The new weapon in the fight against HIV

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Gay saunas and night clubs are the traditional venues for many sexual liaisons, but these places are less of a concern to HIV prevention workers than the new route to finding sex: mobile phone applications.
Many young gay men now hook up through phone apps, but sexual health organisations are still using old-fashioned approaches to fight HIV. They send peer outreach workers to the physical places where young gay men are known to meet, but this overlooks a large portion who no longer frequent such places.

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Why younger gay guys are not getting tested?

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Study after study shows gay guys under 25 are not hearing, or worse not heeding, campaigns to protect their sexual health. As they discover and explore their sexuality, they are statistically at the highest risk for HIV of anyone in the U.S. While researchers work on innovative ways to reach younger guys, even already positive younger guys are less likely to have the virus in check when they get it, and more likely to go bareback.

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childhoodbullying

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The usual names – faggot, queer, poof. I think I just laughed it off and walked away. I became the class clown in school… that was my defence, it was my escape.

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HIV Positive Men Give Advices To Their Former Selves

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Imagine all of the worries, questions, and concerns that would race through your mind on the day you were diagnosed with HIV. The endless barrage of worst-case scenarios run on a loop as you try to gather yourself and somehow make it to a safe place to sort it all out.

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Ah Boys 2 Bullies

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Since the inception of major education reform in the 80’s, Singapore’s education system has blossomed into a globally recognized model for excellence – ranking 5th in the world in a 2012 education survey conducted by Pearson Group

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Ban on entry into Singapore eased for foreigners with HIV

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SINGAPORE – For more than two decades, foreigners infected with HIV have not been allowed to set foot in Singapore. However, the ban on those entering on short-term visit passes was lifted on April 1, The Straits Times has found out.

The ban remains for long-term visitors, such as those looking to work in Singapore or those who want to accompany a child studying here, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has confirmed.

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International Youth Day

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In commemoration of Youth Day, 9 LGBTQ youth groups in Singapore have come together to pen this Youth Day message to LGBTQ youths in Singapore. Happy Youth Day and let’s work towards a more inclusive Singapore!

PrEPARING ASIA: A new direction for HIV prevention among MSM

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apcom-prep

Tell Us What You Know about PrEP

It doesn’t matter if it’s a little or a lot, we want to hear from you.

Dear colleagues and friends,

Warm greetings from us in APCOM. We wish to extend our gratitude for your confidence to APCOM as a regional community representation of MSM and transgender people. We are very excited to share that, in partnership with UNAIDS and WHO, APCOM is organising a regional consultation exploring the feasibility of the implementation/scale up services of Pre Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) in the region. Titled “PrEPARING ASIA: A new direction for HIV prevention among MSM” the consultation will bring in representatives of gay identified men, other men who have sex with men (MSM), transgender people, sexual health policy makers, program planners and service providers and explore the potential of scaling up PrEP. The consultation is expected to be conducted in Bangkok on 23-25 September 2015.

If you are a gay man, MSM or transgender individual living in Asia, we are kindly requesting you to accomplish the below survey. Through the survey, we are gathering initial thoughts and perceptions of the community living in Asia on PrEP and present the findings during the consultation.

The survey will also ask if you wish to participate in the regional meeting. The survey will serve as an application form from which APCOM screens potential individuals and community representatives as participants – with travel and accommodation cost being covered by APCOM.

Click here to fill up the survey

LGBT youth at higher risk of suicide, more support needed

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I refer to this week’s Talking Point, “When kids think of suicide”. Studies across the world have proven that one group with a higher risk of suicidal behaviour is LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) youth.

Research in the United States shows that these youth are four times more likely to attempt suicide as their heterosexual peers; nearly half of young transgender people have thought seriously about suicide, and one-quarter report having attempted it.

In Singapore, homophobia and transphobia may be prevalent. In a survey by Oogachaga Counselling and Support, a non-profit agency catering for the LGBT and queer community, 60.2 per cent of respondents indicated having experienced abuse and discrimination on the basis of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity.

The survey also found that such abuse and discrimination led to a significantly higher incidence rate of having suicidal thoughts or attempts. This is alarming.

Thankfully, the Health Promotion Board has published a FAQ on sexuality on its website that validates the humanity of LGBT persons.

However, it removed links to LGBT-affirmative counselling hotlines, which makes access to support for LGBT persons more difficult.

School leaders should pay attention to fostering safe, healthy school environments.

For example, micro-aggressions, which are everyday encounters of subtle discrimination marginalised groups face, towards LGBT persons can cause depression, psychological distress and even cardiovascular issues.

Using words such as “faggot”, “sissy” or “ah gua” as insults or jokes is an example of micro-aggression towards LGBT persons, even if the words are not directed at them.

In a study published in the Journal of LGBT Issues in Counselling, LGBT and queer participants said they felt depressed, anxious and even traumatised when they experienced micro-aggressions.

We have much to do to make Singapore a safe place for all children.

First Published on Today
By BRYAN KWA JIE WEN
PUBLISHED: 4:16 AM, APRIL 29, 2015

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or visit our supportive network page.