Reparative Therapy: Psycho, Psicko, Psychiatrists

You know how they say what comes around goes around? Well, in an interesting development, the American Psychological Association next week will discuss "Reparative Therapy," you know, the therapy that allegedly makes gay people straight (read "back in the closet"). What's ironically beautiful here is that there was a time when any attempt to turn gays straight was accepted by the APA. That changed, though, in 1973, when the APA finally agreed that being gay was merely another aspect of human sexuality--basically saying, "if you're gay, you're not a psycho."

In 2000, the APA Assembly and Board approved a statement saying they were concerned about the use of reparative therapy on gays and lesbians. However, the statement being discussed next week would directly confirm that reparative therapy is misleading, damages young gays and lesbians, aggravates internalized homophobia, and depresses those in therapy, pushing them deeper into states of self-loathing. So, now we come full circle, in that the APA will be discussing the idea that so-called psychiatrists who apply reparative therapy are, themselves, the psychos, and not the gays they're attempting to "cure."

Of course, the gay-hating religious organizations like Focus on the Family are declaring this as an anti-Christian ploy by the pro-homosexual lobby, and that Christianity is being unfairly targeted. Again, what comes around goes around, and it's delightfully delicious to have these right-wing, Bible-thumping, gay-haters on the defensive. There is a God.

Rowing: Don't Neglect that Machine

In your gym, and almost always neglected by you gym bunnies, is the rowing machine. You know, there's a reason why we sigh, gasp, and ogle after those guys who belong to a crew, because their bodies are usually very cut, hot, and sexy! On top of working many of your core muscles, the cardio alone is a major benefit, burning about 800 calories an hour. You'll find few machines in the gym that have such a unique combination of cardio and muscle training, working arm, back, shoulder, and abdomen muscles. A few tips:

• Keep your grip loose.
• Bend forward at the hips.
• Don't risk injury by overarching your back.

However, if you're lucky enough to live in a major city, there's a good chance there's a gay rowing club in your city, and during the summer months get outside, and do the real thing. For more information, check out the Gay and Lesbian Rowing Federation, or Gaycrawler's list of gay rowing clubs by Clicking Here.

Blowjobs Give Cancer

Stop Freaking out...calm down and I'll explain. A new study in the New England Journal of Medicine has found a link between the Human Papilloma virus (HPV) and throat cancer. The findings confirm that oral sex is a risk factor for throat cancer. Although the risk is relatively small, the study, and much of the straight media, seem to be placing little importance on what this means for gays.

For years now, gay men have been told that, similar to cervical cancer in women caused by HPV, we should get regular anal PAP smears to see if we have the virus. Yet, we're given no information in this study that might even suggest how concerned gay men should be about oral sex, including the regular blowjob, but just as important, rimming. Basically, if we're told we should get PAP smears, it would naturally follow that there's the potential for HPV to exist in a guy's butt. So, rimming has the potential of transferring HPV to the rimmer, see?

I have read the full report, done by John's Hopkins, and nowhere in the report is there a mention of gays, and so we, and our gay and gay-friendly doctors, are left making assumptions and guesses as to how this news affects our health.

I am not a doctor, and none of this should be considered medical advice from yours truly, but what I'm trying to do is point out that this report and its media coverage all but ignore gay men, for which this study clearly affects, and they shy away from its implications to gay men. Why does that sound so familiar? Silence = Death.