GET TESTED! WHY WOULDN'T YOU? SIR ELTON JOHN & PRINCE HARRY JOIN FORCES @ AIDS CONFERENCE

Sir Elton John and Prince Harry have left messages of support for fighting HIV/AIDS – while attending the International AIDS Conference.

Prince Harry has recently focused more of his engagements around HIV – even taking a HIV test himself in a Facebook Live video earlier this month.

The fifth-in-line to the throne has visited a number of HIV clinics in recent months, and has also spoken about his late mother’s work on the issue.

He said: “She started very punchy [on AIDS]. She smashed the stigma around HIV on more than one occasion. It had a huge impact, and a huge impact on my life as well.”

Attending the International AIDS Conference in Durban, he signed the UN AIDS ProTEST wall alongside Sir Elton John, before the pair appeared together at a panel.

The Prince wrote on the wall: “Get tested! Why wouldn’t you? Harry”.

Sir Elton wrote: “Together we can make a change”.

In his speech to the conference, the Prince celebrated that HIV is no longer a “death sentence” as it was when his mother famously championed the cause.

He said “At the time of the first International AIDS conference, HIV was a death sentence. Treatment was not widely available in the developed world, let alone in poorer regions.

“Stigma kept HIV-positive people from talking openly about their condition and kept vulnerable people from having the courage to step into a clinic and ask for a test.

“But thanks to the work of leaders in the fight against HIV – people like Nelson Mandela, Sir Elton John, the brave activists of TAG and ACT UP, people like Dr Peter Piot, and like my mother, Princess Diana – we have made huge progress.”

The Prince continued: “When my mother held the hand of a man dying of AIDS in an East London hospital, no one would have imagined that just over a quarter of a century later treatment would exist that could see HIV-positive people live full, healthy, loving lives.

“But we now face a new risk – the risk of complacency.

“As people with HIV live longer, AIDS is a topic that has drifted from the headlines. And with that drift of attention, we risk a real drift of funding and of action to beat the virus.”

SOURCE: PINK NEWS

VLADIMIR PUTIN WILL MEET WITH SIR ELTON JOHN TO DISCUSS GAY RIGHTS, FOR REAL THIS TIME

The Kremlin has confirmed that Vladimir Putin has agreed to meet with Sir Elton John for real – after the singer was fooled by a prankster.

The veteran singer, who has a large following in Russia, fell victim to a hoax earlier this month after he asked President Putin to meet with him to discuss his country’s ‘gay propaganda’ law and persecution of LGBT people.

Sir Elton later claimed he had spoken on the phone to Putin – but after denials from the Kremlin, it emerged the call was a hoax masterminded by Russian TV pranksters.

Following the incident, the Kremlin has today confirmed that Vladimir Putin has spoken with the singer for real – and invited him to a genuine meeting.

The BBC reports that Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed President Putin had called the singer today – and asked him not to be offended by the hoax.

He told the star that he is ready to meet with him, schedules permitting, to discuss “any issues of interest” to the star.

Peskov told reporters: “Putin called and said: ‘I know you were called by pranksters. Don’t get offended by those guys, they are harmless, though this certainly does not justify their actions.

“And Putin said he knew what a popular artist Elton John is, and if their schedules allow it, he is ready to meet and discuss any questions that interest him.”

Many have reacted with extreme scepticism to the claim.

In the previous hoax call, the fake ‘Putin’ asked the singer whether he would attend a Pride rally in Moscow, but he does not twig the call is a joke, saying: “Thank you. You made ​​my day. This day, and the conversation was the most wonderful and beautiful in my life.”

Sir Elton wrote after the ruse was exposed: “Pranks are funny. Homophobia, however is never funny.

SOURCE: PINKNEWS

ELTON JOHN AIDS FOUNDATION INVESTS IN MSM, LGBT PROGRAMS

The Elton John AIDS Foundation is donating funds to new HIV programs focused on the U.S. LGBT population as well as on men who have sex with men (MSM) in South Africa, according to an EJAF press release.

Sir Elton John and his partner David Furnish—the EJAF founder and chairman, respectively—met with Secretary of State John Kerry to discuss a $7 million collaborative program between the EJAF and the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Called Health4Men, the program will provide HIV interventions for MSM living in South Africa, where MSM face high risk of the virus in part because of discrimination and stigma.

While in Washington, DC, John and Furnish also announced a $300,000 grant to gay advocacy group the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) for a national HIV prevention and awareness program geared toward the LGBT community, notably gay and bisexual men and transgender women. At the HRC National Dinner, John and Furnish received the group’s National Equality Award.

John also penned a New York Times op-ed titled “Don’t Forget About AIDS.” He writes:

In short, as the gay community celebrates the march of marriage, we are failing to maintain the kind of basic [HIV] awareness and education that is needed to save lives....

All Americans need to recognize the AIDS epidemic for what it has become: a crisis of stigma, marginalization and inequality. Medical advances and treatments like PrEP can get us close to the end of AIDS, but only if enough people can afford them. That means going beyond AIDS itself to attack the root causes of these rising infection rates, like poverty, homelessness, addiction and limited access to health care.

SOURCE: POZ DOT COM