Summit Program - GMSH | Gay Men's Sexual Health Alliance

Tuesday February 28, 2012
Full Program
Heather Bain
Jen Durst
Kim Chee Lee
519 Church Street
Community Centre
#3. Opening the Closet on Aging
This interactive workshop will broadly cover issues related to aging in LGBT communities. We will start
with an overview of common concerns raised by people who are LGBT 50+, followed by key learnings
from the Opening the Closet on Aging Conference which was held November 2011 in downtown Toronto.
We will specifically spend time highlighting key areas of importance to older gay, bisexual and trans men.
In keeping with this theme, Kim Chee Lee will present his documentary ‘A Surprise Love Adventure’,
which chronicles a friendship between himself and a younger man he met on a trip to Niagara Falls.
We will wrap up the session with an interactive component that focuses on issues raised by those in
attendance and key questions they have in working with older LGBT individuals. The workshop will be
dependent on participant interaction so come prepared with questions! -Scott Room
#4. Research Briefs
Join us “under the briefs” as we explore the findings and implications of some of the leading (communitybased)
research projects in Ontario that investigate the health and wellbeing of our queer, gay, bisexual
and other MSM. You can expect to hear more from a panel of investigators as they present: The
HiMMM Project, Mano e Mano, Gay Poz Sex, Ottawa Public Health HIV criminalization study and Male
Call Canada. Come support the effort to push our research agenda forward.
Daniel Pugh
GMSH
Todd Coleman
University of Western
Ontario
Gerardo Betancourt
Centre for Spanish
Speaking Persons
Patrick O’Byrne
University of Ottawa
Christiane Bouchard
Ottawa Public Health
Dr. Trevor Hart
Ryerson University
Scott Simpson
Dan Allman
Male Call Canada
#1. Health in Middlesex Men Matters (HiMMM) Project: This session will start with a brief review of
recent research on body image and its effects on the health and wellbeing of gay and bisexual men. In
particular, we will review: the influence of media (i.e., print media and pornography); intersection of
racism and homophobia on body image; drive for muscularity among GBM; body dissatisfaction and
disordered eating; components of body image among HIV seropositive GBM; and finally how body
image may be an issue in the context of syndemic theory that contextualizes research on body image in
GBM.- Stevenson Room
#2. Mano e Mano Community Evaluation (3 years) of Latino MSM and gay men intervention in
Toronto; lessons learned for the future:The Centre for the Spanish-Speaking Peoples has conducted
for the past three years an intervention called: Mano en Mano. The presentation will be in relation to
the results, emerging themes, evaluation, practices and distinct characteristics that this intervention
has shown in terms of evidence-based, possibilities for extension and adaptation to other communities
and locations. At the same time, new technologies has been incorporated, such as the use of pod-cast
radio, increasing the possibilities of outreach and access in hard to reach communities. This project
has been evaluated in partnership with Doctor Barry Adam from Windsor University. -Rossetti Room
#3. Over the past decade, the intersection of HIV and criminal law has become increasingly discussed and
examined by researchers, policy makers and academics. The majority of these investigations and analyses
have approached the topic of criminalizing HIV serological status nondisclosure from sociological and
legal perspectives, as a result, the potential effect of this trend on population health and HIV prevention
work remains mostly unknown. Consequently, the objectives of this multi-method study were to compare
the number of HIV tests/diagnoses before and after a local media release about nondisclosure criminal
charges explore the attitudes and beliefs of local men—all who self-identified as gay, bisexual, or men who
have sex with men—about HIV, HIV prevention, serological status disclosure, criminalizing nondisclosure,
and public health practices in this domain. Findings of this mixed quantitative-qualitative study suggest
that neither media releases about nondisclosure criminal charges nor criminalizing nondisclosure
align with and/or enhance the population health goal of decreased HIV transmission.-Scott Room
#4. The Gay Poz Sex (GPS) research project is a peer facilitated sexual health program for gay men who are
HIV-positive. The program reviews current STI transmission information regarding health risks, disclosure
and legal issues. As well, peer facilitators use Motivational Interviewing skills to guide participants through
the development and identification of sexual health behaviour goals, strategies and potential supports.
Peer facilitators also use role playing to increase the participants’ self-efficacy in disclosure skills and
negotiating risk.- Wren Room
#5. Male Call Canada is a bilingual, nation-wide, toll-free telephone survey of gay, bisexual and other
men who have sex with men. The study is modeled on successful research projects in other areas of
the Commonwealth, including Australia (Kippax et al), New Zealand (Worth et al), the United Kingdom
(Weatherburn et al), and the Ontario-wide Bisex Survey (Myers et al). Male Call Canada is supported by
a team of Investigators and a community-based National Advisory Group with expertise in the evolving
challenges of providing effective HIV prevention in urban, remote and rural settings across Canada. Male
Call Canada is unique among research studies of men in Ontario and Canada in that the study’s focus is
largely on the attitudes of men as they relate to HIV, STIs, health and wellbeing. This research brief will focus
on the recently-completed data collection phase of the project, with an emphasis on the unprecedented
contributions provided by the endorsement of star athlete David Testo.