The idea of a pageant as a means to improve acceptance of homosexuality made me wince ever so slightly.
“The event is a striking sign of how far attitudes in China have changed and of gay people’s increasing confidence” wrote Tania Branigan in The Guardian. And so, eight  “brave” contestants will tread the catwalk in a show of physical beauty but also character and personality “that will make a difference in the selection” according to Beijing-based Ryan Dutcher, co-founder & Communications Director of Gayographic, and organiser of the event.
But after reflexion, …

This advert was produced by GMFA to highlight the fact that you can’t be sure of someone’s HIV status by his looks, his behaviour, the sex he likes or where you meet.

Rating 3.00 out of 5

Two important articles have appeared in The Bangkok Post newspaper since last week’s cancellation of the 2nd Chiang Mai Gay Pride Parade because a small group of red-shirted pro-Thaksin demonstrators objected to the event taking place in a public space.
The first was an announcement by Pairote Boonsirikamchai, assistant secretary-general of the Medical Council of Thailand that under 18 now could receive a free HIV test and counselling at clinics without their parents’ consent.
This is definitively a step forward. By making counselling accessible to the most vulnerable people in society, that …

This is a cross posting from Laura Agustín’s blog, Border Thinking on Migration and Trafficking: Culture, Economy and Sex. It is worth circulating broadly in an age where everything is conflated and reduced to a black and white understdanting.
Briefly, sex workers at the Barn Funn Brothel have been forcibly “rescued and liberated” by NGOs, charity workers or the Police (if the latter can be considered as a rescue).
In this poster designed by EMPOWER in Chiang Mai Thailand, the workers list the reasons why they do not wish to be rescued …

Bibi Rusell, former international fashion model and now world renowned Bengali designer started her own version of (PRODUCT)RED with HIV-infected women in Cambodia.
Russell joined the women of MDSF, an initiative started in 2006 by the UN Development Program that now employs 17 women living with HIV in a Phnom Penh factory reports the Phnom Penh Post.
“If you join hands with women living with HIV with affection and confidence, they can create magic with their fingers. Fashion is very important, and it makes you understand the culture of a country,” …