative, Greg Harris- he’s been working for gay rights for years, he’s HIV+ and he’s fabulous!

Greg replaced Larry Mckeon, who was also openly gay and HIV+ when he retired in 2006. Since then Greg’s run unopposed in this overwhelmingly Democratic district.

Listen as Greg gives us a behind the scenes look at life as a State Rep, the state of marriage equality and Health Care Reform.

Greg stands apart from his peers by embracing new media, keeping his people informed by updating his Facebook status from the floor of the State’s capitol. It is certainly exciting to follow the ups and downs of his efforts to bring a successful marriage equality bill to the state of Illinois.

Facebook is great but why don’t politicians use Twitter to keep their constituents informed?

Greg takes questions from you through our Facebook page and talks about why there aren’t more openly gay politicians, why that state passed a resolution honoring Michael Jackson and weighs in on all the crazy Governors- Palin, Sanford, Spitzer and Blagojevich.

Are we pushing President Obama enough for gay rights?

Moonwalking for Hate- Westboro Baptist Church or are they Shirley Phelp’s Kids’ parody Michael Jackson’s song “Beat It”- are they for real?

And one simple, easy thing you can do to bring about political change in your part of the world.

Make a comment on today’s show using twitter- Include #fof1027 in your update for it to magically appear on the site. To learn more about Twitter hashtags and how the work, please visit the Twitter Fan Wiki.

Featured Music:
Baby Teeth- Hustle Beach: iTunes | Amazon

RSS FEED | SUBSCRIBE ON iTUNES
SUBSCRIBE ON: GOOGLE

On the fourth season of the reality tv show Project Runway- mens designer Jack Mackenroth abruptly withdrew from the show due to a serious staph infection completely unrelated to his HIV status.

A real life jack-of-all-trades, he is now working on a design-inspired TV show pilot with Kevin Christiana.

He’s in Chicago to promote his Merck sponsored HIV Education Campaign Living Positive by Design– as an honorary guest of Design for a Cure.

And, he’s training to compete in Men’s Swimming at the Out Games in Copenhagen. How does he do it all?

We’ve got the sexy, fashion savvy Jack Mackenroth in the home studio. He’s taking your questions through Facebook and he’s telling it all!

Listen as Jack talks about how he manages to stay healthy, muscular and sexy, how serious he got with fellow reality TV star Dale from Top Chef and what it was like playing a dead body on the TV show Law and Order. Plus, what are the fashionistas REALLY like? Find out on today’s show.

Check out these fun pictures of Jack taken by our friend Jason Smith during the taping of the show.

Check out today’s sponsors:

How Are You Healthy? Find out at Lifelube.org
Come and share your vision, make new friends, and help break the age barriers in our community! Wednesday, May 20, beginning at 6:00 p.m. at the Center on Halsted

Please RSVP for this fun and informative forum on inter-generational relationships.

Featured Music:
Jeffery Straker – Step Right Up: iTunes | Amazon

RSS FEED | SUBSCRIBE ON iTUNES
SUBSCRIBE ON: GOOGLE

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the gayest of them all? Don’t ask questions if you aren’t prepared to hear the answer!

Put on your tiaras! We’re talking to Tony Lewis and Emily Rogers from the new musical spectacle Snow White and the Seven Drag Queens.

Returning from a successful run of Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream with a gay twist, Midtangent Productions is back with a sassy and sexy take on the childhood classic.

Come take a bite out of the poison apple as we talk with Tony & Emily about Disney villains and princesses, why children’s fairy tales appeal to gay men and what it’s like working with seven drag queens.

Watch out Snow White! You might have more than one queen going after your crown.

Hydrate Chicago is presenting Snow White and the 7 Drag Queens. April 17 – May 9, Fri/Sat, 9PM, Tickets are only $10.

Mickey mouse has AIDS- scientists have figured out how “humanize” mice by giving them human immune systems, creating a significant advance in the fight against HIV and AIDS.

One woman’s road rage results in her own bizarre death.

Naughty naked gnomes parade through a garden.

A German scientist proves that fish can also become seasick.

Got a message to share? Click here to advertise on the podcast and reach iTunes’ largest GLBT audience.

Featured Music:
Paper or Plastic – Best of Luck to Cody James!: iTunes | CD Baby | MySpace

RSS FEED | SUBSCRIBE ON iTUNES
SUBSCRIBE ON: GOOGLE

Today we celebrate 11 years of fabulous shows, once as Feast of Fools, today as Feast of Fun. We’ve managed to dig up a very special guest from way back when, the tragically glamorous Victoria Lamarr!

Back when we started the podcast in 2005, one of our early guests was Matthew Bogseth, a drag queen who went by the name of Victoria Lamarr. Later that year Matthew was in hospital from complications of AIDS.

What was initially a fund to buy Victoria flowers grew large enough to buy her a refurbished iMac. As Victoria Lamarr, Matthew used his computer to create a dozen short movies about her glamorous drag queen life while living in her modest low income apartment building.

Before there was YouTube and video podcasts on iTunes, Victoria Lamarr was one of the first drag queen podcasters and to our knowledge the first person living with full blown AIDS to video blog.

Victoria’s last in-person appearance on the show was taped at the Apple Store in downtown Chicago, where we parodied Steve Jobs and Madonna’s video conference at the MacWorld Keynote.

Shortly after that program, Matthew fell into a severe depression and relapsed into drug and alcohol addiction. He moved to Florida to escape his toxic family and abusive boyfriend and three years later Matthew has been sober for seven months. He’s moving back to Chicago to find a new career and rekindle his past friendships.

Little Miss Vicki is in the home studio answering your questions through Facebook, and plans to hopefully return to Chicago to find a new life and rekindle past friendships.

We just taped a drag-a-liciously funny drag queen video where we force feminize Marc into Daphne Dumount. Even I got into the drag queen fun! Check out these over-the-top photos:

French pole vaulter Romain Mesnil launched a publicity campaign to land a new sponsor by running through the streets of Paris with his long pole wearing nothing but his birthday suit.

Actress Isabella Rosellini returns to her deliciously wacky world of green porn: her short films on animal sexual behavior.

Scientists discover an emulsifier used in ice cream and makeup that may lead to the creation of an effective microbicides, a topical ointment that will protect people from HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.

New iPhone Apps- Skype & the Bump.

And why people should lay off Madonna’s desires to adopt another African baby.

Featured Music:
Tom Goss – Back to Love…: Site

RSS FEED | SUBSCRIBE ON iTUNES
SUBSCRIBE ON: GOOGLE