Ready to go! (Photo courtesy Dana Brenklin)

BY DANA BRENKLIN
Lesbian.com

As I begin this story, let me tell you, I am not a cyclist. I know no more about a bicycle than peddling, stopping and starting.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let me begin. I host a lesbian-centric online radio show and after two successful interviews with two awesome women and supporters of the show requesting her, I thought I’d try soliciting actress Traci Dinwiddie. Well, once we began corresponding she invited me to ride with a team (T-Bugs) of people for AIDS/LifeCycle 2014, called Team Goodisness.

I’ve always wanted to be sort of a fitness guru or maybe just get in great physical shape but that wasn’t in the cards for me as a child or even as an adult up until now. I was something of a sickly child and adult, among other things, however, I am not anymore. So, I researched this ride and saw how passionate Traci was about what she was doing and after much thought and anticipation, I said yes.

For years I’ve said that I was going to be in the best shape of my life by the time I reached the age of 40. I claimed it, just as I claimed the year 2013 to be my year, just as I’ve claimed everything in my life, as I walk by faith, not by sight. With that claiming, I don’t believe it is in anyway a coincidence that I am involved with this year’s ride. Upon deciding to participate, I have had to change my diet and habits, just as I had intended before this journey dropped into my lap. I realize that this is no joke. I am not in the best shape. My diet has had to change, my exercising has increased, my coffee intake is less and my water intake is much greater.

The physicality of this undertaking is overwhelming, but I am on my way and nothing is going to stop me. I have never been able to take on a feat such as this in my life and I am nothing but grateful for the opportunity to give my heart, mind and body to such a cause. I am certain I will be forever changed when we sail through to the finish line and I know I will be helping my brothers and sisters suffering from HIV/AIDS live more abundant and healthy lives because of the money being raised.

So far, I have been on one training ride (28 miles) that I thought was going to kill me, but I am still here and more motivated than ever. Come along and take this daunting and exciting journey with me. I am truly inspired and I think you will be too.

Team Goodisness has a collective $300,000 goal to reach to help support people living with HIV/AIDS.

Each team member sets a goal for donations, which you can help them reach. Thanks for your generous support of Dana’s participation! To learn more about Team Goodisness, which includes Traci Dinwiddie, Cathy DeBuono, our own Shannon Wentworth, Nicole Conn and others, visit ToFightHIV.org.

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MSNBC host Rachel Maddow played a supporting role in pressuring former President Bill Clinton into abandoning his administration’s hostility to Nelson Mandela’s AIDS relief programs in the 1990s.

Nelson Mandela’s life and legacy are being celebrated by nearly everyone in American politics, from Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) to President Barack Obama. But the U.S. government aggressively opposed Mandela’s political goals for decades. While President Ronald Reagan’s support for the apartheid state is well documented, Clinton’s work to undermine the economic foundation of the nascent Mandela-led South African republic is sometimes overlooked.

Read more at Huffington Post Gay Voices

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Accepting an award from the Elton John AIDS Foundation, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told the audience on October 15 that there is still more work to be done in aiding people with HIV and AIDS. As she accepted the first Founder’s Award, she said she wants an “AIDS-free generation” to be “our North Star.”

“We still have so far to go,” Clinton said during her speech at the Cipriani Wall Street ballroom in New York. “There are so many challenges in front of us. I thank you, but I know there’s more for us to do. Humans may discriminate, but viruses don’t.”

Read more at dot429.com

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A team of Spanish researchers say they have made an important breakthrough in HIV research, developing a new vaccine against the virus that is significantly more effective than earlier attempts. Advancing vaccine research could eventually eliminate the need for the expensive methods currently used to treat HIV-positive individuals.

Researchers tested the vaccine on randomly selected HIV-positive individuals who were already taking highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) medications, the most scientifically advanced form of treatment currently available to combat the virus. They wanted to see if, rather than simply suppressing the effects of the virus with outside treatment, their vaccine could lead the human immune system to coordinate its own defense against HIV — and they succeeded, seeing some subjects’ HIV viral loads drop more than 90 percent after 12 weeks of the trial.

Read more at ThinkProgress.org

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The Obama administration unveiled on Thursday a “blueprint” for confronting the global AIDS epidemic that includes as one of its goals targeting populations that are most vulnerable to HIV/AIDS — including men who have sex with men.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton touted the plan during a ceremony at the State Department as a tool to achieve the vision of an “AIDS-free generation” that she previously articulated a year ago.

“Now, make no mistake about it: HIV may well be with us into the future,” Clinton said. “But the disease that it causes need not be. We can reach a point where virtually no children are born with the virus, and as these children become teenagers and adults, they are at a far lower risk of becoming infected than they are today. And if they do acquire HIV, they have access to treatment that helps prevent them from not only from developing AIDS, but from passing the virus on to others.”

Read more at Washington Blade

Washington Blade is America’s leading gay news source.

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Roughly 20 percent of youth who have had HIV since birth did not know their HIV status when they first became sexually active, according to a study by a National Institutes of Health-supported research network.

The study also found that, of those youth who knew they had HIV and who were asked about disclosure of their HIV status to their first sexual partners, most reported that they had not told their partner prior to sexual activity.

Read more at TheSeattleLesbian.com

The Seattle Lesbian online magazine reaches more than 188,000 readers per week globally.

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Protesters disrupted an HIV/AIDS panel discussion on Wednesday involving members of Congress from both sides of the aisle, accusing the Republican senators of blocking efforts to thwart the disease at home and abroad.

The activists, many of whom were affiliated with the umbrella group called the Global Network of Sex Work Projects, stormed the dais where the members of Congress began speaking shortly after former U.S. Sen. Bill Frist, who was serving as moderator, started the event at the 19th international AIDS conference in D.C.

The session was titled, “The United States Congress & the Global AIDS Epidemic.” In addition to Frist, four sitting members of Congress took part: Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).

Read more at Washington Blade

Washington Blade is America’s leading gay news source.

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The International AIDS Conference is expected to draw more than 30,000 people from around the world to D.C. July 22-27.

Former President Bill Clinton, former first lady Laura Bush, Bill Gates of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Eric Goosby, “The View” co-host Whoopi Goldberg and singer Elton John are among those who are scheduled to speak at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. The White House has yet to confirm whether President Obama will attend; California Rep. Barbara Lee and Michel Sidibé, executive director of UNAIDS, are among those who are scheduled to speak at the opening session on July 22. The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington is also slated to perform.

“We are gathering at a defining moment in the AIDS epidemic where the science tells us we can turn the tide on HIV,” said Dr. Elly Katabira, president of the International AIDS Society who serves as the conference’s international chair, and Dr. Diane Havlir of the University of California-San Francisco, who is the U.S. co-chair of AIDS 2012, in a statement that officially welcomed delegates to the nation’s capital. “Scientific advances are also propelling towards the efforts to find a cure and vaccine for HIV. AIDS 2012 will unite science, community and leadership from around the globe to develop strategies and mobilize support for translating new evidence into meaningful action that reflects HIV’s complex web of social, human rights and political issues.”

Read more at Washington Blade

Washington Blade is America’s leading gay news source.

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