Bruce E. Smail, CEO & Founder SJCLLC

On my seventh anniversary, I wrote a blog entry about “Reflections of My Seven Year Journey with HIV” (click on the hyperlink to read my story.) The sharing of my story is an opportunity to understand some of the challenges of HIV and understanding how decisions may impact your life.

Words of Wisdom: If you think you don’t have to pay attention to HIV, think again!!! If you are having sex (oral, vaginal, anal) or re-using needles — YOU ARE AT RISK. While the risk varies depending on behavior and whether someone is positive — the reality is that we never know who is positive. Some may share — some may not share — some may not know. The responsibility RESTS IN YOUR HANDS. We can only be responsible for our own behavior. Take a moment today — read my story — check out the latest HIV statistics — refresh your memory of safer sex practices, condoms, female condoms, dental dams, and clean needles. Get tested regularly.

Last week’s broadcast opened the dialogue on “Heterosexual Views on Gays & Lesbians in the Virgin Islands.” Beyond Empowerment took a big risk in raising a topic that is often silenced in the Virgin Islands. After calling into last week’s broadcast and follow-up discussions with the host, Charlene Springer, this week will provide a LGBT perspective to the LGBT Community in the Virgin Islands.

I will be joined by a colleague and we will share our stories and perspectives of the LGBT community in the Virgin Islands. It is a rare opportunity to hear personal stories and perspectives. We will also provide our professional experiences in LGBT and HIV/AIDS issues.

I encourage you to review the HIV/AIDS information on this blog. It will give you some perspective of the national numbers. Some of the issues we will also discuss will be found on some key national websites: 

The National Gay & Lesbian Task Force - provides various studies on a multitude of LGBT issues.

The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs - provides information on violence against the LGBT community.

The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention – provides the latest information on the HIV/AIDS pandemic in the United States.

Key Issues:

The following charts (2009_USVI_HIVAIDS_AllCharts) were created based on The United States Virgin Islands HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report – Cumulative Cases Reported up to 2009. Data was provided by the VI Department of Health on 9/22/2010.

The results of a study (PEDIATRICS Vol. 123 No. 1 January 2009, pp. 346-352), “Family Rejection as a Predictor of Negative Health Outcomes in White and Latino Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Young Adults, ” indicate the following:

Higher rates of family rejection were significantly associated with poorer health outcomes. On the basis of odds ratios, lesbian, gay, and bisexual young adults who reported higher levels of family rejection during adolescence were 8.4 times more likely to report having attempted suicide, 5.9 times more likely to report high levels of depression, 3.4 times more likely to use illegal drugs, and 3.4 times more likely to report having engaged in unprotected sexual intercourse compared with peers from families that reported no or low levels of family rejection. Latino men reported the highest number of negative family reactions to their sexual orientation in adolescence.

The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs 2009 Report found that LGBT domestic/intimate partner violence reports rose 15% since 2008 and is a pervasive social problem at a time when LGBTQ-specific programs were losing staff or closing altogether due to the economic crisis. In 2009 NCAVP document 6 murders related to LGBTQ domestic/intimate partner violence, representing a 50% rise since 2007.

The National Gay & Lesbian Task Force’s “An Epidemic of Homelessness” reported that:

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates that the number of homeless and runaway youth ranges from 575,000 to 1.6 million per year. Our analysis of the available research suggests that between 20 percent and 40 percent of all homeless youth identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or trangender (LGBT). Given that 3 percent and 5 percent of the U.S. population identifies as lesbian, gay, or bisexual, it is clear that LGBT youth experience homelessness at a disproportionate rate.

I will update this blog after the presentation and provide additional links as necessary. Many thanks to Beyond Empowerment for its leadership in discussing this important issue for the Virgin Islands.

1. Florida
2. Georgia
3. New York
4. Louisiana
5. Puerto Rico
6. U.S. Virgin Islands
7. North Carolina
8. Mississippi
9. New Jersey
10. Tennessee

1. Miami, Fl
2. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA
3. Memphis, TN-MS-AR
4. Jacksonville, FL
5. Baton Rouge, LA
6. Orlando, FL
7. New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, LA
8. New York, NY-NJ-PA
9. Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord, NC-SC
10. Jackson, MS

Paul Kawata, Executive Director - NMAC. Photo - MetroWeekly.com

A fellow colleague in the struggle, Paul Kawata - Executive Director of the National Minority AIDS Council, shared a personal experience at a HIV/AIDS summit that demonstrated the impact of stigma on HIV/AIDS.

Please read his story — Why the Prop 8 Decision Should Be Important to the HIV/AIDS Community.

We often look at issues from a singular perspective. Most of the time, issues are multi-layered and multi-faceted. You can’t look at HIV/AIDS without considering several other factors that make the issue complex. Kawata’s story shares the challenges of this work. Just image, attending a HIV/AIDS summit as a gay man, experiencing a verbal attack from a participant, receiving negative messages about your sexual orientation, and recommendations that HIV funds be redirected to reparative therapy for gay men. Kawata’s message of equality between same-sex relationships and heterosexual relationships is critical in valuing the different realities of all Americans.

As I said in another posting, the Prop 8 issue allowed the majority to legalize discrimination of a minority group. The federal judge made a very important decision when he overturned the Prop 8. The decision affects all groups but it is important to remember that sexual orientation does not equal heterosexuals only. Our laws, based on heterosexual perspectives, rewards that predominant group. It is time that we broaden our reality of sexual orientations and find ways that marriage is open for people who are gay, lesbian, and bisexual as well.

When we value all aspects of one’s identity — we create a safer and healthier environment. It allows people to love themselves and feel valued in our society. It brings us closer to Kawata’s assertion that “when your life has value, you are more likely to use a condom.”

Breaking the cycle of stigma and oppression is all of our responsibility. Prop 8 impacts more than just gay marriage.

A posting on Medical News Now website, HBCU Students Willing To Accept Rapid HIV Testing; Those Most Likely To Consent Have A High Perceived Risk Of Infection, provides a quick summary of findings and recommendations. Please visit the website for a quick summary and the journal for the published study.

The following are excerpts from the posting on Medical News Today —

Summary of Findings:

• In the full sample of 161 students, 84 percent perceived their risk of HIV to be low, yet 40 percent had unprotected vaginal sex and 16 percent had unprotected anal sex during the previous 3 months.
• Barriers to agreeing to undergo HIV testing included the effect of results on a current relationship, lack of information about local HIV test sites, and fear that the results would not remain confidential.
• Eighty-one students accepted the offer of rapid HIV testing, and 77 percent of students who had a high perceived risk of HIV underwent testing.
• In addition, 59 percent of participants who had unprotected vaginal sex and 62 percent who had unprotected anal sex during the previous 3 months accepted the offer of HIV testing.

Comments from Authors —These findings suggest that testing on college campuses may provide a model for student access to HIV testing, particularly males who may be less likely to get tested in traditional medical settings. This first step indicates the amenability of this population to HIV intervention and prevention efforts. Providing more accessible testing sites may potentially increase the percentages of African-American students who seek testing.

My Thoughts On This Study & Its Implication for Higher Education

This study suggests that there is more work needed at HBCUs and college campuses. Creating more testing sites on campuses, building trust and confidentiality, and normalizing HIV testing as a routine examination are some avenues for change.

These findings are consistent with challenges faced by many HIV/AIDS organizations serving Black and Latino communities. In my leadership of the Virgin Islands Community AIDS Resource & Education (VICARE), we found similar fears of confidentiality and the impact to relationships. St. Croix is a small island, largely Black and Latino, and the fear of that someone might find out was so strong that it prevented people from taking a HIV test. VICARE created many non-traditional testing sites at local events, community organizations, businesses, and governmental agencies.

Utilizing the recommendations of the study and the work of community organizations, it is imperative to reach students at HBCU and campuses across the country in non-traditional ways. I strongly feel that every campus should have HIV testing available — at the very least in the Health Center. I also feel that we should offer HIV testing at various sites on campus. At the University of Colorado at Boulder, I was the only non-Health Center office to offer HIV testing on campus. The Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender Resource Center (GLBTRC) was the first and only office to offer HIV testing. In partnership with the Health Center, we provided space for HIV testing at the GLBTRC. 

When we create safe and trusting spaces, a non-traditional HIV testing site may increase students willingness to know their HIV status. As indicated in this blog and throughout The Red Ribbon Passion Project, the college aged students are at high risk for HIV. We can take the first step — Knowing Your Status — and offer HIV testing sites on campus. Beyond the testing, there we need more dialogue to reduce the risk of HIV on our college campuses.

Update 8/11/2010 — View the PDF of this research article in the Journal of the National Medical Association (December 2006). 

Knowing your status is a key element in HIV Prevention. Having access to HIV Testing Sites is essential in knowing your HIV Status. If you haven’t been tested lately, Take An HIV Test Today!

Let’s chat about how HIV Testing is handled on your campus.

- I’m married
- I’m in a committed relationship
- It’s only oral sex
- I am positive already
- I hate condoms/dental dams
- Condoms don’t fit me well
- I’m allergic to condoms
- I was drunk/high

Regardless of the above reasons or any other reason — having vaginal, anal, & oral sex without a condom, female condom, dental dam, or latex barrier places you at risk for HIV and STIs.

If we are truly honest with ourselves, we have all been there. Quite frankly, I don’t know anyone who uses a latex barrier for oral sex. And I am sure that as you look around at friends, partners and even your own behavior you will see many people aren’t protected during oral sex and others aren’t using protection with vaginal and anal sex.

Telling people you must wear a condom does not guarantee that they will wear a condom. So when I discuss this subject, I share that protection is a choice. Realize that the choice you make has consequences. If you become HIV positive after choosing to have unprotected vaginal, anal and/or oral sex — do not blame anyone in the process because you made that choice to be intimate and unprotected.

The blame and stigmatization of down low (DL) men as carriers of HIV and infecting women is extremely misleading. Think about what I just said about choice. EVERYONE has the option of using a condom, female condom, or latex barrier. If you choose not to protect yourself and find out later that you partner is positive and you test positive — remember you had an opportunity to protect yourself.

I encourage everyone to be responsible and empower themselves in utilizing condoms, female condoms, dental dams, and other latex barriers. HIV/AIDS is very real within all of our communities. Only you can reduce your risk factors — no one else.

Please share your thoughts.