David Beckham sporting some baby blue adidas in London here for new Adidas campaign video.
We all have a different reason to run. Watch David Beckham, Lionel Messi, Derrick Rose and Katy Perry go all in on their run. Whatever the reason, wherever you are, go farther and enjoy every stride.
If you want to get anywhere, be anything, reach your goals or take that trophy, you’ve got to go all in, live on your marks… and be ready to run.
We’ve got hundreds of challenges, starting any moment, all around the world. Beckham is ready to run. Rose is ready to run. Are you ready to run? Go all in and prove it. http://www.adidas.com/goallin
I can remember sitting in health class when I was 14, watching a video about AIDS. It was a humid 90 degrees outside, and there was no air conditioning in the building. An image of a man, no more than 100 pounds and covered in lesions, appeared on the screen, and I suddenly felt nauseated. I broke out into a sweat and watched it pool into a tiny puddle on the surface of my desk. I went to the boys’ room and stood at the sink, looking at myself in the mirror. Growing up in the ’90s, we were taught that sex equaled death. Specifically, gay sex equaled death. And to my fragile, impressionable young mind, that meant being gay equaled death, too. When you believe death and disease are your destiny, what’s to stop you from being promiscuous, doing drugs, or even taking your own life?
Of course, it gets better. And it did, at least for me. But as an adult, I encounter younger gay men who didn’t grow up seeing the things my generation saw. So much has changed in just a few short years. HIV is no longer a death sentence; it’s a “manageable condition.” And the number of gay men practicing unsafe sex, out of recklessness, complacency, or even deliberate self-injury, continues to grow. The CDC reports that infection rates among men who have sex with men, particularly blacks and Hispanics, are on the rise. READ MORE
COLUMBUS, Ohio — A new public health campaign in Columbus, Ohio, is attracting attention for its ads promoting sexual health among young gay men.
The “Take Care Down There” campaign billboards and print ads feature shirtless men with arrows pointing below their waistlines.
Makeda Porter, the prevention-services manager at Columbus Public Health told LGBTQ Nationthat Columbus health officials anticipate that their message — “essentially, take good care of yourself — will be perceived as straightforward without being preachy.”
According to Porter, over a period of a few months, she and her colleagues met with several focus groups, concentrating on young men in general and young black men in particular.
In a report published last August by the Centers for Disease Control, the annual number of new HIV infections in the United States was at approximately 50,000 new infections each year between 2006 and 2009.
The CDC’s first multi-year estimates from its national HIV incidence surveillance find that overall, the annual number of new HIV infections in the United States was relatively stable at approximately 50,000 new infections each year between 2006 and 2009.
However, HIV infections increased among young men who have sex with men (MSM) between 2006 and 2009, driven by alarming increases among young, black MSM – the only sub-population to experience a sustained increase during the time period. MORE
This video, shown at SAMHSA’s 8th annual Prevention Day in February 2012, recognizes the work of Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC), Healthy Connections to prevent substance abuse, suicide, and HIV infectionamong gay male youth and adults. GMHC, Healthy Connections, located in New York City, reaches out to gay and questioning male youth and young adults, particularly African-American males ages 12 to 17 and 18 to 24, who are at risk for substance abuse, HIV infection, and suicide. Healthy Connections provides prevention and intervention strategies and HIV testing. A facilitator travels to areas throughout New York City where the target population congregates and initiates conversations with individuals in these areas; during the conversations, the facilitator explains prevention services to gauge whether the individuals may be interested in participating. Outreach and informational palm cards are also provided at bars and clubs. Contact information is collected from young men who have sex with men interested in any of the services. Visit http://www.gmhc.org for more information about GMHC and its prevention programming.
Among the Olympics torch-bearers named this morning are gay figures from the sporting world.
7,300 torch-bearers were named this morning and will carry the flame for 70 days and 8,000 through the UK in July ahead of the opening of the Olympics on 27 July. Continue reading →
Coming out can be a difficult process for any teenager. According to Scott Heggart, it’s even harder when you’re an athlete.
The Canadian-born Heggart, now 21 and a first-year communications student at the University of Ottawa, told the Ottawa Citizen he began to understand his sexuality in 7th grade, but feared that he would have to stop playing football, basketball, softball and hockey if he came out. “I’d started to understand who I was, what it meant,” he recalled. “The worst thing, from my teammates’ perspective, was to be gay.”
Though he came out to his supportive family at age 15, Heggart says an even bigger challenge lay ahead: revealing his sexuality to his teammates. So instead, he opted to document his coming out experience anonymously by posting videos on YouTube, one new clip every day for a year from 2008-2009. Said his mother Julie, who was initially concerned by her son’s decision: “It was a place where he could be himself and share his struggles and his conflicts and everything he was going through with this broader community.”
In the video series, Heggart speaks poignantly about the process, and takes on other topics like religion, same-sex marriage, the so-called “ex-gay” movement and other topics. When he finally did come out to teammates and classmates by posting a photo of himself with his new boyfriend, Brock, on Facebook and changing his relationship status, Heggart says he received “respect and support.” He now says the 2011 suicide of Jamie Hubley, a 15-year-old gay Canadian teen, inspired him to go public about his YouTube identity.
San Francisco police are asking gay men in the Castro to be a little more judicious about who they take home from the bar after a night of drinking.
It seems there have been too many instances laltely in which older gay men are being targeted by (straight) criminals who are coming into gay bars, flirting with men, and then robbing them after they take them home.
Sgt. Chuck Limbert, the LGBT liaison for the Mission District, tells us that one victim recently called him to report an incident where he was drinking at a Castro bar when a really good-looking man walked in and bought him a drink. The two began talking and after some time, the hottie suggested they go home together, Limbert said. Continue reading →
“We are not here to wag fingers at bars or people who drink. We are here to provide information and resources so that everyone has the knowledge to make the best possible decisions about their health.”
—Neil Giuliano CEO, San Francisco AIDS Foundation
On February 16, 2012, San Francisco AIDS Foundation held a public HIVision forum titled, “Alcohol & HIV: Current Thinking about Drinking.” In his introduction, foundation CEO Neil Giuliano observed that alcohol use in our community is pervasive—so much so, that “the line between drinking and drinking too much often gets blurred. And when we cross that line, many of us don’t have the tools to recognize it and know where to get help.” According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Giuliano said, one in six U.S. adults binge drinks, defined as consuming five or more drinks within two hours for men, and four or more drinks within two hours for women. Excessive alcohol use contributes to car crashes, violence, and sexually transmitted infections like HIV and is implicated in nearly 80,000 deaths per year.
“So,” asked Giuliano, “is drinking bad for us?” Not necessarily, given research showing cardiovascular benefits of moderate drinking. In addition, he said, “we want to recognize the important role that our bars and clubs—and the LGBT merchants and allies who run them—play in creating a very strong sense of community” here in San Francisco. Giuliano’s opening remarks highlighted some of the complex health and social issues surrounding alcohol use and laid the groundwork for a lively panel discussion. For More got to www.sfaf.org
Dining Out For Life® is an annual fundraising event involving the generous participation of volunteers, corporate sponsors and restaurants. In exchange for their financial support, restaurants are listed in a city wide marketing campaign in an effort to increase customer traffic.
In 1991, Dining Out For Life® was created by an Action AIDS volunteer in Philadelphia. Dining Out is now produced in 60 cities throughout the United States and Canada.
More than 3,000 restaurants donate a portion of their proceeds from this one special day of dining to the licensed AIDS service agency in their city. More than $3 million dollars a year is raised to support the missions of 60 outstanding HIV/AIDS service organizations throughout North America. With the exception of the annual licensing fee of $1,150, all money raised in these cities stays locally. Dining Out For Life® International 501(c)4 nonprofit.
How to Participate
Dine Out, Fight AIDS on Thursday, April 26
The special that night … is you!
60 HIV/AIDS service organizations
3,000 restaurants donating a percentage of sales
250,000 dining out for breakfast, lunch and dinner to raise more than $3 million to fight HIV/AIDS!
Reservations are strongly encouraged at most Dine Out locations. Let your restaurant know that you will be dining with them because of their support for HIV/AIDS services in your community. Dine Out, Fight AIDS!
Hungry for more?
There are a number of ways to participate in Dining Out For Life®. To learn more, click the link most relevant to you:
Rippling his muscles and flashing a toothless grin a former Mr Universe known as the ‘Pocket Hercules’ celebrates his 100th birthday.
And what has been the key to long life for the super-fit centenarian who has battled poverty, a stint in prison and a minor stroke – not taking life too seriously.
The diminutive Manohar Aich, who is 4ft 11ins tall, overcame many hurdles to achieve his body building glory.
Born in the small town of Comilla in Bengal, he was attracted to exercising and building his muscles when as a schoolboy he saw a group of wrestlers in action.
After leaving school in 1942, he joined the Royal air force under India’s British colonial rulers and it was there that he began his relentless pursuit of body building.
Encouraged by a British officer named Reub Martin, who introduced him to weight training, Aich earned praise for his physique from his peers in the air force.
Some years later, however, he was thrown into prison when he protested against colonial oppression.
He said: ‘It was in that jail that I began weight training seriously. This helped me prepare myself for the world championship.
‘In jail I used to practice on my own, without any equipment, sometimes for 12 hours in a day.’ Continue reading →
