Check out this throwback illustration from Amphetazine Issue #3! It features a handy visual of how to use an insertive condom (also called "female condom") in the butt.

Want to learn more about the fabulous insertive condom? Click here: Too Big to Fit in Here

A topic of hot debate. What does 'undetectable' mean to you, and how does it impact your views on sexual safety and HIV-related stigma?

"Undetectable": Safe or Not?

By Dave R.
From TheBody.com August 28, 2013

Positive people, on effective treatment, with an undetectable viral load and healthy immune system, still don't know if they can or can't pass on the virus to their partners. New UK developments suggest that official conclusions may already have been reached.

Recently, the idea that people on HIV medication who are also undetectable (where your viral load is measured at less than 40-50 copies of HIV in every milliliter of blood) might also be non-infectious to others with similar tested levels and a healthy immune system, has naturally got everybody in that situation very excited. There is however, still no definitive proof and although we're assured that proof either way is being worked on, it's going to be some time before that news emerges from behind the locked doors of the research labs.

In the meantime, people with an undetectable status see proven non-infectiousness as a possible, instant solution to many sorts of stigma. If, after indisputable proof, it is widely reported that people on successful treatment are not in danger of passing on the virus, then there is no reason for every sexually active person on the planet not to get tested and if necessary treated because treatment will make you a safe person to have sex with. This is discounting other STDs of course but then you're just as much at risk as any sexual partner of contracting those. If successfully proved, people living with HIV will be seen as living with a chronic illness that is no danger to their partners, pretty much like diabetes patients, cancer patients and others. The world will change overnight, not only for positive people but for LGBT society as a whole. They won't be able to point accusing fingers at us anymore, claiming we're "unclean," "disease spreaders" and a "danger to society."

Read the full article here: Safe or Not? 

Source: TheBody.com  

How Do We Make Sure Gay Men Get Vaccinated for HPV?

By Mathew Rodriguez

From TheBody.com, September 4, 2013

For young gay men in the U.S., overall prevalence of HPV (human papillomavirus) infection was 70%, while the prevalence of HPV 16 and/or HPV 18 -- the two HPV strains most commonly associated with anal cancer -- was 37%, according to a new study published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases. While HPV vaccination is commonly discussed for women, especially as prevention for cervical cancer, the truth about gay men, HPV and anal cancer is becoming clearer with more research.

The study followed 94 gay men in Seattle, between the ages of 16 and 30 years old, for one year. To check for HPV infection, the study participants were given three anal swabs: one at baseline, six months and 12 months. For men who had no infection at baseline, the incidence rate of any new HPV infection was 38.5 per 1000 person-month. Additionally, HPV prevalence increased for men who reported higher numbers of sexual partners.

Read the full article here: HPV Vaccinations in Men

SOURCE: THEBODY.COM

Where do you stand on the barebacking risk debate?

Check out the following article which explores stigma, and common beliefs and myths related to barebacking. 

Why We Need to Re-Assess Barebacking, Stop the Stigma and Be Honest About the Risk

By Bob Leahy From TheBody.com

June 17, 2013

As editor of a respected online magazine for people living with HIV, I made a choice, rightly or wrongly (probably the latter), so that in our magazine's first year or two we didn't cover barebacking. We thought it was too inflammatory a subject, thought it might encourage people to do it, thought that people would think we were irresponsible.

That changed in a big way when we featured Josh Landale, Josh Kruger, Michael Bouldin, Jake Sobo, Mark S. King and a handful of others for whom barebacking is either part of their lives or they have come to terms with it. Barebacking is, after all, increasingly a part of the lives of many gay men, and the practice inevitably raises difficult issues for all people living with HIV too, given that many have an undetectable viral load now. So, as a culmination of all of those things, our magazine covered barebacking issues frequently in the last twelve months. In fact, opinion pieces from barebackers, many poz, have been common in our pages.

Meanwhile our community's collective knowledge of the science of what is safe and what is not -- and we have covered that extensively too -- has progressed, so that informed voices outside the prevention community are able to offer the kind of nuanced messages and lead discussions that the prevention community itself is sometimes challenged to do.

As Scottish HIV expert Roy Kilpatrick says: "Individuals are often ahead of planners and providers, and are fairly savvy when it comes to working out ways of reducing risk." I tend to agree. And much of the most relevant and listened-to dialogue today is undeniably via social media, not through government funded campaigns.

Read the full article here: http://www.thebody.com/content/71844/why-we-need-to-re-assess-barebacking-stop-the-stig.html

Source: theBody.com

This week at the NEON peer educator meeting, we were fortunate to have a discussion with Lori from the Pacific Northwest Chapter of the National Cervical Cancer Coalition. Lori talked to the group about HPV (Human Papilloma Virus) and HPV-related cancer in men.  

HPV is often seen as a health problem affecting women, however, the majority of men and women who are sexually active will get genital HPV infection at some point in their lives.

HPV can cause genital warts, and although rare, can lead to more serious health problems like throat, oral, and anal cancer in men.

Education and conversations with other guys are important. Learn more about genital HPV here: http://www.cdc.gov/std/HPV/STDFact-HPV-and-men.htm

For information about HPV and the National Cervical Cancer Coalition: http://www.nccc-online.org/

When and why do you wrap it up? Take this fun, confidential condom survey by POZ magazine.

Condom Survey

Want to know more about HPV, a super common STI? Take a look at this great new HPV factsheet.

HPV Factsheet

SOURCE: Public Health Seattle & King County website http://www.kingcounty.gov/healthservices/health/communicable/std/HPV.aspx

Prototype Is First Condom Designed for Anal Sex

Posted on Poz.com May 15, 2013

The company behind a prototype claims it has made the first condom designed specifically for anal sex, The Huffington Post reports. The R.A.I. (Receptive Anal Intercourse) condom comes from Origami Condoms. The insertive partner does not wear the tubular condom. Instead, the receptive partner anchors the condom internally. If approved, R.A.I. condoms, which collapse and move like an accordion, could be in stores as soon as 2015.

Read the Huffington Post article here: Origami Condom