Remains of the Day (04/02)

Page Six: Tennis Tuesday came early when Venus Williams and her 25-year-old boyfriend's pecs took Manhattan

Dlisted: Easter just isn't the same without Peeps-flavored beer

The New York Times: There isn't a conspiracy theory/right-wing trope Crazy Donald doesn't believe, including the myth of the criminal immigrant

Instagram: So it turns out Chris Meloni's ass isn't just genetic

Boy Culture: Winnie Mandela, South African anti-apartheid crusader, dies at 81

Towleroad: Anti-gay pastor arrested for trying to get little boys to sit on his face

Joe's Pub: Unitard is bringing a refreshed version of its "Tard-core" show to NYC on April 18 and May 16

The Washington Post: Trump proposed Putin visit White House during March call, Kremlin says

The Hill: Mueller probing Roger Stone's claim of meeting with WikiLeaks's Julian Assange

The Gay Curmudgeon: Gay of a certain age discovers Luke Evans ... and his body

POZ: Generation PreP? Pre-exposure prophylaxis has an uncertain future among youth under 25

BosGuy: "I'll show you what's in my Speedo if you show me what's in yours"

GQ: The best buzz cuts to get this spring

Mirror: Three schoolboys found suicidal man about to jump off bridge - they grabbed him and didn't let go

Outsports: Far from home, sexy gay college diver finds a second family in Wyoming

The Cut: "Affluenza teen" Ethan Couch released from jail after serving two years

The Wall Street Journal: The Justice Department has notified immigration judges that it will begin evaluating their job performance based on how quickly they close cases, setting quotas for the first time

Deep Dish: 10 groovy things to do in April starring "Lana Turner" and "Lily Dare"

SLOG: Do Joe Kennedy III's views on marijuana legalization disqualify him as a presidential candidate?

The Gay Almanac: Happy birthday to MSNBC's Rachel Maddow

Greg in Hollywood: Behold John Halbach's full-time chest and part-time 'stache

Tennis Life: Harold Solomon has had enough of Genie Bouchard -- and ditto for Andre Agassi and Novak Djokovic

The Randy Report: The first openly gay man has just been named to the Basketball Hall of Fame

The New Yorker: Honoring Martin Luther King Jr., 50 years after his assassination 

Hot Cat of the Day: Harvey is the sweetest and most rambunctious cat I've ever known, so Damian and I have been dying to catify the house a bit more for him.

After doing away with my huge CD collection, we cleared out a space over the weekend for a way-too-big-for-an-apartment-our-size cat tree, and the only one more excited about it than Harvey is us! 

On the Rag, Vol. 492

A weekly look at what's making news in the gay mags:

Grab (Chicago): Meet Lucas Entertainment's Aaden Stark

Cybersocket: DIY Porn: Amateur gay sex sites

Get Out: Better know Luis Mejia, who you can find dancing at Rebar, Trade, Atlas Social Club, Mr. Biggs and the Pavilion in the Fire Island Pines

Out: Ricky Martin and Édgar Ramirez talk love, death, and Gianni Versace

HotSpots (Florida): 25 reasons to exercise in 2018

The Unleashed Voice: Meet author/activist and survivor Monika Pickett

Gloss (San Francisco): The travel issue is here

QX (London): PrEP -- all the kids are on it!

Metro Weekly (D.C.): Centaur Patrick Grady on the growth, evolution and brotherhood of Mid-Atlantic Leather Weekend in D.C.

San Francisco Bay Times: Women's March 2018 to bring #Power to the polls

The One Percenter Speaks Out

The guy I blogged about last week who unfortunately became the first reported case of a daily PrEP user contracting HIV is speaking out. In an interview with POZ Magazine, the 44-year-old man -- who identifies himself only as Joe -- says he stopped using condoms once he was on PReP and became very promiscuous because he finally felt sexually "liberated" and "safe." Although he is obviously not happy about being in the unlucky one percent, he still thinks Truvada is great: "If I had to do it all over again, I would still go on PrEP. I just wouldn’t have sex with that specific person." Read HERE.

Man Taking Daily PrEP Contracts HIV

My pal Ben Ryan reports:

Researchers have for the first time documented a case of an individual contracting HIV, a multi-drug resistant strain, while apparently adhering well to the daily regimen of Truvada (tenofovir/emtricitabine) as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). The scientists concluded that it is indeed possible for individuals who are adherent to PrEP to contract HIV when they are exposed to a virus that is resistant to both drugs included in Truvada. While this case is concerning, experts in the PrEP field suggest that such failures of PrEP will likely remain rare.

Distressing news -- obviously no more so than for the guy who thought he was being safe -- but it does sounds like it's a very rare occurrence. (And I suppose there's always the chance that the guy is lying about his Truvada use, although his doctors say it seems very likely he used it daily.) I'm a huge proponent of PReP and don't understand anyone who has any problem with it whatsoever. My only comment about it is this: Friends who are on it tell me that you don't really realize just how anxious you are worrying about HIV during sex until you're taking PReP and begin to fully relax ... how liberating it is. (Sounds good, I'm awfully uptight.) But whenever I think about going on it, I always imagine how I'd be MORE STRESSED using PReP instead of condoms -- don't kid yourself: my friends who are on it are not doubling up -- because I'd be convinced that I'd be that one-in-a-million case who still gets HIV. This story only bolsters that fear. And if your comeback is that condoms aren't 100 percent safe, I'd say this: They got me through the height of the AIDS epidemic AND I've never had an STD -- something none of my friends on PReP can say.

Read Ben's full report HERE.

Is PrEP for You?

 I like this ad -- and it reminded me to share the latest episode of PBS' "Fear & Sex: PrEP and HIV | First Person."

Description:

In the twelfth episode of PBS Digital Studios' First Person, “Fear & Sex: PrEP and HIV,” host Kristin Russo talks with Jermaine McCrossin, a gay male living in New York who recently began taking Truvada as PrEP (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis) about HIV/AIDS, fear around sex and his work with the organization Project Achieve.

World AIDS Day 2014

While others bicker and create controversy where little should exist, I am thankful this World AIDS Day that my HIV-positive friends are living healthy and robust lives -- and that a drug is on the market that makes getting infected with HIV highly unlikely. I only wish we had gotten here soon before so many of our loved ones had to die, people who live on in our hearts. #WorldAIDSDay

Mike Rosentreter

Tru or False?

 The gay blogging community woke to an email in our in-boxes with the subject "Resentment toward HIV/AIDS drug Truvada," yet I've never heard a single person bad-mouth someone for taking it. Boy Culture hasn't either -- and has lots to say about this fictional controversy HERE.

Facing the Truvada

If the continuing mixed news that HIV diagnoses are down EXCEPT for young gay males doesn't make the community embrace PrEP, then I don't know what will. Read HERE.