Tag Archives: HIV

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National HIV Testing Day — June 27


National HIV Testing Day on June 27 is a reminder to get tested. Enter your ZIP code and find a testing site near you.
Visit AIDS.gov to learn more about HIV/AIDS, including how to reduce your risk and available treatment options.
Download or order a FREE print copy of the following publications on USA.gov:
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Birth control makes you “sterile or dead”?


 

NARAL Pro-Choice America

 

Katelyn Campbell deserves our respect and encouragement for speaking out against failed “abstinence-only” programs.

Tell her county’s Board of Education to censure her principal for threatening her.

High school principal George Aulenbacher should be ashamed of himself.

First, Aulenbacher and his school district decided to subject his students to a misleading “abstinence-only” program. And then he threatened student Katelyn Campbell when she spoke out against it. To make matters even worse, right now the Kanawha County Board of Education is siding with Principal Aulenbacher.1

This is no way to treat a brave young woman who’s speaking out for what’s right.

Help us put pressure on the Board of Education to censure Aulenbacher, and tell them that students need comprehensive sex education. Your message today will go directly to the Kanawha County Board of Education and superintendent of schools, where it can make a big impact.

Aulenbacher’s school recently brought in an “abstinence educator” who says taking birth control can lead to becoming “sterile or dead.”2

Katelyn fought back against these outrageous lies. She talked with the local newspaper, and even went on CNN.

How did Aulenbacher respond? He tried to shut her down. Katelyn says Aulenbacher called her into his office to berate her, even threatening to call her future college to tell them she has “bad character” and is a “backstabber.”3

At a Board of Education committee meeting last night, it’s been reported that members of the board stuck up for Aulenbacher and the misleading “abstinence-only” program.

It’s ridiculous that a principal would threaten a student like this, and absurd that the Board of Education would stand for it. Tell the Board of Education to censure Aulenbacher and provide students with comprehensive sex education.

Katelyn knows, like we do, that teens need accurate information about abstinence and birth control so that they can make responsible decisions that are right for them. One in four teen girls has an STD, and one third of young women will become pregnant before they’re 20 years old. These young women need information that will keep them healthy.

I applaud Katelyn for speaking out for what she knows is right. She deserves our respect and encouragement, not threats and intimidation.

Thanks for standing up for Katelyn and helping make choice real for young people like her.

Ilyse Hogue
Ilyse G. Hogue
President, NARAL Pro-Choice America
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Celebrate Free Preventive Services!


 

AAUW Action Network
As of August 1, 2012, all new health plans must cover eight women’s preventive services, including birth control, without cost sharing. To celebrate, we’re hosting a virtual party on Facebook – and we want you to sign the guestbook!
Preventive services are critical to a woman’s health, and cost has remained a burden for far too long. With the Department of Health and Human Services regulations going into effect on August 1, the following services will now be available without copays:
  1. Breastfeeding support, supplies, and counseling;
  2. Screening and counseling for interpersonal and domestic violence;
  3. Screening for gestational diabetes;
  4. DNA testing for high-risk strains of HPV;
  5. Counseling regarding sexually transmitted infections, including HIV;
  6. Screening for HIV;
  7. Contraceptive methods and counseling; and
  8. Well woman visits.
Take Action!
Tell us why you are celebrating these new requirements! You can share a personal story about the importance of preventive services, talk about why you are passionate about women’s health care, or write notes of congratulations to your fellow activists for getting the job done and passing health care reform legislation that includes these necessary services!
Each week of the party will have a different theme, so you can sign the guestbook as many times as you want. August starts on a Wednesday, so our themed weeks will also start on Wednesdays:
  • August 1-7: Contraception
  • August 8-14: Screening and counseling for interpersonal and domestic violence
  • August 15-21: Maternal care (breastfeeding support, supplies, and counseling)
  • August 22-28: Health education (screening for gestational diabetes; DNA testing for high-risk strains of HPV; counseling regarding sexually transmitted infections, including HIV; and screening for HIV)
  • August 29-31: Well woman visits
The celebration continues all month, but you don’t want to show up late to the party! Sign the guestbook today and share with your friends and family.
Learn more about what preventive services will be covered at Healthcare.gov, as well as the other benefits for women such as the end of higher premiums for pre-existing conditions.
Follow AAUW on Twitter, and read our award-winning AAUW Dialog Blog for discussion, information, and advocacy for women and girls!

 

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Turning the tide on HIV/AIDS … Joe Solmonese, Human Rights Campaign


It’s hard to believe, but just three years ago, people with HIV were banned from entering the United States. You couldn’t visit a loved one, and becoming a citizen was out of the question.

Thanks to the hard work of HRC activists like yourself, we finally overturned the 22-year  ban, and now we’ve arrived at another big moment: the return of the International AIDS Conference to the United States.

The conference unites the world’s most prominent activists, researchers, and policy makers to chart a path forward on HIV/AIDS.

And as the conference gets underway, The AIDS Memorial Quilt will also return to Washington, DC – serving once again as a powerful reminder of loved ones lost to HIV/AIDS and as a potent signal of the work left to be done.

You can help mark this historic occasion by submitting a quilt panel to remember those lost to HIV/AIDS. Click here for instructions on how to submit your own panel, which we’ll put on display at our headquarters.

Just as we have in the past, HRC will host a portion of The AIDS Memorial Quilt – along with your panel – at our national headquarters in Washington, DC. If you’ve already submitted a panel in the past and would like it displayed at HRC this summer, let us know here.

HRC is also bringing experts together for a discussion titled Addressing Stigma in Transgender and other HIV-Vulnerable Communities prior to the conference kickoff.

The return of the International AIDS Conference to the U.S. marks the beginning of a new era of progress on HIV/AIDS. The travel ban might be gone, but fear, stigma, and misunderstanding remain.

All around the world and here at home, there are still far too many new cases and too many lives shattered by this disease. The conference and the poignant tribute of The AIDS Memorial Quilt will serve to connect important thought leaders and bring attention to this still-critical issue.

HRC is honored to be a part of it all, and I hope you’ll help us mark this important event.

Learn more about submitting a panel to The AIDS Memorial Quilt now. We’ll display your panel at HRC’s headquarters in Washington, DC. When you send it in, you’ll be joining with world-leading researchers, activists, and policy makers to help turn the tide against HIV/AIDS.

25 years ago, The AIDS Memorial Quilt helped inspire a movement that stemmed the tide of the epidemic. Now we need to revive that same spirit to meet these remaining challenges.

Thank you in advance for your participation.

Still fighting,

Joe Solmonese President

P.S. Volunteers for the International AIDS Conference get free access to sessions and a whole lot of other great opportunities. To apply to volunteer or to learn more about the Conference click here.

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HIV+ man sprayed with Lysol at work … Michael Whitney, Change.org


Change.org
Great Expressions Dental Centers must apologize for harassing and firing HIV+ employee                       
Sign the Petition

James White‘s lawyers in Michigan call his case “the worst case of HIV discrimination they’ve ever seen.” It’s hard to believe how much James had to endure:

  • When James disclosed his HIV status to his boss at a Great Expressions Dental Center — where James worked as an office assistant — James’ boss told everyone in the office that James had HIV.
  • For months, James’ coworkers followed him around with cans of Lysol. They sprayed James, refused to let him touch doorknobs, and wiped down furniture after he touched it.
  • James was finally admitted to the hospital to deal with the toll of months of stress from the situation at work — he was diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
  • On his last night in the hospital, James got a call saying that he was fired.

Jim Harris is a junior at the University of Oklahoma who has dedicated his time on campus to educating his fellow students about HIV. When Jim read about what happened to James, he was outraged — so he started a petition on Change.org demanding that Great Expressions Dental Centers apologize for how James was treated and pay him reparations. Click here to sign Jim’s petition right now.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission attempted to mediate this situation, but Great Expressions refused the proposed settlement. So the EEOC gave James a letter supporting his right to sue Great Expressions — but a lawsuit will be costly and could take years.

James shouldn’t have to wait years for an apology or compensation. Great Expressions is a large chain of dental centers, with locations in seven different states — bringing large-scale public pressure is exactly the right way to force a quick resolution rather than letting the company wait it out and hope James runs out of money.

Please sign Jim Harris’ petition demanding that Great Expressions Dental Centers apologize and pay reparations for the egregious treatment of James White.

Thanks for being a change-maker,

– Michael and the Change.org team