The Mautner Project, a national lesbian health organization, has issued a statement conveying its shock and dismay regarding the reinstatement of Dr. Warren Throckmorton to a mental health advisory council, according to MedicalNewsToday.com. Throckmorton is known for practicing the controversial program known as reparative therapy, which aims to change the sexual orientation of gays and lesbians. ‘As the nation’s largest mental health provider, Magellan’s [Health Service] announcement of Throckmorton’s reappointment should raise a red flag about the provider’s agenda and future effectiveness in serving the mental health community,’ the statement read.
The Mautner Project announced the launch of SHEcircle.org. The Project’s press release stated that the new Web site will be devoted to Black lesbians and features an online ‘village’ that promotes healthful living. The site also provides a forum for Black lesbians and bisexual women to meet.
Lambda Legal said that a new policy in the Department of Veterans Affairs directing its hospitals to evaluate HIV-positive veterans who need organ transplants on a a case-by-case basis could save many people. In a news release, Jon Givner, director of Lambda Legal’s HIV Project, stated that ‘we’re pleased that the VA has made this move— the policy is backed by solid scientific data and could save hundreds of lives.’
Many young, HIV-positive men who have sex with men are unaware of their HIV status, according to a CDC study published in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes and reported by Reuters Health. Approximately 10 percent of the 5,600 men surveyed between 1994-2000 tested positive for HIV, and 77 percent of them were unaware of their status.
Homosexuality should be no more of a factor when determining child custody than a health condition like epilepsy, the attorney for a gay father argued before the Idaho Supreme Court, a CBSNews.com stated. Theron McGriff of Idaho Falls appealed to the high court after a magistrate ruled in 2002 that he could no longer see his two daughters if he lived with his partner of many years.