Posts made by leatherbear

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Wrestling is so GAY!!!

:hot2:

:hot2:

:hot2:

:hot2: ALEJANDRO  :hot2:

:lovp:


Perhaps this is a subtle way of telling us " OK so you are queer, at least don't get the demon seed inside you." Since there is no possibility of pregnancy this is indeed a paradox.

I will add the CROTCH BITE!!!

By MARILYNN MARCHIONE, AP Medical Writer Marilynn Marchione, Ap Medical Writer  – Sun Jul 18, 7:38 am ET

Provocative new research shows that treating people with the AIDS virus can provide a powerful bonus: It cuts the risk that they will infect others.

New infections plummeted in parts of Canada as more people went on AIDS drugs, which lowered the amount of virus they had and the chances they would spread it, the study found.

For every 100 people with HIV who started taking AIDS drugs, new infections dropped by 3 percent in British Columbia, where the study was done. The number of new infections there has been cut in half since 1996, matching a rise in treatment.

"The more people you put on therapy, the less transmission there is," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The drop in new cases in Canada "likely could not be explained by anything else," he said.

The U.S. government helped pay for the study. Results were published online Sunday by the British medical journal Lancet and were being presented at the International AIDS Conference in Vienna.

The results suggest that Canada's policy of free AIDS care is having a double benefit: to the people being treated and to the public's health.

In the United States, the study should boost efforts to more aggressively test and treat people, and to plug funding gaps that keep many from getting care now, AIDS experts said. An estimated 1.1 million Americans have HIV, and about 20 percent of them don't know it. About 55,000 new infections occur each year in the U.S., a number that has held steady for a decade.

Finding ways to prevent HIV infection is critical because there is no vaccine or cure for AIDS. Recommended treatment is a combination of medicines that lower the amount of virus that infected people harbor, often to undetectable levels.

A study a decade ago in Africa found that people with these very low levels of virus were less likely to infect others. Treating pregnant women with HIV lowers the amount of virus they have and the risk they'll pass it on to their babies.

The new study is the first clear evidence that the same principle holds true on a population level, in everyday community settings.

It was led by Dr. Julio Montaner, director of the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS in Vancouver.

Researchers used patient registries from British Columbia's universal health care system to track HIV tests, new cases, treatments and virus levels since 1996, when modern AIDS drugs became available.

The number of infected people getting treatment rose from 837 in 1996 to 5,413 in 2009. The number of new HIV diagnoses fell from 702 to 338 per year during that time. The amount of virus that patients harbored also dropped and was directly related to fewer new cases being diagnosed in the population.

The trends were largely driven by more treatment and fewer new cases among injection drug users, as sharing needles raises the risk of spreading HIV.

Rates of other sexually spread diseases rose during the study period, suggesting that safer sex behaviors were not responsible for the drop in new HIV infections — treatment was.

"There's an ethical imperative" to provide care to people with HIV, and finding that this helps prevention "is an added bonus," said Dr. Jonathan Mermin, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's AIDS prevention chief.

"It's not enough on its own to stop the epidemic" and must be combined with safe sex and other prevention strategies, he said.

Mitchell Warren, executive director of the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition, a New York-based nonprofit group that has worked toward developing a vaccine and other prevention tools, said the study was "quite compelling" and "very strong evidence" that treatment cuts the risk of spreading infection.

Nearly every country, including the U.S., has waiting lines for people to get treatment, he noted. And progress with this approach depends on getting more people tested.

Aggressive efforts to test and quickly treat anyone found to have HIV are under way in Washington, New York and San Francisco. The National Institutes of Health also has a study under way in seven countries, including the United States, to see if HIV treatment helps prevent spread of the virus to an uninfected partner.

Suzi Parker
Correspondent

Lady Gaga isn't afraid of some gay-bashing protestors. On Saturday evening, the goddess Gaga  posted a note entitled "At the risk of drawing attention to a hateful organization" to her "little monster fans" via her Facebook page addressing the protest by the anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church. The church has protested a litany of events – veterans' funerals, football games, political events, and even Michael Jackson's funeral. They waved their signs outside Lady Gaga's concert Saturday night at St. Louis' Scottrade Center.
She wrote that "this group of protesters are hate criminals and preach using lewd and violent language and imagery that I wish I protect you all from. Their message is of hatred and divisiveness, but inside at the Monsterball we preach love and unity."

Westboro protest earlier this year.

The Westboro Baptist Church, which is based in Kansas, is designated a hate group by both the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center. It was founded by Fred Phelps, 80, in the 1950s.

Earlier this year, the father of a Marine killed in action in Iraq had to pay the legal costs of Westboro Baptist Church. He sued them after they picketed his son's funeral, carrying placards bearing anti-homosexual epithets.
The independent church, which is not affiliated with other Baptist churches, targeted Lady Gaga earlier this year with flyers that said, "God hates 'Lady' Gaga" and quoting Jeremiah 3:3-5. The flyer said Lady Gaga used art and fashion as euphemisms and guises "under which proud whore Lady Gaga teaches rebellion against God."
On their website, Westboro says of Lady Gaga: "There appears to be little to no hope for her, but who is to say what is doing with the souls of those who may be swarming to listen to your less-than-beautiful singing program?"

Then there's the kicker. Comparing Lady Gaga to President Barack Obama. "Keep your eye on this silly woman, as she and the Beast Obama are good examples of what you all love most about this vile nation."
In her Saturday Facebook note, Lady Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, wrote, "Although I respect and do not judge anyone for their personal views on any politics or religion, this group in particular to me is violent and dangerous. I wanted to make my fans aware of my views on how to approach, or rather not approach, these kinds of hate activists."

In a Twitter post after Saturday night's concert, Lady Gaga wrote, "Tonight love and hate met in St. Louis. And love outnumbered the hate, in poetic thousands. Hate left. But love stayed. + Together, we sang."

She should remember that come Tuesday night. Hate is visiting her again when Westboro Baptist Church plans to picket her Oklahoma City concert. The group will be busy that day. Before the Lady Gaga concert, they plan to picket at the Oklahoma state capitol because Oklahoma wants "to kill the servants of God." They will then take their signs to the Cox Convention Center to protest the National Association of Free Will Baptists Convention before ending the day with Lady Gaga fans.
Fans responded enthusiastically to Gaga's message of love not war.

One fan wrote, "you don't discriminate YET they discriminate against you, they hate you, they spit on you, call you names, put you down, and you ask us to not pay them attention. You are a strong person, and you followed your dreams, that's a message EVERYONE should be sending."
Other comments centered on the political nature of Westboro. "Dont know why the American Government still allow these Westboro rats to spew their vile guts on the street, they shouldve been sent to Coventry as soon as they went on about gays and soldiers."
Lady Gaga may have been attempting trying to halt any verbal or physical escalation that might occur before or after her concert. She asked fans to "pay these hate criminals no mind. Do not interact with them, or try to fight, Do not respond to any of their provocation."

Westboro Baptist Church has created parody videos aimed at Lady Gaga. In June, Fred Phelps' grand-daughter recorded a song that took aim at Lady Gaga's song "Telephone." The parody version, called "Ever Burn" told Lady Gaga she was destined for hell and called her a "devil spawn." It was the second such video. Earlier this year, the group recorded another song to one of Lady Gaga's tunes, "Poker Face," with the lyric, "You pissed off God, you'll see what he's got."

In her Facebook note, Lady Gaga said that Westboro's message was "ignorant" and that fans should "feel gratitude in your heart that you are not burdened or addicted to hate, as they are."

Nick Herbert hopes gay pride visit will stop homophobia of Euro allies

Nick Herbert entered into a civil partnership with his long-term partner Jason Eades last year.

Nick Herbert, Britain's most senior gay minister, will tomorrow attend Europe's largest gay pride celebration in Warsaw in an attempt by the Tories to encourage their eastern European allies to abandon homophobic views.

The policing minister, who told US Republicans in Washington in February that gay rights are compatible with conservatism, said last night he hoped the centre right in eastern Europe would follow the Tories' modernising example.

Herbert will appear at the EuroPride celebration in Warsaw tomorrow after David Cameron pledged in April that the most senior gay figure in the Tory party would travel to Poland to encourage the Law and Justice Party to moderate its views on sexuality.

Cameron made the announcement in an interview with the Guardian ahead of the second general election leaders' TV debate in which Nick Clegg and Gordon Brown had been expected to highlight the Tories' links with hard-right groups in the European parliament.

Clegg accused Cameron of linking up with "nutters" after the Tories abandoned the main centre right grouping in the European parliament to form a new bloc with hard-right parties from eastern Europe. The largest of these is Poland's Law and Justice Party, founded by the late president Lech Kaczynski who banned gay rights marches in Warsaw when he was the city's mayor.

Herbert said last night he hoped that Law and Justice would, as Cameron said in April, embark on a "journey" to moderate its views as the Tories had in Britain. "I know that in some countries social attitudes are evolving more slowly," the policing minister said.

"We ourselves have further to go to ensure equality in the UK. I also believe that part of living in a tolerant society is to show respect for the proper exercise of individual conscience and religious belief. But I hope that when others see how the Conservative party has changed under David Cameron's leadership, reaching out to people and communities which we couldn't reach before, they will be encouraged to take the same course."

Cameron told the Guardian in April: "We do recognise that, particularly in central and eastern Europe, there are parties that have still got some way to go on the journey of recognising full rights for gay people. We are helping them make that journey."

Herbert, who entered into a civil partnership with his long-term partner Jason Eades last year, added that the Conservative party had changed beyond recognition in recent years. Cameron, who voted against the repeal of Section 28 as recently as 2003, apologised last year for the Tories' role in drafting the notorious legislation which banned the "promotion" of homosexuality in schools.

"I wanted to take part in EuroPride to support the event and send an unequivocal message that the British Conservative party has changed, that we're committed to equality, and that an agenda to ensure respect and equality for gay people is completely compatible with modern conservatism," Herbert said. "Under David Cameron's leadership, we have developed a modern, progressive agenda, with a commitment to equality and a determination to ensure that no one in today's society should be discriminated against because of their gender, race, or sexuality."

At Pride London earlier this month Herbert spoke of how the Tories have come a "helluva long way".

Never been to the LA Eagle but you can not go wrong with Eagle Bars in any city. I have been to many and never had a bad time. :jaj:

Thank you kidgamer for the reply and WOOOOOooooFFFFFFffff!!!!

@asiancub ~ You might try a search for local Bear Social Groups and get involved with them also.

I would definitely us it. :jaj:

Argentina legalized same-sex marriage in an early-morning vote Thursday, making it the first country in the overwhelmingly Roman Catholic region of Latin America to grant gay couples the same rights as heterosexual couples. After a long and emotional debate, the Senate voted 33 to 27, with three abstentions, to approve a measure that had passed Argentina's lower house.

The vote came at 4 a.m. and scores of gay rights demonstrators erupted in cheers and applause after the results reached the crowds outside Congress in Buenos Aires.

The law allows married gay couples to adopt children and inherit wealth. With its passage, Argentina joins only the Mexican Federal District, or Mexico City, in Latin America allowing same-sex marriage, in addition to the region's former colonial powers of Portugal and Spain. In the Americas, Canada is the only other country with a similar law.

The U.S. polling blog FiveThirtyEight compiled a chart showing that 250 million people worldwide now live in entities that allow same-sex marriage. Same-sex civil unions are legal in Uruguay and in some states in Brazil and Mexico.

Leading up to the vote in Argentina, thousands joined the protests of the Roman Catholic Church and demonstrated against the law, contending as in other countries that same-sex marriage could threaten the "family unit." But President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner was a strong supporter, arguing in a news interview that the legislation was a matter of applying equal civil rights among Argentina's citizens.

"But what worries me the most is the tone in which these issues are being discussed," she said, according to the blog Blabbeando, which uploaded and translated the clip. "I heard someone talk about 'God's war'! As if we were still in the time of the Crusades. … It's not good because it establishes, as a society, a place which I don't think any of us wants to have."

Activists in neighboring Chile and Paraguay are hoping to launch a similar campaign after Argentina's vote, the Associated Press reported.

The Texas GOP has put forth a 2010 party platform that includes the following planks:

* Gay people shouldn't have custody of children.
    * Issuing a marriage license or performing a marriage ceremony for a same-sex couple should be punishable by jail time.
    * 19th-century Texas statutes outlawing sex between men should be restored.
    * Homosexuality "tears at the fabric of society."

The national Republican party has yet to distance itself from this hateful rhetoric.

Does the Texas Republican Party speak for the RNC? If not, Michael Steele had better say so.

Sign the petition here:

hXXps://secure3.convio.net/hrc/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=895&autologin=true&utm_source=Convio&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Act-title&utm_campaign=HRCnews-July-2010&JServSessionIdr004=prjbbv88k2.app303a

Big victory for marriage equality in DC!  Today the DC Court of Appeals ruled against foes of DC marriage equality who had wanted to put an initiative on the ballot to invalidate same-sex marriages entered into in the District.

By Michael Cole
July 15th, 2010 at 10:47 am

While Bishop Harry Jackson, a pastor in Maryland, has been the public face of this litigation, the truth is that outside groups like the National Organization for Marriage and the Alliance Defense Fund are the driving force behind these anti-equality measures.

“The court’s ruling today is a significant victory for justice, the rule of law and the protection of all D.C. residents against discrimination,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. “It’s time for the National Organization for Marriage to realize equality is here to stay no matter how much money they want to throw at turning back the clock.”

In its decision, the Court of Appeals, D.C.’s highest court, decided 5-4 that the Council properly exercised its authority under the D.C. Charter in establishing the requirement that a proposed initiative may not authorize, or have the effect of authorizing, discrimination prohibited by the D.C. Human Rights Act.  The Court ruled unanimously that the proposed initiative would in fact impermissibly(sic) permit discrimination against gays and lesbians in the District.