A Healthy Read

Some things are worth writing about and some writing can actually make a difference. I’m very proud to say that I regularly write for a publication that does just that. FS Magazine is published by GMFA and is a gay men’s health magazine. It aims to be informative about gay men’s health needs, but not patronizing or talking down.

I’ve been writing articles for FS now for over four years and have loved every moment of it. It has helped my tone my style, I want my writing to be informative but never preachy, and I’ve been able to use a lot of the skills and knowledge I’ve acquired as a nurse. Gay men’s health isn’t just about HIV and AIDS, though that is an important part of it, but covers a wide range of issues, including access to health services and all the other issues that affect the health of men in general – but are rarely targeted at gay men.

Sexual health is a very important issue, from STIs, through gay relationships and sexual activity. So often, these issues are never discussed. Once we’ve come out as gay it seems we have to learn this almost by absorbing it from those around us, or else we didn’t learn them at all. The current gay press doesn’t seem interested in health matters, beyond how to get a six-pack and look like all the other muscle boys. FS is the only publication offering any form of good and reliable health advice.

The best thing is that FS is available free. It’s distributed to gay venues, bars and clubs, gay centres and Sexual Health Clinics around the country, not just in London. You can also download it from: http://www.gmfa.org.uk/national/fs-magazine/index

There’s also a Facebook page for FS, at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/FS-magazine/36574833972?v=wall

Please follow FS, it’s a wonderful publication that really does deserve our support. Also, if you’re so inclined, FS is always looking for models, details in the magazine itself.

Drew.

Not So Gay Health

We are only beginning to take the health needs of gay men seriously, in resent years, and our health service has just begun to resource it. In London we have been extremely fortunate, since 2001 we have had London Gay Men’s HIV Prevention Programme, a health programme that works across all London boroughs to target Gay Men’s HIV needs, it has used different routes to get its message across. These have included leafleting gay venues, media adverts, publications, health workshops and specific campaigns. Well, now all this good work is in danger.

There is a proposal that will completely change how health promotion is delivered to gay men, a proposal that will STOP all the good work that is now being done and replace it with a strategy that is almost guaranteed to fail before it has begun.

It is proposed that the ONLY health intervention for gay men in London will be health interviews. It is intended that every gay will have a one-to-one interview, were their health and sexual activity will be record, they will then be “advised” on safer-sex issue. These interviews will not conducted by healthcare professional but by volunteers, recruited from men who have previously been interviewed.

There will be not leaflets, media adverts, campaigns or publications, only these interviews.

The intention is that 100% of gay men in London will interviewed, anyone who has taken part in any research study will tell that getting 50% response is a near miracle – a 100% is impossible. They carried out a pilot study for this proposal in Greenwich, it cost £50,000 and only 8 men came forward and took part.

The information from the interview will be recorded and can be used by other agencies, surely that is enough to put off a lot of men from coming forward. Even here in London, there are a lot of gay men who are not open or able to be open about their sexuality. The present approach, of different methods of delivery of the information, can reach these men because they don’t have to come out to access it. This safety net will be gone if this proposal goes forward.

This proposal will set back Gay Men’s Health to the last century, all the good work that has been done since 2001 will be lost.

You can read the full proposal at: http://www.kc-pct.nhs.uk/pdfs/userUploaded/LondonGayMensHIVpreventionprogram.doc

Please, please email your MP and ask them to raise questions about this crazy proposal in Parliament, we need to stop this before it destroys gay men’s access to good Health Promotion. If you don’t know who your MP is you can find out at: http://www.upmystreet.com/commons/l/

If you want a draft letter to send to your MP just let me know, I can let you have a copy of one a friend at GMFA has already drawn up.

Please help out with this very important issue.

Drew.

Be Healthy and Eat Right.

The latest edition of FS Magazine is out (http://www.gmfa.org.uk/londonservices/fsmagazine/index ), and is also available for download as a PDF file. If you turn to page 26 you’ll find “Keep Your Balance”, an article by me about eating a Balanced Diet and what exactly that is.

FS Magazine is a health magazine, in the vein of Men’s Health and those sort of publications, but aimed at gay men. It’s given away free all over London, but can also be downloaded from the above link. Its editorial line is that gay men need a good quality advice on all aspects of their lives, not just the single subject of safer sex. That’s not to say safer sex and HIV/AIDS prevention are ignored, but that’s only one part of gay men’s health needs. FS Magazine covers everything from relationships to sport, from sex to healthy living and everything in-between. It’s an approach that I, as a nurse, fully agree with.

I’ve been writing for FS Magazine for two years now and have found it one of the best and beneficial writing experience so far. In that time I have learnt how to put an article together and how to pitch it for a targeted readership, I’ve also learnt how to get my information across without sounding patronising or talking down to the readers – a lesson worth its weight in gold. Cary James, FS Magazine’s editor, has been a great help and encouragement to me. He’s the type of editor who supports a writer, not the type who sends out two line rejections that give no hints on how a piece can be improved.

I first meet Cary many years ago when he was editor of The Pink Paper and interviewed me about my experiences, as a teenager, of the ex-gay movement. Now he’s an editor I writer regularly for. I find it strange and fascinating how people seem to come around in circles in my life. I meet them, some times only once, loss touch and then years later I meet into them again. For me, the world can seem a very small place.

Drew.