Jerry Curl

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The HuffPo Gay Voices reports : In a move that will no doubt rankle the efforts of anti-gay institutions, the psychiatrist who published a controversial 2001 study proclaiming that "highly motivated" gay and lesbian people could change their sexual orientation is now retracting his initial claims. Psychiatrist Bob Spitzer, who had ironically led the effort to declassify homosexuality as a mental illness in 1973, told American Prospect that he now wants to retract his study , while addressing several of the ample criticisms against its findings. "In retrospect, I have to admit I think the critiques are largely correct," said the 80-year-old Spitzer, who is now retired and suffering from Parkinson's disease. “The findings can be considered evidence for what those who have undergone ex-gay therapy say about it, but nothing more.” After noting that failed attempts to rid oneself of homosexual attractions "can be quite harmful," he then requested writer Ga...

By Chris Weyant The Huffingtin post reports: The Supreme Court plunged into debate today on the fate of the Obama administration's overhaul of the nation's health care system, and the justices gave every indication they will not allow an obscure tax law to derail the case. A decision is expected by late June, in the midst of a presidential election campaign in which all of President Barack Obama's Republican challengers oppose the law and promise its repeal if the high court hasn't struck it down in the meantime.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news , world news , and news about the economy As a follow up to yesterday's post about boys and anorexia , Dr. Nancy Snyderman examines the psychosis of eating disorders.

A controversial abortion bill sponsored by Sen. Anitere Flores (R-Miami) passed the Senate Health Regulation Committee 5-2 yesterday. The bill, SB 290, has two stops left before the floor requires much more state regulation of abortions and abortion clinics.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news , world news , and news about the economy NBC News reports : Far from the world of beauty magazines, pin-thin celebrities and runway models, anorexia is striking what many consider to be an unlikely group: boys and young men. “When the majority of people hear the word anorexia, they automatically assume it’s a girls' disease,” said Victor, who works in his family’s construction business and has since recovered. “The reality of anorexia is that it’s a psychological illness that does not discriminate,” he said. According to the National Eating Disorders Association, at least one million males in the United States are battling anorexia or bulimia. Yet due to the shame that often comes with male eating disorders, experts say the statistics are skewed, and many more young men are left unaccounted for. “It appears that the prevalence of the disorder is increasing among boys,” said Dr. James Hudson, a Harvard psychiatry professor who has been treating and...

The Advocate reports : The White House rolled out its first campaign-season LGBT conference yesterday, one focused on health care issues facing the community and headlined by Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius. The conference series was first announced by the White House last month. Sebelius didn’t break big news on health care initiatives during a morning address at Philadelphia's Thomas Jefferson University. But the White House’s engagement on the issue, coupled with the HHS secretary’s attendance, brought national visibility to what Sebelius accurately described as a health care system that has been “especially broken for LGBT Americans,” who have lower rates of coverage and have been historically excluded from federal health surveys. “Given the discrimination that often is faced in the workplace, LGBT Americans often have a harder time getting access to employment-based coverage,” Sebelius said at the conference, also attended by gay White House officials ...

A study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine suggests that a good support system might be the key to helping deter suicide among gay youth. The study evaluated risk factors associated with self harm and suicide among lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender adolescents between ages 16 and 20. Support from family and friends often acted as an effective preventive factor against inflicting self-harm and suicide among the population. Adolescents who felt victimized and didn't have a trusted support network were more likely to have suicidal thoughts and inflict harm, the research suggests. About 94% of LGBT youth have experienced some form of victimization , whether it be name-calling or threats, according to a Northwestern University press release. The study emphasizes the importance of enhancing the availability of support groups for LGBT youth. In addition, it highlights society's responsibility to increase acceptance and reduce the negative stigma sometimes a...

CNN reports : The Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation has reversed its decision of three days ago to stop funding Planned Parenthood for breast cancer screenings, the group said today in a statement. "We want to apologize to the American public for recent decisions that cast doubt upon our commitment to our mission of saving women's lives," the group said. "We will continue to fund existing grants, including those of Planned Parenthood, and preserve their eligibility to apply for future grants, while maintaining the ability of our affiliates to make funding decisions that meet the needs of their communities," the group said. The announcement comes three days after Komen, a group supporting breast cancer research, said it would stop the funding, saying that it decided it would no longer fund groups under federal investigation. Congress in September began investigating whether Planned Parenthood, a prominent family planning organization, illegally used federal...

--> Election 2012 : President Barack Obama launched a three-day visit to five battleground states today by pressing State of the Union themes of core American values and having the wealthy pay more taxes. At an Iowa manufacturing plant that he said represented the kind of job creation needed for the economy, Obama repeatedly drew applause for the apparent central message of his re-election bid -- that the country needs to keep alive equal opportunity for all. Americans aren't looking for a handout, the president said, but want the security of knowing they can provide for their families, send their kids to college and save for retirement. "That's all most people want. Folks don't have unrealistic ambitions," he said. "They do believe that if they work hard, they should be able to achieve that small measure of an American dream. That's what this country's about. That's what you deserve." Later, Obama spoke at a $5 billion factory under const...

The Huffington Post has an interesting article on the biological needs of men and sex. While I agree with most of what's inluded here, I think cheating is never ok. Open relationships are honest relationships. But it's never ok to hurt others for personal satisfaction. Eric Anderson, an American sociologist at England's University of Winchester and author of the provocative new book, The Monogamy Gap: Men, Love, and the Reality of Cheating says that monogamy is failing men. Not only is it failing them, but it's a "socially compelled sexual incarceration" that can lead to a life of anger and contempt. In his study of 120 undergraduate gay and straight men, 78% of those who had a partner cheated, "even though they said that they loved and intended to stay with their partner." Contrary to what we may think, most men aren't cheating because they don't love their partner, he says; they cheat because they just want to have sex with others. And so...

A Canadian research team received a green light from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on yesterday to begin human trials on a potential HIV vaccine, the National Post reports . Dr. Chil-Yong Kang, virologist at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ont., is leading the research team that will conduct the clinical trials. After the group’s potential vaccine showed no side effects on rats and monkeys, the FDA agreed to advance it to the first of three phases of human trials, which can begin next month. The FDA is involved because Kang’s team is working with a Korean pharmaceutical company with patents in the U.S.; the company likely hopes to market the vaccine, if successful, in America. The possible vaccine, in the works since 1987, is actually a dead HIV virus infected into cells. “So we infect the cells with a virus and then the infected cells will produce lots of virus and we can collect them, purify them and then inactivate them,” Kang said in a video posted on the Univ...

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Amy Sadao , executive director of Visual AIDS (a nonprofit arts organization based in New York City) writes: Twenty years. That's how long it has been since the Visual AIDS Artists' Caucus created what they called "The Ribbon Project." These New York City artists were compelled to collaboratively create a symbol that was easy to reproduce, that would be cheap, and that would make people think about AIDS. Today we know their work simply as the Red Ribbon; an icon that became most poignant at the height of the AIDS crisis. In 1991, the downtown arts scene was also an unimaginable scene of devastation. AIDS changed contemporary art, and world culture, forever. A multitude of talented people had already died and scores more were ill. Or caring for dying friends, or working collectively as groundbreaking AIDS activists. Some were doing it all. And in a series of meetings in April and May of 1991 members of the Visual AIDS Artists' Caucus decided that a piece of grosgr...

In the Life takes a powerful look at HIV/AIDS 30 years into the epidemic: Thirty years after the first AIDS case was reported in the US, more than a million Americans are HIV positive. One in five don't know it and 56,000 are newly infected each year. But if you only watch mainstream media, you would have no idea of the pandemic's ongoing impact. (Via Towleroad )

AIDS.gov reports : The first cases of what would later become known as AIDS were reported in the United States in June of 1981. Since then, 1.7 million people in the U.S. are estimated to have been infected with HIV, including over 615,000 who have already died and more than 1.1 million estimated to be living with the disease today. Every 9½ minutes, someone in the U.S. is infected with HIV. The impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic spans the nation with HIV diagnoses having been reported in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. dependencies, possessions, and associated nations. HIV in the United States: Fast Facts • More than one million people are living with HIV in the U.S. • One in five living with HIV is unaware of their infection. • MSM of all races remain the group most severely affected by HIV. • By race, African Americans face the most severe HIV burden. CDC estimates that more than one million people are living with HIV in the United States (U.S.). One in five (21%)...

The Advocate reports : In an address to the National Institutes of Health yesterday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton emphasized voluntary male circumcision programs and mother-to-child transmission reduction efforts as vital to building the foundation for an “AIDS-free generation.” Clinton also announced that she had named Ellen DeGeneres as a special envoy for global AIDS awareness . “Your words will encourage Americans in joining you to make their voices heard in our campaign to achieve an AIDS-free generation,” Secretary Clinton wrote to DeGeneres in a letter released yesterday. “The enormous platform of your television show and your social media channels will enable you to reach millions of people with the strong and hopeful message that we can win this fight.” In the NIH address, Clinton called for increased voluntary male circumcision as well as more support for antiretroviral medication regimens among those infected — both of which contribute to an “ideal intervention that pr...

The Huffington Post reports : The National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has published a report stating that African Americans and Hispanics are the groups most affected by HIV. African Americans represent approximately 14% of the population in the United States and Hispanics make up approximately 16% of the population, according to 2010 census data. But the CDC report shows they are disproportionately affected by HIV -- African Americans account for 44% of the 48,100 new HIV cases diagnosed in 2009, while Hispanics account for 20% of the new HIV cases. In 2009, African American men had the highest rates of new HIV cases (103.9 new cases for every 100,000 people), followed by Hispanic men (39.9) and African American women (39.7). The CDC report also indicates that gay and bisexual men remain the most affected by HIV in the United States. Men who have sex with men (MSM) represent 2% of the population in the United States, but account for more than 50% of all new HIV cases ...

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news , world news , and news about the economy --> This story had me at the description: The world’s largest sperm bank, based in Denmark, says there is little demand for semen from redheads; it’s also banning Scandinavians, because of a supply glut.