Sexual Health Archives

Four months ago the great Buck Angel released a fantastic PSA encouraging transmen to get an annual pap test in order to check for precancerous cells. I posted about this a while back while discussing some of my favorite PSAs in terms of STD awareness.

Recently Drew Deveaux worked with Buck Angel to create a new PSA encouraging trans women to get prostate exams. If a trans woman takes estrogen therapy, her chances of prostate cancer are reduced, but there is still a risk. Get yourself checked!

Drew wrote a fantastic blog post about her PSA. Drew is one of the few, but strong, queer porn activists. She fucks well on camera and educates a diverse range of people on trans rights. I particularly enjoy her work on developing the term “cisnormativity,” which you can read more about in her blog post.

For more information, click here for a quick fact sheet on health and wellness for trans women by LGBThealth.net.

As much as I’d like this post to be “yay! awareness and sex and love!” It should be noted how much shit Buck Angel, along with many others, puts up with due to his work and who he is. Recently Buck published on his twitter feed a response to his PSA:

“You fucking suck You fake piece of shit. Your twisted amusement damages too fucking much. I can’t get proper medical care because of the perversion you have taxed the doctors with Your lies, for your Halloween costumes. Men don’t have pussies it is incompatible with male chemistry asshole”

I wanted to post the hate that Buck receives to keep everyone aware. Sometimes hate and discrimination are in your face, and other times it’s a little more subtle. Get your pronouns right, people. Respect the pronoun a person uses. And don’t assume you know the pronoun. Furthermore, everyone has a right to proper health care, everyone has a right to live how they see fit. This isn’t Halloween, this isn’t for twisted amusement. This is life.

Keep yourself in check, and get checked.

Because it’s Friday, I’ve got a glass of wine, a laptop and I just don’t wanna study for finals anymore!

Sue Johanson discusses how sex while pregnant doesn’t mean you’re knock, knock, knockin’ on a your babies head.

Followed by a great mix of Sue moments:

An anonymous e-card informing past partners of potential infection via http://inspot.org/

April is National STD Awareness Month recognized by the CDC. Have you had your STDs checked out? Let’s start with a little stats, shall we? In 2008, there was 1.2 million newly reported cases of chlamydia. For syphilis, California ranked “10 among 50 states” where the rate among males was 11.4 per 100,000 population versus the U.S. male rate of 7.6 per 100,000 (stats sheet). Let’s not forget that gonorrhea is at risk of becoming a superbug. It’s not that I’m trying to scare you into getting tested, it’s that I’m trying to make your sex that much hotter. Without being concerned if you are infected because you are using proper safer sex techniques and getting regularly tested, you can enjoy some of that dirty beast sexing. You can search for testing centers closet to you by using the CDC supported search page. And just to put it out there, after you get tested you can submit an anonymous review to me so I that can post the review on my blog for others to use in making an informed choice for getting tested.

One of the many great ways of protecting yourself is having an open and honest talk with your new/existing sexual partner. When was the last time they had sex? What does sex mean to them? Did they use protection during sex? When was the last time they were tested? This is not to be substituted with actual protection and testing, but it’s a great communication exercise with your partner, as well as building trust. Don’t think this kind of conversation can be sexy? Think again. Try not to think of this as giving your partner a checklist, but getting to know your partner better *insert happy Disney music here*. This kind of conversation, coupled with safer sex techniques and regular testing will keep you on the high road to a happy, healthy and delicious sex life, my friends.

While we’re discussing STD’s, lets delve into another aspect of sexuality I like to discuss — advertising.

First off, I’d like to present my favorite STD awareness ad FAIL entitled “homoboy,”  wherein the San Francisco Department of Public Health tried to reached out to men of color who have sex with men and used the tagline “Don’t Be a Bitch, Use a Condom.” Um, excuse me? Let’s take a look, shall we?

First off, by stating that the audience was “men of color who have sex with men” assumes that all men of color maintain a masculine, thuggish personality, and secondofly (yes, that’s a word), it’s obviously playing on the whole Down Low phenomena/scare by adding the woman at the bottom of the poster. The language and images the ad uses is insulting, in my not so humble opinion.

Some of my favorite advertisements are as follows:

In 2007 I posted two videos by a French AIDS awareness campaign that I found to be pretty damn adorable, check out the videos HERE.

Recently the Berkeley Free Clinic created an ad encouraging the local community to use their clinic, watch below:

Berkeley Free Clinic Ad:

And the great Buck Angel created a Public Cervix Announcement for Trans Men:

What are your favorite STD awareness advertisements?

Related Posts:

How Are Your STDs?
Condoms Prevent Genocide

Inside Sexplorations. Photo Credit: Betsy Dorsett.

The first Thursday of every month, The Exploratorium holds a special night called “After Dark.” Each After Dark event showcases the scientific aspects behind “adult interests,” whether it be alcohol, sex or fashion. On February 4th, After Dark presented their program on all things sexual entitled “Sexplorations.” In between visiting the bar, patrons can check out live dissections of testicles, learn about the sex life of orchids and insects, and see the inner workings of vibrators. Want to know what testicles taste like? They offered that. Pined away trying to figure out which animal has the biggest sperm? It’s the fruit fly, that little bastards’ sperm is bigger than itself. Frankly, Sexplorations was a Valhalla for sex bio geeks, but a frustrating experience for those who are more interested in the cultural history of sex and sexuality. I was somewhere in between.

The keynote speech of the night was by Mary Roach, the author of Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex. Along with Bonk, Roach has written Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers and Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife. More recently, Roach gained popularity from her featured lecture at TED Talks, entitled “10 Things You Didn’t Know About Orgasm” (Video of the lecture posted below). Roach’s humorous and thoughtful approach towards her study on sexual research was full of embarrassing and insightful aspects of sexuality researchers.

To begin, Roach discussed how being a sex researcher can be a bit awkward, how even just telling people what kind of work you do can get a bit embarrassing depending on the other persons reaction. As an example of the awkward aspects of being asexuality researcher Roach discussed a one Dr. Brimley who discovered a type of substance that when injected right into the penis can cause an impressive erection. Completely excited about this he showed up to his next black and white affair wearing a flimsy track suit. As the men and women wore expensive suits and glamorous gowns, Dr. Brimley walked around pulling the fabric to his track pants back to show the outline of his hard on. The guests looked appalled and the Doctor couldn’t understand why they weren’t impressed by his tumescence.

At points Mary Roach reiterated her TED Talks lecture, even showing the notorious romancing the pig video, but overall it was great to see her discuss her research and experience with sex researchers live. One unfortunate aspect that came up through her lecture was the lack of diversity in much of the sex research she encountered. Most of the researchers she interviewed were studying strictly heterosexual forms of sex for the purpose of reproduction. The more exciting aspects of her lecture were times when she met with a woman who could orgasm just through thought. The problem is that little biological and physiological research is being done when discussing non-heterosexual sex, other than when researchers want to find difference in brain size or finger length. However, I did appreciate that much of Roach’s book is dedicated to research on pleasure and orgasm, and seemingly not for the purpose of making desire abnormal.

Towards the end of her lecture, Mary Roach discussed coming across fascinating articles like “Observations of In Utero Fetal Masturbation,” where sonograms of little fetuses tugging it were the feature exhibit of the research study. Mary Roach then ended with a list she received from an article on foreign bodies found in the rectums of ER patients: frozen pig tails, hairspray can “incarcerated in a 37 year-old lawyer,” spatula, jewelers saw, and four hundred and two stones. Things that make you go “ow!”

Below is Mary Roach’s TED Talks lecture, “10 Things You Didn’t Know About Orgasm,” if you’d like to view the video with one of fifteen translated subtitles or view the transcript, click here to view the video on the TED website.

To read more or purchase her books, follow the links below:

In a disgusting effort to perpetuate the long-standing insecurities some women have towards the beauty of their genitalia, many plastic surgeons are offering reconstructive surgery to make ones vulva more “aesthetically pleasing.” Eve Ensler, creator of “The Vagina Monologues,” would be spinning in her grave right now if she was dead, but she’s not. Perhaps this is why she’s been tossing and turning so much at night. To be honest, I’m getting tired of yelling “Eve, for the love of god just take an Ambien!”

In an article by the BBC, it is reported that labioplasty procedures performed under UK’s NHS increased by 70% from last year. Keep in mind that this does not include procedures carried out by private practitioners. Furthermore, there has been very little research done to find out the long-term side effects, along with the possibility (rather, likelihood) of nerve damage and lose of sexual sensation. While I often try to follow Ricardo Montalban’s edict “I’d rather look good than feel good,” you have to draw the line somewhere, people.

What’s obviously bothersome about all of this is the amount of time, energy and money spent towards “beautifying” the vulva, read: homogenizing vulvas. Rather, these resources would be better put towards understanding the sources of this insecurity, and advocacy towards acceptance of the natural
beauty of the vuvla. Man, I’ve been spending too much time with Miss Eve, but this is true regardless.

They’re like snowflakes, people. Beautiful snowflakes. You’re fucking snowflakes. Or keys, since now you can make a silicone clone of your vulva. Ok, it really doesn’t matter if your sexing snowflakes or keys, either way there needs to be more work done towards the acceptance of vulvas rather than making them seem like some big ol mess that can only be attractive through the scalpel of a doctor.

Recently the states of Georgia and Florida are taking into consideration revoking funds towards sexuality, gender, and queer studies courses at their universities, as well as research in these areas. These courses and studies are not only integral towards higher learning in an academic environment, but also add an enormous amount of necessary information towards the general public understanding of sexual health. Keep in mind, I am not exclusively talking about physical health, but also mental and emotional health. It is the sexuality, gender and queer-related research studies that improve how health clinics treat and understand their patients. These studies assist in the betterment of youth outreach programs, whether it be sex education, Gay Straight Alliance (GSA), or access to Planned Parenthood. By erasing such necessary funding towards these classes and research, we are putting our health and well-being at risk. These courses, these studies, they are not “disgusting,” they are not pointless in the slightest sense. Hell, some of the best porn directors benefit from sexuality-related studies. We need good porn, don’t we? We need proper sexual health coverage, right? Eliminating these courses and research studies will have a more profound impact on our lives than many may think.

The National Sexuality Resource Center has spearheaded an online petition to show the support of sexuality, gender, and queer studies courses and research. To read more about current state of this issue and sign the petition please click
HERE.

To read a more eloquent explanation as to the impact of such a decision, read Dr. Christopher White’s current blog post
HERE.

Image from: www.plateforme-elsa.org

In another addition to my (hopefully) ongoing series of Clinic Reviews, we are graced by a review by my senior Parisian Clinic Expert, “Frenchy McFrenchfry.” Obviously her name has been changed to protect her identity, but I am incredibly excited to post her review of what seems to be a fantastic and revolutionary, if not at times unethical, sexual health clinic in Paris. Please to be enjoy.

I am a fairly straight female, and I went to a clinic in Paris, France. It’s a clinic run by the Mouvement Français de Planning Familial (French Movement for Family Planning), or MFPF. I waited maybe an hour to get in and see the doctor, but not because they were very busy. A woman came into the waiting room where I was discussing politics with a new waiting-room buddy and welcomed us into a kind of conference room next door. Once the room was sufficiently filled with nervous-looking French girls, two counselors came in and started asking us what we knew about contraception, and then they corrected our misconceptions and answered our questions. To my utter astonishment, I learned stuff. For instance, I had no idea that abortions, if correctly performed, are almost completely harmless to your body, even after your third or fourth. This is a well-kept secret in the US, apparently. In fact, all the workers at the MFPF were fascinated to hear how all this stuff works in the Barbarous States of America.

Then came something utterly shocking to me as an Amuhrikan: one of the counselors asked us to disclose private medical information! And many of the girls complied! Totally illegal back home, if I’m not mistaken, but kind of cool nonetheless because it creates an open environment. What was not as cool was the actual exam. The doctor was very nice, he would come into the conference every now and then to answer rather private questions in front of everyone else and to call in the next girl (they weren’t exactly strict about appointments, they were like “who was here first?” and I was like “me,” and other girls were like “I have class, can I go first?” and I was like “uh, sure…”). But
once I got in to see him, he seemed to be pretending not to understand my (practically fluent) French, which made giving him the necessary information very difficult. He was just going to give me my birth control prescription (which I am admittedly dubious about because he seemed unsure about which French brand to give me) but I had something I wanted him to check out, so he made me undress in a practically open corner of the room, which I found awkward, and then proceeded to poke and prod without letting me know what he was doing or why. Then he handed me my pap smear in an envelope and told me to go mail it with a check for 17 euro.

The whole business cost me 22 euro, plus the 17 euro check for the lab, plus the 88 centimes to mail my own pap smear, plus 22.40 for three months’ worth of birth control pills. Hopefully my school insurance will reimburse me. But not shabby, really, even if the experience was a bit of a culture shock. But here I have to say that the MFPF is pretty amazing, very feminist, very pro contraception, pro giving out correct information instead of scaring girls into being careful, and anti forced marriage (which is actually a huge problem here). Actually, a few weeks ago I unwittingly met one of MFPF’s founders, and he was very nice.

I’d give this experience a 7 out of 10 for sheer novelty. MFPF is fantastic about contraception, but you should really go to a private practice if you want anything else done (or are American).

REMINDER: If you would like to write a review of your local sexual health clinic from your perspective, please email me for more information.

As you may have read, two weeks ago I visited the fine San Francisco City Clinic and chronicled my experience
(read here). My main point with that post was to work against the stigma of going and getting tested. Also to point out that you shouldn’t wait until you see that bump or that goo coming out of your junk to get tested, but to do your best at going for regular testing. Particularly if you are not in a monogamous relationship but that is another post all together.

I might as well post my results in interest of self disclosure…I’m clean bitches! I had no worry, but just like for many other people, getting tested can cause you to have moments of self-doubt.

However, if you find yourself with not so happy results from your recent STD testing and are concerned about openly telling your past partners, you may consider using an e-card service like inSPOT. inSPOT is a website that allows you to send anonymous e-cards to your past sexual partners to let them know that you have an STD and that they might want to get tested as well. While I prefer honesty, this is better than nothing. Thankfully this site also offers a list of places that you can get tested based on where you live.

The image above is my favorite, if not only due to its absurd abrasiveness.

Note: I’ve decided to visit other clinics in San Francisco to review the experience and will post them at a later date. If you are female, FTM, MTF and/or live outside of San Francisco and would like to write a review of your experience at your local clinic please contact me, I’d like to post your experience for others to read. You can contact me at
david@omniphilia.com with “Clinic Review” in the subject line.

This is a long post, scroll to bottom for summary

It was time for my routine STD check. After calling a variety of possible clinics I decided upon SF City Clinic simply because it opened at 8am, perfectly early enough before work starts. Waking up way to early, I arrived 15 min before the opening. Fuck, there is already 10 people waiting in line. 10 people as diverse as you can get. Old, young, Black, Latino, Asian, all socio-economic statuses except the uber-wealthy (they have std checks at home). Right at 8am they let us all file in. Manning the counter is a middle-aged black woman with blonde highlights that match the yellow speckles on her blouse. As we form a line before the red stripe that “ensures” privacy she calmly says “next,” quietly waits for you to walk up and confess to whatever sins you’ve made. Without a flinch or change in intonation she asks, “do you have any symptoms? Is this your first time here?” then gives you a number or letter. However, when I approach I say, “I’m here for a routine check up,” without asking if I had been here before she simply gives me number and informational sheet and gives me that look that tells me to walk away. At this point I’m not sure if it was “better” that I got a number or letter.

We all sit in a DMV-like setting. Some more nervous than others. Some more “anonymous” than others. Number 36 is a tall, skinny, blonde man, he was the “lucky one,” lucky in that he was first in line. They called his number from the front of the room and he follows, only to return moments later. Five minutes pass, “number 36″ is called and he walks back to the front hallway. Again, he returns moments later. Another five minutes and a door open behind us all, an older black woman in a lab coat soothingly breaks the silence, “good morning, number 36?” I’m reminded of a weird mash-up between the films Brazil, Hitchhikers Guide, and the opening scene to Joe vs the Volcano. If only Abe Vigoda was here to offer me orange soda as a gift, if only.

It’s difficult to figure out if the jittery guy sitting next to me is nervous because he’s symptomatic, had a risky sexual experience that he regrets or just doesn’t like waiting. He lifts the newspaper to his face over and over, stands up, paces, and sits down until his letter his called.

As an unspoken rule, eye contact is forbidden. I tested this theory with a few people. Yep, verbotten.

I try to get figure out similarities between those who got numbers, nothing visible. I guess the letters are reserved for those who are symptomatic.

To the side of the waiting area there’s a poorly painted mural of what seems to be a tropical jungle. At the top is a painted flowing banner which reads “if it’s magic why can’t it be everlasting?” this can be construed in a multitude of ways, some more encouraging than other.

After waiting 50 min I’m called for the first time. The first time they call your number is to obtain your general information to an older Asian woman who boarders on sassy and maternal. She tells you to create a password so that you can confidentially check your results online within a week. At the end she asks if I’d like to make a $10 donation. In my own way I figure this is a way to grease their palms and bump me up the list, getting me seen earlier. I oblige.

On one of the cubicle walls facing the waiting room is perhaps the most bizarre public health ad campaign posters I’ve seen. It reads “dogsaretalking.com — get tested for syphilis” with a paw print where the o’s should be. Accompanied by a picture of a frenchie, dachshund, lab and bulldog, all of puppy age.

A heavy set clinician pops her head out of a door, glasses hanging down her nose. She calls out “42.” no answer. “number 42,” no answer. She sighs, “four-two.” yep, this reminds me of the mash-up film I mentioned earlier.

30 min after I was first checked in, a doctor calls my number. An incredibly personable physician, with sensitivity, care and a non-chalant attitude she took my sexual and drug history. Who I’ve slept with, what sexual acts, how many people, what kind of drugs I’ve taken and how often. At which point she would get excited (but not sexually) about a drug I had taken or sexual experience I’d had. She did an incredibly good job at making me feel like I was talking to a long-time friend about my personal history. She didn’t seem too worried by my history and made a few jokes that weren’t canned, but sincere. Handing me a cup and brown bag, she asked me to fill the cup with my pee-pee as she finished her side of the paper work. As I walked to the restroom, the same heavy set spectacled physician could be heard sighing “fourTY two!?” I come back and give my doctor my pee cup, she checks my hands for syphilis sores (none), chest for rashes (none), and my diiiiick for abnormalities (none).

I then wait again, this time for 10 min to get my blood test, not a bad waiting period. My blood was taken by a Puerto Rican version of one of my sweetest aunts. As she withdrew my blood she spoke to me in a thick accent rattling on about life, giving me tips, telling me to save money and travel. With ease she finished up her phlebotomist task and accented it with minorly complaining about working for the city.

In Summary

Overall time: 2 hours.

I had an overall positive experience at the San Francisco City Clinic. However, I came in knowing that I would be spending a lot of time waiting. The employees ranged from disgruntled city workers to sincere physicians who were excited to work with “the community.” Bring a book and expect to deal with the basic beauracracy. If you are able to go to Magnet, Planned Parenthood or any other clinic during the middle of the day, I’m sure it would be worth while.
If you have decent insurance, you might as well take advantage of that and get tested there. However, overall SF City Clinic was not bad at all. They also have certain hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays if you currently have symptoms.

SF City Clinic
www.dph.sf.ca.us
356 7th St
San Francisco, CA 94103
(415) 487-5500

(c) cpap.com

As someone who occasionally suffers from sleep apnea — okay, more than occasionally — let me start this post with an “awwww fuck.”

In a recent issue of American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, a report outlined how sleep apnea and erectile dysfunction in men can be closely related. By studying mice over a period of five weeks, the researchers discovered that those who had experienced lack of oxygen during sleep had less frequent erections than those who had a healthy amount of oxygen intake while sleeping. “But David, mice aren’t humans.” Shut up, it’s close enough to cause concern, don’t you think? Now, I know I’ve been laissez faire in the past about issues of animal torture, retarded
ejaculation and so on. But erectile dysfunction is an epidemic that needs to be taken care of immediately people. No, I’m not biased.
Ok, yes I am.

But in all seriousness, I find this interesting in that overall health can in fact effect sexual health *gasp*. Lord knows that staying up for days on illicit substances, endless cups of coffee and roaming around town for the latest thrill
adds a certain amount of excitement that can go hand in hand with a sense of sexual glamor. However, there’s got to be some happy medium folks. THERE’S GOT TO BE A BETTER WAY! (end infomercial voice) How about I put it this way, the saying “whiskey dick” is a well-known term for a reason peoples. Increasing circulation throughout your body, which is helped by enough oxygen in the brain during sleep, will increase circulation in your deliciously naughty bits, which in turn makes you grasp the sheets/counter top/fence at the edge of the cliff and thank your self for being healthy enough to have some damn good orgasms.

Speaking of sleep apnea, I have heard that taking up the didgeridoo strengthens the throat muscles in a way that can curb such a sleep disorder. I don’t know folks, but you may start hearing me talk about my recent “didge sesh.”

For more information of scientific study: LINK