Officials look to Iran for help on AIDS

(Liverpool, England) Health experts are holding up a perhaps unlikely country as a model for fighting AIDS in drug users: Iran.

Experts at an international AIDS conference this week are studying how the hardline Islamic republic’s methadone clinics and needle exchange programs may be a model for other countries, including some in the West.

Being right next to Afghanistan’s opium fields, Iran has long struggled with large numbers of drug addicts.

When AIDS arrived in Iran, the virus first hit the country’s heroin users. To curb the outbreak and prevent it from spilling into the general population, Iranian leaders adopted an approach that appeared surprisingly progressive for an authoritarian regime.

“It might be seen as socially liberal, but from a public health point of view, it’s just pragmatic,” said Joumana Hermez, an AIDS expert at the World Health Organization’s office in Cairo. On Tuesday, Hermez and other officials were addressing how the Middle East has responded to the disease at the International Harm Reduction Association’s 2010 conference in Liverpool.

For years, Iran had a hard-line drug policy, and it still executes people for certain drug trafficking crimes.

Experts say attitudes began to shift about a decade ago when doctors and academics managed to convince religious and governmental authorities that unless they helped drug users kick the habit, Iran would face a much bigger AIDS epidemic.

“They began to understand it was better to have a (drug) addiction problem than an addiction problem with HIV,” said Dr. Seyed Ramin Radfar, an executive manager at an Iranian non-governmental organization that runs methadone clinics and needle exchange projects throughout the country.

Religious leaders issued fatwas declaring that drug users shouldn’t be prosecuted if they sought help. In 2005, Iran’s top judge decreed initiatives to combat the spread of AIDS were aimed at protecting society and should not be blocked.

That led to a change in how addicts were treated. “If drug users agreed to accept treatment, then they could be viewed as patients, not criminals,” said Radfar.

Methadone clinics to help wean addicts off heroin and provide clean needles first started in Iranian prisons where drug abuse is rampant. The clinics only popped up in regular communities when authorities realized released prisoners had nowhere to continue their treatment. The government has since set up more than 200 methadone clinics and there are more than 1,000 private clinics.

Even in countries like Australia, Canada and the U.S., it is hard for prisoners to get methadone or clean needles. Until recently, the U.S. refused to fund needle exchange programs – in which addicts get clean needles in exchange for used ones – as part of foreign aid.

“Iran is absolutely a model for the world in certain respects,” said Susie McLean, a senior adviser in HIV and drug abuse at the International AIDS Alliance. “No one ever would have thought they would make delivering services to junkies a priority.”

Still, McLean said the country is far from perfect and the initiatives still need to be rolled out on a much bigger scale.

There are also occasional problems with the methadone supply and services across the country can be patchy.

Though officials are still conducting surveys to find out how many people are infected with HIV in Iran, they say the country’s policies have probably made a dent in the virus’ transmission. Still, the number of people infected is growing and in 2008, the health ministry estimated there were from 70,000 to 100,000 people with HIV in Iran.

With more cases now being picked up beyond drug users, experts say it is time for Iran to fight the virus in other vulnerable groups: gay men and prostitutes. So far, Iran has made no attempt to protect them, and homosexuality, adultery and prostitution remain illegal. Condoms are distributed in prison, but only for conjugal visits. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad once declared there were no gay people in the country, and there are no AIDS initiatives aimed at gay men or sex workers.

If Iran is to stop AIDS, that may be the next frontier.

“There are a lot of contradictory things happening in Iran, but they seem to get around it for controlling HIV,” said Gerry Stimson, executive director of the International Harm Reduction Association.

Stimson has visited a methadone clinic inside an Iranian prison close to Tehran. He was impressed with the prison’s cleanliness, Iranian carpets and free condoms, but admitted he was probably shown the facility’s best parts.

“They have made some good progress on things we never would have expected,” Stimson said. “But I still wouldn’t want to be inside an Iranian prison.”

Pastor who opposes homosexuality may get Chicago City Council seat

he amens in full force, the choir in full throated glory, Rev. Wilfredo De Jesus takes the pulpit at New Life Covenant Church to urge his congregation to dream big.

“Because we can change a life, we can change a community,” he preaches. “Because we can change a community, we can change a city.”

The sermon sounds like a campaign speech, fitting because De Jesus, one of Chicago’s most influential Latino pastors, is making a controversial leap into politics as the choice of outgoing Ald. Billy Ocasio (26th) to be his replacement on the City Council.

But, in a complicated blending of morality and politics, the pastor’s possible appointment has drawn protests from gay activists who object to other rhetoric used in De Jesus’ church that they say is not as uplifting — messages equating homosexuality with drug addiction and other social ills.
The activists call De Jesus “homophobic.” They worry that his appointment would give him the ability to control funds for agencies that serve gay clients and a platform to shape broader debates such as same-sex marriage.

De Jesus says that he has never preached hatred of gay people and that his church’s opposition to homosexuality is rooted in a literal interpretation of the Bible.
See Pastor who opposes homosexuality may get Chicago City Council seat …

Chicago Tribune

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‘Come Out’ Album’s Message: God Loves You Just as Gay as You Are

LOS ANGELES, CA — Gospel singer and an out lesbian member of clergy in the Gospel Truth Music Ministry (http://www.rizigospel.com/), the Rev. Rizi Nasele Timane’ is unveiling her new album “Come Out,” a collection of original songs that call for full human rights for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. As part of the album’s promotion, Timane’ is touring the United States during the summer of 2009.

The album’s title song challenges the fundamentalist notion that God and the Bible condemn homosexuality and strives to educate the public about what the Bible really says and does not say about homosexuality. “I have extensively studied the Greek and Hebrew translations of the Bible, and I found that, when interpreted properly, the Bible does not condemn homosexuality at all,” stated Timane’.

“I’m the first out lesbian reverend and gospel singer from Nigeria, West Africa,” Timane’ continued. “I was one of the first people to identify as openly gay in homophobic Africa, and I know firsthand how that rejection translates to drug addiction and suicide.” According to the Massachusetts 2006 Youth Risk Survey, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth are up to four times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers. Additionally, San Francisco State University’s Chavez Center Institute has found that LGBTQ youth who come from a rejecting family are up to nine times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers because of the negative treatment endured.

“For LGBT persons, this painful struggle with religion or spirituality and sexuality is responsible for depression, low self-esteem, drug addiction, self-abuse, isolation and the entering into of false heterosexual marriages,” said Timane’. “Worst of all, it’s responsible for thousands of suicides each year in the LGBT community, especially amongst our teens and young adults. It is my hope to put a stop to these negative traits and suicides by re-educating our community.”

“Anti-LGBT arguments like the one contending that California’s Proposition 8 ensures children’s wellbeing by providing them with a mother and father are totally absurd. In the case of Proposition 8, the state’s laws permit adoption by gay and lesbian parents as well as single parents and even allows courts to assign a single grandparent, aunt, uncle or even a non-blood relative to be a child’s guardian or caregiver,” continued Timane’.

“The goal of my new album is to enable any LGBT person seeking God to know that God loves them just as gay as they are,” states Timane’. She also wants to help those who are struggling with their spirituality and sexuality, just as she did for many years, to finally find complete reconciliation and affirmation.

Gospel music lovers and Timane’ fans will be able to attend live performances at the following times and events:

– June 20 at 2:50 p.m., Rhode Island PrideFest in Station Park

– June 27 at 3 p.m. and June 28 at 12:30 p.m., San Francisco Pride Celebration in Civic Center Plaza

– July 9 at 7:30 p.m., Annual Fellowship Convention in Westin Atlanta Airport hotel

– July 18 at 2 p.m., San Diego Gay Pride 2009 in Balboa Park

To learn more about Timane’ and her experiences as a gay Christian that inspired her music, visit http://www.rizigospel.com/.

“Come Out” video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rfre1lV61Es

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‘Come Out’ – A New Voice in the Battle for Marriage Equality “It is wrong to treat LGBT people as less than heterosexuals

” NEWHALL, Calif., On November 4th, 2008, Proposition H8te passed in California and Rizi Nasele Timane’s “COME OUT” was born. It was born out of anguish and heartbreak. This OUT lesbian inspirational singer is a bold and necessary voice in our quest to spread the truth that God loves everyone, be they gay, straight, bi or transsexual. Rizi’s “COME OUT” is a compilation of original songs that focuses on challenging the status quo and fighting towards achieving full human rights for the LGBT Community. Her lyrics in the single “Come Out” and songs like “Do you know” provide a direct confrontation to the religious fundamentalist notion that God/Bible condemns homosexuality and strives to educate the public about what the Bible really says and does not say about homosexuality.

COME OUT’S ultimate goal is to enable any LGBT person who wants to know God but has been turned off by religion to know that God loves them just as gay as they are and also to help those who are struggling with their spirituality and sexuality, like Rizi did herself for many years (watch video of her story of “exorcism” and cocaine addiction by clicking the Rizi’s story link here: http://www.rizigospel.com/), to finally find complete reconciliation and affirmation.

“This horrible and painful struggle with religion/spirituality and sexuality is responsible for depression, low self-esteem, drug addiction, self-abuse, disownment by family, isolation, the entering into of false heterosexual marriages by LGBT persons, and worst of all, it’s responsible for thousands of suicides each year in the LGBT Community, especially amongst our teens and young adults — and it is my hope to put a stop to these negative traits and suicides by re-educating our community ….” — excerpt from Rizi Nasele Timane’

Presently, a series of Rizi’s 30-second TV commercials geared towards promoting this important message is airing locally in Los Angeles and San Francisco on Bravo TV and CNN (with a nationwide campaign on Logo TV to follow shortly). To watch the commercial, log on to http://www.rizigospel.com/ or http://www.youtube.com/user/COMEOUT2009

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Gay marriage bill begins an important debate

After a recent screening of Rachel Getting Married at Red River Theatres in Concord, an older woman in the audience commented that the entire film struck her as far-fetched – not because of the grim drama of drug addiction and family dysfunction, but because the wedding at the center of the story was between a black man and a white woman. Those two, she said, would never be together.

Younger audience members reacted to her in puzzled disbelief, as if to say, What on earth are you talking about – it’s the 21st century, for Pete’s sake.

Of course, marriages like that of the fictional Rachel and Sidney were once taboo in this country. In much of the United States, they were illegal. In fact, for generations, marriages between two black people, assuming they were slaves, brought none of the privileges or protections afforded white couples.

Mercifully, times change, and the rules of marriage have changed as well. Black people can marry each other, as can blacks and whites. Both changes faced strenuous resistance at the time – but most Americans today would surely agree that those were changes for the better.

Now comes state Rep. Jim Splaine of Portsmouth, who is sponsoring legislation legalizing gay marriage in New Hampshire. Victory will not necessarily come quickly, nor is his success assured. But as in the changes involving African-Americans’ rights to marry whom they choose, his cause is just. He has taken on a great struggle, but with luck, 10 or 20 years from now, we will wonder what all the fuss was about.

Splaine’s effort comes as states across the country are wrestling with the same issue. In Connecticut, as in Massachusetts before it, the court has declared gay marriage legal. In California, a similar ruling was overturned by voters last month via a constitutional amendment limiting marriage to heterosexuals. Florida and Arizona passed similar gay marriage bans. The votes were definitive and yet had the feel of a last stand. Most Americans have friends or family or co-workers who are openly gay; discriminating against them becomes less accepted with each passing year.

In New Hampshire, thanks to the efforts of Splaine and others, civil unions for gay couples have been legal for nearly 12 months – an enormous first step toward full equality that granted gay couples many but not all the rights of marriage. Compared with Vermont, the first state to legalize civil unions, the change came strangely, marvelously easily. Nearly 600 gay couples across New Hampshire have joined in civil unions, and life for them – and everyone else – has gone on without strife or unrest.

We’d hope that experience would temper some of the most hateful reaction to Splaine’s proposed bill. But judging from the website comments posted after Monitor reporter Lauren R. Dorgan’s recent story about the legislation, it’s still out there. Readers, largely anonymous, described not just gay marriage, but homosexuality in general with words like “vile,” “disordered,” “unnatural” and “turns my stomach.” At least one confused homosexuality with pedophilia. One writer urged gay residents to “go back into the closet.” All in all, a horrible stew of fear, resentment and anger toward folks just hoping to declare their commitment to each other.

Squeamish legislators and governors may take years to come around to Splaine’s point of view. But treating some residents as second-class citizens will always be wrong. Beginning the debate now is critical.

See Gay marriage bill begins an important debate
Concord Monitor – Concord,NH,USA