RIP Meshach Taylor; Hillary Clinton Rape Culture; New York to End AIDS

RIP Meshach Taylor

Designing Women star, Meshach Taylor, who played Anthony Bouvier from the late 80's into the early 90's recently passed away. He died of cancer, at his LA home with his wife and family, at the age of 67.

DW has always been a huge hit with the gay male segment of the LGBTI community and I always thought a lot of that had to do with the character dynamics between Taylor and Delta Burke. There's even an interesting little note in this article that mentions how one DW show was developed after a real life incident with Burke and Taylor.

"We were doing some promotional work in Lubbock, Texas, and somehow Delta Burke and I got booked into the same hotel suite," he said. They alerted their respective significant others to the mix-up, then muddled through with the shared accommodations.

"When we got back I told Linda, and she put it into a show: We got stranded at a motel during a blizzard and ended up in the same bed!"

Interesting side note: The article doesn't mention this, but back in the 80's Designing Women's rival on TV was The Golden Girls (also a huge hit with gay men). I believe it was the pilot episode of The Golden Girls where Meshach Taylor made a brief appearance as a police officer. It lasted all of a few seconds. I think this was before Designing Women aired. Syndicated reruns of both television shows are still airing today, and both still have a huge following. In DW, Taylor's role as "Anthony" often revolved around racial issues during a time when these racial issues weren't always discussed aloud. It was way ahead of its time.

You can read more here about Taylor's other credits.  

Hillary Clinton Rape Culture

As it sometimes happens with blog posts, this one seems to be following a pattern today. There's a slight connection to the late Meshach Taylor and Hillary Clinton through the creators of the TV show Designing Women, Linda Bloodworth- Thomason and Harry Thomason. The husband and wife team were well known for several television productions in the 1980's, and were very close friends with Bill and Hillary Clinton at the time. There are even several rather self-indulgent episodes of Designing Women where Bill Clinton is mentioned...one of which is when he was Governor of Arkansas and no one in the US really even knew his name. In a way, Bloodworth-Thomason did with Bill Clinton what Oprah Winfrey did with President Obama. They used their fame and high profile platforms to help introduce men who would become the next presidents of the United States.

In any event, I had to search a little for the link to this next article about Hillary Clinton and rape culture. I wanted to find an article that didn't have a slant. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. Every piece is slanted in one way or the other. Most of the articles on this topic are from conservative sources that can't wait to expose the information, and the one I'm linking to right now is from a more liberal source that thinks conservatives are making too much out of this. Typical mainstream journalism for today.

Tapes have surfaced that allegedly discuss when Hillary Clinton defended an alleged child rapist in the 1970's. According to this article, Clinton defended the alleged rapist even though she thought he was guilty at the time. And she won.

Not one single article mentioned rape culture or its association to society as a whole. Of course Clinton's job as an attorney was to represent and defend her client to the best of her ability. Unfortunately, this makes us all wonder about her integrity, especially with respect to women's rights.

This article said something that floored me:

“I have been informed that the complainant is emotionally unstable,’’ Clinton wrote in the affidavit, “with a tendency to seek out older men and to engage in fantasizing.” The document, filed with the Washington County, Arkansas court on July 28, 1975, argued for a psychiatric evaluation for the victim.

“I have also been informed that she has in the past made false accusations about persons, claiming they had attacked her body,’’ Clinton wrote. “Also that she exhibits an unusual stubbornness and temper when she does not get her way.”

You can read more here.

Here's more about rape culture:

Examples of behaviors commonly associated with rape culture include victim blaming, sexual objectification, trivializing rape, denial of widespread rape, or refusing to acknowledge the harm of certain forms of sexual violence that do not conform to certain stereotypes of stranger or violent rape.

New York to End AIDS

At Gay Pride, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, announced a new initiative to end AIDS...or control the spread of HIV. It's an interesting concept, with an odd name..."Bending the Curve." I swear there's no pun intended.

In any event, here are a few points to cover:

The proposition has three parts: 1) identifying those with HIV who are still undiagnosed and connecting them with healthcare, 2) making certain those who are diagnosed have access to anti-HIV therapy, and 3) 'providing access to Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) for high-risk persons to keep them HIV negative.'

I have to read more about this. I'm not fond of #3. And, how will they go about getting all this personal information? More government intervention?

Does this mean that because I'm a gay man I'll be required to take Truvada? Truvada is the prophylaxis they're talking about. It's used as an HIV prevention drug in some cases now.  I posted about that before.

Here's a quote from my post:

Unfortunately, I discovered that taking Truvada gave me too many new things to feel. Whatever short-term side effects I could get, I did. Less than a week out, I started to feel a deep sense of fatigue every day around 6 p.m. It was something I could power through and eventually shake, but it made me feel like dropping to the floor and passing out instead of going to the gym or attending movie screenings. I had perpetual muscle soreness, especially in my legs, as if I had squatted way more than I should have the day before. My skin got worse. I developed a disgusting, raised rash on my torso that my dermatologist told me was the result of a nickel allergy (I had been wearing the culprit belt for years). I was gassy.
You can read more here about New York's quest to end AIDS, and my post is here.

Truvada & HIV Prevention; Elaine Stritch Who? James Franco's New Gay Parody

Truvada & HIV Prevention

I think this is probably one of the most comprehensive pieces I've read yet about the antiretroviral drug, Truvada, as it applies to HIV prevention. The FDA approved Truvada for use in preventing HIV infection, but there's also been a division within the medical community for many reasons, and this article titled, "What Is Safe Sex? The Raw and Uncomfortable Truth About Truvada," by Rich Juzwlak, probably covers everything most people need to know for now.

I know about Truvada not as a prevention drug but from dealing with friends who are HIV poz and take it as part of their antiretroviral therapy. But Juzwlak gets into how it applies to raw sex, the choice to bareback, and a lot of the more emotional aspects with respect to Truvada and HIV prevention. And it's not just for gay men. It's for everyone.

The understanding that I might benefit from using Truvada dawned on me slowly, like I was stuck permanently at 6 a.m. for a few months. It was other guys who helped prompt my decision, like the ones I had the sense not to fuck raw when they assumed that's what we'd be doing on first meeting, or the ones who tried to fuck me bare so casually, it was like they were going in there to check their mail. It was the guy who told me, "Yes, I'm negative—I was tested in February," in October. It was the guy that I hooked up with who then proposed a threesome via text: "My friend said he wants to fuck raw." This was a few texts after I told him, "I play safe," and he said, "Yeah, me too." A few texts later, he admitted he'd already fucked raw with our prospective third.

Juzwlak also mentions important things we don't often see when reading about Truvada, like long term side effects and cost. One prescription costs around $1,389.99 and it can reduce bone density and cause kidney problems. Those who are HIV poz and are on antiretroviral therapy and take ARVs like Truvada have regular blood work done every three months to monitor all these things. It's a way of life.

On top of that, there are immediate side effects:

Unfortunately, I discovered that taking Truvada gave me too many new things to feel. Whatever short-term side effects I could get, I did. Less than a week out, I started to feel a deep sense of fatigue every day around 6 p.m. It was something I could power through and eventually shake, but it made me feel like dropping to the floor and passing out instead of going to the gym or attending movie screenings. I had perpetual muscle soreness, especially in my legs, as if I had squatted way more than I should have the day before. My skin got worse. I developed a disgusting, raised rash on my torso that my dermatologist told me was the result of a nickel allergy (I had been wearing the culprit belt for years). I was gassy.

From what I've seen with friends, I can back all this up...and even add more because different people react differently.

But one of the most interesting things about this piece I spotted was that most people who are on Truvada for prevention don't always take it regularly which could present even more issues. If you talk to any ID doc who treats mostly HIV patients he/she will tell you one of the most common things with people on ARV meds is that they aren't always consistent with taking their meds. I don't know why. It's just a fact that I've heard many, many times from health professionals.

As I said above, if you don't know anything about HIV prevention or Truvada you really should read this article. I only covered the bare essentials here. It's long, but covers so many aspects you'll basically get everything you need to know right there.

You can find it here at Gawker.

Elaine Stritch Who?

Of course I've heard of Elaine Stritch, however, she's never been my icon. I appreciate her work (what little I know of it), so please don't get me wrong. But she's another one I wouldn't stand in line to see on my best day. But she is, according to this article, a "gay icon," and even she didn't know it until recently.

'I'm just becoming aware of it - by articles such as this one,' she admits to PrideSource magazine.

'I really have become very much aware, first of all, what great audiences they are. And it isn't that I finally discovered that gay people understand me and straight people don't - oh, no no no. Not a word of truth in that. I can't tell you how many straight people I know that think I am the cat's pajamas.'

Now go back and read that statement again, but this time replace gay people with African Americans...or any other minority. "What great audiences THEY are..." If she were talking about African Americans or any other minority that would ring of racism. I don't fault Stritch for this. I truly don't, and I'm not getting all PC here now. We are all to blame. And she's right. I'm sure there are even more straight people who think she's the "cat's pajamas" than there are gay people.

You can read more here.

James Franco's New Gay Parody

Last November I posted about James Franco's gay parody with Seth Rogen, and now he's done another for the cover of Vogue. This time the focus is on Kanye West and Kim Kardashian, with Rogen photo shopped wearing a wedding dress and Franco with his arms around him.

In Franco's recreation, Rogen wears the dress as he's 'held' by his best mate.

'Seth! Love you, dog,' Franco writes above the doctored picture.

You can read more here.

I think everyone loves these parodies...well, almost everyone. I've had a few tight-assed reviewers who didn't like my novel take offs on straight romance films. But that's another story. One didn't even have the sense of humor to realize it was a parody. But no harm done. Everyone has a right to an opinion, even those without a clue.