Stephanie Brewer

Recent Activity

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  Stephanie signed the petition | over 2 years ago

  Help Repeal the Defense of Marriage Act!
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  Stephanie signed the petition | almost 3 years ago

  Contact and Thank Campbell Soup Co. for Its Gay-Supportive Stance
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  Stephanie signed the petition | over 3 years ago

  Be an ally to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students.
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  Stephanie commented on the article | over 3 years ago

  Connecticut Supreme Court Overturns Same-Sex Marriage Ban

  Connecticut will be a state to watch in November, because one of the items on the Connecticut ballot on Nov. 4 will be whether to hold a Constitutional Convention, giving legislators the opportunity to amend the state constitution (this happens every 20 years) - so we may get to test Gov. Rell's statement that this ruling will survive attempts to constitutionalize marriage discrimination.  One of the strongest supporters of the Constitutional Convention this year is the Family Institute of Connecticut http://www.ctfamily.org/, to give you an idea.  We will see.

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  Stephanie signed the petition | over 3 years ago

  Be aware of the subtle biases that shape and influence our perceptions and actions.
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  Stephanie signed the petition | over 3 years ago

  Tell Congress to Pass the Matthew Shepard Act
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  Stephanie signed the petition | over 3 years ago

  Tell a Friend to Vote NO on California's Proposition 8
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  Stephanie commented on the article | over 3 years ago

  Circumsize This: No Proof that Circumcision Prevents HIV for Men Who Have Sex With Men

  Mike, thanks so much for posting on the important subject of circumcision and supposed HIV-risk reduction.  Besides not protecting men who have sex with men, circumcision (also known as male genital mutilation) fails to protect women and, when one evaluates rigorously the medical data available, does not appear to protect men who have sex with women either!  The campaign led by the US government to promote circumcision as the answer to HIV seems to me to be yet another attempt to deny the true complexity and nature of the epidemic – including, among many other factors, the stigmatization and marginalization of men who have sex with men.  To ignore structural factors that exclude people from full access to prevention and treatment for HIV based on their sexual preferences is unforgivable; to do so on the grounds that cutting off part of a man’s genitalia is a better solution to the problem is worse. Circumcision – especially as promoted by the US, which stands alone in the world in its practice of medically unnecessary, mass circumcision of more than half of baby boys – has a long history of being a “cure in search of a disease.”  All that circumcision definitely does is permanently amputate a functioning part of the male genitalia – the tissue containing the most sensitive parts of the male genitalia, in fact – usually in a painful procedure that happens without the consent of the person, causing lifelong desensitization.  As for preventing HIV, here are some facts from the website www.mgmbill.org.  Keep in mind that of seemingly positive studies, some were stopped early and all have methodological and/or reporting flaws that undermine any claim that mass circumcision will address the AIDS epidemic.  And by the way, a “protective effect” of 50% means that 1.5% of subjects contracted HIV, as opposed to 3% – which, even in the absence of methodological problems, would hardly have been a sign that we’ve found the answer to stopping the transmission of HIV.  “Two recently completed studies in Kenya and Uganda concluded that male circumcision had a 48% - 53% protective effect against HIV over a 14 month period, and the earlier published Auvert Study (criticized for having methodology flaws and overly optimistic conclusions) found that circumcision reduced HIV transmission in South African men by 63% over a period of 21 months. The multi-country Mishra study concluded that circumcision may actually increase transmission of the AIDS virus, however, which is what many earlier studies found. The Brewer Study published in March, 2007, also concluded that circumcision in Kenya, Lesotho, and Tanzania increases the transmission of AIDS.What about female circumcision and AIDS?The relationship between female circumcision and AIDS has also been studied, with similar conflicting results. The Stallings Study found that female circumcision reduces transmission of the AIDS virus, while other studies have shown that it increases transmission.Has America's high rate of male circumcision helped prevent HIV/AIDS in the USA?The United States has one of the highest rates of male circumcision and also one of the highest rates of HIV infection in the developed world, suggesting that circumcision is not helping. Conversely, Finland and Japan have some of the lowest rates of circumcision and also some of the lowest rates of HIV/AIDS. In Australia, the AFAO has now concluded that male circumcision has no role in the Australian HIV epidemic.”  I think what’s clear is that the US and other powerful actors are eager to promote mass circumcision as a quick, low-cost fix to a massive and complex epidemic, leaving us all to pay the price for the lack of political will by governments to invest time and money in real solutions – those that emphasize education, fighting discrimination, universal availability of treatment, etc., etc.  Meanwhile, if men who have sex with women OR with men erroneously assume that circumcision makes them much more immune to HIV, this may lead to lower rates of condom use and higher rates of risky behaviors – both of which are indeed important factors in HIV transmission.  (For a summary of methodological flaws in a study that purports to show that circumcision prevents HIV, see http://www.circumstitions.com/HIV.html#summary.  See also http://www.nocirc.org/circ&aids.php for an overview of the true medical evidence regarding circumcision and HIV, both abroad and in the US.)