Petition Seeks to Oust Weinstein as President of AHF

LOS ANGELES—Adult industry members and fans are already well aware of the lengths to which AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) president Michael Weinstein has gone in trying to drive the industry out of business: The lies about STD statistics, the paying-off of HIV-positive former performers to speak out against the industry, the promulgation of Measure B, which was designed to force the industry out of LA—all in the name of preventing the so-called "spread of HIV and STDs" among performers. This despite the fact that not a single performer has contracted HIV on a set since 2004, and studies have shown that performer rates of STDs are only slightly higher than those of the young adult population at large. But now, the very group that AHF claims mainly to serve—the gay community—is up in arms about Weinstein having said of Truvada, a combination of anti-retrovirals tenofovir disoproxil fumarate and emtricitabine, "a party drug." And one of AHF's own contractors, Eric Paul Leue, who was recently crowned Mr. Los Angeles Leather, has started a petition to have Weinstein thrown out as AHF's president. "In 2012 the FDA approved the medication Truvada for use by people at high risk for HIV—including gay men, sex workers and HIV-negative individuals in relationships with people living with HIV—to help prevent transmission of the virus," Leue's petition states. "Yet rather than embrace Truvada, one of the most revolutionary developments in the history of the AIDS epidemic, Weinstein poured considerable resources into fighting its approval, and called the HIV-prevention pill 'a party drug.' This statement needlessly stigmatizes individuals trying to protect themselves from AIDS by likening them to illicit substance abusers. Mr. Weinstein's comments and actions are unbefitting the head of the world's largest AIDS service organization, and we are calling for his removal. "Weinstein’s disgraceful comment wasn't the first time he’s attacked those who choose to take Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) medications, like Truvada, or those who have questioned Weinstein’s one-size-fits-all condom policy...," it continues. "This petition is not about how Weinstein or we personally feel about HIV PrEP. This petition is about whether we, the people, should be allowed access to accurate information, free of stigma and discrimination. Since 1980, HIV and its prevention has been framed in moral terms, and the people carrying the virus blamed. The head of our largest AIDS service organization should know that HIV prevention is not 'a party'." Weinstein's statement was part of an Associated Press story by David Crary titled, "Truvada, HIV Prevention Drug, Divides Gay Community"—but a close reading of the story reveals that Weinstein is one of only two individuals named as a Truvada opponent. "If something comes along that's better than condoms, I'm all for it, but Truvada is not that," Crary quotes Weinstein as saying. "Let's be honest: It's a party drug... There's an element in the gay community that espouses 'anything goes,' that is for sexual freedom and not giving an inch. But demonizing me or AHF isn't going to shut us up." Indeed; Weinstein's only shut up about mandatory condoms and "barrier protections" in porn now that AHF's participation in defending the lawsuit against Measure B is likely to be deep-sixed by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Anyway, regarding Truvada, which Weinstein has opposed for more than two years, the vast majority of the scientific and medical communities are solidly in favor of PrEP. "There definitely were apprehensions at the beginning: Would it increase risk-taking behavior? Would people take it regularly?" said Dr. Kenneth Mayer of the Fenway Institute in Boston, which specializes in LBGT health. "More recently, the questions are not whether it's a good idea, but the optimal way to provide it, and which patients are the best candidates. I don't have an issue with people voicing concerns about it, but we have proof it works." Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, medical director of the ambulatory HIV program at New York's Mount Sinai Hospital added, "For folks who are having a significant amount of unprotected sex, [Truvada is] a slam dunk—not only giving them protective medicine, but engaging them in testing, a whole package of regular health care." Dr. Daskalakis also served on the FDA panel that approved Truvada for PrEP purposes—a panel that Weinstein petitioned in an attempt to prevent such approval. Daskalakis reportedly was "dismayed" by AHF's opposition and had a few choice words for Weinstein's and AHF's position. "I find some of that opposition irresponsible," Daskalakis said. "If some men don't want to use condoms, they won't. You have to deal with it by acknowledging that sometimes unprotected sex happens, and you can still prevent HIV infections." Even the nationally syndicated gay columnist Andrew Sullivan, who will stake out politically incorrect positions on issues related to the gay community, expressed his disgust at AHF's anti-Truvada campaign. "I have to say I’m aghast by that attempt to stigmatize—yes, stigmatize—a medication that could prevent countless men from being infected with HIV," Sullivan stated. "Think about it: if it were 1990 and the news emerged that—just by taking one pill a day—you could avoid ever getting infected with HIV, do you think there would be any debate at all? There would be lines around the block for it, huge publicity campaigns to get the amazing news out, celebrations in the streets, and huge relief for anyone not infected with the virus. Fast forward a quarter-century, and those taking this medication are actually demonized as 'Truvada Whores'." Indeed; if anything, due to fear of such labeling, and in other cases, simple lack of knowledge, Truvada isn't being used as widely as it could be, and physicians are becoming concerned about that fact. "Out of our thousands of patients, we have about 20 on PrEP," said Dr. Robert Winn, medical director at Philadelphia's Mazzoni Center, which serves many gay clients. "Many ask about it, few take it. The number one reason for that gap is the commitment of having to take it every day." That problem was pointed out during the earliest studies of the drug, but those who follow the once-a-day protocol have found Truvada to be an excellent protection. But scientific fact has never been one of Weinstein's or AHF's strong suits. The only question is, will the community that AHF serves be willing to ignore his dismissal of a preventative measure that could save their lives from a slow, often painful death from AIDS—or will they sign Eric Leue's petition and get AHF back on track in preventing transmission of the disease by all available means?