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  World AIDS Day 12/1/ 2011 Thursday, December 1rst, marks the 23rd annual World AIDS Day. This year will be the 30th anniversary of the first documented case of AIDS. World AIDS Day recognizes the 25 million people whom lost their lives due to the HIV and AIDS virus. Currently, there are about 33 million individuals living with the HIV virus. A recent landmark study showed that healthy people on antiretrovirals, can limit the transmission of the virus by 96%.
President Obama along with George W. Bush will be speaking at an event hosted by the ONE campaign, for a program called “The Beginning of the End of AIDS.” The LIVE broadcast (10am EST-Thursday) will also include a panel discussion with Bill Clinton, Alicia Keys, Bono and more. On a more local scale, The Equality Foundation and Pride Foundation are partnering up to support the Planned Parenthood of Southwest Oregon (PPSO) initiative- this will provide free HIV testing for low income LGBTQ youth. These tests will be administered by PPSO staff at the following health centers: Florence and Cottage Grove (Lane Co.), Ashland and Medford (Jackson Co.), and Grants Pass in Josephine county.
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  Bryce Blak's Studio SKB will be one of the featured designers Planned Parenthood‘s Equal Access Fund aims to provide helps gynecological exams for women and transmen who aren’t covered by state pregnancy-prevention funding but meet the same economic requirements. Dress/Undress is a fashion show to raise money for the fund. The show takes place tonight at the Fez, emceed by Sossity Chiricuzio, fashion re-designer, sex radical activist and producer/host of Dirty Queer.
We took a minute to sit down with EAF volunteer Nicole Boyer to talk about tonight’s event.
What’s your name and what’s your involvement with the PPCW Equal Access Fund?
My name is Nicole Boyer, and I am PPCW’s Volunteer Programs Coordinator as well as a member of our LGBTQI Committee. I’ve been involved with PPCW for 4 years now, and am passionate about spreading the word about our diverse services and patient population. I and many other PPCW staff contribute $ to the Equal Access Fund from each and every paycheck because we feel so strongly about increasing services for our local LGBTQI community.
What made you think of a fashion show as a fundraiser? Do you think a fashion show is even more likely to be interesting to an LGBT crowd?
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  DJ Freddie Fagula holds a feminist icon sculpture in support of Planned Parenthood Planned Parenthood has been in the news a lot lately, fighting for there very existence. But even when PP is “completely” funded, there scope is technically limited to the prevention of baby-making. Lots of women take advantage of their medical services, contraceptives and other resources. But not every woman needs the meds or paps because she has sex with men, and while plenty of us fudge the truth in order to get services local PP workers knew that this policy was unfair and wanted to do something about it. That’s why they created the Equal Access Fund.
The Equal Access Fund, established by PPCW, gives low-income lesbians, bisexual women and trans people the same access to affordable annual exams and Pap tests as low-income heterosexual women, and increases access to health care to an underserved population. The fund removes the requirement of seeking contraception to access no-cost annual exams.
I a recent survey in three Portland health centers, front-line staff members estimated that in a single month, six lesbians decided not to access services because they could not afford them and were not eligible for CCare. We estimate that annually 150-175 women in our service area decide not to access services because they cannot afford it.
We also suspect that man more low-income lesbian, bisexual and trans patients at PPCW request and take home contraception they don’t require because they need help from FPEP to pay for their services This subterfuge puts up additional barriers between patients and their health care providers, making an honest discussion about relationships, sexual behavior and risk factors even more difficult for women who may be already hesitant to speak freely.
Consistently facing financial woes, the completely donor funded EAF is holding a trivia night benefit tomorrow night at Crush (1400 SE Morrison). We got a chance to sit down with some of the organizers on the eve of their big fundraiser to ask a little bit more about the program.
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