HIV affects millions of people worldwide. As of 2009, it was 33.3 million. There are 33 million men, women and children, everyday people just like you and me. The woman walking her dog on the sidewalk, your friend from college, the ex-lover you met at a book club. The fact is 1.2 million of those people live in the United States;...
read moreI remember Stitch & Bitch groups as a glorious invention of the late ’80s. Another bastard child of necessity and creativity spawned by the Queer Community and left on the world’s doorstep; a brilliant byproduct of the AIDS pandemic, a sort of fairytale princess able to spin gold from shit: “Take that,...
read moreWhat is the Christian church doing about AIDS? I want to start out by stating that “World Aids Day” is totally new to me. I’m not sure how long it has been around, but I am thankful that Eden Cafe brought it to my attention. As a conservative Christian in a small town, AIDS is not something I have ever had to deal with....
read moreIn 1993, the same year that Tom Hanks’ Philadelphia broke down barriers surrounding AIDS and an HBO film based on Randy Schilts’ And The Band Played On deconstructed the beginnings of the epidemic, Tony Kushner’s seminal heightened-reality play began making waves. Angels In America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes is,...
read moreI grew up in South Florida, and starting in middle school, students were offered, but not required to participate in, a week of learning about sexual health. That was when I first encountered her. I don’t remember her name, and I vaguely remember her face. What I do remember, is her story. She was young, a teenager, when she was...
read moreIt’s been 20 years since artist provacatuer Keith Haring passed away; a pioneer for AIDS activism, who himself succumbed to the disease. The imagery he left behind is a catalog of both innocent delight and quirky, carnal wit. The world was his canvas: From the sidewalks of New York City to the human body, nothing...
read moreA few months ago my brother went into cardiac arrest. He’s only 44 years old. As it happens, an electronic box that was placed in his back went on the brink. The box uses electric shocks to help control the pain he suffers from falling off a roof and injuring his spine. What does this have to do with World’s AIDS Day 2011,...
read moreto be Aware First of all, AIDS is a scary disease. When you hear it, the first thing you will think of is different from what anyone else will think when they first hear it. I think of my aunt. She was delivering a baby for a woman who was AIDS positive. This lady was in so much pain, and on so many drugs before her labor, that she...
read moreYesterday, we explored expressions of artistic imagery touched firsthand or via inspiration by HIV/AIDS. Today, a poet and songstress felled by this deadly killer, whose voices have become anthem to a landscape of both hope and loss. Read more by G.L. Morrison “Do I speak now only about issues of sexuality or do I...
read moreRegarding AIDS and HIV World aids day is December 1st Cocktail: a combination of drugs A highly active antiretroviral therapy, or HAART, is sometimes referred to as the AIDS cocktail. While these treatments are not considered a cure, they can delay progression to AIDS, reduce complications, and support the immune system by reducing...
read moreIn honor of World AIDS Day, Sexis offers a retrospective of fine artists and performers whose lives and works were informed by the disease. While some viewed HIV/AIDS through the lens of loving observation, and others have passed on, their creative efforts serve to inspire us all. Read more by G.L....
read moreWith World Aids Awareness Day coming up on December 1 of this year, I thought I would share some things about AIDS/HIV with you. Sometimes I think that we have forgotten that this is still a real threat in our world. We tend to think more about the financial crisis and threats to our freedom than the very real threat lurking in our...
read moreIt doesn't matter what you write, just write something. Show your support, show that you care, help us raise awareness for AIDS and HIV just by being aware yourself. You don't have to have written here before and you don't have to be a regular reader or a reviewer or have a blog of your own. Anyone can write for EdenCafe.
read morePlease don’t shy away under the guise of “what happens at home stays at home” or “it’s really none of my business”. If you see someone in a dangerous or abusive situation, show them that help is available.
read moreWhen I talk about the decisions that Sigel and I have made about our marriage I get asked a lot of questions, A LOT of questions! Most people want to know how they can convinced their partners to have threesomes or swing. What they don’t ask is what measures we take to avoid getting sick. Sure they tell me all about the...
read moreAIDS and HIV did not become big news until I was about 17 years old. I had already been having sex for several years when stories began to fill the news paper headlines and posters appeared on the walls of clinic offices around the country. I clearly remember how scared I and many of my friends were over this epidemic that could...
read moreHIV and AIDS can seem like such a foreign concept when you’re young. “It’s never going to happen to me.” is a very popular line of thinking for teenagers, especially when it comes to catching an STD. When sex education was being taught to my peers and I, the only person we knew of who was HIV positive was a...
read moreLast year, I wrote an article for World AIDS Day called I Remember a Time and Place When AIDS Did Not Exist and so I went back to read what I wrote before I sat down to write another article in recognition of this day. I read it and I shed a few tears as I thought of my old family friend, lost to AIDS, about my daughter being a year...
read moreAs I sit here, many years after my youth and introduction to the Slings and Arrows of Sexual Activity, I feel almost preternaturally lucky to have not been seriously touched by HIV, AIDS and their related horrors. By all intents and purposes, I should have been touched. I had (still have) many Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans...
read moreEach year EdenFantasys, SexIs Magazine and EdenCafe support World AIDS Day, December 1st, all week long with articles, posts and activism. This year, staff and contributors joined together to create a video montage of messages of support, solidarity and love. Please take a moment to watch the video, read the articles on SexIs and...
read moreI’m going to say right up front that I only know one person with HIV. And his isn’t really a tragic story. He’s healthy, he’s (mostly) happy – or as happy as anyone can be, anyway – he’s in a committed relationship, and all that jazz. I’m not sure how he got it, and it’s really of...
read moreWhen I was a teenager I learned about AIDS in school. I was a sheltered teen and my Mother and Father believed that I would grow up, go to college, meet a ‘nice guy’, get married and never have to worry about AIDS. I wasn’t gay, or a guy, and I wouldn’t be promiscuous because despite my childhood I was...
read moreSo, guys, we have some stuff coming up – big stuff – and I’m here to ask all you readers and writers to pitch in and make this stuff totally awesome. To help make EdenCafe totally awesome thru the next few months. We love having some of you write for us, we love doing contests, we love when you comment on our...
read moreI used to work at a minority newspaper and one of the things that some people pushed for was ‘advantages’, like special scholarships set up exclusively for the minority. Now, like any white person or any member of a group that’s commonly the oppressor rather than the oppressed, I carry around a certain amount of...
read moreThere’s something that happened to me, when I was younger that I live with to this day. And will for the rest of my life. This actually is the first time I’ve ever admitted it in a public forum. I was sexually molested by a (now) ex-boyfriend. I’ve never talked to a counselor about it because until recently I didn’t...
read moreBattered individuals frequently leave the residence that they share with their batterer. In fact, the average victim will leave their partner 8 times before leaving for good. Leaving must be done with a careful plan in order to increase safety because one of the two most dangerous times for a battered person is when they leave...
read moreI have a confession to make. I almost didn’t submit this post. I was afraid of you, all of you. I was afraid I would be met with the same response I’ve always gotten: “Shut up, stop whining, you weren’t really sexually assaulted, anything that happened was your own fault, so stop being such a drama queen trying...
read moreApril is Sexual Abuse Awareness Month. I entered this month thinking about all the time I worked at various hot lines, abuse centers, and about all the horribly sad and frightening stories I have heard over the years. Sadly I also entered this month thinking about my own sad tales. I held off writing about abuse since lots of other...
read moreWhen You’ve Made Your Escape: Safety When Leaving An Abusive Partner, Part II Battered individuals frequently leave the residence that they share with their batterer. In fact, the average victim will leave their partner 8 times before leaving for good. Leaving must be done with a careful plan in order to increase safety because...
read moreWhen’s the last time you hugged your partner? Can you remember the last time you stopped in the middle of whatever you were doing, walked over to your partner, slid your arms around them and just held them? Turned off all the electronics and just sat together and talked? Snuggled in bed in the morning before rushing through...
read more**Author has been kept anonymous at their own request** I never talk about my rape. I even will say that I was never raped, was never sexually abused. I flat out lie. I am a horrible liar, but this, this I could lie about to a lie detector. Even when there was a burst of bloggers talking about their experiences with rape, I left...
read moreWhen You’re Preparing to Escape: Safety When Leaving An Abusive Partner, Part I Battered individuals frequently leave the residence that they share with their batterer. In fact, the average victim will leave their partner 8 times before leaving for good. Leaving must be done with a careful plan in order to increase safety...
read moreMy Experience with Sexual Assault I wrote a post about using abstinence as a mean to take better decisions after going through bad experiences, and I had so much to say about my sexual assault itself that I quickly realized that I was actually writing a novel. Since the topic of sexual assault was not directly related to the initial...
read moreI’m really lucky. The person who tried to force me into something I didn’t want was stupid enough to do it in a club where I had friends nearby. It probably sounds like nothing if I recount my own personal tale now. But for me, it was very real, and had a very real affect on my life. He vaguely knew a friend of mine I was...
read moreI don’t remember why he hit me the first time. You would think that I would. You would think something like that would stick out in my memory. After a while, all the times run together though, not to mention the relationship was over three years ago. Even though I was hit and controlled, I don’t really think of it as an...
read moreApril is upon us, and with it comes Sexual Assault Awareness month. How does one spread awareness of sexual assault? First, you need to know what sexual assault is. Sexual assault is defined by the American Heritage dictionary as “n. Conduct of a sexual or indecent nature toward another person that is accompanied by actual...
read more“Don’t put your hand there, please.” “You like this. Now hush.” When does the line between play and sexual assault end? Where does it end? There really isn’t a definitive answer, but you know yourself and your boundaries. Knowing those things about yourself and what you accept from others should be enough...
read moreA Google search of the term “sexual assault” turns up an onslaught of results (8.82 million to be exact). There are more than 15,000 – yes, fifteen thousand – news articles alone for the past month. If you view further back in time, fifteen thousand starts to sound like a small number. Between the years of...
read more….and we couldn’t have done it without your help. Every retweet raised awareness, every retweet brought us closer. Thank you! Check out the forum post the official...
read morePart 7: KT – Fighting the Best Fight You know how sometimes you meet people for the first time and there’s something there that just CLICKS? That was how it was when my husband met SC for the first time. Soon after, SC invited my husband and I over to his house for dinner with him and his partner KT. Their beautiful home was...
read morePart 6: KL – Damages Our friend KL is living with HIV. He and my husband became friends through work about 6 years ago. Although they’ve both moved on to other places, they’ve stayed in touch and see each other for lunch every other week, and sometimes they’ll go to the Village to check out stores and have dinner. KL...
read morePart 5: GB – Most Likely To Succeed Dear GB was one chic man. He aimed high and was an overachiever. He started his own business when he was 16 and by the time he was 18 had several employees. Consequently, he was always the one with money and a car and a great designer apartment in a cool neighborhood. He hung out in the gay...
read morePart 4: CD – True to Her Love In my group of misfit-creative friends in high school was CD. She was a year older than me and was also a childhood friend of my buddy DV. CD was very artistic and extremely knowledgeable of a wide range of music. She was a staple at all the parties and in the alternative scene at the time. She loved...
read morePart 3: MD – Enigmatic In high school I had a core group of friends who were eccentric creatives. They were intelligent, fiercely independent and anti-establishment. My first big crush was on DV and we were (and still are) good friends. He fooled around with other girls but never with me, and for a while, I was hurt, until...
read morePart 2: JP – A Smile and a Spark I knew JP through work. He was cool, older than me, quite Out, sported amazing ink before it was mainstream and wore leather. I liked him instantly. He was kind to me, and a sweet and gentle soul who was unafraid of living his dreams. He had humble beginnings but worked hard to rise in his...
read moreAs an underage party girl hitting the nightclubs in the early eighties, my friends were a curious mix of gay men, punks and those on the fringe of society. Viewed as social outcasts and misfits by mainstream culture, we formed tight bonds to protect ourselves from the abuse regularly hurled our way. Between the ages of 23 and 26 I...
read moreWhen Carrie mentioned World AIDS Day and asked if I’d write about the impact of HIV and AIDS on my life, I thought, “They haven’t really had much of an impact on my life.” I’ve only ever had friends who had friends who were sick. I’ve been extremely fortunate. One of the parts I paid the most...
read moreExcerpt from Sarah Sloane, “Aids Through my Days” In the mid ’90s, I met my first straight man to openly admit that he was HIV positive. He willingly told me that he’d gotten it from a prostitute, and his sense of shame had been tempered by his acceptance of who he was and the addictions and the poor...
read moreMy daughter turned 12 last week, on Thanksgiving Day. At times like theses, I often think about what I remember about being her age and given her birthday’s proximity to World Aids Day, this year I was thinking about growing up in a world that just discovered AIDS and HIV. When I was 12, they were just starting to talking...
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