harm reduction coalition

Jan
31st

Tue

Parent Magazine Gets It So Wrong.

The article’s eight suggestions on dealing with gender identity issues are all about assuaging parent’s anxiety rather than addressing the fundamental homophobia or transphobia in this country that makes parents “worried” in the first place. Wouldn’t it be great if there were an article like this that instead of telling parents that their children are just going through some developmental norm by exploring gender differences and gender play instead took the perspective of “hey, if your child does turn out to be gay or transgender that is something to be celebrated and embraced.”

Read the entire article here.

Hear, hear! Cheers.

Jan
30th

Mon

Heading to DC this week for the Stigma Action Network (SAN) Steering Committee meeting! Excited to meet new people doing important work to combat HIV- and drug-related stigma. Check out the SAN website - it’s a great resource!

I can’t remember if we’ve shared this or not, but it’s worth posting again either way. Amazing video, amazing work. Check out the DOPE Project on facebook.

Overdose is the leading cause of death for the 15,000 injection drug users in San Francisco. The majority of these deaths are preventable. This compassionate short video follows two drug users through a groundbreaking program that teaches the signs of drug overdose, and the basic CPR needed to save lives. DOPE (Drug Overdose Prevention and Training) works in needle exchanges, shelters and SRO hotels, as well as with the police, addressing the needs of the often forgotten casualties of the ‘war on drugs.’ In conjunction with the city’s Department of Public Health, the DOPE project takes the bold step of prescribing the opiate antidote Narcan (naloxone - usually only carried by paramedics) directly to drug users. - Worth Saving

Jan
27th

Fri

I have spent years representing victims of racial profiling and police brutality and investigating patterns of drug law enforcement in poor communities of color, and attempting to help people who have been released from prison attempting to ‘re-enter’ into a society that never seemed to have much use to them in the first place. And in the course of that work, I had my own awakening about our criminal justice system and this system of mass incarceration. … My experience and research has led me to the regrettable conclusion that our system of mass incarceration functions more like a caste system than a system of crime prevention or control.

—

Author of The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, Michelle Alexander, on Fresh Air.

Read excerpts and listen to the full interview here.

Jan
26th

Thu

POZ: Less than 1 in 2 HIV-Positive U.S. Residents Are in Regular Care

pozmagazine:

Less than half of people living with HIV in the United States are being retained in ongoing medical care, according to a new analysis by U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) investigators published online ahead of print by the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes….

This is a powerful and important video from Does HIV Look Like Me. Seriously…we need to challenge stigma every chance we get.

Please watch and share.

Jan
24th

Tue

Skid Row residents discuss what it's like to live in 'the world’s largest recovery community'

socialworky:

“Let me invite everyone down to Skid Row, the world’s largest recovery community,” said Kevin Michael Key, a member of the Los Angeles Poverty Department Theater Troupe. “Drugs and alcohol—there’s a multitude of treatment facilities but there’s a difference between treatment and recovery. Recovery happens out in the street.”

Key himself is a Skid Row resident and a “recovering lawyer—a member in good standing of the other bar.”

“But,” he added, “you also got women escaping domestic violence situations. You have disabled veterans who served their country and then can’t find housing. People who are recovering from a state of homelessness. This is a community. We take people in and comfort them.”

Ten Steps for Radical Revolution in USA

By Bill Quigley

One. Human rights must be taken absolutely seriously. [more]

Two. We must radically reinvent contemporary democracy. [more]

Three. Corporations are not people and are not entitled to human rights. [more]

Four. Leave the rest of the world alone. [more]

Five. Property rights, privilege, and money-making are not as important as human rights. [more]

Six. Defend our earth. [more]

Seven. Dramatically expand public spaces and reverse the privatization of public services. [more]

Eight. Pull the criminal legal prison system up and out by its roots and start over. [more]

Nine. The US was created based on two original crimes that must be confessed and made right. [more]

Ten. Everyone who wants to work should have the right to work and earn a living wage. [more]

Finally, if those in government and those in power do not help the people do what is right, people seeking change must together exercise our human rights and bring about these changes directly. Dr. King and millions of others lived and worked for a radical revolution of values. We will as well. We respect the human rights and human dignity of others and work for a world where love and wisdom and solidarity and respect prevail. We expect those for whom the current unjust system works just fine will object and oppose and accuse people seeking dramatic change of being divisive and worse. That is to be expected because that is what happens to all groups which work for serious social change. Despite that, people will continue to go forward with determination and purpose to bring about a radical revolution of values in the USA.

Smart and meaningful piece from Bill Quigley. Worth reading the whole thing.

Jan
21st

Sat

She has less tolerance for the skepticism she says her relationship has sparked among some gay activists who find her midlife switch in sexual orientation disingenuous.

“I totally reject that,” she said heatedly. “I gave a speech recently, an empowerment speech to a gay audience, and it included the line ‘I’ve been straight and I’ve been gay, and gay is better.’ And they tried to get me to change it, because they said it implies that homosexuality can be a choice. And for me, it is a choice. I understand that for many people it’s not, but for me it’s a choice, and you don’t get to define my gayness for me. A certain section of our community is very concerned that it not be seen as a choice, because if it’s a choice, then we could opt out. I say it doesn’t matter if we flew here or we swam here, it matters that we are here and we are one group and let us stop trying to make a litmus test for who is considered gay and who is not.” Her face was red and her arms were waving. “As you can tell,” she said, “I am very annoyed about this issue. Why can’t it be a choice? Why is that any less legitimate? It seems we’re just ceding this point to bigots who are demanding it, and I don’t think that they should define the terms of the debate. I also feel like people think I was walking around in a cloud and didn’t realize I was gay, which I find really offensive. I find it offensive to me, but I also find it offensive to all the men I’ve been out with.”

— Great quote from Cynthia Nixon from the NY Times article Life After ‘Sex’

Jan
20th

Fri

RIP Etta James. Thanks.

Obama Administration Approves Rule That Guarantees Near-Universal Contraceptive Coverage

Today, in a huge victory for women’s health, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced that most employers will be required to cover contraception in their health plans, along with other preventive services, with no cost-sharing such as co-pays or deductibles. This means that after years of trying to get birth control covered to the same extent that health plans cover Viagra, our country will finally have nearly universal coverage of contraception.

- Good news!

Five Reasons Sex Workers in the US Should Care About the International AIDS Conference

1. Because this is the first time in more than 20 years that the U.S. has hosted the event. More

2. Because although Obama lifted travel restrictions against HIV positive people in 2009, there are still travel bans against sex workers and drug users. More

3.Because the sex workers who won’t be allowed into the U.S. are counting on us to make some noise in DC. More

4. Because sex workers are flagged as one of the key populations at higher risk for HIV transmission. More

5. Because on top of having our own problems the U.S. exports terrible policies and strings-attached funding that harms sex workers. More

There is some organizing happening already around the conference, but the more the merrier. If you’re interested in submitting a proposal for either a presentation at the conference or a cultural event at the Global Village, be sure to do so before February 15. If you want to show up, demonstrate, and represent sex workers, start planning, and start talking to other sex workers who might be interested in going. If you’re never done activism beyond your city, state, or the U.S., the IAC is a great opportunity to learn from and interact with sex workers from around the world.

Jan
19th

Thu

Sh*t They Say To Sexworkers

- In case you’re not totally done with watching sh*t people say videos…

D.C. crew uses fashion runway as first step toward redemption

The masked fashion models marched onto the stage with fists pumping and feet stomping in unison, music blaring, before all 15 crouched in silence. One by one, to the sounds of explosions, they leaped up to share their experiences with rough city life as gang members.

One started stealing cars when she was 13, then lived on the streets and sold drugs before getting locked up for armed robbery at 17. Another had been sexually abused and raped. One was neglected by parents who were addicted to crack cocaine.

While I can’t say I love everything about the way the article is written, this is a cool story of queer youth organizing.

D.C. Cracks Down On Prostitution

Just before midnight, three people in their late teens or early twenties load a Honda minivan with supplies. This might sound like the beginning of a zany road trip, but it’s not. The minivan belongs to a group called HIPS, which stands for Helping Individual Prostitutes Survive. One of the supplies they’re loading is a giant box of condoms.

HIPS’s mission is to make the lives of D.C.’s prostitutes safer and easier. Three nights a week, the group’s staffers and volunteers drive the van to places where sex workers work, often in some of the most dangerous parts of town.

Important story on sex work in Washington DC and the Prostitution Free Zone law, including a great profile of the wonderful harm reduction organization, HIPS.

Also - more info on PFZs here.