Pride Holiday and March is a huge celebration for our community and Stonewall Columbus is thrilled to be able to present this event for our city. The hundreds of volunteers that it takes to put this event on every year are the real heroes when it comes to Pride. Many of them give up their vacation time, their family time and their fun time to make this day happen and Stonewall Columbus is eternally grateful. The day always begins a little foggy for me and our staff. We each have probably already put in about 65 hours that week. Inspiration comes when we look down High Street at a sea of people before us all having a good time. Celebrating our culture and giving back is what Pride is all about and i think the 120,000 people that attended this year would have to agree, it was the best day ever!
In response to an increase in cases of syphilis among men who have sex with men (MSM) in central Ohio, Columbus AIDS Task Force is launching a targeted marketing campaign to inform the community and reduce the number of new cases. The campaign consists of 4 key messages delivered via business-size palm cards, 11×17 posters and t-shirts. Edgy, though-provoking and informative, the campaign directs the reader to the Ohio HIV/AIDS/STD hotline where the caller can receive more information about syphilis including local test sites.
The campaign will launch in tandem with Columbus Pride activities starting the weekend of June 27, 2008. In addition to Pride activities, materials will be distributed at gay bars, community centers and bath houses. The campaign will run for one year.
The number of new syphilis cases in Ohio has risen 59% since 2000
In 2006, Ohio ranked 32 out of 50 states for number of syphilis cases reported in the U.S., but 70%* of the syphilis cases in Ohio were reported in Franklin County which represents an alarming local health issue.
Men are diagnosed at a rate 3x higher than females and African American and Latino men are diagnosed at higher rates than white males
While data collected in ODH surveillance stats does not include risk category information for syphilis contraction, local research indicates that men who have sex with men are the population at highest risk for syphilis contraction.
According to the CDC, Genital sores (chancres) caused by syphilis make it easier to transmit and acquire HIV infection sexually. There is an estimated 2- to 5-fold increased risk of acquiring HIV if exposed to that infection when syphilis is present.
Possible reasons cited for increases of syphilis among gay men are methamphetamine use leading to unprotected sex with multiple partners and the Internet’s role in connecting gay men together for casual sex.
Because the behaviors that transmit HIV are the same behaviors that transmit syphilis and because having an HIV diagnosis increases your chances of contracting another STD and contracting another STD when you have a compromised immune system can advance the impact the virus has on individual health, it is critical to address issue of HIV/syphilis co-infection.
The Ohio HIV/AIDS/STD hotline (800-332-2437), which is operated by Columbus AIDS Task Force, will refer callers to local test sites and provide information. Caller-specific demographic data and campaign-related data will be collected.
Test locations in Central Ohio include: OSU Student Health Center: (students only), Columbus Public Health (CPH), Planned Parenthood, Tobias Project, Inc.
For several years now we have had at least 3-5 “tollbooth gates” at Pride. I want to make sure that everyone understands why this is so. When I began volunteering for Stonewall Columbus in 1998, we had about 20,000 people come to our festival and parade. Now in 2008, just ten years later, we are expecting approximately 115,000 participants. Each year the festival and parade grows and so does our costs. Stonewall Columbus spends close to $100,000 to put this event on every year. Across the country many cities have stopped creating Pride celebrations because of the cost and you can see how that happens. For a small nonprofit with a total budget of $465,000 this is a huge undertaking. We ask that festival goers please give $5 at the gate, more if you can and less if you can’t. Or if you purchase your commemorative dogtag, you are admitted to the festival for free. We have gotten some calls at the center from angry folks who believe that the festival should be totally free. Unfortunately, Stonewall Columbus is not in the position to do that. Some in our community argue that the park is a public place and therefore they will not pay to enter it. That is your choice and I understand your position. I beg you to reconsider making a small donation to our center because putting this event on is not now, nor never has been, free for Stonewall. We pay for police, insurance, rental of equipment, rental of the stage, street closures, meter bagging, permits, entertainment, tents, tables, chairs, refuse collection and cleanup crew. It is expensive and without your help we will not be able to continue this tradition in June that we all love so much.
This weekend was spectacular! I played golf for the very first time and did all 18 holes. I took a few lessons when I was a kid but gave up because no one that I knew played golf. I have fallen in love with the sport this weekend at the Stonewall Golf Classic at Raymond Golf Course. Kelly Trent and the staff at Raymond were so gracious and patient with us. The rain did not keep anyone away and everyone seemed to really enjoy being together. Then Sunday, the generous and talented Leslie Jordan of “Will & Grace” fame stopped by the Center on High to meet people and share some of his stories from Hollywood and beyond. I really expected him to just say, “hello” and then go, but he stayed and mingled and entertained us for over an hour. He talked about how great the community center is and how wonderful it is for GLBT people to be able to go to a welcoming and affirming place. He reminded us that years ago people had to socialize in a bars, because that is the only place we could go to meet one another. Leslie gave us a memorable evening of laughs at our center.
