Tag Archives: local
[HEALTH/LGBTQ] Organs Donated by Gay Man Rejected, Called ‘High Risk’
Hi folks! It isn’t too often that we get personal on TMA, but please take a moment to visit RUNFORROCKY.COM – a charity set up in honour of our dear friend Rocky Campana, who left us far too soon. The charity continues Rocky’s work as an advocate for Gay/Straight alliances, acceptance, and equal rights. If you have enjoyed the music, entertainment, and photos on Lavish TMA, Eddy and I would very much appreciate if you would consider making a donation to such a fantastic cause. In related news, the article below explains the ridiculous situation which arose at the time of Rocky’s death… As in life, Rocky wanted to give back, this time in the form of organ donation. As an extremely healthy individual, Rocky seemed like a prime candidate to help save multiple lives with his organs. Unfortunately, once he was identified as a gay man, his organs were no longer seen as “desirable”. Near the bottom of this post, you will find a link to a petition demanding a change to Canada’s organ and blood donation policy. All healthy Canadians should be able to donate. ~Jordan
With your support and the help of the Windsor Pride Community Resource and Education Centre, the Run for Rocky – Charity Run will help raise awareness and funds to support programs and Gay Straight Alliances, throughout Windsor-Essex County, in our communities, schools, and in our homes.
Your donation will be processed via PayPal. If you don’t have a PayPal account, your gift will be charged to your credit card. Receipts for tax purposes will be sent by mail. Please provide your correct mailing information.
MAKE A MONETARY DONATION HERE
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Article:
Organs donated by gay man rejected, called ‘high risk’
A Windsor woman believes her late son’s organs were rejected for donation because he was gay.
Nancy Campana’s son Rocky was an organ donor, but none were used after his death.
“I was asked if he was a gay male and I said, ‘yes.’ And I was asked if he was a sexually active gay male or if he had a partner and I said, ‘yes,’” Campana said of a conversation she had with Trillium Gift of Life following Rocky’s death.
She said the tone of the conversation changed, and the family was later told they could not donate Rocky’s organs.
“When I got off the phone to relay that to both [Rocky's father] Rob and a lot of Rocky’s friends … many of them broke down,” she said. “The gay ones said, ‘Nancy, we can’t donate blood; they’re not going to take our organs.’”
Organ donation
According to the Trillium Gift of Life Network, there are approximately 1,500 people waiting for an organ transplant in Ontario right now.
So far this year, 129 people have have donated in this province, which is down from 132 during the same period last year.
Health Canada changed the rules for organ donation in late 2007. The changes mean sexually active gay men, injection drug users and other groups considered high risk will no longer be accepted as organ donors.
The rules are similar to the regulations for determining who can donate blood. Those rules exclude groups that are at high risk of transmitting infectious diseases such as HIV and hepatitis C and B.
Under Health Canada policy:
- A gay man who had practised abstinence for five years prior to organ donation would be considered an acceptable donor.
- A heterosexual man who has had a single sexual encounter with a male within the past five years would not be considered an acceptable donor.
The Campanas are currently working with staff at the office of Windsor West NDP MP Brian Masse to table a petition that would asked the House of Commons to change the rules governing organ donation. They want it to be easier for a gay man’s organs to be donated.
A Masse spokesperson said the petition’s language has been vetted by the Petitions Branch in the House of Commons.
The Campanas and others will soon start gathering signatures.
Trillium CEO Ronnie Gavsie said that while a donor’s sexuality is not a deciding factor, it does make a difference.
“According to the Health Canada legislation, a man or woman who is gay would fall into the high-risk category. But that fact alone would not preclude them from being a donor,” she said. “That is just one of the many factors that go into being in the high-risk category.”
Other factors include whether a donor uses injection drugs, has had a recent tattoo or piercing, is an inmate of a correctional facility or has haemophilia and has received donated blood.
“And then, someone who is high risk, that information will be carried forward to the potential recipient,” said Gavsie.
The Campanas say the explanation given to them was that trace amounts of drugs were found in Rocky’s system.
But they say doctors at the hospital told them the results could be a false positive, because of the drugs used to try to save his life. Rocky Campana attempted suicide and was taken off life support shortly after in August of last year.
His family believes this is about sexual orientation, and now they’re taking on the system that categorizes gay donors as high risk.
“That was Rocky. Injustices were big to him, so I think that we are really determined to try to get the word out to everyone,” said Rob Campana.
Get your family and friends to sign the petition to change the government’s policy on blood and organ donation in Canada
DOWNLOAD THE PETITION HERE
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With your support and the help of the Windsor Pride Community Resource and Education Centre, the Run for Rocky – Charity Run will help raise awareness and funds to support programs and Gay Straight Alliances, throughout Windsor-Essex County, in our communities, schools, and in our homes.
Your donation will be processed via PayPal. If you don’t have a PayPal account, your gift will be charged to your credit card. Receipts for tax purposes will be sent by mail. Please provide your correct mailing information.
DONATE HERE
[LONDON / HEALTH] Canadian Developed HIV Vaccine Approved for Human Studies
London, Ontario CANADA –The first and only preventative HIV vaccine based on a genetically modified killed whole virus has received approval by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to start human clinical trials.
Developed by Dr. Chil-Yong Kang and his team at The University of Western Ontario, with the support of Sumagen Canada, the vaccine (SAV001) holds tremendous promise, having already proven to stimulate strong immune responses in preliminary toxicology tests with no adverse effects or safety risks. It is the only HIV vaccine currently under development in Canada, and one of only a few in the world.
LOCAL NEWS: Gay school assembly criticized [LPF]
Gay school assembly criticized
By QMI Agency
SARNIA – A brief assembly hosted by the Gay Straight Alliance at a Chatham-area high school “crossed the line” and should only be allowed if other minority groups can do the same, says a trustee with the Lambton Kent District School Board.
David Goldsmith said he has no problem with any group promoting an understanding between itself and other students, but wants the privilege extended to other groups.
“I’m sure it was in the interest of diversity,” Goldsmith said. “So in the interest of diversity, when will Christian clubs be allowed to have an assembly?” he asked.
The school has not been identified.
Goldsmith said he’d received numerous calls from parents and teachers about the assembly.
“The impression I received is that they felt this group had stepped outside the parameters of the Education Act, which says no group can attempt to indoctrinate other students in a public school,” he said. [READ MORE VIA LFP]
LOCAL TALENT: Edmond Huszar aka ‘OVERWERK’
SOUNDCLOUD FACEBOOK MYSPACE TWITTER
Edmond Huszar aka OVERWERK is based out of London, Ontario. Edmond Huszar has been making music since high school. First year of college he started the duo ‘The Girls Can Hear Us’(TGCHU), with vocalist Will Steep. Since beginning their work together in January of 2009, TGCHU received a very enthusiastic and warm response from a rapidly expanding fan base. The duo went on tour for a short period of time where Edmond became familiar with the club scene.
Being solely responsible for producing all of TGCHU’s songs, he decided it was time to move on. Edmond went solo and started OVERWERK. His sound initially influenced by his favorite group Daft Punk, is equally technical as it is driving. The talent displayed in all of his tracks is so overwhelming, OVERWERK has defined a distinct sound pushing limits of genres. When one of his songs comes on, it is easily recognizable as an OVERWERK production.
Since the summer of 2010, OVERWERK has been pumping out electronic bangers that mix the danceable elements of house with the bass madness of dubstep, topped off with some hip-hop vocals to keep the party moving. Although he is newcomer on the scene, his tracks succeed any experienced producer with a vast amount of musical knowledge. Welcome to OVERWERK! (source)
ORIGINAL PRODUCTIONS:
OVERWERK REMIXES:
CLICK HERE for more – Interview by Remix Nation
LOCAL HOT: Andrew Stetson
6’1″ tall Andrew Stetson was born in 1979 in Oakville, Ontario is a Canadian supermodel. The muscular and blue eyed Andrew Stetson began his career as a carpenter. Then, he was discovered by a modeling agent Norwayne Anderson of the NAM agency at the age of 19. “I spotted him at a bar and circled him for half an hour so I could see him from every angle,” his agent says of the brown haired supermodel. “It was his lips and eyes that got me.”
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Andrew Stetson
Born: Oakville, Ontario, Canada
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Height: 6′ 1″ (185 cm)
Hair colour: Dark Blonde
Eye colour: Blue
Measurements: 39-32-38
Suit: 40 (U.S.)
Shoe size: 11 (U.S.)
After a year of modeling in New York and Europe, Andrew Stetson returned to renovating homes, starting his own home renovation business, Stetson Designs Inc. He says, “I worked right away, doing editorial and catalogues in New York, Paris and Milan. But I really missed carpentry. I missed building things.”
Five years later his friends convinced him to return to modeling. He has since walked for top fashion shows, and has appeared in ad campaigns for Armani, Dolce & Gabbana, Zara, Calvin Klein, Levi’s, Bloomingdales, and H&M. Despite his successful modeling career Andrew Stetson says he wants to return to carpentry.
“I’m making the most of modelling. But to be honest, I would rather go back to carpentry. I love carpentry. It’s not work to me. And it keeps me grounded and balanced. There are not a lot of models who have something else to fall back on.”
In August 2006, Stetson signed a three-year contract becoming the face of Calvin Klein’s new cologne, Euphoria.
MORE pics and VIDEO – After the jump!
LOCAL TALENT: Kevin Slack (photography)
From SNAPPEDSHOTS.COM
Kevin Slack was born in 1969 in Ontario, Canada where he was raised on a farm. He attempted to start his photography portfolio in grade 5 in a classmate’s backyard. Gratefully those photos are lost to history. Kevin studied Visual Arts and English at the University of Western Ontario where he studied painting and film photography. After, Kevin travelled and painted murals and taught English and lived first in Korea and then Ecuador, where he really should have learned how to salsa.Later, Kevin worked in some banks and lamented cubicle life and taught high school and lamented the attention span of teenagers and then worked in graphic and web design. He found photography again in 2004 when he started www.snappedshots.com writing the fictional life, in blog form, of Silas Snodgrass.
Since then, Kevin has worked in corporate, wedding, and editorial photography. And of course he continues to travel to his favourite exile, Cuba, where he would live if he could figure out how, and if he could take his dog.
Check out a sample gallery AFTER THE JUMP – and then head over to Snappedshots.com for further pics and info.
