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Advocates for Informed Choice, an amazing organization that advocates for the civil rights of children who are born with variations of sex anatomy. It’s estimated that 1 in 2000 children are born with reproductive or sexual anatomy and/or chromosome patterns that don’t fit the usual definitions of male or female. And in most cases, the medical response is to perform surgeries. In fact, many doctors view children born with DSD (differences in sex development) as an emergency that requires an immediate response. This often results in pressuring parents to make quick decisions about things that they might not even have heard of before. Fortunately, AIC is working to change that and there’s been some progress.
On January 26, 2012 in San Francisco, AIC is …
Continue reading Come to the “XXXY” Screening 1/26/12
When Viagra was first discovered as an erection-enhancing medication, it was an accident. It was originally formulated as a blood pressure medication and during clinical trials, they discovered what else it could do. Since then, the market for erection medications has grown tremendously and the competition is stiff. (OK, that was unnecessary, but I needed to get it out of my system.) So it isn’t a surprise that pharmaceutical companies are looking for an equivalent product for women. However, as the film Orgasm Inc. documents, the efforts to find a “pink Viagra” haven’t met with much success.
One of the main reasons is that the attempts to find a sex-enhancing medication for women are focusing on increasing arousal. But Viagra and other erection medications don’t …
Continue reading Arousal, Erection, and the Search for “Female Viagra”
I got the flyer below in my in-box today. While I don’t know this person myself, the person who sent it says that they’re an active supporter of and adviser to LGBTQ youth groups, as well as being dedicated to their own activism and education work. This study has the potential to become a tool that activists and patients can use to advocate for higher levels of appropriate & sensitive health care in the US.
See below and pass it on!
As a graduate student at Smith College for Social Work I am conducting a study to develop a better understanding, from a trans person’s viewpoint, what good care and treatment by a primary care healthcare provider looks like. This recruitment letter has the …
Continue reading Call for Participants: Survey on Healthcare for Transgender Folks
This post also appeared on the Good Vibrations Magazine.
It isn’t news that people who step outside the gender binary face violence, prejudice, and discrimination. But for the first time, there’s a large-scale study that researchers, policy makers, and equality advocates can point to for proof.
Injustice at Every Turn is an impressive accomplishment by the he National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF). The researchers surveyed 6540 transgender and gender non-conforming people in every US state, as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands. It’s the largest study of its kind (the former record holder had 700 participants) so it offers a wider and more detailed view than …
Continue reading New Research on Discrimination of Transgender & Genderqueer Folks
A few months ago, I wrote about some new research showing ultrasound images of the legs of the clitoris and other internal sexual anatomy. This kind of work is incredibly important in shaping our understanding of sexual anatomy, physiology, function and pleasure. As our technological capabilities grow, our ability to develop more accurate models of sexual health expand and we can offer better information about how sex and pleasure work.
Stephanie Prendergast of the Pelvic Pain Rehabilitation Center is taking it to the next level by taking ultrasound images of cisgender women’s pelvic floors and abdominal muscles in order to learn more about how all of these parts fit together. The pelvis and abdomen are incredibly complex, …
Continue reading Call for Participants: Ultrasound Study of Women’s Pelvic Floors
As a sex educator, I’ve been advocating for both risk reduction and harm reduction. In risk reduction, the goal is to lessen the chances that something unpleasant or dangerous might happen. When it comes to driving, for example, anti-lock brakes are risk reduction because they make it less likely that you’ll get into an accident. Condoms are also a form of risk reduction since they lower the odds of passing a sexually transmitted infection along.
By comparison, harm reduction is when you take steps to lessen the harm of whatever you’re going to do. Seatbelts reduce the harm of being in a car accident, for example. And getting regular STI tests makes it possible to get treatment sooner, which can reduce or avoid the harm …
Continue reading The Pope’s “Sin Reduction” Model
Advocates for Informed Choice is an amazing organization. They’re advocating for the civil rights of children who are born with variations of sex anatomy and it’s important work.
When children are born with differences in sexual development, such as being intersex, it’s quite common for medical folks to pressure the parents into consenting to genital surgery to “correct” it. But the surgeries are not as effective as many folks might think and there are many unresolved legal and ethical questions.
Fortunately, AIC is working to change that and to help parents make the best decision for their children. The organization is a finalist in the $10,ooo Ashoka Changemakers competition and they need your vote to win. Please click on this link and vote for “Resolve: …
Continue reading Advocates for Informed Choice Needs Your Help
One of the big questions in AIDS research has been answered: why do some HIV-positive people never develop AIDS? About 1 in 300 people with HIV are what scientists call “HIV controllers” because their bodies are able to control the virus and keep it from replicating, which means they don’t develop AIDS.
According to new research, the answer is that they have a genetic variation that helps their immune system kill the virus. For folks without this variation (which is most people), the virus is hidden from their immune system, so it can replicate. Although researchers are long way from turning this into a vaccine or other treatment, hopefully it’s a step in that direction.…
Continue reading Let’s Hear it For Science! Why Some People Are Immune to AIDS
One of the biggest difficulties queer, kinky, and/or polyamorous people face when looking for therapists or other mental health support is that professionals get very little training about any kind of sex, much less “alternative” sexualities. Despite the lack of any real correlation between being kinky (for example) and having mental health issues, many therapists assume that BDSM players are also abuse survivors. Of course, many kinky folks are, simply because there are a lot of survivors in the world, but if sexual assault caused kink, there’d be even more kinky folks. Similar attitudes about queers and polyamorous folks are also pretty common.
So it’s really great that the Community-Academic Consortium for Research on Alternative Sexualities is hosting the 3rd Annual Alternative Sexualities Conference…
Continue reading Upcoming Conference on Alternative Sexualities 9/23/10 in San Francisco
This post first appeared on the Good Vibrations Magazine.
The Sydney Morning Herald posted an article about medical doctors downplaying the possible impact of prostate cancer treatments on erectile function. Apparently, many of them are concerned that men will avoid or discontinue treatment, rather than risk losing the ability to have an erection.
All of the current treatments for prostate cancer have the risk of sexual side effects. That’s because the nerves that cause erection run right alongside the prostate and they can get damaged really easily. Even when the nerves aren’t actually hurt, they can go into shock from the process of being moved during surgery. Fortunately, they can often recover from that, but it takes time.
According to Anne Katz, PhD, author …
Continue reading Some Doctors Downplay Effects of Prostate Cancer Treatments
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