George Michael: From closeted life to gay rights advocate

LONDON | Pop superstar George Michael concealed his homosexuality, as well as the trauma of his boyfriend’s death, for years but later became a gay rights advocate and key supporter of HIV campaigns.

Michael, who died Sunday at 53, only came out as gay in 1998 — nearly two decades into his career — after being caught by police in a “lewd act” in a public bathroom in a park in Los Angeles.

His sexuality was by then an open secret in show business but Michael said he did not go public so as not to worry his mother because of fears about the AIDS virus in the gay community at the time.

“Understand how much I love my family and that AIDS was a predominant feature of being gay in the 1980s and early 1990s as far as any parent was concerned,” he told BBC Radio in an interview in 2007.

“My mother was still alive and every single day would have been a nightmare for her thinking what I might have been subjected to,” explained Michael.

Initially confused about his sexuality, Michael said he realized he was gay by the end of the 1980s.

‘FEARFUL PERIOD TO BE GAY’

Gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell said that concern for his mother may not have been the only reason Michael chose not to come out.

“Back then, the red tops were vicious to gay public figures,” he said, referring to popular tabloid papers like the News of the World and The Sun.

“They were vilified and smeared. Being gay was portrayed as a scandal and shame.”

Tatchell said the explosion of AIDS led to a sharp rise in homophobic public attitudes.

“Gay-bashings and murders rocketed. It was a fearful period to be gay, let alone a gay public figure.

“I wish George had come out then. He could have helped counter that tide of prejudice. But I understand why he didn’t,” he said.

FIRST LOVE

At a concert in Rio de Janeiro in 1991, Michael met Anselmo Feleppa, a Brazilian dress designer who became his first love.

“It’s very hard to be proud of your sexuality when it hasn’t given you any joy, but once you have found somebody you really love it’s not so tough,” Michael told the Huffington Post in an interview.

Six months into the relationship, they discovered Feleppa was HIV-positive — a devastating blow for Michael.

“I couldn’t go through it with my family because I didn’t know how to share it with them –- they didn’t even know I was gay,” he said.

Feleppa died of an AIDS-related brain haemorrhage in 1993.

Whenever performing the single “Jesus To A Child” from the album “Older” (1996), Michael dedicated it to Feleppa and the singer later said the entire album was a tribute to his late partner.

“Heaven sent/ And Heaven stole/ You smiled at me/ Like Jesus to a child,” Michael sings.

‘LIVE ON IN THE HEARTS’

Michael later told the BBC his arrest in 1998 may have been “a subconsciously deliberate act” to out himself and said he wished he had gone public sooner.

“I don’t think I would have had the same career –- my ego might not have been satisfied in some areas –- but I think I would have been a happier man,” he said.

The same year that he came out as gay, Michael began his public activism by helping with a documentary about six young people affected by the HIV virus to coincide with World Aids Day.

As part of his philanthropy — much of it under the radar — he was also a major supporter of the Terrence Higgins Trust, a British HIV charity.

“His donations contributed to a vision of a world where people living with HIV live healthy lives free from prejudice and discrimination,” the charity said in a Facebook post on Monday.

The gay rights group Stonewall said on Twitter: “You inspired many and your music will live on in the hearts of the community. You will be sorely missed”.

source: interaksyon.com

China reports 70,000 new HIV infections in 9 months

BEIJING -- China reported some 70,000 cases of new HIV infections in the first nine months of the year, bringing the total number of people living with HIV/AIDS to 434,000, the country's health authority said Sunday.

From January to September, 80.7 million people received tests for HIV, an increase of 8.9 percent from the same period last year, said a National Health and Family Planning Commission statement.

A total of 3,413 anti-virus treatment organizations have been set up in 31 provincial-level regions. As of the end of September about 209,000 people were receiving therapy.

China tested 7.43 million pregnant women for HIV/AIDS in the first nine months of the year to prevent possible mother-to-child transmission, the statement said.

source: interaksyon.com

‘Lumayo Ka Man’ singer Rodel Naval died of AIDS, sisters confess

Rodel Naval — the handsome and enigmatic singer behind the hit ballads “Muli” and “Lumayo Ka Man” — succumbed to AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) 17 years ago, two of his siblings revealed on Saturday, World AIDS Day.

The singer’s sudden and mysterious death in Toronto, Canada on June 11, 1995 at age 42 was officially ascribed to pneumonia, but rumors soon reached Manila that he had in fact died of complications from AIDS.

His sisters Rosalie and Delia acknowledged the rumor as fact in an interview with Cristy Fermin on “Ang Latest” on Saturday, ahead of the release of a new commemorative album of Rodel’s best-known songs.

Delia said Rodel had confessed to his family in Toronto that he was HIV-positive in 1993, two years before his death. “Kalmado niya kaming kinausap. Sabi niya meron nga siyang sakit na genital,” she said.

Rosalie said their brother faced his impending death peacefully. “Kalmado siya kasi bumalik siya sa Diyos, at binigyan siya ng forgiveness and peace,” she said.

Despite his illness, Rodel managed a one-year stint with the cast of the Toronto production of “Miss Saigon” in 1994. He also performed two concerts in April of that year, one in Toronto and another in Los Angeles.

According to his official website, Rodel had begun his showbiz career in 1975 as an actor. But he left in 1979 when he felt his career wasn’t going anywhere and joined his immigrant family in Canada.

When he returned to the Philippines in 1990, he was already an accomplished singer who had performed in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and other cities in North America.

He finally found success at home with the songs “Muli” and “Lumayo Ka Man”. However, he left for Canada again in 1993 when he contracted HIV.

Besides the commemorative album, which will be released by Alpha Records this week, his sisters said a biography of Rodel is also in the works.

source: interaksyon.com

Researchers to test effectiveness of vaginal ring for HIV prevention

Two large clinical trials in Africa are ramping up to test the effectiveness of a vaginal ring that releases an HIV-fighting drug for a month or more, offering women at high risk a discreet way to protect themselves from the virus that causes AIDS.

The studies will test the effectiveness of a vaginal ring containing the antiretroviral drug dapivirine in thousands of women in several African countries to evaluate its ability to prevent new HIV infections and its long-term safety.

If effective, the ring will add "a long-acting, female-initiated technology to the existing toolkit of HIV prevention options," said Dr. Zeda Rosenberg, chief executive officer of International Partnership for Microbicides (IPM), a nonprofit group founded by Rosenberg which is developing the ring.

Because it only needs to be replaced once a month, the ring may help address some of the problems with getting women to consistently use vaginal gels each time they have sex, Rosenberg said during a briefing at the International AIDS Conference in Washington.

Irregular use is thought to be the reason a large study of the microbicidal gel containing the anti-HIV drug tenofovir failed to prevent infections in women in sub-Saharan Africa.

IPM has a royalty-free licensing agreement with Johnson & Johnson's Janssen unit in Ireland to use its dapivirine antiretroviral product in gel and ring forms to prevent HIV infections in low and middle income countries.

Dapivirine is part of a class of antiretroviral drugs that have long been used to treat HIV and prevent mother-to-child transmission of the virus.

NIH PARTNERSHIP

The IPM study will enroll 1,650 women aged 18 to 45, who will be randomly assigned to use the ring or a placebo in four sites in South Africa, with plans to expand to sites in Rwanda and Malawi.

It is being conducted in partnership with the U.S. National Institutes of Health-backed Microbicide Trials Network, which just started enrolling women in a separate trial called ASPIRE.

"Developing scientifically proven forms of HIV prevention that women can control is essential," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease.

"Because the vaginal ring is a long-acting intervention, it has a potential added benefit in that women may find it relatively easy to use."

The ASPIRE study will test the ring in 3,476 women aged 18 to 45 in Malawi, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Women in the studies will be offered condoms and counseling on HIV prevention, and taught how to insert the vaginal ring. At monthly visits, researchers will keep track of whether women are still using the ring and give them a replacement.

Those women who become pregnant during the study will discontinue use of the ring, and their safety and that of their child will continue to be monitored.

Dr. Saidi Kapiga of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who is coordinating the ring study in Africa and has also conducted tests of vaginal gels for HIV protection, said there are already signs that women prefer the new option.

"It is acceptable," Kapiga told the briefing. "The fact that they use it only once in four weeks was a major advantage."

Both trials are designed to detect at least a 60 percent reduction in HIV risk, but researchers said they hope for even better results, which are expected in 2015.

"If proven to be effective, I think this will really revolutionize prevention for women," Dr. Sharon Hillier, who heads the Microbicide Trials Network at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, told the briefing.

source: interaksyon.com