The AFA has created a comprehensive fact sheet complete with an informational video on transitioning from In vitro Fertilization to donor egg IVF cycle. The fact sheet is suppose to help lessen the burden on patients by providing medical, psychological support and legal information on the aspects that come with choosing an egg donor.

Susan Bloom, Director of Donor Recruitment for The Fertility SOURCE Companies, “The educational information included in this video and fact sheet is invaluable to our intended parents transitioning from a traditional IVF cycle to an egg donor. The best ammunition we can give our intended parents is knowledge and education about the process they are about to undertake, along with the resources to have all their medical and legal questions answered. At Fertility SOURCE Companies, we pride ourselves in the guidance we give our intended parents every step of the way, from matching them with a donor to their IVF transfer.”

Ken Mosesian, Executive Director for the AFA “Because of the generous support of Fertility SOURCE Companies, The AFA is able to continue to provide first-rate education for infertility patients. The family-building journey has many inherent challenges, and our goal is to provide educational support to intended parents so they can make informed decisions with confidence.”

The AFA continually provides updates its educational material and has outreach events on infertility prevention, reproductive health, and family building. Their website has an extensive library of newsletters, webinars, and a toll-free help line.

Source

Melanie Nathan; 8-18-10

Almost 50 at the time, back in In 2007 tennis great Martina Navratilova signed with the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) as the group’s Health & Fitness ambassador.  Navratilova continues in this capacity, where she makes appearances at AARP events and offers online tips for AARP members on things like diet and fitness for the senior (that word?) crowd.

Navratilova, has won 59 grand slam tennis titles (the last one six weeks shy of her 50th birthday). Martina has been named “Tour Player of the Year” by the Women’s Tennis Association, “Female Athlete of the Year” by the Associated Press, and one of the “Top 40 Athletes of All Time” by Sports Illustrated.

“Because I’m in my 50s, I’m very concerned about flexibility. I know how much it helps me recover from tough matches or workouts and prepare for exercise the next day. And there are other benefits, too. Staying flexible can help you prevent injury, as well as avoid muscle knots and tightness brought on by daily activities. It improves your posture, reduces stress, and generally keeps your body feeling youthful and agile.” asserts Martina on site in one of many articles available to non members as well.

Here is a Video from the AARP website showcasing an example of the health and fitness advice offered
by the now over fifty ambassador.

http://www.aarp.org/health/fitness/info-08-2010/martina_stretching.html

Navratilova will be at the AARP Orlando@50+ in Orlando, FL: September 30 – October 2, which thousands of AARP members and their friends are expected to attend

By Melanie Nathan
nathan@privatecourts.com

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By Melanie Nathan,   8-09-10

The Long awaited Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act 2010 (SB 3307) has passed the Senate, after a push by the ADA membership and other advocates, urging Senators to get the job done!  The Act, which passed the Senate unanimously now moves to the House where it is expected to pass.

This now makes a strong investment in our children’s future. It will provide local school districts with resources to improve the quality and nutritional value of meals served to students; require the USDA to strengthen nutrition standards for foods sold in vending machines, a la carte lines and school stores; and require the USDA to implement standards based on current nutrition science.

“If current trends continue, one in three children born since the year 2000 will develop diabetes at some point in their lives. In order to curb this epidemic, we need to promote healthy lifestyles at school, where our children spend a large part of their day. The passage of the Act has indeed put us that much closer to putting a stop to this dangerous epidemic. “  www.diabeteshealth.com

The Full Text of the Act can be found here:- http://ag.senate.gov/site/legislation.html and http://ag.senate.gov/site/ComLeg/s3307.pdf

By Melanie Nathan
nathan@privatecourts.com

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One Tree Hill star and Chad Michael Murry ex Sophia Bush is boycotting Urban Outfitters. Bush is upset over a shirt the company is selling that says “Eat Less,” the actress is outraged that they would promote anorexia so blatantly. Bush wrote an open letter to the store to raise awareness of the problem.

“I have been a supporter of your store for many years, but now I’m through.”

“I am fortunate enough to star on a wonderful TV show called One Tree Hill. I play a fashion designer named Brooke Davis, who started a campaign on the show called “Zero Is Not A Size” and the outpouring of love and gratitude that came my way from girls and women ALL OVER THE WORLD (sic) who have body image issues brought me to tears.”

“To promote starvation? To promote anorexia, which leads to heart disease, bone density loss, and a slew of other health problems, not least of all psychological issues that NEVER go away? Shame on you. I will no longer be shopping at your stores. And I will encourage the tens of thousands of female supporters I have to do the same. I have fought to boycott BP. I never imagined I would also be boycotting affordable fashion.”

“You should issue a public apology, and make a hefty donation to a women’s organisation that supports those stricken with eating disorders. I am sickened that anyone, on any board, in your gigantic company would have voted ‘yes’ on such a thing, let alone enough of you to manufacture an item with such a hurtful message. It’s like handing a suicidal person a loaded gun. You should know better.”

“I sincerely hope that next time you decide that making fun of serious issues is comedic, or ’snarky in a cool way’, that you re-think your decision.”

[Source]

Due to the controversy, Urban Outfitters has removed the shirt from their website and hopefully, from their stores. This is not the first time Bush has shown her socially responsible side, she recently visited the Gulf Coast to survey the damage done by the BP Oil Spill and help raise awareness and donations to the clean up efforts. How awesome is she? I’m totally down to boycott Urban Outfitters. I had no plans to wear a lace bra top or tee shirts with ironic sentiments on it this summer anyway

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He made the statement at the FDA’s Blood Products Advisory Committee hearing. The current policy bars men from donating blood if they have had sex with another man since 1977; however, the same policy allows heterosexual men and women from donating blood if they have had sexual contact with an HIV-positive partner after one year.

Not only has there been an advancement in the ability to understand what sexual behaviors are risky, but it is also become easier to detect the disease. John Kerry was the 2004 Democratic nominee for President. He is the senior Senator from Massachusetts.

Source

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Image via Wikipedia

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Diabetes Mobile- iPod iTouch iPhone Applications

Nadia Al- Samarrie - Publisher of Diabetes Health

Jay Hewitt has traveled miles and miles and more miles in a nineteen year period, racing Ironman triathlons in Australia, Europe, the Carribean and all over North America, climbing and camping at the top of 14,000 foot Mt. Whitney, and of course dozens of family vacations and business trips.

Packing equipment and supplies for an Ironman triathlon and 3 weeks in Australia requires a bit of planning and preparation, but when you have diabetes you feel like you do that for just a weekend out of town.  Meters, strips, insulin, syringes, infusion sets, pump supplies, snacks . . . a simple weekend trip becomes a lunar expedition.

Who could be more qualified than Jay to provide traveling tips such as these and if you want to read more then I highly recommend DIABETES HEALTH Magazine where this article was first published and reprinted here with permission of King’s Publishing Inc.

“Here are JAY’s  top five tips for traveling with diabetes.

1. Bring Extra of Everything. Adopt the NASA triple redundancy system.  If one thing breaks or is lost, you have a back up, and another back up.  If I will be out of town two nights and will need to change my insulin pump infusion set once, I bring one set plus 3 extras.  I bring syringes for a day just in case the pump malfunctions or is damaged.
2. Keep Your Diabetes Critical Pouch Packed. My diabetes travel kit stays packed in my home with insulin pump infusion sets, syringes, alcohol swabs and other miscellaneous supplies.  I call this my diabetes “critical pouch.”  I periodically use and replace each item.  Life is too busy to remember to pack each thing every time you leave the house for a night.  I just grab that little pack and check the inventory and go.  I keep it in a quart size clear plastic freezer bag perfect for airport security and for me to see the contents, and keep it in my carry on bag.  I also bring several glucose meters as well.
3. Prescriptions at a National Pharmacy. Keep prescriptions for insulin, strips, syringes and any other supplies updated and on file with national pharmacies such as Walgreen’s, CVS, or other chain, even if you get your every day supplies from a local pharmacy or mail order.  When you live in Maryland and lose your insulin in Florida, those national chains can refill you there.
4. Pack Supplies in Separate Luggage. My diabetes critical pouch stays with me in my carry on bag on a plane and in the car.  This pouch contains my insulin so that it is not exposed to heat when my suitcase is left outside or in a car.  Packed in my suitcase with my clothes I keep extra supplies such as an extra meter and strips, pump supplies or syringes.  Now you are prepared if you get there, but your luggage does not.
5. Pack Travel Snacks. My briefcase or backpack always has at least 2 sport bars or other snack to munch on the plane or in the car when my blood sugar gets low.  I have extra sport bars packed in my suitcase, and even my glove box.  I like sport bars such as Clif Bar because they are packaged and sealed and travel easily in my bags.  I also keep a non perishable high carbohydrate drink in a plastic bottle in my car to sip when needed.

When flying across the country or internationally be sure to adjust the time on your insulin pump for your basal rate or injection of long acting insulin to correspond to that new time zone.  I make sure I have a bottle of juice or other carb drink in my hotel room.  Nothing is worse than waking in the middle of the night with low blood sugar and having to dress and roam the hotel halls for a vending machine.   When I travel alone I prefer to err a bit on the high side of normal blood sugar when sleeping because no one is in my hotel room to help if I have a severe low.

Traveling usually means eating different foods, and often at different times, so I tend to test more frequently on the road.  A little exercise on the road is always a great way to stabilize blood sugar and refresh your body and mind, especially on a business trip.  You knew I would recommend exercise, didn’t you!  I always pack my running shoes and clothes on a business trip with a packed schedule just so I can feel better, and enjoy a nice dinner.  I love to have dinner within walking distance of my hotel in major cities like Washington or New York so I can walk back and enjoy the conversation and post meal exercise.

A little planning will make for a good trip.  Have fun!  ( © Diabeteshealth.com 2010)”

Traveling with the  recently launch by Diabetes Health Apple Applications, by the California based King’s Publishing Inc. :- This could be a travel savior for those with Diabetes – Imagine being able to take  a compendium of Diabetes Related issues and TV broadcasts on your travels.  read more  at ……..   http://www.diabeteshealth.com/read/2010/06/29/6740/diabetes-health-is-the-first-diabetes-magazine-to-launch-iphone-and-ipod-touch-applications-dh-mobil/?isComment=1

Please let us know if you are interested in more health related articles here on LGR that specifically relate to lesbian interest ….In 1999, lesbians were identified as an underserved minority by the Institute of Medicine. Some health issues for lesbians are different from those of heterosexual women, and clinicians need to be aware of these differences in order to provide culturally-appropriate care, since at least 5% of their female patients are lesbian.

Articles of interest:
Abstract   Objective: This New Zealand study set out to measure the self-assessed health status of a snowball sample of lesbians in New Zealand, focusing on how lesbians use health services and perceived barriers to accessing health care.  In New Zealand-laws forbidding discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation have been in place since 1993, yet 5 years later this study suggests lesbians may have poorer health, and their delaying consultation requires further study. Conclusion: This study supports overseas research showing that lesbians delay seeking health care and find barriers to health care that are different from a random sample of women.  http://www.springerlink.com/content/g8501u5750t752lu/ Percentages were calculated on the general questions and a standardized set of questions and calculated scoring was used to measure the self-assessed health of respondents.

******

http://www.diabeteshealth.com/read/2009/07/21/6285/gay-men-and-women-with-diabetes-find-a-voice-through-the-diabetes-and-gay-dang-foundation/

Posted by Melanie Nathan
nathan@privatecourts.com

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According to the study, up to two-thirds of lesbians use to be straight and changed their sexual orientation sometime in their thirties. Unfortunately, according to Christan Moran, a researcher at Southern Connecticut State University, women who begin to identify as lesbian later in life are less willing to come out because of the problems that they face more social problems than they do remaining in the closet. Moran interviewed 200 married lesbians and she found that there was a “great potential for heterosexual women to experience a first same-sex attraction well into adulthood.” Additionally, if the woman is married to a man and has children, the problems may be compounded. Moran also stated “To leave a heterosexual marriage in favour of lesbian identity is to abdicate enormous and undeniable privilege.”

While the researchers who are studying this are talking about it being more about nurture than nature, their conclusions may not be accurate. It is possible that most women are genetically programmed to switch sexual orientations as they get older and past the prime age for bearing children. The older a woman is when she bears a child, the more genetic faults can creep in. Women who are older tend to also have fewer resources to give a child physically than those who are younger.

A study out of Utah University by Professor Lisa Diamond found that women’s sexualities were more fluid. She is a professor of psychology and gender studies. She followed 100 women over a decade and discovered that how they identified changed over time with some bisexual women identifying as lesbian later in life, some lesbians identifying as straight, etc.

Both studies are not large enough to give concrete conclusions since they are such small numbers, but they do offer some additional layers when it comes to female sexuality.

The ban was instituted in 1983, to prevent HIV-AIDS from entering the blood donation supply. It officially prohibits any man who has had sex with another man since 1977 from donating. But recently a group of senators led by Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., had called upon the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to lift the ban.

In his testimony to the blood advisory committee, Kerry called the policy discriminatory. “This lingering policy is responsible for turning away thousands of healthy donors from blood clinics across the country,” said Kerry.

The American Red Cross and other heath organizations have long advocated that this policy is medically unnecessary, due to the state of improved rigorous testing regimes. Technology currently in use by blood bank can detect HIV up to seven days after the individual has been infected and all available data also shows that the error rate for these tests is low.

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The L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center’s Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner Cultural Arts Center and veteran stage, television and film actor David Youse are joining forces with Oscar® and Tony Award-winner Joel Grey to present the historic, 25th anniversary staged reading of Larry Kramer’s classic drama, The Normal Heart. This extraordinary celebrity reading, featuring some of the finest actors working today, will take place at Westwood’s Geffen Playhouse at 8 p.m. on Monday, May 17.

Proceeds from the one-night-only event will benefit the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center’s Jeffrey Goodman Special Care Clinic, which provides quality, free or low-cost medical care for people living with HIV/AIDS (this event does not benefit the Geffen Playhouse). Tickets may be purchased at: www.lagaycenter.org/thenormalheart.

The cast features Emmy® Award-winner Lisa Kudrow, in the key role of Dr. Emma Brookner, Clark Gregg (The New Adventures of Old Christine) as Ben and David Eigenberg (Sex in the City) as Mickey. Additions to the cast will be announced in the coming days.

Among the countless highlights of Joel Grey’s nearly sixty-year career is his starring role in the original production of The Normal Heart, in which he played the central role of Ned, based semi-autobiographically on Mr. Kramer himself. This experience accords Mr. Grey an incomparable insight into the play, as well as a passionate commitment to the piece and to the issue it revolutionized: the AIDS epidemic.

The Normal Heart focuses on the terrifying early years of the AIDS epidemic in New York and the criminal silence of official America in dealing with it. First produced by Joseph Papp and directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg for New York’s Public Theater, the play was a critical sensation and ran for 294 performances.   READ MORE …..

WHAT: THE NORMAL HEART
25th Anniversary staged reading

Written by Larry Kramer
Directed by Joel Grey

WHERE: The Geffen Playhouse
10886 Le Conte Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90024-3021

WHEN: Monday, May 17 at 8 p.m.
Pre-performance reception at 6 p.m.
$50 (General admission)

Available on-line at www.lagaycenter.org/thenormalheart.

4-20-10- Melanie Nathan; The Women’s Conference® community is a global network of women who gather every year at the nation’s premier forum for women, hosted by California First Lady Maria Shriver and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. For two full days, more than 100 internationally-acclaimed leaders, visionaries, authors, journalists and artists come together with more than 25,000 women from all walks of life to be educated, inspired and empowered to be Architects of Change in their own lives, within their communities and around the world.

Beyond the annual event, The Women’s Conference community gathers daily online at www.WomensConference.org and throughout the year at events that serve, support and strengthen the larger community. The mission of The Women’s Conference is to create Architects of Change – people who see a problem and seek to create the solution, be it in their homes, their communities, their states or the world.

The Women’s Conference has become a “must attend” transformational event and full day passes sell out in record-breaking time each year. In 2009, tickets sold out in less than two hours. In response to this surging popularity and demand, The Conference expanded the event to two full days with the addition of A Day of Transformation and Night at The Village.

May 14-16:      I Can Do It! San Diego Conference

The Mind, Body & Soul Retreat featuring dozens of your favorite speakers including Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, Marianne Williamson, Cheryl Richardson, Joan Z. Borysenko, Ph.D., Louise L. Hay, and many more workshops ranging from health to spirituality.

• San Diego Convention Center

For more information visit www.icandoit.net or call 800-654-5126

June 9:     The Women’s Conference Press Announcement

Two weeks prior to registration, The Women’s Conference 2010 announces conference events, speakers & ticket information. Information will be available at www.womensconference.org.

June 23:    The Women’s Conference 2010 Online Ticket Registration

(Please note: Date is subject to change.)

To learn more about The Women’s Conference 2010, click HERE.

**Check out The Great Giveaway for a chance to win 2 free Special Guest Passes to The Women’s Conference 2010.

September 10-12:    Best Buddies Challenge

JOIN TEAM MARIA on a cycling adventure along the Pacific Coast Highway from Carmel to the Hearst Castle in San Simeon, which also includes an optional 5K & 3K walk. For more information, click HERE.

October 10:     Pier del Sol

JOIN US at a family festival & fundraiser for Special Olympics, Southern California

• Santa Monica Pier & Pacific Park
• 10am – 2pm

October 25-26:     The Women’s Conference 2010

The Nation’s Premier Forum for Women

• A Day of Health, Wellness & Transformation and Night at The Village – Oct. 25
• A Day of Empowerment & The Minerva Awards – Oct. 26
• Long Beach Convention Center
• To learn more about The Women’s Conference 2010, click HERE.

**Check out The Great Giveaway for a chance to win 2 free Special Guest Passes to The Women’s Conference 2010.

December 7:    Season of Giving Event – Sacramento

The Women’s Conference supports a statewide holiday food drive and tree lighting event.

• California State Capitol, Sacramento

December 14:    California Hall of Fame Event – Sacramento

To honor legendary people who embody California’s innovative spirit.

• The California Museum, Sacramento
• Visit www.californiamuseum.org

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

The Women’s Conference 2010

October 25 & 26

Posted by Melanie Nathan

from Site of Womens Conference

In a move that is sure to insert the White House firmly into the national debate on same-sex marriage, today President Barack Obama issued an executive memorandum requiring any hospital that receives Medicare or Medicaid funding to allow gays and lesbians to have non-family visitors and grants their partners medical power of attorney.

“There are few moments in our lives that call for greater compassion and companionship than when a loved one is admitted to the hospital. In these hours of need and moments of pain and anxiety, all of us would hope to have a hand to hold, a shoulder on which to lean — a loved one to be there for us, as we would be there for them.”

“Yet every day, all across America, patients are denied the kindnesses and caring of a loved one at their sides — whether in a sudden medical emergency or a prolonged hospital stay. Often, a widow or widower with no children is denied the support and comfort of a good friend. Members of religious orders are sometimes unable to choose someone other than an immediate family member to visit them and make medical decisions on their behalf. Also uniquely affected are gay and lesbian Americans who are often barred from the bedsides of the partners with whom they may have spent decades of their lives — unable to be there for the person they love, and unable to act as a legal surrogate if their partner is incapacitated,” said Obama

To ensure that hospitals respect the rights of LGBT patients to designate visitors, Obama has directed the Secretary Of Health And Human Services to make new rules stating “that designated visitors, including individuals designated by legally valid advance directives (such as durable powers of attorney and health care proxies), should enjoy visitation privileges that are no more restrictive than those that immediate family members enjoy.”

He also called on the HHS Secretary to formulate rules that will “to guarantee that all patients’ advance directives, such as durable powers of attorney and health care proxies, are respected, and that patients’ representatives otherwise have the right to make informed decisions regarding patients’ care.”

2010rightspatients.mem.final.rel

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In 2007, just as Janice Langbehn and Lisa Pond were about to depart from Miami on a family cruise with their three children, Pond suddenly collapsed. From the moment Langbehn and the children arrived at Jackson Memorial Hospital, they encountered prejudice and apathy. Even though Langbehn held Pond’s durable health care power of attorney, the hospital refused to accept information from Langbehn regarding Pond’s medical history.

The hospital worker also informed Langbehn that she was in an antigay city and state and that she could expect to receive no information or acknowledgment as family. A doctor finally spoke with Langbehn, telling her that there was no chance of recovery. Despite the doctor’s acknowledgment that no medical reason existed to prevent visitation, neither Langbehn nor her children were allowed to see Pond until nearly eight hours after their arrival.

The hospitals decision got them hauled over the coals by gay rights advocates and in both the LGBT and mainstream press. It also got them sued by Langbehn.

Last September, a Florida judge ruled that no law required the hospital to allow Langbehn and their three children to see the dying Pond, and rejected that suit.

Even so, most people saw the hospitals actions as nothing but mean spirited asshattery, and the hospitals PR (and most likely it fundraising efforts) continued to take a serious dunk into the toilet. So since then, Jackson Memorial has issue a half hearted, second handed “oops we screwed up” to the Langbehn-Pond family through the press and began reviewing its policies concerning LGBT patients.

Yesterday, Lambda Legal, the outfit that sued the Hospital on behalf of Langbehn, and officials from Jackson Health System (JHS) released a statement announcing the hospital’s improved policies that are now a little more responsive to the needs of the LGBT community.

“Lambda Legal applauds Jackson Memorial’s work with the coalition to review and expand policies and training materials to help address the needs of same-sex couples and their families, but we urge the hospital to finish the job,” said Beth Littrell, senior staff attorney in Lambda Legal’s Southern Regional Office in Atlanta, who was lead counsel on Langbehn v. Jackson Memorial.

Lambda Legal as well, urged Jackson Memorial Hospital to enact a full grievance procedure and also to issue an official apology to the Langbehn-Pond family.

“The hospital should issue an official apology to the Langbehn-Pond family and JHS should have a grievance procedure in the case of visitation denial that can be acted on quickly in an emergency situation,” she said.

“Jackson Memorial Hospital should have been able to provide immediate resources to Janice Langbehn when she wasn’t allowed to be with her partner Lisa hour after hour as she lay dying in the hospital. We don’t want the Langbehn-Pond nightmare to happen to another family.”

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“Like a virus, no one is immune from ignorance – no matter what their profession or even educational background might be.“

4-13-2010m; Posted by Melanie Nathan

Rambam Medical Center in Haifa on Tuesday will launch the first invitro fertilization unit in Israel for HIV carriers with fertility difficulties who are rejected from treatment by other hospitals.

Although Israel boasts one of the highest availabilities of fertility treatment in the world, it never before had the facilities to carry out IVF treatment for HIV carriers.

Today, an HIV carrier who receives treatment has almost the same life expectancy as the rest of the population, and certain medical treatment enables carrier to conceive and give birth to healthy children.

Following the Supreme Court appeal by the task force and six women, in 2006 the Health Ministry set up a committee to look into fertility treatments among carriers of HIV and Hepatitis B and C.

The committee recommended setting up a separate infrastructure for fertility treatment for such patients, despite the fact that in many Western countries carriers receive the treatment in ordinary clinics.  The multiple postponements of the opening led to the Health Ministry being sharply rebuked by the Knesset Labor, Welfare and Health Committee.

The unit,  located in a remote, discreet area of the hospital, to afford for maximum privacy for the patients, will also serve carriers of other viruses, and it already has a waiting list with several women waiting for treatment.

The Rambam unit opens just two days after the launch of a sperm washing institute at Hadassah University Medical Center in Jerusalem, allowing men who carry the HIV virus to conceive healthy children together with non-carrier spouses.

The opening of the new unit at Rambam, which includes a number of labs and sub-clinics, has been postponed at least four times.

Yonatan Karni, director of the Israel AIDS Task Force, said Monday “I’m thrilled to cut the ribbon for the unit, but what will truly convince me this is really happening will be to cut the umbilical chord for the first child born as a result of the process.   To get to this day we had to go through the Supreme Court and four years of public battles. To my surprise the greatest obstacle was the obstinacy of the healthcare system. I found that just like with the virus, no one is immune to ignorance – no matter what their profession or even educational background might be.”

Original Source:- 4-13-2010 Ha’aretz

New hospital unit allows HIV carriers to conceive through IVF

By Fadi Eyadat

Melanie Nathan – nathan@privatecourts.com

A leading Australian In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) specialist is calling for Aussie men to lend a hand and  start donating more sperm because apparently our lesbian sisters from Down Under are  using it all up just about as fast as he can get it.

Accroding to Australia’s The Age.com, John McBain, a doctor at a Melbourne IVFclinic, said a campaign will begin today aimed at encouraging men to view sperm donation as an altruistic gift to others, similar to blood or organ donation.

”Our campaign, ‘A donation to us won’t save a life, hopefully it will create one’, will feature in online and print advertisements targeting the adult male population,” he said. ”It is aimed at appealing to men’s generosity as a donation can provide a couple or a single woman with the greatest of gifts – a family of their own.”

Dr McBain, who is also Melbourne’s Royal Women’s Hospital’s head of reproductive services, said sperm donations had declined in recent years at a time when single women and those in same-sex relationships were given access to IVF programs for the first time.

”The new laws have to be welcomed as it means we no longer discriminate on the basis of sexual preference or marital status,” he said. ”However, it does mean that we will need more sperm donors in Victoria to cope with demand.”

So come on Aussie men…. give a hand and give some sperm.

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By a vote of 219 to 212, the House passed the bill after a day of tumultuous debate that echoed the epic struggle of the last year.

The vote is being touted as the single most significant piece of domestic legislation to be passed by Congress since Medicare in 1965.

“We will be joining those who established Social Security, Medicare and now, tonight, health care for all Americans, said Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

“This is the civil rights act of the 21st century,” added Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, the top-ranking black member of the House.

Sunday’s vote also ended well over a year of negotiations and setbacks, with a day of intense negotiations among Democrats and repeated procedural attempts to kill the bill by Republicans.

Even so, Democrats were still able to piece together enough votes to pass the bill by striking deals with two groups of Democrats who were on the fence: anti-abortion Democrats and Democrats concerned that the funding machinery for the bill was inequitable to certain states.

The final obstacle to the bill’s passage was cleared at mid-afternoon when Obama and Democratic leaders reached a compromise with anti-abortion lawmakers lead by Michigan Rep. Bart Stupak after The White House announced it would issue an executive order pledging that no federal funds would be used for elective abortion, satisfying Stupak.

In the end, not a single Republican voted for the bill and Republicans continued their attack on the bill even after its passage, still warning it would harm the economy while mandating a government takeover of the health care system. “We have failed to listen to America,” said Republican Rep. John Boehner of Ohio.

“The American people know you can’t reduce health care costs by spending $1 trillion or raising taxes by more than one-half trillion dollars. The American people know that you cannot cut Medicare by over one-half trillion dollars without hurting seniors,” said Michigan Rep. Dave Camp, adding “And, the American people know that you can’t create an entirely new government entitlement program without exploding spending and the deficit.”

In remarks after the completion of the House’s votes, Obama praised fellow Democrats for passing the legislation.

“We proved that we are still a people capable of doing big things,” the president said in televised remarks. “We proved that this government — a government of the people and by the people — still works for the people.”

Mr. Obama will now sign a bill that many of the people who voted for it say is flawed. Regardless of what happens next, that bill will become law when Obama signs it, perhaps on Tuesday.

The $940 billion bill will cover 32 million uninsured Americans, ban the denial of coverage for preexisting conditions, and usher in a significant expansion of Medicaid.

The insurance industry, which spent millions on advertising trying to block the bill, will now also come under new federal regulations and will be forbidden from placing lifetime dollar limits on policies, denying coverage to children because of pre-existing conditions and from canceling policies when a policyholder becomes ill.

Parents will also be able to keep children up to age 26 on their family insurance plans and a new high-risk pool will offer coverage to uninsured people with medical problems

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“A Great Unfinished Business, Until Today”; Now let us move on to CIR, Repeal of DOMA and DADT:

Melanie Nathan, 3-21-10 , 10.50 EST. Today an historic vote in the US House of Representatives will lead to Passage of  landmark Health Care reform.  When the votes hit 216, the House erupted and Speaker Pelosi walked elegantly into the history books, not only is she the first woman speaker, but THE speaker who got Health Care reform through vote and victory.

Today while  it seems as if the Immigration Reform March failed through little or no, albeit much deserved  TV coverage; there is a deep irony in such failure and that is what caused it to fail may hail its success – YES the day was usurped by visuals of the Congress hedging its bets on historic passage of Health Care Reform, and the fact that such was passed in the House and likely to pass in the Senate, yields a victory so enormous for President Obama, that he WILL now win Immigration Reform.  When The President’s message resounded through screens on the Mall, the people knew that they would be next. Today’s victory places capital and power sturdily in the hands of this US President.

The Republicans in the House called it ‘the arrogance of Washington’ and suggested  the Democrats  used trickery, speaking only about money and cost; the Democrats say this reform is imperative and spoke to the impact from an humanity standpoint.

My Congresswoman, Lynn Woolsey, California, spoke tonight, in the House,  with her  perfunctory  message, “ Being a woman IS a preexisting condition!” ( reiterated by Speaker Pelosi) That is going to change with this health care reform.  She reminded us that pregnancy could be a preexisting condition, that even injuries from domestic violence could be considered preexisting conditions.

What the Republicans seem to resent is the fact that the will of the people was to elect the democrats on the ticket that included health care reform. How could anyone in their right mind suggest voting no on the basis of “not good enough,” especially those that prompted the water down.

Those of you who voted NO will be held responsible when you are reminded in years henceforth of the positive impact of the changes, when lives are saved, and the preexisting amongst us survive and live longer to tell this tale.

Now enough – let us move on to more business – and let us realize that we MUST be partisan.  We must fight a partisan fight from day one on Immigration reform, on repeal of DOMA, DADT, and  enactment of ENDA. Bi-partisanship must now come from the Republican side. We should not chase them to get them on board. This is the only way they will hopefully come up with suggestions to forward legislation, rather than attacks to thwart it.

Recipe for success of future legislation:

Ingredients:

2 cup of –  Learn from mistakes

3 cups of  - forget the ideal of bipartisanship

1 cup of  - clarity through public outreach and education

3 cups of  - early explanation to American people

2 cups of – early talking points and Public Service Announcements

Instructions:

Obama, and Democrats mix all of the above from day one of the endeavor;

Push at the start and until the end; remain strong and resolute

Change the fairness doctrine in media broadcasting and revoke licenses of cable channels which term ‘news’ for talking point commentary, speculation and non sourced lies.

The Lesson: From the lesson of Health Care Reform, we have learnt that Bi-partisanship, in a climate of hate and greed is an oxymoron.
Republicans have the audacity to complain that this is not bipartisan legislation.   Lest we forget that there would be no legislation at ALL if it were to be bi-partisan.

Thanks to Partisanship no one is no longer un-insurable!
Thanks to Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her extraordinary leadership
and To President Obama

Acknowledging Great Leadership of late Senator Ted Kennedy
“A Great Unfinished Business, Until Today”
Victoria Kennedy plans to issue a Statement tonight

Written to supporters – I am sure I am not the only one who received this letter at 2.00 am Eastern today.

Melanie — 3-22-10

For the first time in our nation’s history, Congress has passed comprehensive health care reform. America waited a hundred years and fought for decades to reach this moment. Tonight, thanks to you, we are finally here.

Consider the staggering scope of what you have just accomplished:

Because of you, every American will finally be guaranteed high quality, affordable health care coverage.

Every American will be covered under the toughest patient protections in history. Arbitrary premium hikes, insurance cancellations, and discrimination against pre-existing conditions will now be gone forever.

And we’ll finally start reducing the cost of care — creating millions of jobs, preventing families and businesses from plunging into bankruptcy, and removing over a trillion dollars of debt from the backs of our children.

But the victory that matters most tonight goes beyond the laws and far past the numbers.

It is the peace of mind enjoyed by every American, no longer one injury or illness away from catastrophe.

It is the workers and entrepreneurs who are now freed to pursue their slice of the American dream without fear of losing coverage or facing a crippling bill.

And it is the immeasurable joy of families in every part of this great nation, living happier, healthier lives together because they can finally receive the vital care they need.

This is what change looks like.

My gratitude tonight is profound. I am thankful for those in past generations whose heroic efforts brought this great goal within reach for our times. I am thankful for the members of Congress whose months of effort and brave votes made it possible to take this final step. But most of all, I am thankful for you.

This day is not the end of this journey. Much hard work remains, and we have a solemn responsibility to do it right. But we can face that work together with the confidence of those who have moved mountains.

Our journey began three years ago, driven by a shared belief that fundamental change is indeed still possible. We have worked hard together every day since to deliver on that belief.

We have shared moments of tremendous hope, and we’ve faced setbacks and doubt. We have all been forced to ask if our politics had simply become too polarized and too short-sighted to meet the pressing challenges of our time. This struggle became a test of whether the American people could still rally together when the cause was right — and actually create the change we believe in.

Tonight, thanks to your mighty efforts, the answer is indisputable: Yes we can.

Thank you,

President Barack Obama

by Melanie Nathan
Private Courts™
nathan@privatecourts.com
http://visualcv.com/melnathan

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3/18/10-by Paula Brooks
In a letter in today’s New England Journal of Medicine, three scientists from the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia cite a small but significant portion of medical studies are excluding gays from taking part, and say it is happening many times without any apparent scientific reason.

Fox Chase biostatistician Brian Egleston, biologist Roland Dunbrack Jr. and Dr. Michael J. Hall, made the observations while overseeing enrollment of patients into clinical trials at the cancer center and say while there are sometime legitimate scientific reasons for excluding gays from certain studies, they found cases where the reason for excluding gays is all together not clear.

“When I first saw this, I thought it was a fluke. The second time, I thought I’d dig deeper,” Egleston said.

The group then did a spot check of a government database of thousands of studies and turned up more examples where LGBT’s are being excluded from medical test studies, most of them private-industry trials.

According to Egleston, one reason for this maybe while researchers seeking federal money for their work must explain why a study excludes a group based on gender, race or ethnicity, no explanation is needed for exclusion based on sexual orientation.

For whatever reason LGBT’s are being excluded from these studies, the researcher said these exclusions can become self-perpetuating, with researchers designing a study often with “cut and paste” participation criteria from earlier trials on a similar subject.

“It becomes the way it’s done,” and any bias gets repeated, Egleston said.

http://www.nejm.org

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Openly Gay Rep. Tammy Baldwin said today she doesn’t believe LGBT-specific provisions will make it as part of health care reform.

In an interview with the DC Agenda, Baldwin said senate rules will probably prevent most of the LGBT provisions included in the House version of the health care reform bill from being in the reconciliation package that will come before the U.S. Senate this week.

“Most of the provisions are not with budgetary impact and so — because of the Byrd rule and the rules of the Senate parliamentarian — are not eligible,” she said. (via DC Agenda.)

That would mean two major LGBT provisions in the House version of the health care bill; the elimination of the tax on health benefits received under employer plans for LGBT’s and allowing states to cover low-income people with HIV before they develop AIDS, will in all probability not be in the final version of the bill at makes it to President Obama’s desk.

However, on her Domestic Partnership Benefits & Obligation Act, Baldwin was more optimistic.

“It’s cleared committee on both sides of the Capitol, and so I’m very hopeful that once we are done with the health care legislation and back to other matters that we’ll be able to move it quickly,” Baldwin said.

That not withstanding, Joe Lieberman, the sponsor of the Senates version of the bill, said he won’t allow the bill to come to a floor vote until the U.S. Office of Personnel Management provides information on how to offset the legislation’s cost within the agency’s existing budget.

Baldwin said she’s expecting the information from OPM “any day” now and added “They’ve assured us that they can fully offset it within their global budget, but we want to see the specifics.”

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SHMIRSHKY: THINK INSIDE THE BOX- A SMALL BOOK WITH A BIG STORY Reaching out is IN. Suffering in silence is Out.

Got a vagina? Know someone who does? Chances are you have a wife, girlfriend, mother, grandmother, mother-in-law, sister, daughter, friend, mentor, coworker, or boss who has one. Whether you’re a forty-five-year-old woman in perimenopause or an eighteen-year-old guy who thinks his mom is in need of an exorcism, Shmirshky is for you.

Shmirshky is the first menopause book of its kind. Unlike other books that are dry and mired in confusing medical terms, Shmirshky is an intimate, humorous read—smart, fact-filled, and full of love. With the knowledge and compassion of a trusted girlfriend, author E serves up a soulful account of persevering through the difficult stages of perimenopause and menopause. Publication date: March 1, 2010. Hardcover, $25. For books and further information, visit shmirshky.com.

“Shmirshky” is a term you won’t find in any other menopause book. It comes from E’s unique, often hilarious vernacular: she calls the vagina (and anyone who has one) a shmirshky (pronounced shmersh-key). “Vagina is such an awkward medical term,” she says. “All the women I know have a pet name for it. My BFF Marcia called it shmirshky. I am a shmirshky, a shmirshky who has struggled with PM&M [perimenopause and menopause].”

Shmirshky is not your mother’s menopause book. “In fact, chances are she never had one. If you think menopause is a shitty experience, then Shmirshky is your pooper-scooper.”

Shmirshky is open and honest at a time when many women want to keep their feelings hidden. For some, the PM&M experience can be overwhelming and frightening. “You may feel like an alien swooped down, took over your body, and jumbled up your mind and personality—not to mention your hips, your boobs, and your waist,” E says.

Shmirshky had its beginnings as a simple journal. E’s initial writings were intended as a gift to her daughter. That journal morphed into a small book with a big story. Edited by her twenty-seven-year-old son (who now knows more about PM&M than he ever imagined!), Shmirshky affords readers an honest, personal connection that further squashes the stigma of PM&M.

Don’t hide your shmirshky under a bush! Shmirshky empowers women to take charge. E helps her readers learn how to interpret the symptoms of PM&M, research and interview doctors, understand the necessary tests, and reach out to loved ones for support. Treating the symptoms of PM&M is not a one-size-fits-all situation. As E says, “Too bad they can’t administer hormone therapy through a pair of heels.”

“Every woman needs to read this book,” says Dr. Joseph F. Kennedy. “With great humor, some of which had me howling with laughter, E concisely and intelligently illustrates some of the diverse experiences women may have during the perimenopausal and menopausal years.”

At Your Cervix! You can visit us at shmirshky.com for a sneak peek before the site goes live on March 1, 2010. Shmirshky.com readers can connect, comment, and share their own unique experiences as well as stay in touch with the shmirshky movement.

E is for everyone. E is not a doctor, scientist, or celebrity. “After all the women I’ve talked to and all the research I’ve done, I realized that this isn’t just my story, we all share pieces of the same story.” She says, “I hope this book brings women a little bit of the three L’s: love, laughter, and learning.”

Publication date: March 1, 2010, Hardcover with book jacket; 150 pages, Published by Shmirshky Universal / www.shmirshkyuniversal.com  Library of Congress Control Number: 2009908410 ISBN: 978-0-615-29455-1

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: ELLEN SARVER DOLGEN

Ellen Sarver Dolgen is active in promoting health and wellness in America. She currently serves on the Community Advisory Board of Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla. She was a founding member of Fresh Start Women’s Foundation, on the founding board of Angel Charity for Children, and on the board for San Diego Hospice. Ellen has served on boards, committees, and chaired numerous events for Brandeis University, the Heart Ball, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the Weizmann Institute of Science, Brewster Auxiliary, and the Handmaker Home for the Aging. Ellen’s lifelong commitment to philanthropy through board representation, fundraising, and event organization continues with her founding of Shmirshky Universal and her goal to help women all over the world.

Ellen’s background includes public relations, fundraising for national political campaigns, legislative lobbying, investment advising, hotel operations, not-for-profit fundraising, and cultural and community leadership. In her prior professional life she was the National Deputy Treasurer of the 1980 Carter-Mondale reelection campaign; was a member of Berman and Associates, a Washington, D.C., consulting firm; served as National Finance Coordinator for U.S. Senator Henry M. Jackson’s 1976 bid for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination; and worked for the national United Jewish Appeal in New York City. Ellen served on the National Finance Committee of Obama for America (2008 presidential campaign) and currently serves on the National Finance Committee for the Democratic National Committee. During her college years she worked as director of public relations for Interstate Motel Corporation in Tucson, Arizona, while attending the University of Arizona. She was subsequently a founding chairperson of the University of Arizona’s Office of Cultural Affairs Advisory Board and served on the Arizona State Workmen’s Compensation Fund Investment Committee.

Ellen is currently founder and president of Shmirshky Universal and is a principal of Dolgen Ventures along with her husband, David. Ellen lives in Coronado, California, and has two children, Sarah and Jack.

Shmirshky Competition: 

See You Tube:  Meet the author http://www.youtube.com/shmirshky

Write a no holds barred  250-500 word review of the Book “ Shmirshky” by E.

Submissions by 4/1/10  Results by 4/10/10 (Subject to extension depending on amount of entries.

PRIZES:
First: Amazon Kindle, Value $250.00
Second:Table Book Prize, Value $80.00

The first 4 to enter competition and commit to a review, receive a free Book.

Books can be purchased at http://www.shmirshky.com/

and use of code word  LEZGETREAL  will generate a 20% discount,

Judges shall be Announced at Time of competition result -announcement

Competition closed to Editors of LGR, Employees, friends and family of Published by Shmirshky Universal / www.shmirshkyuniversal.com and PR Professionals and Agents associated therewith.

Cut and Paste the following and then e-mail to Nathan@privatecourts.com:

“I the undersigned hereby commit to a 250-500 word review of the book “ Shmirshky”   If I am one of the first 4 entrants, I shall receive a free Book , Shmirshky by E, to review.

If I am not one of first four, then I shall decide whether or not to purchase a copy of the book whereupon I may or may not review the book Shmirshky.

Books can be purchased for a discount at AMAZON and using code word “lezgetreal “ will prompt discounted price.

Winning entry will be published and on Lez-Get-Real web site and may be used for oromotional purposes by Author of S or Publisher.  Copyright of review shall be owned by Lezgetreal.  The Author and Publisher shall also have the right to the use of quotations therefrom, upon agreement of Lez-Get-Real.  Participant hereby grants exclusive copyright ownership and full and unconditional right to print and publish competition entry to Lez-Get-Real, its agents and assigns, on line at www.lezgetreal.com and at any venue in the sole discretion of Lez-Get-Real.

I declare I am over 21 years of age.

Name: ________________________________________________
Address : _____________________________________________
E-mail __________________________________________________
Telephone: ______________________________________________

I am over 18 years of age : ______________
I agree to rules of Competition:__________________

I hereby Agree that the copyright to the review a  submitted  shall belong exclusively to Lezgetreal, and its assignees.”

Competition ends and last entry shall be post marked or e-mails  dated by April, 01, 2010, midnight.    Competition results shall be announced and winner reviews published on April 10, 2010. On site Lezgetreal.

All results shall be final.
Lez-Get-Real reserves the right t extend competition date/s’

Questions – email nathan@privatecourts.com

3/11/10-by Paula Brooks
In a 4-1 vote, Kissimmee, Florida City Commissioners have approved health and dental benefits for both same sex and opposite sex domestic partners of city employees.

The Kissimmee City Commission vote will also allow employees to take advantage of sick leave if the children of their domestic partners become ill.

Kissimmee City Commissioner Cheryl Grieb, said, “Benefits for domestic partners makes the city more competitive, when the economy bounces back and we’re looking to hire, this will be another feather in our caps so we can attract the best talent.” It was Grieb who lead the effort for the benefit extension.

With Tuesdays vote, Kissimmee became one of approximately two-dozen Florida governmental entities to extend health insurance benefits to all of its employees and their families

Florida Equality Field Director Joe Saunders said after the vote:

“I am so proud of Kissimmee City Commissioner Cheryl Grieb, who led this effort. Mallory Wells, our Public Policy Director and I have worked side-by-side with Commissioner Grieb for months and she has never backed down from pursuing what is right. Even when anti-gay forces threatened to protest, Commissioner Grieb wouldn’t be bullied. With her guidance and leadership we began the slow and tedious task of drumming up support on the commission and in the community.”
via Equality Florida Blog: Victory in Kissimmee!.

The policy will go into effect within the next 30 days and employees can then add their partners immediately, without waiting for the regular renewal period.

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Photo-Gay Liberation Network

3/5/10-by Paula Brooks

According to a study released this month by Columbia University, gay, lesbian and bisexual citizens living in states with institutional discrimination, such as bans on same-sex marriage or gay adoption, are at greater risk of psychiatric disorders, then those who live in states that do not discriminate against them.

The Columbia researchers found a significant increase in the participants who lived in states that instituted constitutional amendments banning gay marriage following the 2004-2005 elections and noted the prevalence of mood disorders, generalized anxiety disorders and alcohol use disorders among lesbians, gays and bisexuals after the states banned gay marriage. The greatest increase, in excess of 200 percent, was seen in generalized anxiety disorder.

“Before this study, little was known about the impact of institutional discrimination toward lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) individuals in our society,” senior author Deborah Hasin, an epidemiologist at Columbia University and the New York State Psychiatric Institute, said in a press release for Columbia. “The study highlights the importance of abolishing institutional forms of discrimination, including those leading to disparities in the mental health and well-being of LGB individuals.”

The Columbia study analyzed data from lesbians, gays and bisexuals who were interviewed in 2001-2002 and 2004-2005 for the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions.

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“The Resource Center will provide information, assistance and resources for both mainstream aging organizations and LGBT organizations and will provide assistance to LGBT individuals as they plan for future long-term care needs,” said Secretary Sebelius.

SAGE is the nation’s oldest and largest organization serving LGBT older adults. In creating the Resource Center, SAGE will forge a partnership with 10 organizations with expertise in a wide range of areas including mainstream aging, LGBT aging, culture change and competency and program evaluation. The Resource Center will engage, empower and support mainstream aging providers, LGBT providers and LGBT older adults to ensure that LGBT elders have the necessary and culturally appropriate supports and services to successfully age in place.

“AoA frequently turns to national organizations to support our national network of community- based aging organizations in their efforts to work with specific minority populations that are traditionally underserved,” said Kathy Greenlee, Assistant Secretary for Aging who heads the HHS Administration on Aging (AoA). “AoA has traditionally funded national organizations to provide technical assistance on providing supports and services to African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian and Pacific Islander Americans and Native Americans. LGBT older adults represent a community with unique needs that also must be addressed.”

Among other tools, SAGE plans to develop a comprehensive, web-based clearinghouse, which will include diverse resources, social networking tools, an “Ask the Experts” service, web-based trainings and other features.

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Set up by a local anti-AIDS activist, Dr. Zhang Jianboto, with funding from Dali’s Health Bureau, as a way to attract gay men and then use it to distribute information on AIDS/HIV prevention, the bar was originally scheduled to open on December 1,World AIDS Day, however, Zhang had to delay the opening to protect the privacy of the volunteers and customers after the news of the bar opening attracted intensive media coverage throughout China.

More than 60 people, mostly gay men, attended the ceremony Saturday. Customers were given condoms free of charge.

While homosexuality has been documented in China since ancient times, it is still a sensitive subject in China. During the days of Mao’s Cultural Revolution gays were routinely arrested as “hooligans,” and sent off for “re-education.” Up to 1997 gay sex was illegal in China. Additionally, until 2001 the Chinese Governments Classification of Mental Disorders also considered homosexuality a form of mental illnesses.

Although in larger Chinese cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, gay clubs, bars, tea houses, saunas, and support centers are becoming more widespread, prejudice from the justice system and harassment from police, including detention and arrest nonetheless still occur, so most Chinese LGBT’s find it difficult to come out publicly.

Chinese LGBT’s also face societal and family pressures caused by the government’s one-child policy, which makes parents, rely on their only child to marry and produce grandchildren. All major religions in China also have some sort of codex, which have traditionally been interpreted as being against exclusive homosexuality when it interferes with continuation of the family lineage. So many marry and stay closeted.

China’s Ministry of Health recently admitted the country has an AIDS problem and estimates that China will have 560,000 to 920,000 living HIV carriers, with 97,000 to 112,000 AIDS patients by the end of 2009. The nations health minister also said sexual transmission has become the major cause of infection, accounting for more than 70 percent of all newly detected HIV/AIDS cases, and sexual transmission among gay men accounted for 32 percent.

According to China’s official newspaper, the China Daily, Dr. Zhang said he hopes that the bar can provide a platform to educate gay men about AIDS and would like to see the bar become a public gathering place for gay men, especially those from rural villages,who used to gather in a patch of woods near Dali.

“Starting from December 20, the bar will open nine hours every day, from 3 pm to 12 pm,” he said.

The minimum charge at the bar is a bottle of Coca Cola at 5 yuan (about .75 cents US), and tea and some snacks are free, he said.

“The charges are just for the need of bar operation, and we are not aiming for profits. Customers need not worry about that,” he added… (via China Daily )

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Vermont has already started negotiations on setting up a single payer system in the coming years. Doing so would likely reduce the amount of money that Vermont has to pay for health insurance for its residents. It may even attract businesses who would be happier to pay taxes to the state rather than hand over more and more money to the health insurance companies. It may entice people to move to the state in order to get health insurance. The debate has yet to begin and the public records on the pros and cons of the single payer system are scarce and hard to say with any accuracy. More Vermonters support single payer than do any other system.

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders introduced an amendment which would have created a single payer Medicare For All system in the United States. Rather than let it come up for a vote, Senator Tom Coburn forced a read of the whole amendment in an attempt to slow the debate down to a crawl. Senator Sanders was, ultimately, forced to withdraw the amendment. Of course, Senator Coburn was not there when Senator Sanders went on to deliver a sternly worded and heated denouncement of the Republican’s decision to throw a fit over the way in which democracy works. The Republicans have done everything they can to undermine democracy by stalling legislation, demanding full readings, and refusing to negotiate no matter what.

Jane Hamshir at Fire Dog Lake has posted a compilation of why it is time to kill the Senate Health Care Reform Bill.

1. Forces you to pay up to 8% of your income to private insurance corporations — whether you want to or not.
2. If you refuse to buy the insurance, you’ll have to pay penalties of up to 2% of your annual income to the IRS.
3. Many will be forced to buy poor-quality insurance they can’t afford to use, with $11,900 in annual out-of-pocket expenses over and above their annual premiums.
4. Massive restriction on a woman’s right to choose, designed to trigger a challenge to Roe v. Wade in the Supreme Court.
5. Paid for by taxes on the middle class insurance plan you have right now through your employer, causing them to cut back benefits and increase co-pays.
6. Many of the taxes to pay for the bill start now, but most Americans won’t see any benefits — like an end to discrimination against those with preexisting conditions — until 2014 when the program begins.
7. Allows insurance companies to charge people who are older 300% more than others.
8. Grants monopolies to drug companies that will keep generic versions of expensive biotech drugs from ever coming to market.
9. No re-importation of prescription drugs, which would save consumers $100 billion over 10 years.
10. The cost of medical care will continue to rise, and insurance premiums for a family of four will rise an average of $1,000 a year — meaning in 10 years, your family’s insurance premium will be $10,000 more annually than it is right now.

Senator Leahy and Melanie Nathan 6/3/09

By Melanie Nathan:- When I met Senator Leahy, I was touched by his compassion, his sensitivity and his veracity. Most of all he is a champion for equality and as a supporter of UAFA, and has done much for our LGBT binational immigration.   I would like to support Senator Leahy in his endeavors, first and foremost because he has my trust and faith.

On Tuesday Senator Leahy took to the Senate floor and formally filed an amendment to repeal the antitrust exemption for health insurance companies and it has already 18 co-sponsors signed on.

In the senator’s words, “I look forward to debating this critical measure during our deliberations on the broader health care reform bill. After all, to bring insurance costs down, we’ve got to introduce more competition in the marketplace — and my amendment will do just that.”

More Senators ought to join to get this critical amendment passed. 

Click here to forward an email to your Senators now — and urge them to support our amendment to repeal the antitrust exemption for health insurance companies!

I have not read the amendment but the Senator assures that amendment will introduce antitrust oversight to the health insurance industry, ruling out of bounds egregious anti-competitive conduct like the currently activated and detrimental price fixing loophole which  raises our health costs.  

There will be no real Health Care reform until, inter alia, the health insurance industry is forced to compete on a level playing field just like every other business in America, large and small. In all fairness, consumers must know that the price they’re being quoted is a concomitant of a free and fair marketplace.

The senator in a letter to his on-line community implored our support “That’s why this amendment repealing the health insurance industry’s antitrust exemption is so important — but I need your help, right now, to get it passed.” Call your representatives and Senators to ensure they support the Bill and this critical principle.

Last week, Ontario health officials expanded their H1N1 vaccination program to include elementary school children and adults over 65 with chronic health problems beginning Monday free of charge.

Sault Ste. Maries’ Algoma Public Health Unit, which issued the forms to the School District, indicated that the collection of information on other genders besides male and female in the Health Units jurisdiction was a requirement of the Ontario Ministry of Health.

However, Sault Ste. Marie Catholic School Trustee Kathleen Rosilius has taken issue with the consent forms and questioned the appropriateness of distributing the vaccination consent forms in Catholic schools, telling the conservative LifeSiteNews that the forms are, “agenda-driven, social-engineering.”

Unlike other health units in Canada that have experienced shortages of the H1N1 vaccine, a few small northern health units including Algoma, were initially provided proportionately more vaccine because of concerns about transportation and weather problems in that part of Canada, so the the rural Canadian health district decided to expand its vaccination program to other less than high risk groups.

On Wednesday however, the World Health Organization (WHO) and a pharmaceutical company warned the doctors in Canada not to use a batch of H1N1 swine flu vaccines after reports that the shots were leading to great number of severe allergic reactions…. There have been 24 confirmed cases of a type of severe allergic reaction called anaphylaxis in Canadians who have received an H1N1 flu shot, including one person who died after getting vaccinated…

While elementary school students Canada have not been considered a high risk group, and it is not known if this Health District received the vaccines in question, children are highly susceptible to the H1N1 virus and it is well known that influenza will spread rapidly amongst elementary school students, then on to others including those who may be considered high risk, so vaccinating children contributes to reduce transmission to others….

So notwithstanding some Catholics getting their panties in a bunch over the consent form wording… all in all it is generally a pretty good idea to have your elementary school aged child vaccinated… at least it will be after the Canadian government health officials get it figured out why the vaccinations are killing people…

And as a gay mom… I would have to say that I would be far more concerned about the fact that vaccinations that are supposed to be keeping my children safe and well might not be doing that… instead of worrying the wording on a permission slip does not fit my view of the world.

Too bad doctors and scientist can’t come up way to make safe vaccines or a vaccination for bigotry and ignorance…

via Sault Ste. Marie Catholic School Board Using Gender-Confused H1N1 Vaccine Consent Form.

Photo via Kodomut on Flickr

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 • Among lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons, the health of bisexual and transgender people is somewhat worse than their heterosexual and non-transgender counterparts, respectively.

• The health of lesbian, gay, people is comparable to that of heterosexual respondents. However, lesbians were less likely to have routine pap tests compared with their heterosexual female counterparts.

• Transgender persons had worse outcomes with respect to self‐reported health, disability status, depression, anxiety, suicide ideation, and lifetime violence victimization.

• Bisexual respondents how worse outcomes with respect to self‐reported health, disability status, suicide ideation, as well as lower rates of mammography for bisexual women compared with their heterosexual female counterparts.

• Legally married same‐sex couples were more likely to obtain health insurance through their spouse’s employer than non‐legally same sex couples.

 This research validates the research on other minority populations that associates stigma and other social determinants with poor health outcomes.  The health disparities faced by minority groups are all too common. Increasingly, there are more theories regarding the factors that lead to health disparities. Research increasingly points to a range of social inequities including income, access to health care or insurance, and housing as factors that impact everyone regardless of race, sexual orientation or gender. However, there are theories specific to minority groups that add additional factors based on minority status.

 Recent changes, including marriage equality, may be helping to reduce disparities for lesbians and gay men, possibly by providing greater access to health insurance.  However, transgender persons still face major barriers with respect to employment nondiscrimination, public accommodations and general social acceptance. This report finds transgender persons reporting the highest level of health disparities.  See http://www.mass.gov/Eeohhs2/docs/dph/commissioner/lgbt_health_report.pdf

One big hit is when it comes to  Gay Men and Women with Diabetes  -    Could the medical community be overlooking 2.5 million people who have diabetes?  Currently, 23.6 million children and adults in the United States, or 7.8 percent of the population, have diabetes. Although an estimated 17.9 million of them have been diagnosed, 5.7 million (nearly one quarter) are unaware that they have the disease.  If lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered (LGBT) people comprise 10 percent of the U.S. population, then 10 percent of people with diabetes are part of the LGBT community-about 2.5 million people.  (Another reason to participate in the 2010 census.)

Lack of equality has always been a problem as we all know, but when it comes to specific stories we realize just how hard we must fight, because our lack of rights  detrimentaly impact  every aspect of our lives.  When Jim went to a local emergency room  for kidney stones, he experienced an episode of hypoglycemia. While he was trying to get a nurse’s attention to explain what was happening, his blood sugar sank to a dangerous 19 mg/dL and he began to have a seizure. The emergency staff rushed to raise his blood sugar and admit him to the intensive care unit, but no one bothered to tell his spouse, John, who was scared and confused.   Yet another example of the loneliness of marriage for a gay couple in the US.

“ Diabetes is a stress in any relationship and  when you combine that with the added stresses of life as a lesbian or a gay man-whether you are open about it or not-there is a great need for LGBT people with diabetes and the partners who support them to receive services and information geared to their unique needs, “  Said John from DANG Foundation.   

With the help available in the myriad of articles and unique content provided by  pre-eminent sites like the Diabetes Health Website,  and an increased awareness of one’s right to fight…. my message is fight for your rights and fight for your health…and fight for your health so you can fight for your rights.

Blog by Melanie Nathan

Yes, men get breast cancer. Certainly men get it in smaller numbers than women do, but it is something that does happen. It even influenced an early episode of the series Family Guy where Louis Griffin discovers a lump in Peter’s breast. It turned out to be a fatty corpuscle, but, despite the humor of the episode, the reality is that men do get breast cancer. Yet, there is no guidelines on when a man should go into a doctor’s office to have his boobs pressed flat, folded and manipulated in order to find out if they have a lump in their breast. Alright, while a man getting a mammogram seems incredibly unlikely and even down right impossible, there is a serious lack of information and education regarding breast cancer in men.

Many people might find it hard to fathom the notion of men getting breast cancer, but there are 2000 confirmed cases of men getting it every year, and one in four of them die. Men are often more likely to be misdiagnosed with regards to breast cancer. Often times it is not caught until so late that it ends up being fatal. What is more, it may not be properly diagnosed even after it has hit the fatal stage. Breast cancer also changes as it spreads, which may make it harder to diagnose if not caught in the breast first. What it means is that, as understanding of the disease gets better, more men may be diagnosed with breast cancer per year than currently are.

It is a common institutional bias within both the political and medical establishment to view disorders and diseases as belonging to one group or another. With politicians it is an easy way of saying “hey, see, I support YOUR concerns” by throwing money into researching diseases and disorders that often strike many people outside the niche group. Within the medical establishment, it is a combination of different factors which make it appealing to simply box in disorders and diseases rather than investigate and educate as a whole.

It is this expediency, this institutional bias, which makes it all that much easier to throw the minority concerns under the train in order to get political results. It results in men dying of breast cancer, women dying of heart attacks, and straight men and women dying of AIDS related causes. It is an issue that comes up constantly, but is not often addressed or adequately resolved.

The John W. Nick Foundation has information regarding male breast cancer. As an additional note, not only is Kathleen Sebelius maintaining that women should still get their first mammogram at age 40, but many cancer physicians and societies as well.

The new guidelines released this week by the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force suggested that only women over 50 need to get routine mammograms as part of breast cancer screening and said the early screenings are causing excess biopsies, unnecessary anxiety and the discovery and treatment of tumors that would not cause problems if let alone. Many doctors and experts however object to these recommendations, and say the task force is sending conflicting messages to women about how they can prevent breast cancer.

Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, (D-FLA), a survivor of breast cancer, said she was “very concerned” that the recommendations conflict with those of other authorities, like the American Cancer Society.

“At a time when we are working to reform our health care system to provide greater access to preventative care,” Wasserman Schultz said in a statement, “these guidelines and the fact that they conflict with many of the recommendations from leading cancer organizations only adds to the confusion that so many women have when it comes to breast health.”

“I am concerned that women are being given differing messages about how to prevent breast cancer,” Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) said. “In addition to getting my own mammogram each year, I have been involved in public awareness campaigns to encourage other women my age to do so. I understand that there were many independent scientists involved in making this decision, but that there are also many respected medical experts that are disagreeing with the recommendations. I plan to seek some answers here so that women are getting a uniform message about how to protect themselves.”

Republicans meanwhile pointed out that the recommendations illustrated the dangers of a government role in medical decision-making and they raised the boogey man of health care rationing for woman.

“This is the little toe in the edge of the water,” said Representative Marsha Blackburn (R-TN). “This is where you start getting a bureaucrat between you and your physician.”

Democratic staffers on Capitol Hill acknowledged yesterday that the recommendations in the midst of negotiations over a health care overhaul were “not helpful,” and one staffer from Representative Tammy Baldwin’s (D- WIS) office told LGR that people over at the executive branch, “sometimes just don’t seem to be on the same page, with what is going on in congress or with their bosses.”

Secretary Of Health And Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, acknowledged in a statement that the recommendations, by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, had “caused a great deal of confusion and worry,” and emphasized that the task force “is an outside independent panel of doctors and scientists who make recommendations” that neither “set federal policy” nor “determine what services are covered by the federal government.”

“The task force has presented some new evidence for consideration,” Sebelius added, “but our policies remain unchanged. Indeed, I would be very surprised if any private insurance company changed its mammography coverage decisions as a result of this action.”

However Sebelius did not say in her statement the government would not eventually embrace the recommendations from the task force, which is appointed by her department, and said only that “there has been debate in this country for years” about the proper age and interval for breast cancer screening.

Women in the United States have the highest incidence rates of breast cancer in the world. Breast cancer is the second-most common cancer (after skin cancer) and the second-most common cause of cancer death (after lung cancer).

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The Stupak Amendment is discriminatory, extreme, and just plain wrong. At Lez Get Real we have been reporting and commenting on the Stupak Amendment, and we are not letting up – why? Because it will take away health insurance coverage that women already have. This would be a huge step back for women’s health. Now this together with the suggestion by Government Task Force regarding Breast Cancer screening at age 50 as the new recommendation is simply unacceptable and worthy of a revolution for our health!!! The mere fact that they can think this up is disturbing to me….

We support Senator Barbara Boxer’s (D-CA) launch of a petition because women must not be denied access to safe and legal medical procedures. If you want to join : click here -Senator Boxer wrote her supporters and saying: “For decades, a very difficult and delicate compromise has held firm: Women can use their own private funds for legal reproductive health care procedures, but federal funds cannot be used for abortion except in cases of rape, incest, or to protect the life of the mother. But in a stunning turn of events, anti-choice House members passed the Stupak Amendment as part of the health care reform bill and shattered that compromise. The House amendment would tell women who participate in the new health insurance exchange that they can’t even use their own funds to buy a policy that includes abortion coverage. We need to be sure that all our voices are heard clearly on this issue.”
Boxer asks: “How can we tell women that they will lose coverage that they already have? How can we tell women that they can’t buy insurance coverage for a legal health care procedure, even if it’s paid for with their own money?”

 SIGN THE PETITION and then visit our site in the next few days for my personal story on how Breast Cancer Screening in my forties saved my life…   

Blogged by: Melanie Nathan, nathan@privatecourts.com : Picture – Credit to Artist Benny Ovid, Tel Aviv, Israel – Thanks to  Dorit Israel, from her Personal Art Collection.

History nonetheless -as an unusually emotional Nancy Pelosi graced the gavel on a 220-215 House Vote – to cheers and tears and amidst a barage of defections.   I invite comments about the Reproductive Rights Amendment thrown in to produce the vote. 

 Visit  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOQ-Iw6_wTA&feature=player_embedded   

Blogged by MELANIE NATHAN, CEO of Private Courts, Inc. Consulting, mediation & private advocacy ; motivated by injustice, I blog about family law/mediation, politics, news and LGBT equality and anything that ‘tickles my fancy.’ Otherwise blogging as O-blog-dee-o-blog-da. Websites and blogs include: http://www.privatecourts.com; http://www.divorcemediators.us; www.oblogdeeoblogda.wordpress.com.

To: Ban Ki-moon (U.N. Secretary General)

Sponsored by: CARE go to http://change.org

To: Ban Ki-moon (U.N. Secretary General)

 Just weeks ago in the West African country of Guinea, countless women were brutally raped in a public stadium when soldiers stormed a peaceful protest. The world reacted with outrage, but Guinea is just the tip of the iceberg.

What happened in Guinea is a visible example of the violence and abuse that threatens women and girls all over the world. In the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, 36 women and girls are raped every day. This is the world’s shame.

You can do something to change it. Sign the petition at www.change.org to urge the U.N. Security Council to appoint a special representative now who can help hold government forces and armed groups accountable for stopping repeated gender-based violence, and assist survivors of rape and assault. This special representative was called for in a recently passed U.N. resolution to protect women and girls from sexual violence, but pressure is needed to ensure urgent action.

America is not far off in terms of the brutality. Shame USA – what in our culture breeds gang rapists that feel good about brutalizing a 15 year old, 100 pound child at her school dance for over 2.5 hours.  Its man vs. woman – its crimes against women .  Flagrant disregard for humanity. Selflish momentary instances of feeling powerful, which turns back upon itself because of itself;  and serves only as a constant endeavor because in truth those who suffer such loss of their own humanity can barely sustain that feeling of power; and so must compensate by perpetuating the crime.  Its unconscienable in Africa, America and anywhere. It has got to stop.  To my way of thinking omission and inaction is as bad as the bad action itself. If you can do something to stop crimes against humanity you are obligated to do so; and for us that means waking up to the call of our sisters. Silence is tantamount to participation.

Post by Melanie Nathan, Contact nathan@privatecourts.com
www.oblogdeeoblogda.wordpress.com; www.privatecourts.com

He also went further and lamented that part of the problem was that the disease was originally seen as striking only one specific part of the population. “It has been nearly three decades since this virus first became known. But for years, we refused to recognize it for what it was. It was coined a “gay disease.” Those who had it were viewed with suspicion. There was a sense among some that people afflicted by AIDS somehow deserved their fate and that it was acceptable for our nation to look the other way,” he said.

What President Obama signed was the fourth reauthorization of the bill. The program set up under the bill helps to provide individuals with the medicines and treatments they need to fight this disease.

On Monday, President Obama will issue new rules regarding travel for people with HIV/AIDS. Stating at the signing, “If we want to be the global leader in combating HIV/AIDS, we need to act like it. And that’s why, on Monday my administration will publish a final rule that eliminates the travel ban effective just
after the New Year. “

HIV/AIDS strikes millions of people irregardless of their sexual orientation. Many gay men are more likely to be tested with regards to the disease, and are, thus, more often able to catch it while many straight men tend not to be tested. This is what likely accounts for the disparity in numbers with regards to which group has the most cases.

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 “A lot of folks use Facebook to stay in touch with friends and family. For Sarah Palin, it’s a great way to spread lies about health insurance reform.  A few months back, Palin took to Facebook to declare that health reform would create “death panels,” and drive private insurers out of business — and nonpartisan fact-check sites and the independent Congressional Budget Office debunked those lies.

But that hasn’t stopped Sarah Palin. She’s back with a new Facebook note claiming that reform will raise costs on families and drive up deficits. Unfortunately for her, even the conservative “Tax Foundation” says those claims are false. “

So we’re calling out Sarah Palin, and taking to Facebook to debunk her lies on the very same pages she’s using to spread them.  Call Sarah Palin at 202-747-1812″

No more lies – it is not going to work anymore….

Refs: http://www.democrats.org/page/content/callemoutpalin

 Melanie Nathan -Quoting from Democratic Party Webpage and e-mail. Spread the word good lezgetrealpeeps- especially on your facebook sites!

HIV/AIDS appears to have arrived in the United States sometime between 1920 and 1950; however, the disease was not isolated and identified until the early 1980’s. More than 56,000 Americans are infected with HIV every year. The virus is not curable, but it is treatable, and the expense for the treatments can be a significant burden adding to the already physical and emotional trauma of the disease.

What Rep. Baldwin hopes to do is increase the funding for CARE and increase the reimbursement rate. Often those organizations which help the underinsured, uninsured, and indigent lack proper funding to help many of the people who are in need. They often receive grant money through the mechanism of the Ryan White CARE Act. Unfortunately, even with Medicare being relatively well run, the program cannot fund all of the needs of many of these organizations, and the economic downturn has severely undermined charity of almost all kinds while increasing the amount of people who are in need of those benefits.

The Ryan White Grantee Payment Equity Act (HR 3665) would increase the amount of money going to these organizations through the fund. This would help to fund these groups at a time when the need for their services is increasing both through increases in the numbers of people who have HIV/AIDS, and through the loss of jobs for those who have the disease but are able to work and get health insurance.

“As HIV/AIDS continues to disproportionately afflict low-income Americans, lack of financial resources should not prevent these individuals from receiving health care. I am proud to introduce legislation that will improve health care access for some of the most vulnerable in our society,” Rep. Baldwin stated in her press release regarding the submission of this bill.

“It is unjust – and at times unbelievable – that Americans tolerate a health care system in which the patients who desperately require care are the most hard-pressed to get it. When you have a disease like HIV/AIDS, but don’t have the insurance coverage or money to get the care you need, it’s a serious problem. HIV/AIDS is not a disease that can go without treatment, especially if those who have contracted it are to have any chance of living. We need the health care providers that receive funding through the CARE Act to fill the gaps in health insurance coverage and resources that leave HIV/AIDS patients vulnerable. I am proud to co-sponsor this legislation, which will expand funding to these providers, allowing them to care for the growing number of HIV/AIDS patients who are in need,” ,Congresswoman Gwen Moore (D-WI) stated in support of this measure.

“The Ryan White Grantee Payment Equity Act makes a critical investment in our health care workforce that provides care to HIV/AIDS patients, and reiterates this Congress’ commitment to the health and wellness of all Americans,” added Rep. Doris Matsui (D-CA). “Many HIV/AIDS patients struggle everyday to get access to the quality care they need and deserve. I applaud Congresswoman Baldwin for her leadership on this issue, and am proud to be an original co-sponsor of this important piece of legislation.”

The Ryan White Grantee Payment Equity Act has been referred to the House Energy and Commerce Committee upon which Rep. Baldwin currently sits.

This event will feature Minnesota Senator Al Frankin as well as Congressman Keith Ellison. Also attending the event will be White House Office of National AIDS Policy Director Jeffrey S. Crowley, and Hennepin County Commissioner Gail Dorfman.

The panel will begin at 6pm CT and run until 8pm CT. If you are interested in helping the White House create an effective HIV/AIDS policy, then be sure to call them and then attend.

The Zuhrah Shrine Event Center is located at:
2540 Park Avenue, S
Minneapolis, MN 55404
Phone: 612-871-3555

When I visited South Africa in 2000, I remember reading an article in the Johannesburg newspaper – the financial section- which predicted that HIV virus would infect 1 in 4 of the work force in South Africa by the year 2010. Well I think the statistic was reached five years early. It has been a place where HIV has spread rapidly and for many reasons. At the same time Africa presents a place of reference where by virtue of the vast numbers, research is can be of value. How and when we apply that research can take detours as the clash of culture and controversial issues complicate the advisories.

I picked this up off the CDC website and it sent me to an Article in the New York Times on line, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/24/health/policy/24circumcision.html article by Roni Carin Rabin which published this week; he reports that public health officials are contemplating the promotion of routine circumcision for all baby boys born in the United States, to reduce the spread of H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS. This is 2009. Rabin says that the “topic is a delicate one that has already generated controversy, even though a formal draft of the proposed recommendations, due out from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention by the end of the year, has yet to be released.”

In February 23, 2007 it was reported in Paris that trials showed that male circumcision more than halves the risk of HIV infection. The trials, conducted in Kenya and Uganda and earlier in South Africa, found that men who were uncircumcised were twice as likely to catch the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) compared with circumcised counterparts. The researchers have found that circumcision serves to protect the female partners of the tribes that were used in the studies. However it is clear that this did not take cognizance of sex between male and male where circumcision may not in fact impact the statistics.

In 2000 Robert Bailey of the University of Illinois, Chicago reported at the 13th International AIDS Conference about his studies of the Luo, a tribe of 3 million in Kenya who do not practice circumcision and who presented an unusually high percentage of HIV infection — around 30 percent in women and 25 percent in men. http://www.doh.gov.za/aids/docs/13conf00.html He joined other researchers at that time, saying it “may be time for health officials to think about promoting circumcision in Africa as a way of helping to prevent the spread of HIV. “ The data were so dramatic that the trials in Kenya and Uganda were apparently halted ahead of schedule, for it would have been ethically wrong to continue them.

Would promotion now in the US turn into more than mere promotion? Perhaps promotion per se is valuable as long as it serves an educational purpose, one that enables parents to use the information to make their own decision. However to what extent is the CDC required to “protect” society. If it makes its promotion more declaratory and possibly even mandatory in the same way as we are required to have certain immunizations.

I can only imagine the controversy if there were to be such a recommendation here in the USA, albeit at this late stage in the timeline of this research and these conclusions. Are we notoriously slow to protect the women in our society – to protect the female interest above the satisfaction of the male?

“Experts are also considering whether the surgery should be offered to adult heterosexual men whose sexual practices put them at high risk of infection. But they acknowledge that a circumcision drive in the United States would be unlikely to have a dramatic impact: the procedure does not seem to protect those at greatest risk here, men who have sex with men.” Again what about the women?

Till Newell and Marie-Louise Barnighausen calculate that in KwaZulu-Natal province, where HIV incidence is very high but circumcision rates very low, 35,000 new infections could have been prevented in 2007 alone if the 2.5 million men there had been circumcised.

Experts in asserting this as preventative for Africa say they implementing circumcision should be approached with caution, because of how different cultures perceive it – some as ritual into manhood whereas others see it as emasculating. http://www.aegis.com/NEWS/AFP/2007/AF070284.html

In the US however the cultural considerations are vastly different. One can only imagine that the controversy will revolve around the comfort and satisfaction of the young man, the impact on him later and the ideal that perhaps he would consider circumcision of his own accord as a choice when he is older.

Rabin reflects on the fact that in the US circumcision rates have fallen in part because the American Academy of Pediatrics, in setting the guidelines for infant care, has not endorsed routine circumcision. “Its policy has said that circumcision is “not essential to the child’s current well-being,” and as a result, many state Medicaid programs do not cover the operation. The academy is revising its guidelines, however, and is likely to do away with the neutral tone in favor of a more encouraging policy stating that circumcision has health benefits even beyond H.I.V. prevention, like reducing urinary tract infections for baby boys, said Dr. Michael Brady, a consultant to the American Academy of Pediatrics. “

I wonder how the anti-circumcision mothers would feel when it comes to weighing up their son’s satisfaction versus their daughters’ safety?

This is going to find an interesting path and maybe even something else to add to the healthcare debate. Who is going to pay? Surgery vs. AIDS Drugs…. ?

Blogged by MELANIE NATHAN, CEO of Private Courts, Inc. Consulting, mediation & private advocacy ; motivated by injustice, I blog about family law/mediation, politics, news and LGBT equality and anything that ‘tickles my fancy.’ Otherwise blogging as O-blog-dee-o-blog-da. Websites and blogs include: http://www.privatecourts.com; http://www.divorcemediators.us; www.oblogdeeoblogda.wordpress.com.

According to Sweden’s English language newspaper, The Local, the problem stems in part from a 2005 change in laws governing fertility treatment at Swedish hospitals. That change granted lesbian couples the right to receive fertility treatments that previously were only offered only to married women or those who were in registered heterosexual partnerships.

Inger Bryman, head of gynecology and reproductive medicine at Gothenburg’s Sahlgrenska University Hospital said, “We had estimated an increase of around 25 couples per year after the law change. Now there are 90 couples in line.”

However, Swedish lesbians are not the only cause of the sperm shortages.

Swedish law allows children born from artificial insemination to learn their biological father’s identity once they turn 18. That fact has discouraged donors, thus adding to the crisis.

However, the major reason for the shortage say Swedish health officials is due to poor quality sperm, either related to deterioration while being frozen or to medical conditions.

Because all this, Bryman explained, the wait can be up to 18 months and her hospital is unable to comply with Sweden’s healthcare guarantee law, which says that patients must receive treatment within a reasonable amount of time and last spring, the hospital started an ad campaign to actively recruit new donors in an effort to reduce wait times.

With the sperm shortage, and wait times, many Swedish couples have now chosen to seek treatment in other countries, chiefly in Denmark or Finland.

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These events, hosted by the White House Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP) will offer the public a chance to provide input as the White House works to fulfill the President’s pledge to develop a National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS).

Obama said he believes that the country must re-focus national attention on the domestic epidemic and he has articulated three goals for the NHAS: reducing HIV incidence, increasing access to care and optimizing health outcomes, and reducing HIV-related health disparities. “HIV remains an serious challenge to the American people and I am committed to developing an effective National HIV/AIDS Strategy,” said President Obama in a press release.

The President also said the National HIV/AIDS Community Discussions will provide an opportunity for members of the public to give their input on how we can best address the issue of HIV/AIDS. “With the insights from communities across the country, we will have a strategy that is focused on the goals of reducing HIV incidence, getting people living with HIV/AIDS into care and improving health outcomes,” said Obama.

There are more than 56,000 new HIV infections occurring in the United States each year, which works out to about one person every 9.5 minutes and about 1 in 5 people infected with HIV don’t even know they have the virus.

The White House said in a press release, the national HIV/AIDS community discussions are just one mechanism for engaging the American people and obtaining input. The Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA) will also provide input, and public comments submitted to the ONAP website will also be taken into consideration.

ONAP is part of the White House Domestic Policy Council and is tasked with coordinating the continuing efforts of the United States government to reduce the number of HIV infections across the U.S., and respond to the needs of people living with HIV/AIDS.

Also according to the press release, other cities in which communities discussions will be held are: Washington, DC; New York, NY; San Francisco, Oakland, and Los Angeles, CA; Houston, TX; Albuquerque, NM; Jackson, MS; Fort Lauderdale, FL; Minneapolis, MN; Columbia, SC; Puerto Rico; and the Virgin Islands.

Specific dates will be announced later said the White House.

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A recently done study by researchers at UCLA has found that nearly twice as many gay, lesbian and bisexual Californians sought mental health or substance abuse treatment last year than did straights.

The study, which looked at data from a survey of more than 2,000 Californians, found 48.5 percent of gay, lesbian or bisexual individuals said they received treatment during the past year, as opposed with 22.5 percent of heterosexuals.

The study also found that lesbians and bisexual women were most likely to seek treatment while heterosexual men are the least likely to look for help.

“It is well known that health services utilization is greater among women generally. Here we have shown that minority sexual orientation is also an important consideration. Lesbians and bisexual women appear to be approximately twice as likely as heterosexual women to report having received recent treatment for mental health or substance use disorders,” Researcher Susan Cochran said in a news release.

The researchers speculate the increased use of healthcare might be the result of higher exposure to discrimination, violence and other stressful life events.

“The pervasive and historically rooted societal pathologizing of homosexuality may contribute to this propensity for treatment by construing homosexuality and issues associated with it as mental health problems,” Cochran added.

Other studies have shown that LGBT young face daily threats to their mental and physical health, that range from anti-gay taunts to beatings in their schools and communities. Research indicates that 31 percent of gay youth were threatened or injured at school in just the last year.

Also because of a lack of safe places to socialize, the LGBT community has in the past had to rely on gay and lesbian bars as a place to meet potential friends and partners.

The study appears in the current issue BMC Psychiatry

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Officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are currently seeking public comment through Aug. 17 on the proposal, which would remove HIV from the list of diseases that can bar entry to the United States and do away with HIV testing as part of medical exams for permanent residence and travel visas.

“We’re trying to end the stigma and the discriminatory practice for a disease that doesn’t warrant exclusion for coming into this country,” said the director of the CDC’s division of global migration and quarantine, Dr. Martin Cetron. “We have to appreciate this is not a threat we face from abroad.”

While Dr Cetron acknowledged, “HIV is clearly a public health disease of significance,” he added that simply letting somebody with HIV into the country does not “immediately pose a risk to the public.

So far the reaction to lifting the ban on the CDC’s comment board has been mixed, and critics of the proposed regulation change are expressing concern about the cost of lifting the ban or that infected immigrants and travelers could spread the disease.

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Senator John Kerry D-MA, a key supporter of the proposal to remove the ban, said in a statement, “I sincerely hope we can continue to work in a bipartisan manner with the help of the public health, religious, LGBT and immigration groups to make this proposed rule final as soon as possible.”

The proposed change comes more than a year after Congress voted to repeal the 1987 restrictions on HIV-positive immigrants as part of a package of AIDS reforms proposed by former President George W. Bush.

About 1 million people immigrate to the United States each year, and about 6.6 million people visit using nonimmigrant visas, according to State Department statistics.

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Mike Wallace talks to President Ford, Judy Roberts (injured by the 1976 swine flu vaccine, paralyzed similar to Gardasil injury), Dr. David Sencer, Mary Tyler Moore, and others about the Swine Flu vaccine of 1976. The admitted lack of safety and informed consent to the public, even as TV ads frightened American citizens into getting the shot, is just plain shocking.

Do you think anything has changed today? Please take the information in this article to help you make an informed choice.

“60 MINUTES, Sunday Nov 4, 1979

“SWINE FLU”

MIKE WALLACE: The flu season is upon us. Which type will we worry about
this year, and what kind of shots will we be told to take? Remember the
swine flu scare of 1976? That was the year the U.S. government told us
all that swine flu could turn out to be a killer that could spread
across the nation, and Washington decided that every man, woman and
child in the nation should get a shot to prevent a nation-wide outbreak,
a pandemic.

Well 46 million of us obediently took the shot, and now 4,000 Americans
are claiming damages from Uncle Sam amounting to three and a half
billion dollars because of what happened when they took that shot. By
far the greatest number of the claims – two thirds of them are for
neurological damage, or even death, allegedly triggered by the flu shot.

We pick up the story back in 1976, when the threat posed by the swine
flu virus seemed very real indeed.

PRESIDENT GERALD FORD; This virus was the cause of a pandemic in 1918
and 1919 that resulted in over half a million deaths in the United
States, as well as 20 million deaths around the world.

WALLACE: Thus the U.S. government’s publicity machine was cranked into
action to urge all America to protect itself against the swine flu
menace. (Excerpt from TV commercial urging everyone to get a swine flu
shot.) One of those who did roll up her sleeve was Judy Roberts. She was
perfectly healthy, an active woman, when, in November of 1976, she took
her shot. Two weeks later, she says, she began to feel a numbness
starting up her legs.

JUDY ROBERTS: And I joked about it at that time. I said I’ll be numb to
the knees by Friday if this keeps up. By the following week, I was
totally paralyzed.”

Kathleen Sebellius is telling us now that they will begin testing in early August, and try to have the vaccine out by September/October. I just don’t think 4 to 8 weeks of testing merits the level of safety they claim. Also, they are recommending this for children who are very young, and who have proven to be in study after study the ones who have the worst reactions to these vaccinations. One study finds that children who recieve the seasonal flu shot are 3x more likely to be hospitalized for influenza. Consumer Health reports:

“Most children are vaccinated three times by the time they enter grade school, the first in infancy, the second before kindergarten and then re-vaccination before entering Grade 1. The accumulation of these vaccines is what is killing our children and suppressing their immune systems. Are children dying of vaccinations? Absolutely.”

Toxins found in vaccines include:

• Mercury (Thimerosal):

“Most parents blieve that mercury or Thimerosal is no longer present in vaccines, siince it became a concern several years ago.

However, Thimerosal is still present as a preservative in the influenza (flu) vaccine, often given to pregnant women and young children, and in some tetanus shots.”

• Aluminum:

“Several childhood immunizations contain aluminum, which helps to make the vaccine more effective. These vaccines include the DTaP vaccination, the hepatitis B vaccination, the HPV vaccination, and the Hib vaccination, all of which are given several times to babies under twelve months. Neil Z. Miller explains that “babies who follow the CDC immunization schedule are injected with nearly 5000 mcg (5mg!) of aluminum by 18 months of age” (Aluminum in Vaccines: A Neurological Gamble, PDF file, 2009).

This should raise some alarm, as Dr. Sears notes that “aluminum can build up to toxic levels in the bloodstream, bones and brain when injected.” Miller quotes the American Academy of Pediatrics, who say aluminum can interfere “with a variety of cellular and metabolic processes in the nervous system and in other tissues.” Miller notes that the CDC, WHO and FDA are aware of concerns connected with aluminum – but ignore this hazard in vaccines.”

• & More:

“The NVIC notes that vaccines may contain, in differing amounts depending on the vaccine, “lab altered viruses and bacteria; … formaldehyde; … monosodium glutamate (MSG); hydrochloric acid; hydrogen peroxide; lactose; gelatine; yeast protein; egg albumin; … antibiotics; unidentified contaminants.” These ingredients are present in vaccines in very small quantities. However, Dr. Sears notes that formaldehyde is carcinogenic and that MSG “can affect how the brain functions” and cause nerve tissue damage when injected.

Vaccines have been found to also be ineffective because the virus strain mutates by the time everyone gets the shot anyway. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has poured so much effort into getting the truth out about vaccines, I hope you’ll check out this article on Huffington Post.

“People will argue that ADEM is rare; that vaccines “only” caused PDD in Bailey; and that this was a legal and not scientific decision. The problem is we don’t know how prevalent ADEM is because we never looked; while “PDD” is interchangeable with “ASD” in the language of public health. And, the three cases that lost were also “legal” decisions.

Robert Kennedy, Jr. and I would love nothing more than to reassure parents that the nation’s current vaccine program is 100% safe for all kids, and that zero credible evidence has been presented to link vaccines with autism. But that simply isn’t true — as at least two court cases have found.”

“

HOW TO BECOME ACTIVE

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People, thanks to the economic crisis, are finally waking up to the fact that we NEED to do this.

MSNBC Reports:

“For the most part, what we’ve seen over the past 20 years has been incremental,” said Norm Stamper, a former Seattle police chief now active with Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. “What we’ve seen in the past six months is an explosion of activity, fresh thinking, bold statements and penetrating questions.”

Some examples:

• Numerous prominent political leaders, including California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and former Mexican presidents, have suggested it is time for open debate on legalization.
• Lawmakers in at least three states are considering joining the 13 states that have legalized pot for medical purposes. Massachusetts voters last fall decided to decriminalize possession of an ounce or less of pot; there are now a dozen states that have taken such steps.
• In Congress, Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, and Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., are among several lawmakers contending that marijuana decriminalization should be studied in re-examining what they deem to be failed U.S. drug policy. “Nothing should be off the table,” Webb said.
• National polls show close to half of American adults are now open to legalizing pot — a constituency encompassing today’s college students and the 60-something baby boomers who popularized the drug in their own youth. In California last month, a statewide Field Poll for the first time found 56 percent of voters supporting legalization.

That poll pleased California Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, a San Francisco Democrat who introduced a bill in February to legalize marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol — taxing sales to adults while barring possession by anyone under 21. Ammiano hopes for a vote by early next year and contends the bill would generate up to $1.3 billion in revenue for his deficit-plagued state.”

Now there was less support than that for Prop 8, and I sure as hell can’t get married.

The state of California, the world’s 8th biggest economy, is going bankrupt (except a state can’t even file for bankcruptcy). Maybe if we move the state capitol to Wall Street we can get some help? It’s ridiculous that the Obama administration feels they have the right to blow billions on the car industry, just to drive them into 60% government ownership, but you can’t help California out with a lousy twenty four billion? You’ve got trillions for the banks, and nothing for the people of California? The administration thinks we can live without it, we’ll just have to cut some services. Yeah, like teachers, and healthcare. Just “services”, right? Nothing important.

David Cho, Brady Dennis and Karl Vick reported in The Washington Post:

California Controller John Chiang, a Democrat, warned last week that the state was “less than 50 days away from a meltdown of state government.”

While its fiscal crisis is severe, experts say the state is unlikely to default on what it owes, even if it runs out of cash. It can raise money through taxes and other means to assure repayment of its debt. Most likely are massive cuts in public services.

“After June 15th, every day of inaction jeopardizes our state’s solvency and our ability to pay schools and teachers and to keep hospitals and ERs open,” Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) said Friday.

Problems unique to California have made it hard for the state to find a way out of its crisis.”

So a unique way out of it makes the most sense! Check out these great organizations to find out how you can get involved. I am not exaggerating when I say that we need to save California, and this could do it. Hell, it could jumpstart our whole economy! Its the most American thing to do, be creative, be inginuitive. They do say that neccesity is the mother of invention, right? And hey, that hemp grower Thomas Jefferson did alright for us, don’t you think?

NORML

LEgalize.org

The national conversation about the dangers of medicating our children is heating up once again. Personally, I’ve always been wary of putting kids on drugs. Its just such a sensitive time for our bodies, and we’re growing so much, it just seems like an unnecessary risk to give these chemical cocktails to them. I mean, can you imagine growing up on pills from before you can even remember. Does that set you up to be dependent on Big Pharma for the rest of your life? Just my thoughts, I guess worries would be more correct to say.

This new study confuses me more than ever. The study shows a risk of sudden death because of really young kids taking these ADHD drugs, but then it says its not a reason to stop taking them. They say the test was too limited to be sure enough to stop the widespread use. While I definitely understand that no one should ever ever ever suddenly stop taking a prescription, it does make you wonder how we got to this point in our culture. When I was growing up, I thought it was a big time faux-pa to drug your kid. Everybody I knew was pretty hard set against it. How did this change-over happen? Anyway, here’s some info on the study:

By Salynn Boyles @ WebMD Health News

Is the problem in the prescribing and monitoring?

“On November 17, 2008, on the popular Furious Seasons website, Philip Dawdy reported that Zyprexa had killed 3,455 people between 1997 and early 2008, based on a review of an FDA staff document with a summary of adverse events in the agency’s database.

From 1993 through the first three months of 2008, 1,207 children on Risperdal suffered serious adverse events, including 31 who died, according to a report in the November 18, 2008 New York Times.

The deaths included a 9-year-old child, receiving Risperdal for the unapproved use of ADHD, who suffered a stroke twelve days after starting the drug. At least 11 of the deaths were in children whose treatment was for an unapproved use.” ~By Evelyn Pringle at CounterPunch.

And what really struck me as I researched this was the number of kids in the Foster Care System on these drugs. In state after state the numbers were upwards of 50%.

AJC.com writes:

“Children and teens taking ADHD stimulant medications were seven times more likely to die suddenly than their peers, the study found.

“What we found — to our surprise — is that even if you take out confounding factors, the association between stimulant use and sudden death was still significant,” said study author Madelyn Gould, a professor of clinical epidemiology in psychiatry at Columbia University/New York State Psychiatric Institute in New York City. “I’m confident the association is real and significant, but it’s very rare.”

The researchers sifted through mortality data from 1985 through 1996, and found 564 cases of sudden death that occurred in children aged 7 to 19, and they compared them to 564 youths who had been killed as passengers in automobile accidents.

After ruling out factors such as a history of known cardiac problems; known causes of death, such as asthma or an accidental death; and other conditions, such as sickle cell anemia or cerebral palsy, Gould and her colleagues found only 10 sudden, unexplained deaths in children taking stimulant medications.

When they compared those 10 youths to age-matched controls who had died in car crashes, they found that the odds of sudden death were 7.4 times higher for children taking stimulant medications.

“Stimulants do increase blood pressure, and there have been reports of them changing heart rates,” noted Gould.

“This report is quite helpful,” said one of the authors of the accompanying editorial, Dr. Benedetto Vitiello, a psychiatrist and chief of the child and adolescent treatment intervention branch at the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health. “It rings a bell for everyone to be more attentive and less cavalier about the use of these drugs.”

And then In my research on the foster kids angle of this, I was horrified to see this headline on MSNBC: AIDS VACCINE Tested On Foster Children from back in ‘05. Obviously, there are some wolves in the healthcare industry who see these poor kids as defenseless guinea pigs.

“The research was conducted in at least seven states — Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, Colorado and Texas — and involved more than four dozen different studies. The foster children ranged from infants to late teens, according to interviews and government records.

Several studies that enlisted foster children reported patients suffered side effects such as rashes, vomiting and sharp drops in infection-fighting blood cells as they tested antiretroviral drugs to suppress AIDS or other medicines to treat secondary infections.

In one study, researchers reported a “disturbing” higher death rate among children who took higher doses of a drug. That study was unable to determine a safe and effective dosage.”

Sick. How is it that there are scientists who can carry out this kind of experimentation? I just can’t imagine ever doing that to a child. This is certainly not the way to help kids. I think the real problem with the “Healthcare” Industry is that they really seem more interested in paying off corporations than helping patients.

Again, I want to make it abundantly clear that it is critically important not to stop use of any prescription suddenly. Always consult your doctor if you feel the need to step of the medication safely. Suddenly stopping can even prove to be fatal, so please, just take the time to educate yourself, and talk with your doctor.

“Almost half of tested samples of commercial high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) contained mercury, which was also found in nearly a third of 55 popular brand-name food and beverage products where HFCS is the first- or second-highest labeled ingredient, according to two new U.S. studies.”~ Washington Post.

Mercury causes brain damage. I kind of figured somebody was saying something bad about corn syrup since all those adds saying how it was good for you and natural popped up. The FDA is a joke, and to prove it to yourself, here’s an experiment you can do at home:

“”Even at low levels methylmercury can harm the developing brain. The last thing we should intentionally do is add to it,” Wallinga added, in an MSNBC article also covering the story. I think we’ve seen the gutting of the FDA under the Bush administration, and we’re suffering the consequences. We should not be worrying about poison in our soda, salmonella in our tomatoes and spinach, and hormones in our milk.

Our way of creating, and safeguarding our food supply is changing dramatically day by day. Companies like Monsanto are now patenting living organisms, like the corn they are being forced to grow in Iraq. Monsanto, also an Obama supporter, has been destroying farmers around the world with their mutant GMO seed. Did you realize that you’ve probably already eaten Gentically modified food? Did you know they’re pushing hard just to get labels on beef from a GMO cow? I’ve got a container of organic milk in the fridge bragging right on the front label how there’s no cloned cow milk in it!

There is a lot to look into. But we all have a responsibility to ourselves, and our families to get involved in this issue. New laws are being written that hurt our agriculture, not help it. You can do something about it! Get in contact with your local representatives. I know we’re about to start knowing these guys on a first name basis, we have to contact them about so much stuff, but that’s what they’re there for!

The press release from the Human Rights Campaign is below:

Report Shows Healthcare Industry Lags in Addressing Needs of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Patients

Transgender community especially vulnerable to discrimination, says report issued by Human Rights Campaign Foundation and Gay and Lesbian Medical Association

WASHINGTON – The Human Rights Campaign Foundation, the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization, and the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association, the nation’s largest association of LGBT healthcare professionals, today released the third annual Healthcare Equality Index (HEI), a national report that sets benchmarks and highlights best practices in healthcare facility policies for LGBT Americans. The release coincides with the annual observance of National Hospital Week. To view the report, visit: www.hrc.org/HEI.

“While many facilities are leading the way in fairness for LGBT patients and their families, on the whole, the healthcare industry is failing to adequately address the needs of our community,” said Human Rights Campaign Foundation President Joe Solmonese. “But tools like the HEI can turn this trend around. By helping to remove barriers and create truly welcoming healthcare environments, we can build a stronger, healthier community.”

A key finding in the 2009 report is the dramatic disparity between the number of patient non-discrimination policies inclusive of sexual orientation and those inclusive of gender identity. Less than seven percent of participating facilities protect patients from discrimination based on gender identity, while nearly three-quarters of participants provide these protections based on sexual orientation. This finding is symptomatic of the healthcare discrimination faced by transgender Americans every day, from the explicit denial of healthcare services to insensitive remarks by medical staff.

“Tragically, the importance of protecting transgender patients and their families from healthcare discrimination is made clear to us time and time again when we hear stories of discrimination,” said transgender health advocate and HEI Advisory Council Member Dr. Rebecca Allison, a cardiologist practicing in Arizona. “As healthcare providers, we have the responsibility to ensure that all of our patients are given the culturally competent care they need and the respect they deserve. The policies and practices highlighted by the HEI provide a starting point for ensuring transgender competence.”

Ten of the 166 participants answered “yes” to each of the survey’s main criterion which applied to them, thereby establishing a set of model policies that will serve the entire healthcare industry. The participation of all facilities is appreciated and seen as indicative of a commitment to furthering healthcare equality for LGBT patients and employees.

“We believe the growing level of participation we’re seeing by hospitals and healthcare facilities across the country reflects a genuine interest in the healthcare industry to better understand and address the specific needs of LGBT patients.” said Jason Schneider, MD, President of the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association. “We’re encouraged by this level of participation, and believe that the HEI is moving the healthcare industry toward policies, standards, and training that will ensure equal treatment for the LGBT community.”

“We at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston are thrilled to have participated in the HEI survey in 2009, and we vigorously embrace the commitment to inclusion and diversity in healthcare that it embodies,” said Dr. Michael Gustafson, BWH’s senior vice president for Clinical Excellence. “And while we are proud of our perfect HEI score, we are equally gratified that the process of self-assessment has stimulated significant new quality improvement activity to further bolster our care policies and practices for both LGBT patients and our LGBT staff.”

Other key findings of the HEI include:

· Visitation Policies. The HEI survey has identified model visitation policies that are explicitly inclusive of the LGBT community. These model policies will set the standard for credit on these questions in the future.
· Advance Healthcare Directives. All HEI-participating facilities have compliance policies requiring the honoring of legally-valid advance healthcare directives. Unfortunately, LGBT individuals come forward with tragic stories of hospitals failing to recognize these directives, reflecting a disconnect between the existence of written policies and the actual implementation of these policies on the part of all personnel. Future HEI surveys will focus on staff training related to advance healthcare directives as a means to eliminating this disconnect.
· Cultural Competency Training. Seventy-two percent of participating facilities provide cultural competency training addressing sexual orientation and healthcare issues relevant to lesbian, gay and bisexual community. Seventy-one percent of participating facilities provide cultural competency training addressing gender identity and healthcare issues relevant to transgender community.
· Employment Non-Discrimination Policies. Ninety-eight percent of the participating facilities bar employment discrimination based on sexual orientation, while only 63 percent of those policies include “gender identity or expression” or “gender identity.”

The report is based on responses to an online survey, conducted October through December 2008, addressing patient non-discrimination and visitation policies; cultural competency training; recognition of legal documents between same-sex partners; and the protection of LGBT employees through fair employment policies. The responses in the HEI 2009 report represent the policies of 166 facilities from across the country, including 93 hospitals and 73 clinics.

“We thank the participating facilities for their willingness to review their policies affecting the LGBT community, and laud them for the remarkable work they’ve already done,” said Solmonese.

In addition to the report, the HRC Foundation is releasing a new resource for healthcare lawyers and administrators entitled, “Breaking Down Barriers: An Administrator’s Guide to State Law & Best Policy Practice for LGBT Healthcare Access.” Included in the document is an explanation of the issues most relevant to the equal treatment of the LGBT community, including hospital visitation access and medical decision-making rights. The document provides model policies and best practice recommendations, as well as a review of the hospital policies submitted by HEI participants and research into relevant state healthcare law. The document is available for download: http://www.hrc.org/issues/12668.htm.

The Human Rights Campaign Foundation is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. By inspiring and engaging all Americans, HRC strives to end discrimination against LGBT citizens and realize a nation that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all.

The Gay and Lesbian Medical Association has been working since 1981 to ensure equality in healthcare for LGBT patients and healthcare providers, through advocacy, education, research and patient referrals.

Lezzymom has two kids and a wonderful partner. Her political commentary has appeared on C-Span and CSPAN.org. Visit her Lezzymom blog for more of her insights.

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Riots exploding in Europe, the economy continuing it’s endless plunge, air force one and fighter jets terrorizing New York? I mean what is going on here? And then this Swine Flu stuff on top of it?

Remember the old system of constant reporting the color code of terror all day every day? Remember: “We don’t know when it’s going to happen, but it’s going to happen!” Remember that? Now it’s: “This wasn’t the big one, but next fall we’re going to have the greatest crisis human kind has ever faced! It’s coming!”

I am not trying to be one of these fear mongers. I am not trying to scare you into buying something, or doing something for my benefit. I am simply trying to say that this company that makes this stuff is criminal, and should not be trusted.

The company that has requested to make the swine flu vaccine is called Baxter.  On March 6th 2009 multiple sources, including the Times of India, reported that they sent out the virus H5N1 to labs instead of a regular human flu in several different countries. The scientists who discovered this were shocked that they were shooting up their lab rats with a virus capable of mutating into a global killer, especially since they had already been using a human flu strain on them. That kind of cross contamination would have had grave consequences like… creating a virus like swine flu.

Baxter is supposedly under investigation for this by the WHO, but they do not seem all that concerned. It is, at the very least, criminally negligent. Do not trust these guys with your health, I’m telling you. Do not let them scare you into vaccinating your kids.

There is no current vaccine that will work against Swine Flu. That includes Tamiflu (which is being reported to cause severe mental disorders in teens).

If you go to the WHO website, they advise you:

The best scientific evidence available today is incomplete but suggests that seasonal vaccines will confer little or no protection against influenza A(H1N1).

All the hype to go get flu shots is nonsense. History does repeat itself.

In 1976, the first outbreak of Swine Flue killed just one person, but the vaccine killed twenty-five, and sickened thousands more. Don’t believe me? How about congressman Ron Paul, he’s in the government, he should know right?

In 2006 the UK  announced plans to inoculate every person in the country with Baxter’s vaccines in the event of a pandemic. Here in the states, they’re running mass inoculation practice drills on children in Alaska.

Please remember parents, that there is NO LAW that can require you to have your children shot up with this stuff. Do not be bullied. Do not be coerced by fear tactics, or threats. Make your own decision, and never let anyone make it for you.

Jenime is an artist living in the SF bay area. You can watch her musings and ravings any time by visiting her channel on YouTube.