Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons^™

Facts You Should Know, Western New York Aids Program

HIV/AIDS Educational Material

Pamphlet containing information on HIV and where to receive help.

Safe Sex A How-To Guide, Act Up Western New York

HIV/AIDS Educational Material

Handout in English and Spanish containing information on safe sex practices, including: condom instruction, local STI statistics, and information on HIV/AIDS.

Aids Service Providers Consortium Of Western New York Pamphlet, Aids Service Providers Consortium Of Western New York

HIV/AIDS Educational Material

Pamphlet containing information about the Aids Service Providers Consortium of Western New York.

The Harm Reduction Program, Buffalo Columbus Hospital

HIV/AIDS Educational Material

Pamphlet containing information on the Harm Reduction Program provided through the Buffalo Columbus Hospital.

Pamphlet For Benedict House, Benedict House

HIV/AIDS Educational Material

Pamphlet containing information on Benedict House.

Hiv/Aids Research Symposium, College Of The Holy Cross

LGBTQIA Archive: Posters

Poster detailing planned events of the HIV/AIDS Research Symposium, held November 29-December 2, 2023 at the College of the Holy Cross. In observance of the 35th World AIDS Day, the Holy Cross LGBTQ+ Alumni Network and a multidisciplinary faculty team invited a broad ranging conversation about the historical and current impact and intersection of the HIV/AIDS pandemic on both the Holy Cross community and the wider world.

Burdin, Johannah, Samantha Rouillard

Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection

Johannah Burdin shares her story as a lesbian/queer woman experiencing southern Maine in the 1990s. Her story touches on topics involving coming out, relationships, a traumatic incident that left her disabled, activism, and much more. She was active in her youth in spreading awareness on the AIDS/HIV crisis, education on safe sex, and spent her evenings at popular Portland gay bars, like Sister’s Bar and Limelight/The Underground. Although she is not much into drinking, she recognized these were some of the few spots queer people could go to make community and relationships. Johannah also shares her story of becoming a …

The Need For Specialized Substance Abuse Treatment For Gay Men In The United States, Sarah Nance

Health, Human Performance and Recreation Undergraduate Honors Theses

Substance misuse and abuse is a global public health issue that affects sexual minority populations at a higher rate than the heterosexual population. Many popular gay socialization strategies include gay bars and chemsex, or sexualized drug use, in which substance use is common in both. The Minority Stress Model provides an explanation as to how stigma embedded in a society and within a person can act as a stressor and manifest into a substance abuse disorder. This stigma acts for many as a barrier to seeking healthcare out of fear of discrimination, causing many to hide their identity when seeking …

Queer Survival Amidst Hiv/Aids, Covid-19 And Homelessness, Julia Young

Pitzer Senior Theses

The treatment and survival of a society's marginalized peoples reveal the true impacts of a pandemic. An analysis of homeless queer youth during the HIV/AIDS and SARS-CoV-2 crises lays bare the systemic failure of the United States government to provide equitable healthcare.

I compare the HIV/AIDS and COVID-19 pandemics in queer homeless youth to demonstrate the dangers of disease moralization via a sociocultural analyses of disease stigma and responsibility politics. Utilizing syndemic theory I draw on the synergistic relationship between disease and illness to describe the unique challenges queer homeless youth face. A syndemic framework is applied to address common …

Positive Women: Emotion, Memory, And The Power Of Narrative In Women Organized To Respond To Life-Threatening Diseases, 1991-2020, Eleanor Naiman

Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal

Note: In lieu of an abstract, this is the article's first paragraph.

"By 1992, the AIDS epidemic in the United States had reached seemingly catastrophic proportions. Over ten years after the first published report of AIDS-related lung infection, the number of AIDS cases in the United States far exceeded 100,000. It would be four years until the FDA approval of the first protease inhibitor. Over ten thousand women had been diagnosed with the disease, and experts expected over ninety thousand more were already infected. The disease, lacking effective treatment, increasingly struck women and people of color in the early 1990s; …

Theatrical Illness: Tuberculosis And Hiv As Presented By "La Boheme" And "Rent", Jessica Downing

Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal

Note: In lieu of an abstract, this is the article's first paragraph.

"The musical Rent made its Broadway debut on January 25, 1996, a century after the opening performance of the opera, La Boheme. This correlation was a coincidence, though Rent draws significantly on the story of La Boheme, to the extent that a New York Times reviewer deemed it a "contemporary answer to Puccini's 'Boheme."' Each of these productions presents the troubles and tragedies of the bohemian lifestyle in a specific time and place-La Boheme in Paris during the 1830s and Rent in New York City during 1989. Disease, …

Too Much And Too Graphic: Dr. Ruth Westheimer And The Struggle For 1980s And 1990s Feminism, Louisa Marshall

Voces Novae

During the second wave of feminism, spanning from the mid 1960s to the mid 1970s, the United States saw unprecedented levels of change regarding the status of women. However, the conservative administrations of Reagan and H.W. Bush that followed turned the tides against the feminist movement and towards re-establishing traditional gender roles. Trail blazing women, including sex therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer, dedicated their 20th century careers to combating traditional sentiment, thus changing gender roles forever.

The Contemporary Porn Debate - Perceptions Of Sexual Health Of Porn Actors, The 2013 Hiv Crisis, And Recognizing The Complexities Of The Porn Industry, Nasreen C. Gooya

Student Publications

Between August 2012 and January 2013, four adult film performers based in California tested positive for HIV which triggered a moratorium on production, and led the state of California to mandate condom usage in the industry under the Safer Sex in the Adult Industry Act – otherwise referred to as Measure B. The goal of this research is to explore how the discourse surrounding health in the adult film industry, specifically sexual health in relation to the adult film performers during this event, is reflective of contemporary anti-pornography sentiments. These sentiments and biases ultimately lead to regulations of the industry …

Gay Social Networking Apps Are Fueling Crystal Meth Use, Moises A. Mendez Ii

Capstones

Selling crystal meth on gay social networks is a problem nobody is talking about; two men tell their stories. The LGBT+ community has a long standing relationship with the use of drugs. From the 70s to present day, there has been a popular drug used – currently, it's crystal meth. Adam and Christopher have dealt with their addiction to crystal meth for many years and the introduction of gay dating apps like Grindr, Scruff and Jack'd posed new problems for them when they were trying to stay sober.

https://medium.com/@moises.mendez/gay-social-networking-apps-are-fueling-crystal-meth-use-ac34f38fa636

Robedee, Matthew, Hannah Gorham, Jason White

Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection

Matthew (Mat) Robedee is a 35-year-old gay man who lives in Portland, Maine. For seven years, he was a health and outreach worker and former prevention programs manager for the Frannie Peabody Center, in Portland. He has also worked with organizations such as Portland Pride and Equality Maine and is currently a real estate agent.

Mat grew up in Buxton, Maine. In elementary school, he revealed to a friend that he thought he was gay. His friend reprimanded him, telling him never to tell anyone about his secret. That event set the tone for years to come, and Mat hid …

Fraud Detection Protocol For Web-Based Research Among Men Who Have Sex With Men: Development And Descriptive Evaluation, April M. Ballard, Trey Cardwell, April M. Young

Epidemiology and Environmental Health Faculty Publications

Background: Internet is becoming an increasingly common tool for survey research, particularly among “hidden” or vulnerable populations, such as men who have sex with men (MSM). Web-based research has many advantages for participants and researchers, but fraud can present a significant threat to data integrity.

Objective: The purpose of this analysis was to evaluate fraud detection strategies in a Web-based survey of young MSM and describe new protocols to improve fraud detection in Web-based survey research.

Methods: This study involved a cross-sectional Web-based survey that examined individual- and network-level risk factors for HIV transmission and substance use among young MSM …

Seropositivo: Queer Solidarity & Survival In Severo Sarduy’S Fiction, Huber Jaramillo Gil

Publications and Research

With the onset of the HIV epidemic, to prevent transmission, the Cuban government aggressively tested its sexually active population, sending infected people to live in quarantined sanitariums. It is in these establishments, in which an HIV-ridden Sarduy sets his last novel, entitled Pájaros de la playa (1993). Even as the reader witnesses the degradation and disintegration of sickened bodies, which the Nation rejected and discarded, Sarduy provides gender and sexual dissidents with a vision of themselves that does not compromise their queerness when confronting institutions of power. Instead, through subversion, appropriation and solidarity, he enacts a creative exploration of existence …

The Anti-Orpheus: Queering Myth In Ducastel Et Martineau’S Théo Et Hugo Dans Le Même Bateau (Paris 05:59), Todd W. Reeser

Studies in 20th & 21st Century Literature

Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau’s 2016 film Théo et Hugo dans le même bateau (Paris 05:59: Théo & Hugo) concludes on an Orphic note, inviting a consideration of the entire film as based on the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. The film appropriates but also radically transforms elements of the foundational myth—including especially Orpheus’s turn to pederasty in Ovid’s Latin version—crafting a queer love story based on potentiality out of the tragedy of the heterosexual love story. In so doing, the film channels Herbert Marcuse’s idea of Orphic refusal in Eros and Civilization, opening up the myth …

Quiet Heroes, William L. Blizek

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Quiet Heroes (2018), directed by Jenny Mackenzie, Jared Ruga, and Amanda Stoddard.

Effects Of Stigma On The Use Of Spirituality By Older Black Men Living With Hiv, Warren Lee Miller

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Previous research on HIV stigma and the use of spirituality by people living with HIV/AIDS is scarce. Moreover, the research with older Black men who have sex with men (BMSM) is scant. The focus of this qualitative transcendental phenomenological study was to examine the lived experiences of BMSM living with HIV aged 50 and older with encounters of HIV stigma on the use of spirituality. The research questions were designed to explore the lived experiences of aging, HIV stigma, and spirituality. Conceptually, this study was framed within the minority stress theory and the HIV stigma framework. Data were collected through …

On Lgbt Studies At Vcu: An Interview With Richard Godbeer, Amita Rao, Emily Furlich

Auctus: The Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Scholarship

No abstract provided.

“I Don’T Fit In A Box; No One Does:” Intersectionality And Gay Male Identity, Jesse L. Grainger, Brent E. Cagle

The Winthrop McNair Research Bulletin

Using an intersectionality framework, this qualitative study explores how stigma affects identity development and how intersecting identities can compound to either foster resiliency or create health concerns for 11 men who are emerging adults (18-29), same sex identified, African American, HIV +, and homeless. Semi-structured one-on-one interviews were conducted through RAIN (Regional Aids Interfaith Network) in Charlotte, NC. Questions were formulated to understand how participants view themselves and perceived stigmas, current/past health conditions, and their five to ten year prospects. This study uses grounded theory as a guide to analyze and interpret data. Themes explored include: risks (acquiring HIV through …

Is Sex With Older Male Partners Associated With Higher Sexual Risk Behavior Among Young Black Msm?, Nicholas Chamberlain, Leandro A. Mena, Angelica Geter, Richard A. Crosby

Health, Behavior & Society Faculty Publications

Participants at a sexual health clinic completed a survey with questions regarding sexual risk behavior and partner characteristics. Of 585 participants eligible for analysis, 124 reported generally having older male partners. These participants were significantly more likely to be HIV-infected (p < 0.001), have four or more sex partners as a “bottom” (p = 0.04), have concurrent partners (p = 0.01), and have partners suspected of having an sexually transmitted infection (p = 0.05) than participants without older partners. With analysis restricted to HIV− individuals, risk behaviors did not differ significantly between the groups. HIV− individuals with older partners may be at increased risk of HIV infection due …

Governmentality/Animacy/Mythology: A Biopolitical And Rhetorical Mosaic Of Hiv Stigma In A Time Of Prep-Aration, Brendan Geoffrey Aaron Hughes

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Since 1981, roughly 35 million people have died from the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), the end stages of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), and an estimated 39 million are living with HIV today. While various factors such as poverty, lack of education, and poor access to treatment and healthcare compound the epidemic across the world, the endemic in the industrialized west faces specific communication-based challenges to slowing the spread of HIV. Now classified as a "chronic manageable condition", an HIV diagnosis is no longer the death sentence of the early outbreak in the 1980's. A major factor in the …

Stigma And Hiv Testing Among African American Women In New Jersey, Mirriam Limage-Pierre

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

African American women are 18 times more likely to contract HIV than are European American women, yet they are less likely to be tested for HIV. Lack of HIV testing leads to late diagnosis and increased mortality from HIV-related illnesses. Based on the health belief model, this correlational study analyzed the extent to which HIV stigma mediated the relationship between perceived benefits or perceived severity of HIV and the uptake of HIV testing among African American women in New Jersey. A total of 93 African American women aged 18 and older who resided in New Jersey completed online questionnaires. Data …

Interrelationships Of Colorism, Violence, And Sexual Behaviors Among Southern African American Women., Phaedra Christensen

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Two significant public health concerns that threaten both the physical and mental health of African-American women are Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). African-American women (AAW) in the south carry the greatest burden of HIV and disproportionately represent the region with an incidence of 71% for new HIV infections, and elevated rates of morbidity and mortality. In 2013, the murder rate among AAW was 2.5 times higher than it was among Caucasian women. Most of the published studies that explored the association between IPV and HIV had mixed populations, did not explore topics unique to AAs, or …

In Search Of Safety, Negotiating Everyday Forms Of Risk: Sex Work, Criminalization, And Hiv/Aids In The Slums Of Kampala, Serena Cruz

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation offers an in-depth descriptive account of how women manage daily risks associated with sex work, criminalization, and HIV/AIDS. Primary data collection took place within two slums in Kampala, Uganda over the course of fourteen months. The emphasis was on ethnographic methodologies involving participant observation and informal and unstructured interviewing. Insights then informed document analysis of international and national policies concerning HIV prevention and treatment strategies in the context of Uganda. The dissertation finds social networks and social capital provide the basis for community formation in the sex trade. It holds that these interpersonal processes are necessary components for …

Sexuality Education Websites For Adolescents: A Framework-Based Content Analysis, Sara Silverio Marques, Jessica S. Lin, Summer Starling, Aubrey G. Daquiz, Eva Goldfarb, Kimberly Garcia, Norman A. Constantine

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

The web has unique potential for adolescents seeking comprehensive sexual health information. As such, it is important to understand the nature, scope, and readability of the content and messaging provided by sexuality educational websites. We conducted a content analysis of 14 sexuality education websites for adolescents, based on the 7 essential components (sexual and reproductive health and HIV, relationships, sexual rights and sexual citizenship, pleasure, violence, diversity, and gender) of the International Planned Parenthood Framework for Comprehensive Sexuality Education. A majority of content across all sites focused on sexual and reproductive health and HIV, particularly pregnancy and STI prevention, and …

Know Your Status: Alleviating Stigma From The Hiv Positive Community Of San Luis Obispo California, Mario Alberto Viveros Espinoza

Ethnic Studies

The purpose of this project is to alleviate stigma from the HIV community in San Luis Obispo, CA by creating an outreach program, “Know Your Status,” that raises awareness of HIV education and prevention. Research on HIV stigma and on ideologies for program development and implementation shows that HIV positive individuals face both internalized and externalized stigma. Program development and implementation can be effective by assessing and addressing the specific needs of those living within the community. This project includes the data needed for program development and implementation, collected through anonymous surveys from HIV positive community members, interviews with professionals …

Use Of Craigslist.Org To Hook Up: Age Differences In Sex Requests, Hiv Disclosure And Negotiated Safety Among Men-Seeking-Men, Kristen Clements-Nolle, Aliya Buttar, Lindsey Dermid-Gray, Tyler Peterson, Andrea Esp

Nevada Journal of Public Health

Data from 984 “men-seeking-men” Craigslist.org postings in five cities were analyzed to assess differences in sexual requests, HIV status disclosure, and negotiated safety between young (18-24 years) and older (25 years and older) men who have sex with men (MSM). Young MSM were less likely than older MSM to post their HIV status or the preferred status of a partner (p=0.04), disclose and/or request a partner who was disease and drug free (p=.01), and request use of a condom in their posting (p=0.01). Interventions aimed at changing the culture and content of postings on Craigslist.org by encouraging HIV status disclosure …