Health ‣ The Gayly Mirror

Sex: that basic human need we know too little about

17May

By alcoachNo Comments

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Sex: that basic human need we know too little about

It's hard to believe that we often talk about our physiological needs (for food, water, sleep, air), but hardly ever do we talk about sex thoughtfully or cleverly. We regularly say or hear things like, "I just had a salad for lunch, now I'm starving." "Sparkling water? Not for me, I'd rather have spring water, though tap water is the best for me." "I couldn't sleep last night. I'm so sleepy right now I can barely keep my eyes open." What about our sex lives? We never mention our sexual needs or habits with anybody but very few super-close friends. We're consistent with the rule that wants sex to be unspoken. If you dare to talk about sex, you are a pig, a pervert, rude, disgusting, and sick. So you know it's not polite to talk about sex, it's wrong. If you do speak about it, you ...

13May

By alcoachNo Comments

closeUp, Health

Friends: the best school to learn love

Before starting looking for a life-long partner, make sure you have real friends in your life and know what true friendship is. We, the LGBT+ people, suffered from homophobia since we were kids. This caused remarkable damages to our relationships with others since we had no real chance to be ourselves and relate to others with authenticity. Straight teenagers never feel ashamed or in need to hide their sexual orientation. We do instead, or at least we did in the past. Especially those born before 2000 did not have an easy life during puberty and adolescence. Back then, socialising and relating to others was crucial for our own healthy, correct emotional and psychological development. But somehow, we screwed it up. Most of us (LGBT+) were forced to pretend to be what we were not. At ...

Brazil: the Supreme Court ends blood donation restrictions for Gay people

11May

By RaffaNo Comments

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Brazil: the Supreme Court ends blood donation restrictions for Gay people

It took four years but Brazil has a new ruling when it comes to blood donations. This is a historic win for the LGBT+ community in Brazil which has experienced tremendous restrictions when it came to blood donations. The new ruling comes out after that last 8th May, 7 of 11 justices voted for banning the law that did not allow men who’ve had sex with other men within the previous twelve months to donate blood. The voting against this unconstitutional rule - that was imposing restrictions on the simple basis of sexual orientations - happened at the Supreme Federal Cours in Brasilia, as the Guardian reported in this article. Supreme Court Minister - Edson Fachin - wrote on his vote: “Instead of the state enabling these people to promote good by donating blood, it unduly restrict...

Germany bans conversion therapies for all people under 18.

8May

By RaffaNo Comments

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Germany bans conversion therapies for all people under 18.

“Homosexuality is not a disease, therefore the word therapy is misleading” (German health minister Jens Spahn) Yesterday, 7ht May 2020, Germany voted to definitely ban conversion therapies for LGBT+ people under the age of 18 and also introduced expensive fines for all adults forcing LGBT+ people to one of this dangerous treatments. Reuters reported that the health minister Spahn, who is the Christian Democrat party’s most high-profile gay politician, declared early yesterday , Thursday 7th May 2020: “I want a ban which will be robust, including if it’s brought before the courts. Young people are being forced into conversion therapies and so it is very important that they should find support in the existence of this law: a clear signal that the state does not want this to happen.” T...

Coronavirus might be sexually transmitted

8May

By RaffaNo Comments

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Coronavirus might be sexually transmitted

Coronavirus might be lurking in semen. This is what a gourd of scientists from China have found, as it is possible to read on the paper, published in JAMA Network Open, a peer-reviewed open-access medical journal, but these result do not prove that coronavirus can be sexually transmitted in all cases. To better understand how this virus could hit us again and avoid possible pandemics, Dr Weiguo Zhao of the Eighth Medical Center of Chinese People’s Liberation Army General Hospital in Beijing and Dr Shixi Zhang of the Shangqiu Municipal Hospital in Henan, analysed samples of sperm of 38 patients aged between 15 and 38 (all positive to Covid-19) and noted that subjects varied in their rates of illness. Amongst them only 4 of those patients who were recovering from the virus, were fou...

6May

By alcoachNo Comments

closeUp, Health

HIV. Did you get tested?

HIV is just one of the many viruses you are likely to catch whenever you have unprotected sex. No matter if it's full sex or just oral nor if you're straight or non-straight, a top or a bottom, a man or a woman: safer sex doesn't mean you can't get infected. Don't panic, though! It's not as bad as it sounds - as long as you get regularly tested. A healthy human body is pretty unlikely to catch HIV. A human body with high levels of alcohol and drugs is a whole other thing. These substances remarkably weaken the immune system, making it much easier for infections (of all types) to spread. Before continuing to read, you'd better be aware that I did not try to "sweeten the pill" in this post. At first, when you get HIV, you feel just nothing. In most cases, something happens after a whil...

Being fat in an unloved community: Are we deserving of a fairytale ending ?

4May

By Roberta MooreNo Comments

closeUp, Health, Lifestyle

Being fat in an unloved community: Are we deserving of a fairytale ending ?

Love is difficult enough without having physical constraints that prevent good first impressions. As a lesbian, it is harder to find your soulmate. We are limited in our small community and having to work with a bare minimum is always a challenge. Does the fairy tale ending exist for us ? I have spent many sleepless nights consumed by diving into my imagination of spending moments with my soulmate. Like many women, I dream of a wedding filled with sharing love and happiness with friends and family. It wasn’t until in the early hours of Thursday morning that I had decided to watch an episode of Australian ‘Married at First Site’. I fell upon a lesbian couple called Amanda and Tash. Their wedding melted my heart. The smiles, the giggles, the happiness all around was magical; it gave...

Our Editor-in-Chief welcomes you to The Gayly Mirror

4May

By RaffaNo Comments

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Our Editor-in-Chief welcomes you to The Gayly Mirror

Hiya, hope you’re doing great even though the whole world is a bit crazy at the moment. My name is Raffa (Raffaele) and I am the Editor-in-Chief of this new LGBT+ Information and Lifestyle Magazine. Please, accept my warmest welcome to The Gayly Mirror; as of today we officially open our doors to old and new readers. I know you might be asking yourself if we really needed a new LGBT+ News and Lifestyle Magazine, and I honestly think I do not own an answer for you. I’m sure you will all appreciate the fact that since the very first moment I thought about this project, my intention was to deliver free and verified information and entertainment. I am so happy I found a TEAM that shares this view with me and is keen to offer you good pieces to read and get news and inspiration from. T...

United Nations: a response to Covid-19 and the rights of the LGBT+ population

23Apr

By RaffaNo Comments

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United Nations: a response to Covid-19 and the rights of the LGBT+ population

It is time to stop this stigma against LGBT+ population amidst this Coronavirus pandemic. Too many incidents among the LGBT+ population worldwide accused to be one of the causes of this Covid-19 pandemic brought the United Nations to release a note titled “COVID-19 AND THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF LGBTI PEOPLE”. There is a clear and urgent request from the High Commission of the UN to stop the stigmatisation of LGBT+ people continuously blamed for disasters, both natural and human, and especially in this historical and delicate time of our lives where we are fighting against a dangerous virus. The Office of High Commissioner makes clear example to this situation: “LGBTI people have previously been blamed for disasters, both manmade and natural, and there are scattered reports of this happe...

Arrested after planting a rainbow flag at NYC Coronavirus Field Hospital.

7Apr

By RaffaNo Comments

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Arrested after planting a rainbow flag at NYC Coronavirus Field Hospital.

The hospital is run by anti-LGBT preacher Franklin Graham. Last Tuesday the opening, but nothing mattered to public opinion, not even if this hospital is run by Graham’s anti-gay evangelist group Samaritan’s Purse, not even if all volunteers at the hospital must sign an anti-gay pledge agreeing that “gay people will go to hell” and that those healthcare givers will not cure any gay patient. https://twitter.com/revbillytalen/status/1247060933370757120 So Reverend Billy Talen tried to plant a rainbow LGBT+ flag in front of the hospital: “Today I tried to deliver a rainbow flag to the Samaritan’s Purse field hospital in Central Park. Franklin Graham and his Lord’s Army are here with their homophobic racist hustle. Help not hate,” he wrote in his post on twitter, after being arrest...