Dr Richard Friedman, the psychoanalyst responsible for debunking the myth that homosexuality can be cured, has sadly passed away at the age of 79.
As a young man Friedman stood out in his field by becoming the first to combine findings in psychobiology, gender identity and family studies with psychoanalytic theory.
His revolutionary 1988 book, ‘Male Homosexuality: A Contemporary Psychoanalytic Perspective,’ showed that sexual orientation was largely biological, not mental.
It had a major impact at a time when most other psychoanalysts were continuing to describe homosexuality as a “perversion”, even though the American Psychiatric Association had stopped classifying it as an illness by 1973.
“I felt an ethical obligation to find the reasons for anti-homosexual prejudice,” he once told an interviewer, according to the New York Times.
His wife, Susan Matorin, explained his motivation more simply: “Straight people had the same personality issues, and they got away with murder, but gay people were stigmatised, and he didn’t think that was right.”
“He very much felt like you followed the science, and it didn’t matter what the political backdrop was,” his son,Jeremiah, added.
Using studies of identical twins and theories of developmental psychology, Friedman argued that it was biology, rather than upbringing, which played a significant role in sexual orientation.
The controversial position was a direct challenge to popular Freudian theories and thrust him into the centre of debates alongside more established heavyweights of his field.
“Given that he was a younger colleague, it was brave of him to take older experts on,” Jack Drescher, a professor of psychiatry at Columbia University, told the New York Times.
Friedman went on to publish an article on female homosexuality which received an award from The Journal of The American Psychoanalytic Association as the best publication of 1998.
His work on sexuality was well ahead of its time – just last year the American Psychoanalytic Association issued a belated apology for treating homosexuality as an illness, acknowledging that its past errors contributed to discrimination and trauma for LGBT+ people.
The implications of his work continue to have an impact today as LGBT+ advocates battle against the discredited practice of conversion therapy, which is still legal in most parts of the world.
Dr Richard Friedman sadly died on March 31 at his home in Manhattan. Although his cause of death has not yet been determined, he reportedly struggled for years with health problems, including cardiac and metabolic conditions.
He is survived by a wife, son, two daughters and two grandchildren.
The Trump administration is moving to scrap an Obama-era policy that protected LGBTQ patients from discrimination, alarming health experts who warn that the regulatory rollback could harm vulnerable people during a pandemic.
The health department is close to finalizing its long-developing rewrite of Obamacare’s Section 1557 provision, which barred health care discrimination based on sex and gender identity. The administration’s final rule on Thursday was circulated at the Justice Department, a step toward publicly releasing the regulation in the coming days, said two people with knowledge of the pending rule.
The White House on Friday morning also updated a regulatory dashboard to indicate that the rule was under review. Advocates fear that it would allow hospitals and health workers to more easily discriminate against patients based on their gender or sexual orientation.
Read the full article. As I’ve previously reported, this change has been long coming. Apparently the Trump administration figures they can finally push it through relatively unnoticed during the relentless pandemic news. They may be right.
The director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned that a potential second wave of the novel coronavirus could be far more fatal than the current phase of the pandemic because it may overlap with the beginning of flu season this winter.
Government leaders at all levels must use the months ahead to prepare for such a resurgence even as some states announce plans to resurrect their economies, CDC Director Robert Redfield told The Washington Post in a wide-ranging interview published Tuesday.
“There’s a possibility that the assault of the virus on our nation next winter will actually be even more difficult than the one we just went through,” Redfield told the Post. “And when I’ve said this to others, they kind of put their head back, they don’t understand what I mean.”
The health official said the virus could be harsher in a second wave because having concurrent outbreaks of the flu and COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, would put immense pressure on the nation’s health care system. Both viruses cause respiratory symptoms and can require similar protective gear and medical equipment.
Redfield also said that government leaders must stress the need to continue social distancing as states lift stay-at-home orders, as well as exponentially scale up each state’s ability to identify infected residents through testing and then trace back others they’d come in contact with.
But Trump just this week dismissed bipartisan concerns about states not having adequate supplies, claiming that the U.S. was testing people “at a number nobody thought possible.”
“Not everybody believes we should do so much testing,” Trump said during Monday’s coronavirus briefing. “You don’t need so much. The reason that the Democrats and some others maybe … they want maximum because they want to be able to criticize, because it’s almost impossible to get to the maximum number, and yet we’ve been able to do it already.”
TRUMP: “Not everybody believes we should do so much testing. You don’t need so much. … Democrats and some others … want maximum because they want to be able to criticize because it’s almost impossible to get to the maximum number and yet we’ve been able to do it already.”94:44 PM – Apr 20, 2020Twitter Ads info and privacy25 people are talking about this
The White House released criteria last week for states to review how to best restore their economies in phases, including being required to first record 14 days of declining cases and to establish strong testing programs. The CDC has also created detailed guidelines for state and local governments on how to ease mitigation efforts to support a safe reopening, which Redfield told the Post will be “in the public domain shortly.”Subscribe to The Morning Email.Wake up to the day’s most important news.
Despite public demands to reopen the economy, a new set of HuffPost/YouGov polling found that the overwhelming majority of Americans support their state’s stay-at-home orders and are making a concerted effort to follow them. The most recent survey, conducted last Friday through Sunday, suggested that 86% of Americans were trying to stay home as much as possible, and about 65% said they would continue to stay home even if their area lifted all restrictions.
Part of the preparation for a potential second wave of COVID-19 includes convincing Americans to get their flu shots in the coming summer months so that public health officials can minimize the number of people hospitalized for one of the two respiratory illnesses. Redfield told the Post that getting vaccinated for the flu “may allow there to be a hospital bed available for your mother or grandmother that may get coronavirus.”
After the Food and Drug Administration changed the rules for blood donations from gay and bisexual men earlier this month, coronavirus survivor Lukus Estok saw an opportunity to help other patients recover from the disease.
For years, the FDA has restricted men who have had sex with men in the preceding year from donating blood, but loosened its rules on April 2 as a way to address a sharp drop in donors during the coronavirus outbreak.
Within days, Estok tried to donate blood plasma for a test program in New York City that treats severely ill COVID-19 patients with plasma from patients who have developed antibodies and recovered from the disease. He said he was turned away after revealing he was gay.
“I was shocked,” said Estok, 36. “I’ve been through a month of hell with this virus. I’m finally recovered. I’ve been through a screening process that tells me I’m a potential candidate to help somebody else and now I’m being told I can’t.”
NBC News found that despite the rule change hundreds of the nation’s blood centers are still unable to accept blood from gay men, even though there’s a desperate need for blood at U.S. hospitals and a desire to get plasma with antibodies from COVID-19 survivors. Both the Red Cross and America’s Blood Centers, which together represent 800 banks nationwide, told NBC News they haven’t been able to accept donations.
Estok and other gay men who have tried to give blood since April 2 have been unable to do so because many blood donation centers have not yet trained staffers or updated their computer systems to accommodate the new rule. It’s also because a trade group to which nearly all U.S. blood banks belong has not yet gotten approval for an important document from the FDA.
A person stands in front of the New York Blood Center on 67th Street in New York on March 22, 2020.Cindy Ord / Getty Images file
In 1985, as a way to block the transmission of HIV, the FDA blockedall men who had had sex with other men after 1977 from donating blood. The rule was changed to sex within the past 12 months in 2015, and then to sex within the past three months on April 2.
Gay and bisexual men began showing up at blood banks to donate immediately, only to be turned away.
Estok was trying to donate his blood plasma as a part of the Mount Sinai hospital system’s blood plasma therapy program. He found out about the program through friends and knew he wanted to donate his plasma to help others who were sick.
“Having gone through a bit of a horrific experience with the virus and feeling pretty grateful to have come out the other side, I reached out to Mount Sinai,” said Estok.
After multiple screenings, Estok said Mount Sinai called him and said his blood had sufficiently high levels of the needed antibodies and that New York Blood Center would be in touch to schedule an appointment. But once he arrived at New York Blood Center, Estok was told he would be unable to donate.
“I was not expecting the reaction I got,” said Estok on when he told the staff he was gay. “It was like I was radioactive.”
In an exchange that Estok recorded on his phone, the NYBC staff explained to him that they had not yet implemented the FDA’s new guidelines and that the process was “complicated.” Estok was forced to go home without donating plasma.
“I was so upset,” said Estok. “I genuinely want to be able to contribute to help somebody and right now they’re basically putting out messages that they need blood that there’s shortage of blood. But at the end of it, they sent me home.”
An NYBC staffer denied that a potential donor would be asked if he were gay, saying the donor would instead be asked about sexual activity with another man during the past 12 months.
Brandon Gunther, 24, of Sacramento, California, had a similar experience. He attempted to donate at a local blood bank, believing he was eligible under the new guidelines, but was turned away after revealing his sexual history.
“I hadn’t had sex in the past three months so figured I was good to go,” said Gunther. “But the computer rejected my eligibility to donate and I was told ‘you have to remain abstinent from male to male sex for at least one year to be eligible to donate.'”
Gunther says the experience felt discriminatory and jarring.
Blood bank representatives told NBC News the experience has also been frustrating for them, especially since they have been pushing for relaxation of the rules for years. The blood centers can’t just flick a switch and change their rules for donation, they say — making such changes can take months.
Vials of blood from a recovered COVID-19 patient drawn at a laboratory in New York on March 30, 2020.Diana Berrent / AFP – Getty Images file
Linda Goelzer, a spokesperson for Carter BloodCare in Dallas, said “tons” of people showed up at their facilities the day after the FDA guidelines were announced, believing they were now eligible to donate. The staff were forced to turn them away.
“They were so angry with us,” said Goelzer. “People were calling and saying ‘You lied to us, you’re not following the FDA,’ and it’s so unfair. Every blood center in the country has been advocating for these changes, but we have to go through some very rigorous protocols to make these changes so that we can still keep safety in the blood supply and in the process.”
“When the FDA says the word ‘immediately’ that means something totally different in our world,” said Goelzer. “It takes about three months to implement this stuff but [the FDA] is relying on us to communicate that to the public.”
Kate Fry, CEO of America’s Blood Centers, said that the language in the FDA’s guidance was intended to mean that blood centers should immediately begin the process of implementation, recognizing that it would take some time.
“The struggle is in the public perception that it’s actually blood centers who are stalling the effort,” said Fry. “And that is just not the case at all. They are 100 percent working on it. It just takes time.”
According to Fry and confirmed by the FDA, the phrase “immediate implementation” as used in the FDA’s April 2 press release did not necessarily mean that blood centers could immediately begin collecting blood and plasma from newly eligible donors.
In a statement, an FDA spokesperson said that the agency understands that blood centers will have to undergo a lengthy implementation process and that they are willing to help blood centers if needed.
“We are hopeful that blood collectors will work expeditiously to make the changes needed to implement the modified recommendations so that they may begin collecting blood and blood products under these recommendations as quickly as possible,” said Michael Felberbaum, an FDA spokesperson. “The FDA is available and willing to work with them as appropriate to assist them.”
The question of a questionnaire
The spokesperson for the New York Blood Center, where Estok tried to donate plasma, told NBC News that the delay in implementation involved the time needed to train staff, but also involved receiving an updated Donor History Questionnaire from AABB, a industry group formerly known as the American Association of Blood Banks. AABB’s has more than 1,400 institutional members, accredits “virtually all” the blood centers in the U.S., according to a spokesperson, and collects the majority of the blood donated in the U.S.
In fact, representatives from all blood centers NBC News contacted said they’re currently waiting on AABB’s updated donor history questionnaire to first be approved by the FDA and then released by the industry group, before they can begin the implementation.
The AABB said it submitted its primary documents, including the donor history questionnaire, to the FDA on April 3 – just one day after the FDA announced new donor guidelines. AABB said it has since sent several documents to the FDA. An AABB spokesperson said that as of Monday it had submitted all of the needed documentation to the FDA, and is in touch with the agency, answering any questions it may have.
The FDA says it is reviewing all COVID-19 related items as quickly as possible, but also noted that the AABB’s member organizations don’t actually have to wait for approval of the AABB questionnaire to move forward. If they submit their own questionnaire to the FDA, they can begin accepting donors immediately.
“As noted in the guidance, while licensed blood establishments may wait to use the revised donor questionnaire and accompanying materials provided by industry associations and found acceptable to the FDA, they may also revise or create their own materials to implement these changes immediately upon receipt of this information by the FDA,” said Felberbaum.
Blood centers say that when they do receive an FDA-approved updated questionnaire from AABB, they will still need to update their computer systems and train their staff on new protocols. A spokesperson for Carter BloodCare said that the staff training would take at least 30 days. The NYBC spokesperson said it hopes to be able to receive newly eligible donors by mid-May.
The Red Cross said it anticipates being able to accept newly eligible donors in June. Kate Fry of America’s Blood Centers said she anticipates her network’s centers will be able to accept newly eligible donors in June or July.
‘The policy remains discriminatory in nature’
Gunther and Estok share in outrage from the LGBT community over what they call a discriminatory experience.
“Not only is it imperative that gay and bisexual men who are now able to donate blood be allowed to do so without delay, the FDA must also lift the 3 month deferral in its entirety,” said Sarah Kate Ellis, CEO of GLAAD, a LGBTQ advocacy organization. “The policy remains discriminatory in nature, unaligned with science, and continues to prevent LGBTQ Americans from saving lives.”
But those who are deferred under the old guidelines will still have to wait. Gunther said he wants to encourage others like him to keep trying to donate and not be discouraged if they are turned away.
“We have perfectly good blood to give, and we want to give it and help.”
Kate Fry advised that those who are newly eligible under the FDA guidelines should keep in touch with their local blood bank to check on when the facility expects to finalize implementation.
“We’re so excited to have these individuals become donors again,” said Fry. “We are absolutely working as fast as we can as an industry. Patience is what we ask for our guests during this time and we’ll get them into the fold as quickly as possible.”
Faced with tremendous pressure during the coronavirus crisis to lift its policy barring gay men from donating blood, the Food & Drug Administration announced on Thursday it has eased the restrictions.
While the previous policy, established in 2015, barred men who have had sex with men in the 12 months from making a donation, the new policy would shorten the deferral period, requiring abstinence for only three months.
The FDA indicated it would make a change in a notice to stakeholders on Thursday, indicating the decision was based on “evaluation of the totality of the scientific evidence available.”
“To help address this critical need and increase the number of donations, the FDA is announcing today that based on recently completed studies and epidemiologic data, we have concluded that the current policies regarding the eligibility of certain donors can be modified without compromising the safety of the blood supply,” the notice says.
In addition changing the recommended deferral period for men who have had sex with men from 12 months to 3 months, the FDA informs stakeholders of other changes.
Among them are easing ban on donations for women who have had sex with men who, in turn, previously have had sex with a man. For these women the deferral period has similarly been changed from 12 months to 3 months.
Further, the new policy eases recommended 12 month deferral for individuals with recent tattoos and piercings to three months, and eases from an indefinite ban to a three month ban for donations from people who have a past history of sex in exchange for money, or injection drug use.
Other changes are implemented easing policy related to blood donors who have travelled to malaria-endemic areas, such as countries in Africa, or to European countries where the donors faces potential risk of transmission of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease or Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease.
The FDA issued the notice to stakeholders at the same time it published on its website a 17-page official memo outlining the changes, declaring they were made to address the shortage in the blood supply amid the COVID-19 crisis and therefore would not wait for a public comment period.
“As a result of this public health emergency, there is a significant shortage in the supply of blood in the United States, which early implementation of the recommendations in this guidance may help to address (even though the recommendations in this guidance are broadly applicable beyond the COVID-19 public health emergency),” the memo says.
The three month deferral period is consistent with recommendations from the American Red Cross, which before the coronavirus had called on the FDA to shorten the deferral period.
Without causing alarm, we’d like you to know about a sexually transmitted infection (STI) you probably haven’t heard about but that we’re seeing in people who visit our sexual health clinic Magnet at San Francisco AIDS Foundation. Although the infection Mycoplasma genitalium itself isn’t new, awareness about and testing for this infection is recently on our radar. Here’s what to know.
What is Mycoplasma Genitalium?
Mycoplasma genitalium (we’ll shorten it to MG) is a bacterial infection that can cause symptoms similar to chlamydia. You can get an MG infection in your urethra (penis), vagina and front hole, rectum (butt), and likely in your throat–although there is only testing available for urethral or vaginal infections.
What are symptoms of MG?
Many people don’t get symptoms from an MG infection. If you do have symptoms, they might include burning, stinging or pain when you pee or discharge from your penis. For people with a vagina or front hole, symptoms might include pain or bleeding during sex, pain in your pelvic area, bleeding between periods, and discharge from your vagina or front hole.
How is MG diagnosed?
We diagnose MG by talking to you about your symptoms and sexual history, doing a physical exam, and testing your urine or doing a vaginal swab.
Should you get tested for MG?
If you still have symptoms mentioned above after treatment for gonorrhea and chlamydia, testing of MG may be appropriate. At this time, we are not recommending that people without symptoms get tested for MG. As always, we recommend regular testing for other STIs (gonorrhea, chlamydia and syphilis) even if you don’t have symptoms.
Health care providers might not consider or test for MG infection. So the important thing to know is that if you have symptoms of an STI in your penis, vagina, or front hole, get tested and treated. If you still have symptoms after treatment you might have MG.
If you think you have an MG infection, ask your provider if testing is available for MG, or make an appointment at Magnet if you are in the San Francisco Bay Area.
About MG testing
Testing for MG is done through a urine sample or swab. Once a sample is taken, it is analyzed by a lab for the presence of MG bacteria using the same type of DNA tests that we use for gonorrhea and chlamydia. Usually, it takes 3-5 days for you to find out your result from an MG test.
What is the treatment for MG?
The antibiotic azithromycin can treat MG. About 50% of cases are resistant to azithromycin, which means that the medication won’t cure the infection and you would still have symptoms. In these cases, we use a second type of antibiotic (Moxifloxacin) which requires 7 – 10 days of medication.
Should my partner(s) get tested for MG?
If your partner(s) are experiencing any symptoms, it’s a good idea for them to get tested for STIs. At this time, we don’t recommend that people without symptoms get tested for MG.
Resources
SYMPTOMS OF AN STI?
If you have symptoms of a suspected STI, call our sexual health clinic in the Castro at 415-437-1600.
Arielle Clark, 28, grew up in a sober household in Louisville, Kentucky, and was never drawn to alcohol. But when as a teenager she began her process of coming out, alcohol suddenly became ubiquitous in her social life.
“When I was growing up and I was kind of figuring out my sexuality, all of a sudden I was inundated with alcohol,” Clark told NBC News.
Going to Kentuckiana Pride, her home state’s largest gay pride celebration, at 16 was Clark’s “LGBT puberty” moment, she said. While she witnessed the heavy presence of alcohol at the event, she felt accepted. Her next milestone, friends said at the time, would be turning 21 and being able to go to the gay bars.
Clark quickly realized that alcohol use — and, in many cases, dependence — were large parts of the LGBTQ social scene that she had been introduced to. She eventually decided gay bars were not for her, but she had a hard time finding a social alternative.
Arielle Clark, a 28-year-old Kentucky native, is trying to find a brick-and-mortar for her tea shop, which would be the first sober, LGBTQ space of its kind in Louisville.Savannah Eadens / Louisville Courier Journal
That’s when she got the business idea for Sis Got Tea, a tea shop that she hopes will provide a safe, alcohol-free social space for Louisville’s black queer community that is accessible to people with disabilities. While she continues to fundraise for the shop’s brick-and-mortar space, she has been hosting pop-up events around the city that aren’t centered on alcohol.
“It took until my mid- to late-20s to finally find a group of black, queer women where I could finally relax my shoulders, and I really want to provide that for the community,” Clark said.
Sis Got Tea, which Clark hopes will open later this year, will be among a new wave of queer, alcohol-free social spaces and traveling events that have popped up over the last few years and serve as alternatives to gay bars. While sober social spaces and events have become popular among younger Americans more broadly, they are particularly noteworthy within the LGBTQ community — where substance abuse is disproportionately high and gay bars have long served as unofficial community centers and safe havens.
‘Third spaces’
Indiana resident Morgan Roddy has been making chocolate truffles and desserts for more than a decade. With the support and encouragement of her wife, Roddy opened the high-end chocolate shop Queer Chocolatier in Muncie, Indiana, in 2017.
She said she decided to make the name of her shop explicitly LGBTQ after the state’s governor, Mike Pence, was elected vice president. She feared his anti-gay track record would force some people to go deeper into the closet — so she wanted to come further out.
“I knew there would be a lot of people who would feel safer if they were quiet about their sexual orientation,” she explained. “I decided to take space and hold it for those who would be feeling vulnerable in these times.”
For Roddy, keeping Queer Chocolatier alcohol-free is a commitment to keeping the space accessible to patrons of all ages and those recovering from substance abuse. She also believes it will foster a better environment for political discourse and community activism.
“As a queer woman with a masters in sociology, ‘third spaces’ are places where ideas are shared and relationships are built,” Roddy said. “Without alcohol, there’s less pressure to engage in sex-centered conversations or hookup culture as well. Allowing for people to thrive and flourish in third spaces without alcohol has the potential to bring about some truly radical changes.”
Across the country in Portland, Oregon, Ori Gallery in 2018 launched a creative and community-organizing space for trans and queer artists of color. The gallery was founded by Maya Vivas, a ceramic and performance artist, and Leila Haile, a tattoo artist and community activist.
Aside from offering a rotating gallery space, Ori Gallery also offers free or low-cost workshops and organizes meetups for LGBTQ artists of color.
Ori Gallery was not originally intended to be a sober space — people are still allowed to consume alcohol at private events — but since the gallery’s organizers prioritize youth in their programming, alcohol is not provided at the venue’s regular events. Maintaining alcohol-free environments is often a way of ensuring that queer spaces are accessible to young people under 21.
In Los Angeles, Cuties has become a popular destination for daytime socializing among the city’s LGBTQ community. Virginia Bauman, the venue’s queer owner, opened the café in 2017 after a successful IndieGogo fundraising campaign. Bauman said she wants Cuties to serve as a casual space that can reduce isolation and promote greater connectivity within the community.
“Having spaces that are accessible from an economic standpoint where people can just be for long periods of time … without having to justify their existence, or without having to justify why they’re there, is one of the biggest opportunities that I still see for queer communities,” she explained.
The absence of alcohol sales, which produce relatively high profit margins, can be a financial obstacle, according to Bauman. In order to compensate, Cuties started a fundraising campaign to bring in additional money to help keep the venue afloat.
‘We’re tapping into a need’
In a number of cities across the U.S. — and beyond — LGBTQ event organizers and online communities are bypassing the overhead of a physical space altogether and are focusing on intentionally alcohol-free social gatherings that are not dependent on a specific location.
Photographer and queer activist Cyrus Golestan is the co-founder of Trans in the Wild, a nonprofit that provides resources to New York’s LGBTQ community. Last month, he hosted his first alcohol-free party in an apartment building basement in Brooklyn. The idea was to “overcome winter gloom” with “sober fun,” according to the party’s promotional flyer.
“We used to have so much fun as kids without any type of substances,” Golestan, 29, said. “Why can’t we just get together and play?”
Cyrus Golestan, second from left in the front row, at an alcohol-free social event he hosted in Brooklyn, New York, on Jan. 11, 2019.Courtesy of Cyrus Golestan
After posting the promotional flyer, Golestan said he received an influx of positive messages. Many of those who wrote to him expressing interest in the party told him they “do partake in alcohol sometimes” but were “excited that this is a healthier option,” he said.
Golestan said he does not identify as sober, but he recognizes how he has used alcohol in the past to cope, especially during his college years before coming out as trans.
“I was trying to be something that I wasn’t,” Golestan said. “Being closeted even from yourself is this really stressful thing that alcohol let me escape from.”
Golestan’s experience of using alcohol to cope with isolation is not unique. A study published last October in the journal Psychiatric Services found LGBTQ stressors, like discrimination and stigma due to one’s sexual orientation or gender identity, “contribute to the development of substance use disorders among some LGBTQ young adults” between 21 and 34.
Golestan’s first sober party attracted over 30 people, which he considered a success, so he is already in the planning stages for the next one on Feb. 22.
Last month, a new alcohol-free LGBTQ social meetup also debuted in Chicago. Aptly named the Chicago Queer Sober Social, the event was organized by Powerbabe, a sober queer community founded by two tech professionals, Phoebe Conybeare, 30, and Hollie Lambert, 28, who have both been sober and in recovery for two years.
The event, which is scheduled to take place monthly, is not part of a structured recovery program and is marketed simply as an alcohol-free social community. Conybeare said she and Lambert saw the need for a safe space for those who decided to abstain from alcohol for any number of reasons.
“Most sober spaces online and IRL catered to a cisgender, heterosexual and monogamous crowd or were program-based,” Chicago Queer Sober Social’s Facebook page says. “Most queer social events were focused on bars and parties where drugs and alcohol would be present.”
The group’s first event was held in a coffee shop and drew over 100 attendees. Given its success, the next Chicago Queer Sober Social, scheduled for Feb. 18, will be held in a larger venue.
“People were extremely grateful for the space — many were thanking us throughout the night and excited about attending future events and offering to help us organize,” Conybeare told NBC News. “We now have a small list of volunteers just from our first event. Response from the community has been incredibly supportive, and we’re so glad we’re tapping into a need.”
In North Texas, KT Kershen, 27, who has been sober and in recovery for four years, said she started an alcohol-free social group last year due to a “personal need for connection and a sense of community.”
“The experience of intense loneliness that comes at the intersection of being both queer and sober drove me to create a space for myself and for others like me,” she said, noting that as a queer atheist woman she felt like “an outside” in the 12-step Alcoholics Anonymous program.
Kershen said Queer Sober Society initially started as an online group for North Texan LGBTQ people in recovery, but she said it has since morphed into an in-person meetup that connects at least once a month. The group organizes mocktail parties, game nights, bowling outings and other alcohol-free events.
“It is my hope, and I am going back to school to get a bachelors in psychology to prepare for it, that Queer Sober Society will one day be a nonprofit organization that provides a safe space for folks like me,” Kershen said.
The United Kingdom is also seeing queer sober parties pop up. Misery, a queer sober collective focused on mental health and healing, launched in 2019 and hosts events in London and Berlin. Queers Without Beers, which started in 2018, started as an online community and then started organizing sober meetups in different U.K. cities, including monthly pop-up “bars” in London, Bristol and Manchester.
“Everyone is welcome,” Laura Willoughby, the founder of Queers Without Beers, said. “We have people who are going through traditional recovery, the local muslim LGBT group, students who have never really drunk as well as people looking to cut down or just socialize without the pressure of needing to drink all evening.”
‘The possibilities are endless’
Arielle Clark, who in November exceeded her $10,000 fundraising goal for a physical Sis Got Tea space in Louisville, said she’s encouraged by the queer, alcohol-free events she has heard about popping up across the U.S. and abroad.
While she looks for a permanent home for Sis Got Tea, aiming for a 2020 debut, she said she plans to continue hosting pop-up events to provide options for those who don’t want their social life centered on alcohol.
“As we move further into creating these sober spaces, I think we’ll identify more needs within the LGBTQ+ community that intersect with sobriety,” Clark said. “The possibilities are endless.”
A new tool makes it even easier to let your sex partners know—anonymously—that they may have been exposed to a treatable sexually transmitted infection (STI) and that they might want to get tested.
The free service, Tell Your Partner, is a fast, secure, easy-to-use notification system that doesn’t require you to share any of your personal information. Simply add phone numbers or email addresses for partners you’d like to notify and enter the infection(s) your partner(s) should get tested for. After you preview a sample message and confirm you’re not a robot, hit send.
How Tell Your Partner Works
Many people keep up with regular STI testing and treatment as part of a proactive sexual health plan. But with rising STI rates across the U.S., and higher rates among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, it’s clear that more tools are needed to slow the spread of STIs including gonorrhea, chlamydia and syphilis.
“Notifying sex partners about a recent infection makes it more likely that those partners will get tested, treated and not pass the infection along to anyone else,” said Jen Hecht, MPH, senior director of program strategy & evaluation at San Francisco AIDS Foundation and director and co-founder of Building Healthy Online Communities. “In that way, you’re also improving your own future health, by reducing the overall infection rate in the community.”
The site and mobile app were conceptualized and created by Building Healthy Online Communities(BHOC) in collaboration with YTH and the National Coalition of STD Directors (NCSD). Tell Your Partner is a modern version of inSPOT, the first online STI partner notification system developed by YTH, which sent e-cards anonymously to partners.
As trauma psychologists, we’re leading a team to help alleviate psychiatric distress in gay, bi and trans males who have been sexually abused or assaulted.
In collaboration with two nonprofit organisations, MaleSurvivor and Men Healing, we recruited and trained 20 men who have experienced sexual abuse to deliver evidence-based online mental health interventions for sexual and gender minority males – an umbrella term for individuals whose sexual identity, orientation or practices differ from the majority of society.
This study should help men in this group who have been sexually assaulted know that they are not alone, that they are not to blame for their abuse, and that healing is possible.
But, there are some things that trauma psychologists already know about these men, such as how prevalent sexual abuse of men is and ways to help men recover.
All too common, all too traumatic.
Sexual abuse of boys and young men is more common than many people might think. (Pexels)
At least 1 in 6 boys are sexually abused before their 18th birthday. This number rises to 1 in 4 men across their lifespan.
Sexual violation in gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex individuals often complicates their sense of self, and how they fit, or don’t fit, into LGBTQ+ culture and communities. Such abuse may even impact their reaching out for help or reporting traumatic events as they fear stigmatisation or victim-blaming.
Men and women who have experienced sexual abuse and assault are at risk for a wide range of medical, behavioural and sexual disorders. They have high rates of several psychiatric disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse and dependence, depression and anxiety, as well as greater risk for suicide. They also have more educational, occupational and interpersonal difficulties than non-abused men. Further, sexual trauma is linked to medical illnesses, increased health care utilisation and poor quality of life.
But, sexual minority males who have experienced sexual trauma face even greater health disparities. Gay and bisexual men with histories of childhood and adult sexual victimisation are more likely to report greater numbers of sexually transmitted infections, increased sexual risk for human immunodeficiency virus, and higher sexual compulsivity than men with no history of sexual assault. In addition, sexual minority male survivors exhibit more negative psychological outcomes related to their sexual identities, such as lower self-esteem, distorted sense of self and difficulties forming healthy adult intimate relationships.
The cumulative impact of sexual abuse, in conjunction with individuals’ sexual minority status, also can result in higher rates of sexual re-victimisation, as well as anti-gay violence and discrimination.
Discrimination galore.
Gay and bisexual men are also exposed to significant minority stress, a term used to describe the sociopolitical stressors placed on individuals as a result of their minority status. Sexual orientation disparities start relatively early in development. LGBTQ+ individuals are disproportionately exposed to day-to-day discrimination, peer and parental rejection, unsupportive or hostile work or social environments, and unequal access to opportunities afforded to heterosexuals, including marriage, adoption and employment nondiscrimination.
Chronic expectations of rejection, internalised homophobia, alienation and lack of integration with the community can understandably lead to problems with self-acceptance. As a result, a sexual minority male who has experienced sexual abuse may feel deficient, inferior or impaired. Further, they may view themselves as shameful, undesirable, undeserving, or incapable of forming a loving relationship.
Many sexual minority males who have experienced sexual abuse internalise harmful beliefs that make it harder for them to heal. These myths include the false belief that men cannot be forced to have sex against their will; that men who become sexually aroused or have an erection when assaulted must have wanted or enjoyed it; and that real men should welcome any opportunity to have sex.
These men often bottle up additional detrimental myths, such as men become gay or bisexual because they were sexually abused, and sexual minority men are obsessed with sex, and that they molest children at higher rates than straight men. Sexual minority males who have been abused are not born with these beliefs. They learn them from their families, religion, society and the media. But, the more men hold these beliefs to be true, the harder it is for them to move forward in their psychological recovery.
There are many hurdles to male sexual abuse survivors receiving needed mental health care. When encountering perceived authority figures, such as health care providers, these men sometimes experience harsh judgment and distrust. In addition, when initiating psychological services, they may have difficulty finding knowledgeable and experienced health care providers who understand the nuances specific to male sexual abuse and, consequently, won’t disclose their sexual trauma.
Nondisclosure of sexual abuse may also be due to a male’s own lack of understanding of what abuse is. This is in line with research that found that the majority of men who endorsed survey items or behaviours indicating sexual abuse did not actually label themselves as sexual abuse survivors. Not disclosing one’s sexual trauma history is associated with increased emotional distress, while self-disclosure and seeking mental health services are related to psychological well-being.
Nearly 2 million LGBTQ youths ages 13 to 24 in the United States consider suicide each year, according to research released Thursday by the Trevor Project.
Using data from a variety of sources, including the U.S. Census Bureau, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and its own National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health, Trevor Project researchers determined that LGBTQ teens were particularly at risk. Those 13 to 18 were approximately twice as likely to contemplate suicide as those 19 to 24.
Amy E. Green, the nonprofit’s director of research, told NBC News that although these numbers are harrowing, they are “conservative estimates.”
“These numbers are the bare minimum they could be because we used a conservative method to conclude our estimates,” Green said. “The fact that we still arrived at these huge astonishing numbers shows that this is a serious health problem.”
According to the mental health survey, released this month, there are multiple factors that can negatively affect the well-being of queer adolescents — the foremost being lack of acceptance.
More than 70 percent of respondents reported experiencing discrimination because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, and two-thirds of respondents stated that someone has tried to convince them to change those identities.
Though previous research has revealed that LGBTQ youth are more likely to experience thoughts of suicide, Green said these latest figures “provide additional context to just how widespread this problem is.”
A separate research released by the Trevor Project on Thursday offered some positive news, however. LGBTQ youth who report having at least one accepting adult in their lives were 40 percent less likely to report a suicide attempt in the past year.
“I hope this research will inspire the country to come together to change policies on the state and federal levels that affect LGBTQ youth’s lives, like ending the harmful practice of conversion therapy, as well as inspire other researchers who are looking into this area to study the factors and find solutions,” Green said. “We also need to support organizations that are doing the work to launch anti-bullying and suicide prevention efforts.”
