CHAPS off-message

CHAPS is was the Community HIV and Aids Prevention Strategy, a partnership of several organisations led by the Terrence Higgins Trust (THT) coming together for health promotion to gay and bisexual men.

If you want the official website, it's www.chapsonline.org.uk …

THT has received millions of pounds from the Department of Health for work with gay and bisexual men as part of the CHAPS partnership.

My complaint is that it has either ignored or at best paid lip service to the "and …

That CHAPS should work with bisexual men is still clearly acknowledged.

The Field Guide is the CHAPS manual on applying Making It Count, the strategic overview of CHAPS, to health promotion activity with homosexually active men. Both are now in …

A guide to sexually transmitted infections.

Many men will get a sexually transmitted infection at some time – even if haveing (sic) safer sex or sex with only a few men. This helpful manual takes an in-depth look at sexually transmitted …

This sister publication to The Bottom Line, deals with the penis and testicles and how to stay healthy. It covers anatomy; sexual activities; sexual problems; and a range of issues from testicular cancer to sexual dysfunction, and oral sex technique …

"All you'll ever need to know about your arse and his (sic)"

Written in a friendly and accessible style, this gay man's guide to anal health covers a wide variety of topics. Using a mixture of illustrations and graphics it explains …

Designed to be given out at cruising sites and venues by outreach workers, this credit card sized leaflet provides information and support for men who have sex with men.

The exception. As far as I can see, this is the only …

Written for men who don't have HIV, this booklet is for men who have sex with other men. It provides basic information about sex between men, has tips that can make sex better and information about how to make sex …

This booklet is for young men under 18 who think they might be gay or bisexual. Designed with professionals in mind (teachers, school counsellors, youth workers), this accessible and non-explicit resource covers common anxieties that young gay or bisexual men …

Interestingly, the booklet that Out and About replaced was in some ways much better.

True Colours was first published in 1997, with a second edition in 1999.

Apart from a superficial redesign, the only three differences between the two I can spot …

When I did a search for 'bisexual' on the THT website, forty or so local 'and bisexual' groups come up along with things like the brand new Sector Summary Report on improving sex and relationships education (SRE). There's no specific …

"The website for young gay men" and, again, that's what it means.

The front page has "gay men" four times, plus "gay scene" and "gay pubs and clubs".

The gay scene section has nothing to say about mixed gender venues or the …

There are three in the series, produced by the then 'Living well with HIV team', and not all of these are part of the CHAPS partnership.

But see what they are:

Relationships and Sex for Gay Men – perhaps surprisingly, the …

Particularly given the Damilola Taylor result dominating the papers and the airport security alert radio and TV..
.. but, at fucking last, there's been an acquittal in a UK HIV tranmission trial. A clueful defence team, helped by THT, used …

So someone on a uk bi list posted recently, naming one, 'Silken Secret'.

My first reaction on reading that was "Erm, what would do that, apart from spermicide?" (Which I hope you all know is a no-no for this as the …

Because the person in charge of the THT website does not understand the importance of keeping links valid, they've been broken several times since writing the original articles. I'll have download links from here soon…

Ooh, 'bisexual' in the title for once. Well, the title of the 2007 booklet, anyway. The intro says
it's important for you to know about [the healthcare system], even if you are not ill, and why being gay or bisexual is …

Published in 2000 by OUP, "This lively and informative book offers a unique introduction to human sexuality in the context of health and social care practice" (back page blurb). Sounds great!

Page xv sets out the standard against which it wants …

The first one was on 1st December 1988, so this year's is the twenty third one. How many do you think have had a theme mentioning gay and bisexual men?

None. (I don't count various wishy-washy 'all in it together' …

The new Sigma Panel, a cohort of over three thousand gay and bisexual men in the UK who have said they're willing to fill in monthly online questionnaires for Sigma Research, got an email about the first one yesterday. Another …

This report was commissioned from Sigma Research in 1994 by the UK government's Health Education Authority (HEA), then in charge of official HIV prevention work. I strongly suspect it was in order to demonstrate that, as the head of the …

Every so often, there are stories in the media like this one:
Men who want to lower their chances of contracting HIV should be circumcised, the world's leading health experts said yesterday.

Having the foreskin removed lowers the risk of catching the …

From the THT news feed (if I thought it'd stay constant, I'd give a URL):

July 25, 2011
THT reminds local LGBT community to look after their sexual health at Telford Pride

July 26, 2011
Terrence Higgins Trust reminds gay men to stay safe …

I hadn't seen this one before I was asked about it in one of the monthly Sigma Panel surveys. IDIDIT.org.uk is a microsite aimed at "gay or bisexual" (it uses Flash, so you can't copy text from it easily, sigh) …

Rectal microbicides are chemicals which are designed to be put up the anus into the rectum to kill off microbes that cause STIs when having anal sex with an infected partner. Ideally, they'd protect both the receptive and insertive partner.

Much …

Making STI testing easier is a Good Thing, but there are some things to think about before having it as a feature of BiCon, for example.

In no particular order..

Costs: time and money. Let's say we're a responsible bunch and …

A few years ago, someone gave a presentation to a semi-official body on transgendered people and sex work. Most were doing sex work to pay for gender reassignment surgery.

However she said that around 70-80% of MTF sex workers were …

Or is it Summer Lovin'? Both names are used. Anyway, it's THT's 2012 condom info campaign for 'gay men':

We have launched our Gay Man’s Guide To Condoms (Everything they didn’t teach you in school), with the aim of ensuring gay …

Recently published, this is one of very few guides for the target audience, defined as

.. anyone who was labelled female at birth but who identifies as male.

(Inside front cover, in small black on blue writing)

There is lots to applaud about …

In 2000, the Home Office published a consultation paper on the law relating to manslaughter in which they said (section 4.3):
".. we made it clear that the Government proposed that only the intentional transmission of disease should be a criminal …