From Aug. 19-21, the National Association of People With AIDS held their annual conference, this year called "Staying Alive 2005," in Los Angeles, the city with the second highest rate of new HIV infections reported in 2003. The conference opened with a panel, "Beyond Survival," held at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel. The theme was a call for more action in reducing the number of infections, to go "beyond survival" to stop the spread of the disease completely.

Hosted by KNBC TV news reporter Chris Schauble, panelists included Congresswoman Hilda L. Solis, who represents East Los Angeles and the San Gabriel Valley; Dr. Howard Grossman, executive director of the American Academy of HIV Medicine (AAHIVM); Dr. Octavio Vallejo, a UCLA-based researcher and treating physician; and Pamela Yelsky, a local woman who has been living with HIV/AIDS for the past 14 years.

There are an estimated 20,000-34,000 Angelenos living with HIV/AIDS. In 2003, L.A. reported 2,500 new AIDS cases, the second highest in the nation. Additionally, in 2002, 43 percent of new diagnoses were reported to be among Hispanics, the state's new majority population. But African Americans who live in Los Angeles are three times as likely to die of AIDS than other groups, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

With the approval of the first protease inhibitor 10 years ago, the panelists said, HIV/AIDS has become a manageable disease and thus, has sparked an epidemic of complacency and a rise in the infection rate.

Solis used her diverse district, roughly 75 percent Latino and 20 percent Asian, to explain some of the reasons for the spread of HIV/AIDS among minorities. Because of language barriers, limited access to health care, lack of insurance, and cultural deterrence to health information, the Latino community is without the means of communication to educate themselves on AIDS awareness and prevention, Solis said.

"Not long ago, our society's reaction to HIV and AIDS and people living with the disease was mostly one of denial and fear," Solis said. "This panel is titled 'Beyond Survival' to summarize very well where we need to move in terms of HIV and AIDS in our country. Just as people with HIV/AIDS today are doing so much more and surviving, we've moved beyond our current level of action on this issue. While we're making enormous technological and scientific progress against HIV/AIDS, we are making very little progress in reducing the number of infections."

According to Solis, 37 percent of those living with AIDS in L.A. County are Latino and 25 percent of new infections in women are Latinas. She strongly supports the recent comprehensive Congressional reauthorization of the Ryan White Care Act because of its dedication to HIV prevention, especially in the minority communities across the country.

AAHIVM's Grossman indicated through a slide presentation that while the medical fight against HIV/AIDS has been remarkable (there are 27 therapies and four new drugs classes available), the toll of the epidemic has been staggering. In 1985, there were only 10,000 known cases in the world and today, nearly 40 million people are living with HIV worldwide, with over one million in the United States. But Grossman blasted the medical journal Lancet that recently reported that the anti-convulsant drug valproic acid, when used in combination with highly active antiretroviral treatment, has shown promise in reducing the number of dormant cells infected with HIV.

"I thought that was really irresponsible to do what they did," Grossman told IN. "We've been using valproic acid for one thing and another in HIV for quite a while and we've never seen any of that. We were using it for years to try to treat neuropathy so I don't know where this data came from. But as I understand it, it was only four patients. And it really seems to me irresponsible to tout something as the cure for AIDS based on four patients. They should know better than that."

In response to another recent report that crystal meth may cause brain damage in those who are HIV positive, Grossman said, "With crystal meth, there are all kinds of bad things. It's only going to be a matter of time before things start showing up. But, I think it's very hard to break the addiction with those kind of facts. But hopefully [the report] will keep new people from getting addicted."

Dr. Octavio Vallejo said that 48 percent of MSM (men who sleep with men) who have HIV don't know they have the disease. The CDC's strategic plan in 2005, he said, is to increase the number of HIV-positive people who are aware of their status from 50 percent to 75 percent.

"Latinos and African Americans are, unfortunately, over-represented in this epidemic and these are the groups where the new cases are appearing in a fast fashion," Vallejo told IN. "There are rapid testing services all across the country and several of them are free. Minorities of color, most of them are unaware of these benefits -- easy access to medical services with HIV. Also, there are a lot of misconceptions about treatment. Treatment in some cultures are perceived as toxic, drug [induced], and something that is not working so we want to convey the message that medication works as long as you work as well to keep you healthy." Vallejo explained that the new rapid testing uses a finger stick, rather than a blood test, and can receive results in as quickly as 20 minutes.

Yelsky shared her moving story of being infected with the disease in the early '80s, unaware for 10 years until she and her husband were tested on a whim. Her struggle with the several treatments she's suffered through have left her body slightly deformed with an enlarged torso and a rounding of the back. She now chairs the Women at Risk organization and is an outspoken treatment and prevention activist. -- Ramy Eletreby

Miss Bienestar Presents Positive Role Model for Latina Transgenders

With the Miss Beinestar 2005 beauty pageant coming up on Sept.12, event organizer Bamby Salcedo, Bienestar's Transageneros Unidas program manager, was excited to talk about the importance of the pageant and the mission of Bienestar's program for transgender Latinas.

"Every year, Bienestar's Transageneros Unidas program organizes this event for different reasons," Salcedo told IN. "The first is to create a community among the Latina transgenders here in Los Angeles County. We also want to bring awareness about HIV prevention and care and to create leaders in the communityÑthey become advocates. It's to have someone who will represent not only the agency, but also the Transageneros Unidas program. We want to create a positive image about the transgender community."

From its inception, Bienestar's Transageneros Unidas program has worked to address the disproportionate rate of HIV infection in the Latina transgender community. "We began in 1997 with two volunteers, and they started doing outreach," says Salcedo. "Since HIV is very prevalent among the transgender community, they saw the need to send a message of prevention to the Latina girls."

Outreach efforts are crucial because Latina transgenders often have difficulty finding employment and therefore are self-supporting through high-risk endeavors. "Sex work is very prevalent in the community because a lot of the Latinas are either recent immigrants or monolingual Spanish-speaking and also because of the lack of job opportunities. Many in the transgender population don't have documents with their real names and many times they don't seek services," she says.

Because of programs like Transageneros Unidas, Latina transgenders have increased awareness within the overall Latino community, and with it has come more acceptance. "The transgender community has been more visible, and because of that visibility, we have been able to accomplish a few things," Salcedo says. "We have a way to go, but things are getting better."

The pageant not only raises self-esteem but makes for a glamorous and fun-filled evening. "They're going to see some of the most beautiful Latina transgenders in Los Angeles County," Salcedo promises. "There's a great show, with the Latinas in casual wear, swimsuits, and nightgowns. There's also a question and answer segment."

As testament to the increased awareness of the Latina transgender community, this year's panel of judges will even include elected officials. "We have a great panel of judges, including Huntington Park City Councilmember Juan Noguez and Assemblymember Cindy Monta–ez," Salcedo says.

The Miss Bienestar 2005 pageant will be held on Monday, Sept. 12 at Arena Night Club, 6655 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood. Tickets are $50 for the 7 p.m. VIP reception and $10 for the 8 p.m. pageant. For more information, call Erica de la Cruz in Bienestar's Van Nuys office at (818) 908-3820. -- Joseph S. Amster

Univision Radio Pays for Outing San Francisco Sales Rep

Univision Radio was ordered to pay a former San Francisco radio sales representative $270,000 for emotional distress after a radio host outed him on a live broadcast.

In 2002, as Roberto Hernandez, 45, was driving to work, he received a call on his cell phone from Rafael Brindis of the Houston-based The Raul Brindis and Pepito Show. The DJ said he met Hernandez at a gay bar and eventually revealed that their conversation was being broadcast live on seven stations across the county, including a local San Francisco station for which Hernandez sold advertising.

Hernandez said he had been discreet about disclosing his sexual orientation, not even telling his family, and stress forced him to quit his job.

"It's a nightmare," Hernandez said. "How do you live with such an embarrassment in your life? How do you live when someone makes your life so insignificant?"

On Aug. 12 an arbitrator awarded Hernandez $250,000 for mental anguish and $20,000 in punitive damages. But Hernandez feels the arbitor skirted issues of invasion of privacy and sexual harassment. ''They were using my private life to make people laugh,'' he said. "The DJs who did this have never been punished. I never really got an apology.'" -- Ramy Eletreby

Gay Inmates Allegedly Harassed in L.A. County Jail

On July 19, about 20 gay inmates in the Men's Central Jail in downtown Los Angeles were allegedly verbally assaulted by sheriff's deputies and subjected to a public strip search that is said to have violated protocol, according to a lawsuit filed by the ACLU. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has launched an investigation.

Gay inmates stay in the K-11 unit where they are segregated from the general population for their own protection, Jeffrey Prang, the openly gay special assistant to Sheriff Lee Baca, told IN. There is an average daily population in the K-11 dormitories of approximately 350 inmates.

The inmates who said they were verbally assaulted were traveling from a classroom on a separate floor back to the K-11 dormitories when the alleged event occurred.

"Inmates will frequently walk unescorted from the classroom down to their dorms," Prang said. "Any deputy can stop these unescorted inmates and question them and search them. It's standard protocol, which is what happened. Deputies stopped these inmates and searched them.

"There were a couple of things that were alleged," Prang continued. "One of the things is that the protocol, which is normally observed for searching inmates traveling throughout the jail, was not observed. One of the things they recommend is that [inmates] be removed from busy public hallways to less conspicuous places, which have more privacy. In a big public hallway, women can be walking by; visitors to the jail could be walking by; any of the social service providers that come in the jails could be walking by.

"The other thing," Prang said, "was allegations about what the deputies said to them, [such as] using degrading language. These are allegations that the sheriff's department takes extremely seriously and is investigating. We're responding with the level of seriousness that this issue merits." -- Ramy Eletreby

Screening For Sex Offenders at Pride: Controversy Continues

A Town Hall Meeting was held on Aug. 15 in the auditorium of the San Diego GLBT Center with over 100 concerned community members present to discuss how the San Diego LGBT Pride board of directors dealt with the issue of three sex offenders discovered to be among their volunteers and staff. Commissioner Nicole Murray-Ramirez, a founding board member of SD Pride, and the former executive director of the Family Pride Coalition, Ray Drew, coordinated the meeting.

Drew, along with others, felt that all board members should step down because they had not dealt with the issue in a timely and appropriate manner, saying that sex offenders should have been asked to resign immediately. Murray-Ramirez suggested that a majority of new board members should be installed.

"We need to realize that our communities are growing and changing, "Murray-Ramirez said. "We didn't used to have a Children's Garden or a Youth Area in the beginning, but as our Pride events become more family oriented, we need to take responsibility."

Philip Princetta, the newly appointed co-chair, apologized, saying that there was no intention by any board member to deceive the community. He also announced the board had asked for and received the resignation of Executive Director Suanne Pauley earlier that day. Princetta said an open recruitment meeting has been scheduled and that a committee has been formed to work on a screening process and guidelines for volunteers and staff. Attorneys and law enforcement officials are being consulted in the process.

A statement jointly written by openly gay Deputy Mayor Toni Atkins and California state Sen. Christine Kehoe was read at the meeting, offering to assist the Pride board in taking the necessary steps to implement new policies and procedures.

It was revealed that another sex offender may have participated in the event. "It was brought to our attention ... by a board member from Los Angeles that a name on Megan's List is that of a clown who worked in our Children's Garden since the 1990s," KNSD TV reported on their Web site, referring to a written statement by the board released on Aug. 15. "To our shock and dismay, we are currently contacting professional and community sources to help us confirm whether the information ... is accurate or false."

IN has learned that the clown goes by "Marty the Clown" and has apparently worked other LGBT Pride festivals. But officials from Christopher Street West (CSW) and Long Beach Pride deny this.

"Our records do not show that 'Marty the Clown' has been hired by CSW within the last five years," Rodney Scott, president of CSW, told IN, adding that they are continuing to investigate. "Our entire board of directors, our staff, and key employees have been run through a background check. We are taking a strong stand on this."

Long Beach Lesbian and Gay Pride Entertainment Chair Vanessa Romain says that Long Beach has never used him. "We have our own local clowns and our clown happens to be a woman," she said. "We only allow people we know to work with the children and we take their safety very seriously. We have emergency procedures that would lock down the festival should a child ever become lost or missing during our event." She added that their board wants to learn from other's mistakes and is considering implementing new screening processes because of the problems at San Diego Pride, as an added precaution. -- Denise Penn