Kampala Key, Vulnerable and Priority Populations (KVP) News

7 easy ways to be an ally to a bisexual person is borrowed from a Bilerico report written by Ellyn Ruthstrom. She writes:  "I was walking down the street in Jamaica Plain a few days ago when two people with clipboards approached me and asked, “Do you have time for gay rights?” I cheerfully replied that I always had time for gay rights and stopped to listen to their pitch. The young man took the lead and giggled a little, looking at the woman with him. He seemed new to the task. He began, “The  Human Rights Campaign  is a gay and lesbian organization…” I stopped him there, “I thought it was a gay, lesbian,  bisexual , and  transgender   organization.” He was a little startled but tried to recover, “Oh, yes, it is but it’s just so long to say…” “That’s too bad,” I said, “because I’m bisexual and HRC’s record on inclusiveness is really poor. Sorry, I can’t support you today.” Sadly, there are still many national GLBT organizati...

"..bisexuality in Uganda," hinted Gershom  "Whaat?" Asked Tom incredulously. "Don't tell me, you did not know about us. We are bisexuals!" Confessed Gershom.  Gershom and another friend, Tom, were walking down Kampala Road to join 8 other friends. The event that brought them together was also their coming out day. They needed this done and Tom was invited to witness. Most At Risk Populations' Society in Uganda ( MARPS in Uganda) has compiled for you resources to enable you understand bisexuality and its realities. Hope you will enjoy. "Stupid things straight guys say to bi guys." That and the fact we have provided counselling services to bisexual Ugandans since early 2000's prompted this series. Bisexuality is not a hard concept to grasp, but you wouldn’t know it based on the litany of stupid and at times downright offensive questions that get thrown the bi community’s way. In honor of  Bi Week  (1...

Jeff Taylor of LGBTQ Nation in September 19th 2017 report, writes that a gay couple is learning the hard way just how complicated United States  immigration  law can be, especially when it comes to same-sex couples and  surrogacy . Andrew and Elad Dvash-Banks moved to  Canada  in 2011 in order to get married and begin their lives together, as the United States had yet to legalize  marriage equality . They had twins with the help of assisted reproductive technology (ART), using an anonymous egg donor and gestational surrogate, and both of their sperm. Canada recognized both men as legal parents to the children, naming them both on each child’s birth certificate. Andrew has dual U.S. and Canadian citizenship, and Elad is an Israeli citizen, and the couple eventually decided to return to the United States,  thus kicking off all the trouble ,  Above The Law  reports. The U.S. Immigration Code ties the right to...

A story by Tina Rosenberg SEPT. 19, 2017 A couple of years ago, European researchers began  studying more than a thousand couples , gay and straight, in which one member had been infected with H.I.V. and the other hadn’t. These couples weren’t using condoms. But the infected partner was taking antiretrovirals successfully; the virus was suppressed, undetectable in the blood. The researchers published their results in July 2016 in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Can you guess how many times, over the course of more than a year, an infected partner gave an uninfected partner H.I.V.? A. 928 B. 0 C. 503 D. 17 The answer is B. Zero. And in that fact lies hope. How do you stop AIDS? Not just treating H.I.V., but ending the epidemic. Even when there’s no vaccine and no cure. Part of the answer can be witnessed in a white trailer on the grounds of a polyclinic in Hatcliffe, a dusty town in the northern part of greater Harare,...

The good intentions behind strategic litigation are inadvertently suppressing strategic emotional health support. This story was inspired from different events including one by Daniel Driffin of Atlanta GA.   Most At Risk Populations’ Society in Uganda (MARPS in Uganda) curved out the following niches: HIV Prevention and care practices targeting MARPs; Providing Shelter to address housing needs for LGBTIQQ in Uganda; running a resource center with Gender Neutral bathrooms; Income Generating activities as an empowerment to community integration by LGBTIQQ in Uganda; Media Advocacy work; Documenting Activities and abuses; addressing stigma and discrimination; building an advocacy network. MARPS in Uganda has been providing services since 2004 and in all these years we have come across these recurring issues: higher proportions of young Transgender increasingly report higher HIV and other STIs; followed by gay bottom men; more LGBT reported engaging in exchanging ...

According to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, anyone can develop high blood pressure; however, age, race or ethnicity, being overweight, gender, lifestyle habits, and a family history of high blood pressure can increase your risk for developing high blood pressure. But, for people living with HIV why would they develop high blood pressure and most times diabetes. The answer lies in the fact that Unhealthy lifestyle habits can raise your risk for high blood pressure, and they include: • Eating too much sodium or too little potassium • Lack of physical activity • Drinking too much alcohol • Stress According to the Harvard Medical School reports, one can relax their way to a lower blood pressure. The easiest way to lower blood pressure is by popping a pill. It takes just a few seconds and you are finished. But pills cost money and often have side effects. Fully relaxing your body and your mind for a few minutes a day could lower your systolic blood p...

Cure studies typically require a temporary break in HIV treatment, often with little promise of a personal benefit to the participant. By Benjamin Ryan In recent years, researchers have firmly established that people living with HIV can best protect their health by starting antiretroviral (ARV) medications as early as possible in the course of their infection. From then on, it’s important to adhere well to the daily drug regimen indefinitely. Even structured breaks from ARVs—the so-called drug holidays that were once in vogue—were proved harmful in the mid-2000s. So why are the investigators behind so many studies in the HIV research field these days experimenting with taking people off their ARVs for periods of time? They do it in the name of finding a cure. Or if not a cure—meaning total eradication of HIV from the body—then some form of viral remission or post-treatment control of the virus without daily ARV treatment. Such outco...