Rock Hudson - Hollywood and Closeted Sexuality | True Story Documentary Channel

Jun 1, 2024 | There are two reasons to revive interest in the Hollywood star Rock Hudson in 2010: If he had not died of AIDS 25 years ago, it would have been his 85th birthday in November 2010.

The film portrays a very male-looking gay leading man who had to perform a secret balancing act between the heterosexual Hollywood world and the dark side of closeted sexuality. In fact, he was someone who always needed to tell lies. He had to become a very good actor even in real life.

The film includes interviews with his French doctor, Dr. Philippe Siou, and Dr. Michael Gottlieb, Rock’s American doctor who became the first physician to describe a new disease that would later become known as AIDS. And with friends like Stockton Briggle and his personal secretary Mark Miller, Yanou Collart, his French PR manager, Armistead Maupin, bestselling author, Richard Dyer, film historian, Robert Hofler, author of the book “The Man Who Invented Rock Hudson”, Richard Anderson and Salome Jens, co-stars of “SECONDS”, Leonard Stern, producer of Hudson’s TV series “McMillan&Wife” and Hollywood reporter Rona Barrett.

Act Up - Ein Überlebenskampf | Nach einer wahren Geschichte | ARTE

Aug 21, 2022 Frankreich, 80er Jahre: Als sich Aids rapide ausbreitete, sagte eine Handvoll homosexueller Aktivist:innen HIV den Kampf an. Durch ihre spektakulären und provokanten Aktionen ging "Act Up" mit den Bremsern von Aids-Aufklärung und -Prävention in Politik und Gesellschaft hart ins Gericht. Eine anregende Lektion in Sachen Aktivismus.

In den 80er Jahren, als Aids sich in Frankreich rapide ausbreitete, organisierte sich eine Handvoll Aktivistinnen und Aktivisten und gründete Act Up-Paris. Nach dem Vorbild des „großen Bruders“ – des 1987 gegründeten US-amerikanischen Interessenverbandes Act Up – trat die Vereinigung für die Verteidigung der Rechte aller HIV-Positiven oder an Aids erkrankten Menschen ein. Die Aktivistinnen und Aktivisten kämpften hartnäckig und mit vollem Engagement: Sie verbreiteten sachliche Informationen über die Krankheit, die alle Menschen – unabhängig von sexueller Orientierung – ereilen kann. Außerdem rangen sie um die Behandlung der Kranken und setzten sich unter hohem Zeitdruck für die Aids-Prävention ein.

Die kleine Act Up-Armee schreckte vor nichts zurück und setzte auch auf zivilen Ungehorsam: So warf sie beispielsweise als Protest gegen die Zensur mit Kunstblut gefüllte Wasserbomben. Zielscheiben ihrer Kritik waren die Kirche, die den Gebrauch von Kondomen ablehnte, Politiker, die eine echte Aufklärungskampagne verzögerten, und Forschungslabore, die offenbar nur an ihren Profit dachten. Act Up-Paris provozierte mit plakativen Slogans und legendär gewordenen PR-Aktionen, etwa dem Entrollen eines pinkfarbenen Riesenkondoms über dem Obelisken der Place de la Concorde.

Mit Auszügen aus Robin Campillos Spielfilm „120 BPM“ und Archivmaterial der damaligen Zeit vergegenwärtigt die Dokumentation die unglaubliche Energie, die den Aktivistinnen und Aktivisten von Act Up-Paris zu eigen war.

Dokureihe (F 2021, 27 Min)
Video auf YouTube verfügbar bis 17/02/2023

Co-discoverer of HIV Luc Montagnier Dies Aged 89 - BBC News

Feb 11, 2022 • Luc Montagnier, the French virologist credited as a co-discoverer of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), has died aged 89.

Montagnier was jointly awarded the 2008 Nobel Prize for his work in isolating the virus that causes Aids.

He was lauded for this work, but later criticised for unscientific claims about autism and Covid-19.

He died on Tuesday in Neuilly-sur-Seine "surrounded by his children".

But All I Can Think About Is You on World AIDS Day

Shutterstock
ADVOCATE: The unequal responses to two national tragedies trigger a flood of memories for one man recalling a dear friend he lost to the AIDS epidemic.

Dear M — I am supposed to be writing about World AIDS Day, but all I can think about is you.

Today also happens to be September 11, the 20th anniversary of the attacks. The President and a couple of former ones are here to mourn. The blue lights where the towers should be are back on, reaching for the heavens. The names of the dead, all 2977, are read aloud. “Never forget,” we’re told.

I am supposed to be writing about World AIDS Day; it’s the 40th anniversary of the epidemic. We don’t get the presidents mourning though. None of the names of our 106,776 dead in New York City alone are read aloud. We still don’t have a vaccine or a cure. But we have a day, and that red ribbon. » | Richie Jackson | Wednesday, December 1, 2021

Monaco: Princess Stephanie Vows to End AIDS by 2030

MONACO TRIBUNE: Princess Stephanie has once again shown her support, and Monaco’s determination, in the fight to end this disease.

End inequalities, end AIDS. An ambitious goal, but one the United Nations aim to meet by 2030, as discussed in the high level meeting held by the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) this week.

Taking place from the 8 to 10 June, Isabelle Picco, the permanent representative of Monaco at the United Nations in New York, chaired the meeting, whilst Princess Stephanie addressed the group. During the two-day long discussions, Princess Stéphanie shared a video message with the participants. In her speech, she claimed that the HIV and Covid-19 epidemics are very real examples of the need for stronger healthcare systems.

She also took a moment to praise the new global strategy devised by UNAIDS, which focuses on prevention and reducing inequalities, particularly amongst key populations. » | Alexis Gertaldi | Wednesday, June 16, 2021

La Princesse Stéphanie veut mettre fin au sida d’ici 2030 »

Arizona Pastor: We Could Cure AIDS by Christmas If We Stone Homos to Death

Pastor Steven Anderson says the world
could be cured of AIDS by Christmas

PINK NEWS: A Christian pastor has claimed that the world could be cured of AIDS “by Christmas” if “homos” were stoned to death.

Pastor Steven Anderson of the Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tempe, Arizona made the disturbing claim last week, in a sermon ahead of World AIDS Day.

He said: “Approximately 1.6 percent of the US populations, and 0.7 percent are bi… it’s all the same category, Sodomite.

“Turn to Leviticus 20:13, because I actually discovered the cure for AIDS. We could have an AIDS free world by Christmas if we follow this. » | Nick Duffy | Wednesday, December 03, 2014

Politician: Ban Apple CEO Tim Cook from Russia because He Could Have ‘AIDS’ or ‘Ebola’

Vitaly Milonov

PINK NEWS: A homophobic lawmaker is now calling for a lifetime travel ban on Apple CEO Tim Cook, who came out publicly as gay on Thursday morning.

Vitaly Milonov, the politician behind St Petersburg’s anti-gay ‘propaganda’ law that has since been adopted federally by the Russian Parliament, suggested Mr Cook could bring “the Ebola virus, AIDS [and] gonorrhea” to Russia.

“What could he bring us? The Ebola virus, AIDS, gonorrhea? They all have unseemly ties over there,” Mr Milonov told the FlashNord website. “Ban him for life.” » | Scott Roberts | Thursday, October 30, 2014

Breaking the Silence on AIDS in Egypt
An estimated 34 million people are living with HIV and AIDS across the globe.

Many don't even know they have it, but of those who do more than nine million are still not getting vital treatment.

That ratio is particularly bad in countries where the virus is stigmatised, such as Egypt. The UN estimates around 11,000 people there have HIV, but only 400 are seeking treatment.

But now one man is trying to change that. Magid is the first HIV positive person to speak out in Egypt about his experience.

He told Al Jazeera his story.

World AIDS Day Rallies Across Asia
Activists throughout Asia rally to promote awareness of HIV and AIDS on World AIDS Day. Video courtesy of Reuters.

Call for 80 Per Cent of Men in Africa to Be Circumcised to Prevent Spread of Aids
THE TELEGRAPH: More than 4 million new HIV infections could be prevented in eastern and southern Africa by 2025 if male circumcision rates were increased to 80 per cent, researchers have claimed.

Sub-Saharan Africa carries the greatest burden of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS, accounting for 67 per cent of the 33.4 million people living with the virus worldwide. Photo: The Telegraph
Expanding circumcision services to 80 per cent of adult and newborn males in the region would also save $20.2 billion in HIV-related health costs between 2009 and 2025, they said.

"With global resources spread thin, we must focus on expanding proven and cost-effective methods like male circumcision to prevent HIV transmission," Krishna Jafa, an HIV expert at health aid group Population Services International (PSI), said at an AIDS conference in Vienna.

Mr Jafa's comments echoed former US President Bill Clinton and philanthropist Bill Gates, who both used speeches to the conference to call for rapid scale-up of male circumcision as a cost-effective way to prevent the spread of HIV.

Sub-Saharan Africa carries the greatest burden of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS, accounting for 67 per cent of the 33.4 million people living with the virus worldwide. An estimated 1.9 million people were newly infected with HIV in the region in 2008.

Research cited by the World Health Organisation has shown that male circumcision can reduce a man's risk of getting HIV by up to 60 per cent. >>> | Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Carla Bruni-Sarkozy and the Born HIV Free Campaign


Please support:

The Global Fund: To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria >>>

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
 is an international financing institution that invests the world’s money to save lives. To date, it has committed US$ 19.3 billion in 144 countries to support large-scale prevention, treatment and care programs against the three diseases.

NB: 'Tuberculosis' and 'malaria' are not in the keywords/labels below because I have to use keywords/labels which are already in the bank. I have no more space left in the bank to add more. These two words are not in the bank; 'HIV' and 'Aids' are. So this should in no way be mis-read. I am not attaching more importance to one disease over the others. – Mark

Carla Gets Serious
THE TELEGRAPH: Carla Bruni-Sarkozy wore glasses for the first time at a public engagement in a bid to cultivate "a more serious image".

The French First Lady, who turns 43 this year, put the black designer frames on during her appearance as an anti-Aids ambassador at an event in Paris.

Dressed in a low cut, white T-shirt with a campaign slogan on it, the glasses transformed her image.

"Carla always tries to look as young as possible, but the glasses made it clear that she wanted a more serious image", a fashion observer close to Mrs Bruni-Sarkozy said.

She was supporting the Born HIV Free campaign, showing off a limited edition T-shirt, and a logo brooch designed by the jewellers Tiffany & Co.

Mrs Bruni-Sarkozy said: "By 2015, let us end the transmission of HIV from mother to child. This is not a dream - we can do it. Life is too beautiful to end before birth." Carla Bruni-Sarkozy out in glasses for the first time >>> Peter Allen, in Paris | Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Ende der AIDS Diskrimierung: HIV-Infizierte dürfen nach China einreisen
WELT ONLINE: Zwanzig Jahre lang waren die chinesischen Grenzen für HIV-Infizierte geschlossen. Jetzt, kurz vor der Eröffnung der Weltausstellung in in [sic] Shanghai, hob die Regierung das Verbot auf. Man habe eingesehen, dass die Verfügung "sehr begrenzten Einfluss" auf die Ausbreitung der Krankheit habe, hieß es in der Erklärung.

Bild: Welt Online
China reiht sich in seinem Umgang mit HIV-Infizierten unter die medizinisch aufgeklärten Staaten ein. Pekings Staatsrat hob unmittelbar vor der am Sonnabend in Shanghai beginnenden Weltausstellung (Expo 2010), zu der Millionen Ausländer anreisen wollen, seine seit 20 Jahren geltenden Einreiseverbote für alle von der Immunschwäche-Krankheit Aids Betroffene ein. UN-Generalsekretär Ban Ki-moon begrüßte den Regierungsbeschluss, ebenso wie die Leiterin der Weltgesundheitsorganisation (WHO) Margaret Chan und Dutzende Aids-Initiativen in der Welt als ein wichtiges Zeichen, das nun auch China gegen die Stigmatisierung der Aids-Erkrankung setzt. >>> Johnny Erling | Mittwoch, 28. April 2010

Adolf Hitler Sex Video Condemned by Aids Charities
THE TELEGRAPH: An Aids-awareness advert depicting Adolf Hitler having unprotected sex has been condemned by mainstream health charities for stigmatising people infected with the virus.

Adolf Hitler sex video condemned by Aids charities
The provocative commercial, which ends with the tag-line "AIDS is a mass murder", aims to scare young people into using condoms by associating the deadly disease with the German dictator.

In the highly-sexualised clip which can only be shown after the watershed, a couple undress and begin to make love in a dimly-lit bedroom.

But what appears to be a typical, if steamy, advert for perfume or underwear takes a macabre twist when the camera pans to man's face at the moment of climax - revealing him to be Adolf Hitler.

The commercial has been released to coincide with 2009 World Aids Day, but established HIV/Aids charities have distanced themselves from its message, saying that it could make life more difficult for sufferers. >>> Matthew Moore | Friday, September 04, 2009

Aids Is a Mass Murderer >>>

Carla Bruni Criticises Pope Benedict XVI
THE TELEGRAPH: Carla Bruni has issued a scathing attack on Pope Benedict XVI saying that she has allowed her Catholic faith to lapse because of his approach to contraception in Africa.

Carla Bruni has criticised Catholic teachings. Photo courtesy of The Telegraph
France's First Lady said that the Church's teachings had left her feeling "profoundly secular".

She departed from her post's traditional religious neutrality to accuse the Pope of "damaging" countries like Africa with his stance on birth control.

The Italian-born former supermodel risked angering believers in France and beyond by declaring that the Pontiff's proclamations showed that the Church needed to "evolve".

In March, the Pope sparked controversy while on an Africa tour by saying that the AIDs pandemic which has crippled the continent "can't be resolved with the distribution of condoms; on the contrary, there is the risk of increasing the problem".

Mrs Bruni-Sarkozy said: "I was born Catholic, I was baptised, but in my life I feel profoundly secular.

"I find that the controversy coming from the Pope's message – albeit distorted by the media – is very damaging.

"In Africa it's often Church people who look after sick people. It's astonishing to see the difference between the theory and the reality.

"I think the Church should evolve on this issue. It presents the condom as a contraceptive which, incidentally, it forbids, although it is the only existing protection," she told Femme Actuelle, the women's magazine.

The comments will cause Mr Sarkozy embarrassment in a country where, despite the separation of Church and State, a majority of the population was born Catholic.

André Roux, a constitutional historian said: "It's unprecedented for a first lady to criticise the Pope. Charles de Gaulle's wife was very Catholic and would never had taken up position, remaining very discreet. The same was true of Bernadette Chirac, who never gave her opinion on religion or international affairs.

"Even Danielle Mitterrand, the wife of François Mitterrand who was not a believer and aired her political views, never attacked the Pope. >>> By Henry Samuel in Paris | Monday, May 18, 2009

If the Pope’s approach to the use of condoms leaves Carla feeling “profoundly secular”, one can only guess how the Pope feels when he sees photos of Carla in her birthday suit, or romping on the beach in a G-string! – ©Mark

The Pope Is 'Stupid', Says Richard Dawkins after Pontiff's Claim that Condoms Increase AIDS
Professor Dawkins stands with the UK's first atheist campaign founder Ariane Sherine before one of the ads they placed on London buses and Underground. Dawkins has labelled the Pope 'stupid' for his stance on condoms. Photo courtesy of MailOnline
MAIL Online: Biologist Richard Dawkins has attacked the Pope as 'stupid' over his claim condoms increase AIDS.

The prominent atheist said Benedict XVI would end up with the blood of millions of people on his hands if they took his words seriously.

Speaking at a university in Spain, he raged: 'I wonder on what basis anyone can say condoms make AIDS worse.

'The Pope is either stupid, ignorant or just dim.

'If people take his words seriously he will be responsible for the deaths of thousands, perhaps millions of people.'

Dawkins, 67, launched his attack in a press conference at the University of Valencia after being awarded an honorary degree at an official ceremony.

He also claimed the more people thought for themselves, the less they were likely to believe in God.

And he congratulated U.S. President Barack Obama for overturning predecessor George Bush's funding ban on stem cell research.

Professor Dawkins is known for his passionate views and has become known as much for his views on atheism as his Darwinist theories on evolution. >>> By Gerard Couzens | Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Well, What Exactly Did You Expect the Pope to Say?
THE TELEGRAPH: It is absurd to expect him to move with the times.

Image courtesy of Google Images
When is a crowd of a million fans, fainting in the heat and being trampled to death in excitement, a sign of unpopularity? When you are Pope Benedict XVI, that's when. Despite the fact that his week-long tour of the African continent has been playing to record numbers, the Pontiff has had nothing but criticism from the First World press. He's a "disaster", he's "out of touch with the real world", his whole operation needs "a radical shake-up".

The failures, according to his critics, lie both in his medium and his message. The present Vatican has yet to come to terms with the worldwide, 24-hour blogosphere. The press office shuts up shop for the day at three in the afternoon. No one there has got to grips with Google. Stories leap out at strange times of the day and night, and they hadn't seen any of them coming. Bless… but who can blame them? It's a rum old world in which Jade Goody reaches near-sanctification for her telepathic relationship with the media and the Pope gets rubbished because he's baffled by it.

His message that Aids "cannot be overcome through the distribution of condoms, which can even aggravate the problem" has infuriated health workers the world over. But what exactly is a Pope for? Is he there to make public service announcements in accordance with current scientific thinking, or is he there to stick up for what his Church has long believed in? The relationship between Catholics and condoms was strained long before Benedict XVI got the job. Millions of Catholic couples take the independent decision to practise contraception, but that is no reason for the Pope to change what he preaches. It is absurd even to expect him to move with the times. He's a religious leader, not an interior decorator.

Pope Benedict has yet to say anything I agree with. I don't think rock music is the spawn of the devil; it seemed to me barmy to take back into the church the bishop who had denied the Holocaust; and I wouldn't dream of taking contraceptive advice from a bachelor in his seventies. But then I'm not a Catholic. The Pope, it transpires, is. Deal with it. [Source: The Telegraph] By Gill Hornby | Tuesday, March 24, 2009

A Pope Who Seems Fallible
Photo of the Pope courtesy of Tribune de Genève
THE INDEPENDENT: From offending Jews and Muslims to saying condoms could make Africa's Aids crisis worse, Benedict XVI appears destined to blunder

On his first pontifical visit to Africa this week, Pope Benedict XVI set off another storm of controversy when he said that condoms were not only not the solution to the continent's Aids crisis but that they actually "make matters worse".

It was just the latest in an endless succession of high-profile gaffes that have made the brainiest pope of modern times also by a wide margin the most accident-prone.

In previous pratfalls the Bavarian theologian has welcomed back into the Church a bishop who flatly denies the existence of the Nazi gas chambers, refused to sign UN declarations on the rights of homosexuals and the disabled, denied the possibility of inter-religious dialogue after praying in a mosque, insulted Muslims en masse, and failed to mention the Jews while visiting Auschwitz.

Benedict's gaffes are becoming as frequent and predictable as Silvio Berlusconi's. And while Joseph Ratzinger has never cultivated the image of clown and raconteur so dear to the Italian PM, there is something else that the two men share: they wait for the grand occasion, when the world is hanging on their words, to drop their peculiar bombshells.

It was always going to be interesting to hear what Berlusconi had to say, standing alongside Russia's President Medvedev, about newly-elected President Obama. Berlusconi picked that moment to say that Obama "has a good tan". He chose the spotlight of a joint press conference to tell President Sarkozy, sotto voce but audibly, that Carla Bruni was his personal gift to the Frenchman.

Likewise, Pope Benedict picked his first trip to Africa to drop his condom bomb. Given the huge amount of flak the Church has received from Aids campaigners over the years for its failure to endorse the use of condoms in any circumstances, even within a marriage in which one partner is infected, this was not a subject that the pontiff could ignore. >>> By Peter Popham in Rome | Thursday, March 19, 2009

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – Italy) >>>

Sida : vague d'indignation en France après les propos du pape
LE POINT: La petite phrase de Benoît XVI, lâchée en plein ciel , provoque un tollé en France. "On ne peut pas régler le drame du sida avec la distribution de préservatifs, qui au contraire augmentent le problème", a estimé mardi le pape dans l'avion qui l'emmenait au Cameroun. Mercredi matin, le ministère des Affaires étrangères a sèchement réagi, exprimant sa "très vive inquiétude devant les conséquences de ces propos". Éric Chevallier, porte-parole du Quai d'Orsay, qui s'est refusé à porter un jugement sur la doctrine de l'Église, juge que de tels propos mettent "en danger les politiques de santé publique et les impératifs de protection de la vie humaine." Une prise de position peu diplomatique envers le Saint-Père, également chef d'État du Vatican.

Même indignation dans les rangs de la classe politique française. L'ancien Premier ministre Alain Juppé (1995-1997), qui revendique son "attachement aux valeurs chrétiennes", estime que "ce pape commence à poser un vrai problème." Pour le maire de Bordeaux, "aller dire en Afrique que le préservatif aggrave le danger du sida, c'est une contre-vérité et c'est inacceptable". À l'autre bout de l'échiquier politique, la députée communiste de Seine-Saint-Denis Marie-George Buffet condamne des paroles qu'elle qualifie d'irresponsables et de criminelles. "D'ici 2010, le sida aura tué 30 millions de personnes", rappelle celle qui préside le groupe d'études sida à l'Assemblée nationale. >>> Par Cyriel Martin (source AFP) | Mercredi 18 Mars 2009

TELEGRAPH BLOG: Why the Pope Is Right about Condoms

The usual howls of derision and contempt have greeted Pope Benedict XVI's comments, as he arrived for his first visit to Africa, that the HIV/Aids holocaust there "is a tragedy that cannot be overcome...through the distribution of condoms, which even aggravates the problems." The thrust of his outraged detractors is that he is a cruel and vindictive old man, out of touch with the real world and condemning millions in the undeveloped world to unspeakable suffering and premature death.

So let me stick up for Benedict. He declares that the Church's historic teaching that chastity outside marriage and fidelity within it would prevent the spread of killer diseases such as Aids. Whatever your views on the subject, that simple statement is undoubtedly true. And Benedict is in the truth business.

Catholics hold that Christian truth is passed down through the one, universal and apostolic church and is summarised in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC). There is plenty in there about compassion, the Christian imperative to serve the poor and afflicted and all being created in God's image and equal in Christ.

But it is also a canon of what the Church teaches is God's intention for his creation; it points to the Kingdom of God and what heaven hopes for us. These are divine standards that are indeed impossibly high for us to achieve in a broken and fallen world. But it is the Pope's task to declare that they are there, that we are in sin for falling short this side of eternity and forgiven in God's grace. That is what the Church calls truth. >>> George Pitcher | Wednesday, March 18, 2009

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Broché) >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Relié) >>>

Libyen: Das Todesurteil gegen fünf bulgarische Krankenschwestern und einen palästinensischen Arzt ist bestätigt worden!

Photo des infirmières grâce au Figaro

NZZ ONLINE: Schock im Gerichtssaal in Tripolis: Entgegen den Erwartungen der meisten Beobachter hat das Oberste Gericht Libyens das Todesurteil gegen fünf bulgarische Krankenschwestern und einen palästinensischen Arzt bestätigt. Die Eltern der angeblich von ihnen mit dem HI-Virus angesteckten Kinder hatten noch am Tag zuvor eingelenkt.

spi. Am Vortag war die Hoffnung bei den fünf in Libyen wegen eines Aids-Skandals gefangenen Krankenschwestern aus Bulgarien und dem palästinensischen Arzt noch gross gewesen. Nur gerade einen Tag vor der Entscheidung des Obersten Gerichts hatten offenbar die Familien der Opfer ein Einsehen gehabt. Sie hätten finanzielle Entschädigungen akzeptiert, teilte die Ghadhafi-Stiftung am Dienstag mit. Todesurteile in Libyen bestätigt: Schuldspruch gegen bulgarische Krankenschwestern und Arzt (mehr)

BBC:
Libya HIV death sentences upheld

Le FIGARO:
Les infirmières bulgares restent condamnées à mort

SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL:
Death Sentence Upheld for Six Foreign Medics

Mark Alexander