Teens Invent STD-Detecting Condom

Buzzfeed reports:

Creators Muaz Nawaz, Daanyaal Ali, and Chirag Shah, from London’s Isaac Newton Academy, wanted to “make detecting harmful STIs safer than ever before” without invasive testing. Their invention, cleverly named the S.T.EYE, nabbed them the top health innovation prize at the city’s TeenTech Awards, which are intended to promote science, engineering, and technology in schools. At the competition, groups of kids ranging in age from 11 to 16 attempt to create “technology to make life better, simpler or easier.”The condom uses a built-in indicator that changes to a different color depending on the bacteria or infection it detects. The students said it may glow green for chlamydia, yellow for herpes, purple for human papillomavirus, or blue for syphilis. Molecules in the condom attach to the bacteria of common STIs, causing the contraception to fluoresce in low light.

More from Daily Dot:

It’s unclear as to whether the condom detects both the wearer’s and the recipient’s STI statuses, or just the recipient’s. If the latter, that poses some obvious concerns for heterosexual women or gay men who take a passive role during sex. It’s also worth noting that the S.T. Eye has yet to actually come to fruition; in fact, a TeenTech representative was careful to say in an email to the Daily Dot that the team’s idea was “very much a concept and... not a finalized design.” All skepticism aside, though, considering the stigma associated with condom use in our society, it’s awesome to see a group of teenage boys trying to make safe sex cool by trying to reimagine the concept behind the traditional barrier method. Especially when most teenage boys are too busy trying to avoid wearing condoms to begin with.

(Tipped by JMG reader Ray)

CALIFORNIA: AIDS Group Launches Ballot Measure On Condoms In Porn Mandate

Via press release from the AIDS Healthcare Foundation:

As part of its ongoing campaign to improve and strengthen state law on the use of condoms in adult films produced in California in an effort to reduce the spread of STDs, including HIV, safer sex advocates from AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) as well as from FAIR (For Adult Industry Responsibility), the formal campaign committee that will shepherd signature gathering for the ballot initiative process, today submitted the official text of a 2016 California statewide ballot initiative for (proposed) title and summary as a prelude to signature gathering. Plans for the proposed initiative—a statewide California law that will require condom use in all adult films shot anywhere in the state—were previously announced by the group in November. The measure will be formally known as “The California Safer Sex in the Adult Film Industry Act.”

Los Angeles County already requires condom use in all porn productions after voters approved an AHF-backed bill in 2012. Since then local permit applications for porn shoots have declined by 90%.

CALIFORNIA: Health Officials Issue Alert After HIV Transmission During Porn Shoot

Via the Associated Press:

California public health officials have issued an alert after finding "very strong evidence" that an adult film actor became infected with HIV as a result of unprotected sex on an out-of-state film shoot. The Department of Public Health said Monday that the male actor tested positive for the virus that causes AIDS after engaging in unprotected sex with several other male actors during two separate film shoots. He had tested negative before the shoot. "During the second film shoot, he had symptoms of a viral infection," the alert states. "The actor went to a clinic and had another blood test that showed he had recently become infected with HIV." One actor from the second shoot has since tested positive for HIV. According to the health department, lab results indicate the first actor who tested positive "probably transmitted" HIV to the second.

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation, backers of a Los Angeles County law that mandates the use of condoms in all porn productions, reacts via press release:

“This is not AHF or supporters of condoms claiming that an HIV transmission occurred on the set of an adult film. This is California’s Department of Public Health and OSHA Occupational Health officials who vetted the performers’ blood samples with the CDC and concluded after genetic sequencing that this HIV infection occurred on set,” said Michael Weinstein, President of AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF). “For years adult film producers have claimed that performers who have tested HIV-positive while working in the industry did not contract HIV in the industry, but became infected through exposure in their personal lives outside and away from adult film sets. This new case puts truth to the lie that the industry has promoted year-after-year, years that sadly saw several additional performers infected while working in the porn industry.”

The number of permits for porn shoots in Los Angeles County have declined by 90% since the condom law went into effect in 2013. The AHF has vowed to place the issue to a statewide referendum after a bill to widen the Los Angeles County law failed to advance in the California legislature. The AHF has also published numerous ads in the national press denouncing the use of Truvada as a daily HIV preventive.

LOS ANGELES: Ninth Circuit Court Upholds Law Mandating Condoms In Porn

Via the Associated Press:

A Los Angeles County ordinance requiring actors in pornographic films to use condoms does not violate the porn industry's First Amendment rights of free expression, a federal appeals court ruled Monday. The decision from a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the industry's contention that having actors use condoms would interfere with a film's fantasy element by subjecting viewers to real-word concerns like pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. For the First Amendment argument to apply, the court ruled, there would have to be a great likelihood that a film's audience would understand that intended message. "Here, we agree with the district court that, whatever unique message plaintiffs might intend to convey by depicting condomless sex, it is unlikely that viewers of adult films will understand that message," said Judge Susan P. Graber, writing for the panel's majority.

AIDS Healthcare Foundation head Michael Weinstein called the ruling a "total vindication." The AHF was the bill's primary backer. A similar bill to implement the rule statewide died last year in a state Senate committee. Weinstein has vowed to place the issue to a public ballot if the bill is not resurrected.

Porno Pete: The Government Should Stop Promoting The Use Of Condoms

"The question is, if we know what behavior is causing these diseases, why don't we encourage people not to practice the behaviors? Homosexuality, especially among men, is vastly overrepresented in HIV cases, so the government should be taking steps to discourage men and boys from practicing homosexual behavior.  We're in a situation now where the government is encouraging groups to pass out condoms at homosexual clubs, as if that's going to stop the disease. I mean, basically, we've done everything but publicly discourage men from practicing homosexuality. Instead the CDC goes around talking about stigma and 'homophobia.' This is really a politically protected class of disease because of its association with homosexuality, and that's wrong." - Peter LaBarbera, quoted by the American Family Association site OneNewsNow.

CALIFORNIA: Senate Shelves Bill To Mandate Condom Use In Porn Statewide

In November 2012, Los Angeles County voters approved a bill that mandates the use of condoms in all local porn productions. The bill's passage resulted in a 90% decline in porn production permit applications in the county. Yesterday the California state Senate killed a bill that would have expanded that mandate statewide.

The measure, set aside by the Senate Appropriations Committee today, would have required the filmmakers to produce documentation showing condoms were used if a complaint was filed with the state. The appropriations panel’s decision came the same day that the committee boosted a proposed tax credit for Hollywood studios to $400 million a year, four times the current level, to stem the flight of film and TV production to other states. “It is unfortunate that some legislators don’t believe that protection should include keeping California actors safe while they are at work,” said Assemblyman Isadore Hall, a Los Angeles Democrat and the bill’s sponsor. The U.S. adult film industry produces 4,000 to 11,000 films a year, employing as many as 1,500 workers in Los Angeles, according to a legislative analysis. The films generate $9 billion to $13 billion a year in gross revenue, according to the report.

The bill had the backing of the controversial AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which also vigorously opposes the use of Truvada as a daily HIV preventive.

LOS ANGELES: Porn Shoot Permits Drop 90% After Condom Use Mandate

In November 2012, Los Angeles County voters approved a bill that mandates the use of condoms in all porn video shoots. The Associated Press reports today that local applications for porn filming permits dropped by more than 90% last year. But that doesn't mean that condom-less filming isn't still taking place.

So where are those hundreds of films available for instant download on the Internet coming from? Many are still coming from right here, say industry officials, acknowledging that when Los Angeles County voters cracked down on filmmakers in November 2012 with an ordinance requiring that actors use condoms, quite a few filmmakers went underground. "A lot are simply shooting in out-of-the-way places where they won't be caught," says Mark Kernes, senior editor at Adult Video News, which tracks industry trends. "Normally it's in people's homes who are willing to rent them out for a day. Sometimes it's out in the woods. There are vacation cabins far away from anything that you can shoot a movie at."

Others have traveled outside of Los Angeles County, either to neighboring counties or sometimes even out of state. Diane Duke, executive director of the Free Speech Coalition, an industry advocacy group, said she knows of a handful that have moved to Las Vegas, although none want to be mentioned by name for fear of bringing condom activists after them. Although a few porn producers do require that actors use condoms, the majority do not, saying fans have made it clear they don't want to see them. Wherever the filmmakers are working now, only 20 have applied for permits so far this year, according to Film LA, which issues them. Last year 40 adult filmmakers took out permits, compared with 485 in 2012, the last year before the ordinance took effect.

RELATED: The Los Angeles County ordinance was spearheaded by the combative and controversial AIDS Healthcare Foundation. Today the AHF issued a press release declaring that it has filed an OSHA complaint against a San Francisco-based porn company that is filming in Nevada.

“Under the guise of his various Kink and Kink.com, adult film businesses and brands, owner Peter Acworth, thinks he and his companies can simply ignore the Federal OSHA Bloodborne Pathogens Standard with regard to required condom use in his adult film productions shot in Nevada. This new complaint in Nevada is based on the simple fact that they cannot hide from federal law there, or anywhere in the U.S.,” said Michael Weinstein, President of AIDS Healthcare Foundation. “When we first proposed the Los Angeles City bill, the industry said they’d film in other L.A. cities. When we proposed Measure B for L.A. County, the industry said they’d film in other counties. And when we proposed AB 1576, the industry said they’d film outside of California. Here, Mr. Acworth will no doubt find out that both Nevada and Federal OSHA statutes apply as well. Are workers in Nevada any less entitled to protection from harm than those in California?”

ALSO RELATED: This week the AHF sued the city of San Francisco for blocking its plans to open a pharmacy in the Castro. According to the AHF, local AIDS activists are behind the denial because they are furious with the AHF for opposing the use of Truvada as a daily HIV preventive.

"At the behest of San Francisco Supervisor Scott Wiener, The City rammed through, at lightning speed, an interim zoning law specifically targeting AIDS Healthcare Foundation," claimed Laura Boudreau, chief of operations for AHF. "The clear and sole purpose of that action was to discourage the organization from relocating and opening a nonprofit safety-net clinic and pharmacy in the Castro." But City Attorney spokesman Matt Dorsey called the civil rights violation charge "absurd." "AHF is asking the court to find a constitutional right to build whatever it wants wherever it wants, and that's just not something courts have allowed," Dorsey said.

Boudreau claims the motivation for The City's actions came from the foundation's position on PrEP -- an HIV treatment drug which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and others have advocated for as a preventative tool, but which the group opposes as a widespread HIV prevention tool, arguing its efficacy is debatable. While a local HIV activist said the AHF's position on HIV prevention is not popular among many in San Francisco, he and Wiener point out that the main issue with the group, which has 33 locations nationwide, is that it operates a chain. The city's formula retail rules define chain stores as any with 11 or more locations. "AHF tried to game our formula retail law by tweaking its name and then claiming it wasn't actually formula retail," Wiener said. "Under AHF's approach, any chain store could come into San Francisco, tweak its name, and claim that it isn't formula retail."

World Health Organization Clarifies Its Position On Gay Men Using PrEP

Via Buzzfeed:

The World Health Organization announced Friday that for the first time, it “strongly recommends” that men who have sex with men should consider antiretroviral drugs along with the use of condoms as an additional method of preventing HIV infection. The health agency said that new prevention options such as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) — currently in the form of a daily pill containing two drugs — are needed alongside condom use to reduce HIV infection rates among men who have sex with men, a key population in which infection rates remain high. The agency clarified the recommendation Monday, however, stating that it was not recommending that all men who have sex with men must or should begin PrEP treatment as incorrectly reported by some media outlets. “The recommendation states that PrEP should be considered as an additional choice for preventing HIV infection alongside and together with the use of condoms and other prevention options,” WHO said in a statement to BuzzFeed explaining the recommendation. “Essentially, this is about choice — in the same way that WHO recommends different contraception options for women WHO wants to support offering gay men the full range of prevention options to suit their circumstances and not exclude any options that are evidenced based.”

Read the full update.

Mother Coco Knows Best

(Via Towleroad)

New Condom Idea: The Galactic Cap

Via the LA Weekly:

Condoms are a need, not a want. So why not make them as minimal as possible? Brands have tried with the ultra-thin this and the super-sensitive that. But, so far, your options are to place an obvious barrier between you and your lover ... or not. Condoms are a huge issue in adult video, which is fighting mandatory prophylactic rules because, the industry says, consumers don't want to see them. It turns out that an L.A. area inventor just might have a solution: Charles Powell's Galactic Cap is a prophylactic device that goes only on the very tip of the penis. It sounds like a challenge to the laws of physics, but Powell says it works. It's a two-piece product that uses a U-shaped base comprised of a polyurethane adhesive film and a cap that sticks to that film. The base can be put on hours or even days before sex, and it allows users to urinate or even shower.

The condom is yet to be approved by the FDA.

(Tipped by JMG reader Bill)

CALIFORNIA: Assembly Approves Bill Mandating Condom Use In Porn Shoots

Via the Associated Press:

Porn performers in California must wear condoms during film shoots and their employers must provide regular testing under a bill that passed the state Assembly on Tuesday. The bill, AB1576 by Assemblyman Isadore Hall, D-Compton, advanced to the Senate on a 41-12 vote, the minimum number of votes needed. The bill follows a similar mandate in Los Angeles County, approved by voters in 2012. Hall said his bill is a workplace-safety measure to curb the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, citing recent industry-imposed moratoriums on adult film shoots after actors were diagnosed. The AIDS Healthcare Foundation, a sponsor of the bill, says it would pursue film producers who leave California, with a much-debated argument that porn shoots are technically illegal in most states. Last fall, the group filed a complaint about an adult film made in Florida, where California porn makers outsourced unprotected sex scenes.

Porn performers largely oppose the bill, saying its provisions violate their medical privacy.

CALIFORNIA: Assembly To Hear Bill Mandating Condom Use In Porn

The California Assembly will today hear AB1576, a bill that mandates condom use in all porn productions statewide. A similar law was approved by Los Angeles County in 2012. The bill is sponsored by Assembly member Isadora Hall, who is a Baptist minister. Its chief proponent outside the legislature is the combative Los Angeles-based AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which has made headlines recently for its opposition to Truvada as an HIV preventive.

AB1576 is being opposed by the porn industry and sex workers, the latter of whom have private concerns. From the libertarian Reason:

The bill also mandates that porn production companies keep confidential employee health records indefinitely, use "plastic and other disposable materials" to clean sets, and provide all employees with a safety training program. It does not "require condoms, barriers, or other personal protective equipment to be visible in the final product of an adult film." In other words, there's little way for California officials to monitor or enforce adherence to the condom rule aside from sporadic checks on porn production studios. The bill also seems packed with enough random regulatory requirements to allow health officials to selectively make life miserable for any adult film company they feel like harassing.

The Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club has issued a statement against AB1576:

"We are disappointed that proponents of this bill have worked to actively silence the viewpoints of sex workers from this process. If this legislation were truly aimed at creating a safer work environment workers would have been brought to the table to discuss their safety needs and make suggestions about how to best address them. Proponents of AB 1576 have attempted to silence, shame and bully sex workers and in doing so have shown that their agenda clearly isn’t about the health of these workers, it’s about a moral campaign against their industry."

The Transgender Law Center expresses similar sentiment:

"Transgender communities remain some of the most impacted by HIV and face remarkably high rates of discrimination in education and employment. While Transgender Law Center appreciates the intentions behind AB 1576, we are concerned that harsh penalties will drive big production studios out of California and small studios underground. This would result in lost economic opportunities for many in the adult film industry, both in front of and behind the cameras, inadvertently causing more harms to performers that this bill intended to protect."

Female porn performers have posted the below clip.

More On #TruvadaWhore

The Associated Press has published a lengthy examination of the use of Truvada as a daily HIV preventive, which is opposed by some activists and the often combative AIDS Healthcare Foundation.

It's the Truvada conundrum: A drug hailed as a lifesaver for many people infected by HIV is at the heart of a rancorous debate among gay men, AIDS activists and health professionals over its potential for protecting uninfected men who engage in gay sex without using condoms. Many doctors and activists see immense promise for such preventive use of Truvada, and are campaigning hard to raise awareness of it as a crucial step toward reducing new HIV infections, which now total about 50,000 a year in the U.S. Recent efforts range from think-tank forums and informational websites to a festive event at a New York City bar featuring popular drag queens. Yet others — despite mounting evidence of Truvada's effectiveness — say such efforts are reckless, tempting some condom users to abandon that layer of protection and exposing them to an array of other sexually transmitted infections aside from HIV. "If something comes along that's better than condoms, I'm all for it, but Truvada is not that," said Michael Weinstein, president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. "Let's be honest: It's a party drug."

Truvada costs about $13K a year and its use as a preventive is covered by most insurance plans. Hit the link for much more from the AP.

Matt Barber's Site: AIDS Patients Should Sue Groups That Promote Safer Sex

In a post on Matt Barber's website, infamous anti-Kinsey activist Judith Reisman today declares that AIDS patients should file a class action lawsuit against "condom pushers" because the FDA has never approved condom use for anal sex.

The reality is that condoms are manufactured and approved every day for natural, vaginal sex, not anal “sex.” They are not effectively designed to protect from disease those people who engage in sodomy. Such a lawsuit should target the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Planned Parenthood and a myriad of teachers and school systems, too many to count, that have taught that anal “sex” (traditionally termed “sodomy” or “buggery” under British-based legal codes) as not so different than natural coitus. The result of a class action suit should be the requirement of a label, a la cigarette packs, that states: “This condom has never been approved by the FDA for penile/anal intercourse.” Due to the lies that have told, people who practiced sodomy are under the tragically mistaken notion that a condom is effective protection from disease. Those who have believed this lie and have contracted AIDS or an STD (and the loved ones of those who’ve lost their lives) have a cause of legal action.

Reisman's post comes in support of crackpot Hawaii state Rep. Bob "Crazy Eyes II" McDermott, who is leading a campaign against sex education in public schools.

RELATED: Last month Men's Journal reported that a Los Angeles-based company founded by an HIV+ gay man is working to get FDA approval for an condom that would be marketed for anal use.

NYC Launches "KYNG" Sized Condoms

The NYC Department of Health, which annually distributes millions of free condoms, used Valentine's Day to announce the launch of a larger size.

The changes to the city-sponsored condoms came from direct feedback, she said. “In the past year, we have participated in over 600 community events, and we’ve reached more than 25,000 New Yorkers, and they’ve told us that they wanted to see an updated look, and also to have a larger-size branded condom as part of our repertoire,” Cutler said. The “KYNG” condom and the new wrapper will be available throughout the city this summer. The department said the NYC Condom program has been widely successful in promoting safer sex. The department emphasized that when used correctly and consistently, condoms are about 98 percent effective in preventing unwanted pregnancies, and offer effective protection against STDs.

The condoms are made and sold by Lifestyles under the same name.

Porn Studio Digitally "Erases" Condoms?

Via press release:

Legendary gay film producer Falcon Studios has decided to use some decidedly new tech to compete with bareback studios. For it's latest release, California Dreamin', the San Francisco-based studio used advanced Photoshop techniques to remove condoms from the final film. While the film itself was shot using condoms, the final result appears as condomless. The move comes in response to two trends in the industry — increasing financial pressures from consumers who want to see films without condoms, and state regulatory agencies that have fined adult film producers for going without. In an interview with the consumer-facing blog, GPB, director Tony Dimarco described it as “a throwback to the classic, pre-condom Falcon poolside movies from the 70′s and 80′s.” Falcon itself has used condoms in all its features since the late 80s.

Extremely not office safe examples are here.

NEW YORK CITY: Harlem Group Begins Study On HIV Prevention Using Truvada

Over the objections of some activists, in July 2012 the FDA approved the use of Truvada as a daily HIV preventive for some high-risk populations. Harlem Prevention Center has launched a study which will evaluate if taking the drug less frequently will also be effective. Via press release:

HPTN 067, also known as The ADAPT Study, is a unique study looking at the use of non-daily pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). PrEP is a new HIV prevention method in which people who are HIV-negative take HIV treatment drugs (antiretrovirals – ARVs) daily to reduce their risk of becoming HIV-infected. The study is designed to identify PrEP pill-taking schedules that participants are more likely to follow and determine if these schedules influence healthier sexual practices. HPTN 067/ADAPT is coordinated by the HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) and is sponsored and funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), a division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Participants will be randomly divided into the above-posted three groups and all will be provided with HIV risk reduction counseling and condoms. The study is also underway in Thailand and the Harlem Prevention Center is seeking 180 local MSM and transgender women to participate.  For more information please visit the study's Facebook page, Twitter feed, or call them directly at 888-460-9817.

Bacon Condoms

"Make your meat look like meat."  From the makers of bacon lube, baconaisse, bacon envelopes, and bacon lip balm.

Bill Gates Will Pay For A Better Condom

Bill Gates has issued a "grand challenge" for a better condom and is offering a $100,000 prize to the start-up that comes up with a "next-generation" version. From the challenge site:

We are looking for a Next Generation Condom that significantly preserves or enhances pleasure, in order to improve uptake and regular use. Additional concepts that might increase uptake include attributes that increase ease-of-use for male and female condoms, for example better packaging or designs that are easier to properly apply. In addition, attributes that address and overcome cultural barriers are also desired. Proposals must (i) have a testable hypothesis, (ii) include an associated plan for how the idea would be tested or validated, and (iii) yield interpretable and unambiguous data in Phase I, in order to be considered for Phase II funding.

Several years ago a German company introduced a spray-on condom, but the product was withdrawn because men did not want to wait the full minute for the product to dry.  That, and you couldn't really travel with the applicator in your wallet.

NEW STUDY: Gay Men With Larger Penises Less Likely To Use Condoms

According to a just-issued study, gay men who have a large penis are less likely to use a condom.

The study, "Self-reported penis size and experiences with condoms among gay and bisexual men" will be published in the February 2013 issue of Archives of Sexual Behavior. It used data collected from men who have sex with men by Hunter College’s Center for HIV Educational Studies and Training (CHEST) at large scale community events in New York. The findings suggest that the distribution of "one-size fits all" condoms on the gay scene may well be counterproductive. The findings showed that close to half of men reported condom slippage during sex. Almost one third reported condom breakage in the past three months Some men said they had unprotected sex because they couldn’t find condoms that fit. A minority of 40% did report that they didn’t have a problem finding condoms to suit their penis length or girth.