The city’s health commissioner, Dr. Thomas R. Frieden,
is flanked by Callen-Lorde’s Jay Laudato, left, Gay Men
of African Descent’s Tokes M. Osubu, GMHC’s Ana
Oliveira and Latino Commission on AIDS President Dennis de Leon
discuss the impact of LGV at a Feb. 2 press conference.
Diverse activists and allies lobby Albany for LGBT causes, including GENDA and Marriage Equality. But that’s not the real power of Equality & Justice Day.
An emotional West Village vigil marks the national Day of Silence and a slain teenager.
Aesthetic Realists wrest $4,000 in state funds for a program that allegedly teaches art to Brooklyn senior citizens. But the group has a history of “converting” gays to heterosexuals.
War, the economy and health care matter more to a majority of LGB voters.
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By MIKE LAVERS
Friday, February 04, 2005
The New York City Department of Health & Mental Hygiene is warning that two
gay New Yorkers have been diagnosed with lymphogranuloma venereum, a rare but
potentially serious form of chlamydia. The disease has already infected a handful
of primarily gay and HIV-positive men in San Francisco, Atlanta, the Netherlands
and the United Kingdom, although it remains rare in developed nations.
Nevertheless, DOH-OH Commissioner Dr. Thomas R. Frieden sounded the alarm at
a Wednesday, Feb. 2, press conference in Lower Manhattan. He is advising medical
providers who treat gay New Yorkers to be on the lookout for LGV symptoms.
These include genital lesions, painful draining lymph nodes in the groin area
and bloody diarrhea. Frieden is urging everyone to take this disease seriously.
“LGV is a serious condition and its emergence in New York City reflects
continuing high levels of unsafe sexual activity among men who have sex with
men,” he said. “It is also critical for gay and bisexual men to
minimize risky sexual behaviors and practice safer sex.”
City health officials said that LGV could potentially facilitate the spread
of HIV and AIDS among men who have sex with men. They noted that unprotected
anal sex is believed to be one the main ways that the disease spreads.
Tokes M. Osubu, executive director of Gay Men of African Descent, said this
news should serve as a wake-up call to gay New Yorkers. “The fact that
the LGV cases are occurring primarily in HIV-positive men who have engaged in
high-risk sexual practices is somber confirmation that there is still a lot
of work to be done,” he said. Osubu added that he is glad that the DOH-OH
is reaching out to gay New Yorkers and informing them about the potentially
serious health affects of LGV.
Representatives from the Gay Men’s Health Crisis, the Callen-Lorde Community
Health Center in Chelsea and the Latino Commission on AIDS all noted the threat
and stressed the importance of safer sex. “These two local cases of LGV
should enlighten men who have sex with men that practicing safer sex is the
best way to stay alive and stay healthy,” GMHC Executive Director Ana
Oliveira said. “Prevention is more than just about protection against
HIV. It’s about protecting oneself against all kinds of sexually transmitted
infections, including LGV.”
LCOA President Dennis de Leon advised, “Don’t put anything up your
behind that doesn’t have latex around it.”
Callen-Lorde Executive Director Jay Laudato added that gay New Yorkers should
get regular screenings for sexually transmitted diseases and build a relationship
with a health care provider.
The news of two LGV diagnoses in New York comes on the heels of a Centers for
Disease Control warning last October that said the disease was spreading among
gay and bisexual men in Europe. The first reported outbreaks occurred in the
Dutch cities of Amsterdam and Rotterdam in December 2003.
Frieden admitted that there is not a lot of information available about how
it spreads and how long it is incubated by the body. “There is a lot we
don’t know about it,” he said. “The exact extent of the problem
is still under investigation.”
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