The View and Hoh-muhsexshuels.

“There is no universal moral code that should dictate human behavior. There is no such thing as good or evil, there is no universal standard of right and wrong. Our values and morals come from us and belong to us, whether we like it or not; so we should claim them proudly for ourselves, as our own creations, rather than seeking some external justification for them.”

What a conundrum.

I want to hear what you have to say.

Crashing the Tea Party.

This piece is by guest writer Johnny Black.

Ladies, Gentlemen, and all those in between or outside,

I would like to introduce myself as your local propagandist: Johnny Black. I’m merely another faceless entity in the fight against corprotacratic economic models. I thought that some one out there might find what our GLBT Superhero, LOL-WUTTER, Elle, was up to! So, with out further ado! A quick run-down of the first of our adventures in Capital-Land!

It was all just supposed to be a day like any other…

Driving around on stolen gasoline is no way to spend your first date. But, then again she didn’t know that, so what was the harm. On our way back from having secured some tasty vittles for our lunch we noticed a protest on the corner of College and Mulberry.

Not that this is an odd occurrence, it is Fort Collins; no, the oddness of the situation was seeing all these blue-collar, hard-working, wage slaves spending their time waving signs around when Thor knows that in this economy no one can afford to do that. So, as a man who has served in the United States Armed Forces, worked as a general laborer for my local labor union, and done his fair share of dirt to provide for my family, I tip my hat to them. Nothing wrong with wanting to increase your size of the pie and being Libertarians; they believe this should be done by shrinking the state as opposed to raising taxes on all.

Can’t really argue with that, eh Kids? And that’s where this whole thing got started. We don’t have a counter argument because this isn’t the debate we are trying to have. Their protest is a blind attempt to acquire and secure more liberties for themselves and us. But, their inability to see themselves contributing as oppressors does not change the fact that they operate as a functioning tool of patriarchal society.

“What are they protesting?” our green eyed firebrand asked.

With a quick perusal of their signs, I replied, “they are fucking tea-baggers.”

I sighed. A quick break down on libertarian economics, the Ron Paul movement, and the Tea Bag protests ensued. Pro-states rights anti-federalists who see the governments hand in the market as being responsible for our current economic woes. I always imagine them as strict constitutionalist conservatives with out the fundamentalist nut jobs.

“Lets crash it!” she exclaimed. Arming our selves with a sign that read “LOL WUT” and a camera to forever immortalize our first date we returned to help create open conversation and express an alternative viewpoint!

It worked: the crowd stirred and churned attempting to wrap their minds around what it could possibly mean. Tea baggers each took turns reading into the sign, inferring it expressed their worst fears embedded by years of conservative talking points and fear mongering.

Hence the LOL WUT message. The issues in the United States cannot be solved through free trade and laissez-faire capitalism. The issues that are oppressing the lives and families of these protesters are because of capitalism. The principles of that economic ideology, while looking good on paper, do not translate into reality.

Greed, having been celebrated for so long, has created a culture that is toxic at best. The protesters know this. As a branch of conservatives they are most likely unhappy with the world their children are growing up in. Why shouldn’t they be, eh Kids? Violence, vices, and mindless entertainment surround them and hope to instill in them the values that the United States has come to embrace.

It’s unfortunate that through my conversations with the protesters they seemed to believe I was political boogey-man. Despite my attempts to show that I work for the people and against the bourgeois corporate slave masters that are cracking the whip over all of our heads the idea never seemed to sink in. The average protester was far too blinded by the bipartisanship that is United States politics and culture. I oppose capitalism, they thought, so naturally I must be a socialist.

I was unable to break through this oh-so-common binary, the dualist thinking of the American status quo. Unable to bring a revolutionary thought into the light through the smoke screen of Libertarian ideology. I couldn’t stress enough that the protesters and the crashers are fighting the same fight. We are all in the same struggle. Their fight for what they believe to be the iconic America draws a lot of parallels with our own utopian dreams. In their world the laborer owns his labor, just like ours. The people are not controlled through a talking head of morality, just as in ours. It just didn’t seem to correlate for the Tea Baggers that we were not opposed to their protest as much as we thought their energy was only misdirected.

Playing cameraman to Elle and lacking a sign of my own I couldn’t attention whore my way into a confrontational situation that I could turn into some social critique. Elle was very popular on the other hand, with old women trying to block her sign. Once again, reinforcing the stereotype in my mind that these North Americans are kneejerk reactionaries that fear what they don’t understand.

The situation started to get a little tense. Elle had the intestinal fortitude to stick it out though and soon she had our side of the street pretty stirred up. Through her brazen act of brandishing a sign that no doubt seemed nonsensical to the crowd around us, she had created a situation where they could experience the nonsensical nature of their protest. She quickly disseminated her radical feminist ideology and her blog web address to further help the protesters to open their eyes to a world they unknowingly ignore and unwittingly support. Once it was understood that were not diametrically opposing them some protesters had come to the conclusion that we were actually supporters. At one point we were fashioned as Anarcho-Capitalists!

Eventually the protest was coming to a conclusion. Only a few stragglers were left and even they were packing up and making their way back home, no doubt feeling empowered and satisfied at having voiced their dissent. The only people sticking around were the die-hards bombarding us with questions.

“What does this have to do with GLBT issues?” a confused protester asked.

Elle had given her web address out and he was surfing it from a sidekick. At that point our cover was blown! We were no longer your friendly neighborhood anarcho-capitalists. Unbeknownst to him, we were something much more subversive. We crashed their tea party because despite their spirit they are just misinformed by years of media lies, Christian indoctrination, and corrupt governing bodies. Despite their best efforts the ruling class that decides our fate doesn’t give a god damn what we have to say. That simple internet meme slapped on a piece of poster board wasn’t intended to mock the Tea Baggers. It was intended to illustrate that all these people standing around waving sings, blowing horns, and shouting from the sidewalks; all that noise just boils down to “LOL WUT” at the end of the day.

All in all I will never know if I actually made an impact, if Elle’s sign helped create some social discourse that later turned into an honest debate, or if they all just went home thinking they had performed their civic duty and were now off the hook.

In an attempt to rattle the cages of some hard working people, join in an atmosphere of free expression, and attempt to illustrate the point that their attempts are in vain. The only conclusion truly drawn from this entire experience is that while irony is fucking hilarious to some, it doesn’t make a very good vehicle for political debate as what was initially thought

SOGLBT Welcomes New Members, Celebrates Old

The Student Organization for Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals and the Transgendered, (SOGLBT) is kicking off the semester with its bi-annual barbeque at 5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 18, at Fort Collins’ City Park.

Kay Lambert, SOGLBT co-chair and senior studio art major, said he sees the barbeque as a welcome back for the fall semester as well as a membership drive.

The barbeque provides an opportunity for Lambert and other long-time members to see who will be involved in the group this year to determine the  events students prefer, Lambert said.

He expects about 50-60 people and hopes to see some members stick around after to see in what direction the group would like to go . Membership has waxed and waned in past years, and this past year has seen fewer students in participation.

Lambert said he’s hoping for the organization to provide as many resources and opportunities as it can, while hoping to hang on to members.

“Things will kind of ebb [with participation] and I don’t think it’ll be a permanent downturn,” Lambert said.

Passionately driven to make SOGLBT a thriving resource for the CSU community, Lambert said he knows that it’s going to be hard bringing back a solid membership. But he’ll continue to keep pushing, focusing on getting the word out through social-networking sites like Facebook and putting more publicity out on campus about the group’s presence.

With student organizations, “it sounds like everything’s going to hell,” said Lambert. “It’s not as awful as it sounds.”

In fact, SOGLBT events draw huge crowds, and it is one of the oldest continuously active organizations for GLBT individuals in Northern Colorado.

In 1973, it was established as the Fort Collins Gay Alliance, and has since changed its name many times “to be more inclusive of the rapidly progressing sexually aware population,” said Gabe Case, CSU graduate and former SOGLBT co-chair and media coordinator.

One of the more well-attended events thrown by the organization is its biannual drag show, usually held to celebrate both National Coming Out Day on Oct 11 and Transgender, Bisexual, Gay and Lesbian Awareness Days, a week-long event, in the spring. TBGLAD also includes educational seminars, guest speakers and hosts open-mic sessions.

SOGLBT coordinates with the community during TBGLAD in holding a Queer Prom as well as taking part in the National Day of Silence in the spring, which is recognized in bringing attention to anti-GLBT name-calling and harassment in schools, said Case.

As the current co-chair, Lambert said his goals include rebuilding the infrastructure of the group. He took initiative to become co-chair when most of the old leadership graduated or left the group, leaving no guidelines for folks to keep the structure going, Lambert said.

Although the GLBT Resource Center for students exists on campus, SOGLBT is important to the larger GLBT student community because it functions as a student-run voice in the CSU community at large, Lambert said. The GLBT Resource Center provides something different for students, where as a student organization provides the opportunity for activism and student-oriented goals,  he said.

With a student focus, the group can promote awareness in fresh, thought-provoking ways that are relevant to the GLBT student community. The students get to make their voice heard and that’s what they want, said Lambert.

“It’s been proven through history that not talking about [the issue] doesn’t help intolerance,” said Lambert. “Hiding has never made any group feel better about themselves.”

The beginning of the Queer Reporter’s Notebook..

I caught my roommate off-guard in the library. She was working, speaking with folks she hadn’t seen in a while. I stopped, laptop in hand as I was rushing to take down notes from an interview I just had (or performed? I was the interviewer…)

“You talk to Moira yet?” she basically asks. She has a good rapport with this person, but I, diligently, do not yet. This, I feel, is because I am a part of press, and that makes me the enemy.. no matter how queer I am.

My roommate is gay. This makes a difference to both of us, because it effects the way that we perceive and move through the world of campus every day. Not that campus is our exclusive reality, but that it is the most immediately experienced.. to an unexposed audience, we are simply a removed “other.”

However, to Moira, the director of LGBT student services, I am reporter first, and maybe not really queer. I don’t think she even knows.

My beat this semester for my reporting class is GLBT issues. I chose it enthusiastically, but I knew this would be difficult. Can we say conflict of interest?

Honestly, I see no conflict. Who better to report than someone who fundamentally has raised his or her critical consciousness, at least slightly enough to be inclusive and understanding of the community? We are not “others.” And try as we might to disseminate this fact, anecdotal evidence is not enough to get through to the minds of our audiences, or for that matter, our newspaper editors.

That is why queer journalism is important.

I have emailed Moira three times thus far. Today, I stopped in, left a message. pick one: L Groves

Emailed

Called

Came in to see you

Wants to see you

Wants to make an appointment

Emailed again

Called for the third fucking time, where are you?!

Calmed down and

Wants to engage in open, communicative dialogue about reporting and the GLBT community.

Another thank you written out and I was almost on my merry way. I actually spoke with some of the students in the office, like, “omg she hates me, sadface” and they responded sympathetically. They may even help open doorways for me to SOGLBT, the student org (not the resource center).

I know folks in this community but, you know, I am attempting to branch out. And no one wants to talk to the press anyway, I’m thinking, not even my friends.

“Can I remain anonymous?” is a question oft asked. I answer this with sensitivity. I wish all my sources could remain anonymous, and then anyone would talk to me!

But really, I get it. People don’t want to be out. It is important, let me tell you, not to out people in the press unless they are expressly out and tell you so. Outing politicians? No-no. Outing frat boys on campus? That could even be dangerous. Ever been in a room full of bros with your bleached blonde girlhawk, trying to fend off the guys like savage beasts? Yeah. Talk about awkward.

Well, today was “talk to CSUPD!” day at the information center on campus, and on my merry way out of the office, I stopped, flitted my eyelashes, and cornered the man.

“Normally we have only one person who talks to press. Are you a part of any media organization in town?”

If you mean the organization of my own free will, then I’m shit out of luck. But otherwise, I’m in!

We discuss hate crimes. He is white and handsome. And in uniform. I scribble down his panderings of “diversity trainings!!! We have them.” He has never personally dealt with a hate crime. I should probably pursue things elsewhere. Suddenly, another handsome white man walks by in a crisp, collared shirt and a name-tag.

“Eric!” the policeman directs me towards this person, apparently an assistant director, and again, I move in for the kill. He helps me out with a little more knowledge about how hate crimes might be dealt with on campus.

Honestly, neither of them have any idea. What if the student is afraid of further retaliation from their attacker? What if it escalates? What happens then? Where can they go?

My quest to figure this out continues…

KRXQ Makes Apology, No Words On Intersex Remarks

A couple of days ago I recapped the KRXQ issue. Today, June 11, the Rob, Arnie and Dawn show came on air to officially apologize for their crudely ignorant and dehumanizing remarks on transfolks and transgender children.

Arnie States, one of the hosts, apparently claimed ignorance in his apology, saying that he “didn’t realize that my words could really affect and hurt as bad and as negatively as they did,” which, I mean, makes sense, except for the fact that they advocated throwing shoes at children, which, in my case, seems like it could hurt.

Rob Williams, brilliant owner of the Rob, Arnie and Dawn show, apologized by saying that “our audience made it clear that we had actually made it seem as though we endorse or allow… or encourage the harming and abuse of children, the bullying and villifying of those who are different and singling out of transgenders * for harm and/or mocking.”

(*Transgender people is a more accurate term.. just a note.)

One thing that I think got completely swept under the rug was one of the hosts’ remarks about intersex individuals as “the real, literal freaks of nature.” No one necessarily apologized for this comment nor did any of the advocates that I saw actually say mention to defend intersex individuals.

Intersex does not always mean transgendered. Intersex individuals are those who are born with both sets of biological sex characteristics.

In the past, parents dealt with this issue by deciding on the sex of the child, removing the “null” biological parts, and moving on with their lives. Often times, the child grows up feeling distressed about gender identity. What if the gender the child feels does not match their biological characteristics? There has been extreme controversy in the past decade as to whether genital surgery on intersex infants is ethical or the right thing to do. One of the largest advocates for intersex people, the Intersex Society of North America, has found that the best possible way for parents to help their children with this condition is to assign a gender (withOUT biological surgery) and, with extensive therapy and counseling as well as peer-to-peer support, allow the child to figure out for his, her or their fluid self, which gender feels more appropriate for who they are as they get older and come more into their own.

This does run in the same line with transgender folks on this aspect, and while I think there is a lot inter-relativity, intersex individuals still get swept under the rug a lot when it comes to advocacy and education.

ISNA has done extensive research on the conditions of these individuals and can provide a TON of information for those looking to learn more on the issue.

The Gay Language: Polari makes comeback, but not really.

Gay slang was heavily used in the 1960s around the time that prosecution was causing us to riot and fight back for equal civil rights. It allowed the GLBT community to communicate in a heterosexual environment without fear of being outed, hated, or attacked as being homosexual.

In the UK, a gay language known as Polari sprang up, but not much has been written about the subject. As scholars delve more into GLBT history, activism, and effects, interest has piqued. Apparently, it’s been hard to track down exact origins or dictionaries of words due to it’s oral nature. (ha.. bad sexual pun, sorry).

However, some small efforts have been made. Some Polari words actually made their way into mainstream language, and some are words we still use today. Here are some common examples:

bod – body (simple, right?)
butch – masculine, masculine lesbian (this has become slightly pejorative)
dish – an attractive male, or buttocks (a term chauvinists use for women now)
drag – clothes, esp. women’s clothes
fruit – a queen, now also pejorative unless you’re gay

It’s not too surprising that a gay slang developed in the UK. British people mostly have an almost unintelligible slang to Americans anyway. Hilariously enough, in a dictionary of British slang I found the following entry:

gannet Noun. A greedy person.

Sound familiar?

A quick run-down of GLBTIQQA terminology.

This list will probably be ever growing. Add terms, if you please! And I will add them to the list.

Glossary of Terms.

What is GLBTIQQA?
This is the acronym used to be as inclusive as possible of gender identity and sexual orientation.

GLAAD defines gender identity as one’s internal, personal sense of being a man or woman, and sexual orientation as an “enduring physical, romantic, emotional and/or spiritual attraction” to another person. Gender identity and sexual orientation are not the same.

I would suggest and encourage you to educate yourself on what gender identity is, and it’s difference from biological sex. There are many controversial and sometimes contested talking points, so the best way to figure out what it is for yourself is to do research on your own, and come to your own, fully educated conclusions.

Here is a breakdown of this acronym:

Gay – This is the adjective used to describe people whose sexual orientation is towards people of the same sex/same gender.

Lesbian – This is the adjective used to describe women whose sexual orientation is towards other women.

Bisexual – An individual who is physically, romantically, emotionally and/or spiritually attracted to men and women. Bisexuals need not have had equal sexual experience with both men and women. In fact, they need not have had any sexual experience at all to identify as bisexual.

Transgender – Persons whose gender identity differs from the biological sex they were born with. The term relates to being trans- or beyond- the gender roles constructed for us by society.

Intersex – Describes a person whose biological sex is ambiguous. There are many genetic, hormonal or anatomical variations which make a person’s sex ambiguous. Parents and medical professionals usually assign intersex infants a sex and perform surgical operations to conform the infant’s body to that assignment. This practice has become increasingly controversial as intersex adults are speaking out against the practice, accusing doctors of genital mutilation. “Hermaphrodite” is an outdated, stigmatized word used to sensationalize intersex people.

Queer – This term was traditionally a derogatory word used to belittle gay people, but has been reclaimed by some in the GLBT community as a way to self-identify. Some value to term for its defiance and because it can be inclusive of the entire GLBT community. However, the term is not universally accepted within the GLBT community and should be avoided when describing someone, unless they specifically self-identify this way.

Questioning – This term is used for people who are questioning their sexual orientation.

Ally – An ally is someone who is or is not necessarily GLBTIQQ, but recognizes themselves as advocating for their rights.

Much of this information has been adapted from:
http://www.glaad.org
http://www.glbtss.colostate.edu/home.aspx
http://www.sexuality.org/l/incoming/trbasic.html (Warning: adult material).

Obama: DADT to keep a cohesive military unit?

Today, the Gay and Lesbian Issues Examiner reported on Rachel Maddow’s fiery remarks about President Obama’s alleged hypocrisy on GLBT support.

Maddow quoted Obama on his claim that keeping Don’t Ask Don’t Tell “protected military unit cohesion.”

Despite his lack of initiative on overturning this in general, I’d like to point out that this excuse of protecting unit cohesion is no longer valid, not that it ever was.

Andy Stoll, executive director of the Fort Collins’ Lambda Community Center, compared this instance to when they began allowing women into the military.

“It’s the idea that when you’re in battle you’re going to have the distraction of having someone you’re attracted to in the field,” he said.

I’ve covered this before, but reasonably so. Andy and I held the same belief that honestly, people assume that when gay people are in a unit, they think that these individuals are going to be constantly hitting on the other men.

“We are just like everyone else,” said Andy. “We have the ability to control ourselves and to behave in a way that is professional and cohesive to the unit.”

In fact, Andy added that DADT does more detrmiment because there are soldiers out there who will never be able to truly bond with the other soldiers, because “they have this looming fear of whether they are going to be outed or not.”

This issue is moot. WE ARE ALL HUMAN BEINGS. Case in point.

Here is Maddow’s segment:

Featurette: F/Stop cafe breeds soulful poetry scene in Fort Collins

I recently had a chance to sit in on a local open mic poetry night, and decided that to best take you there was to have you listen to it.

A web version of the story is below.

It’s Wednesday night at a slow down-town coffee shop, and the place is filled with people. There is a line forming at the register for coffee. It’s the intermission for an open mic poetry night called Musings held weekly at the F-Stop cafe. Local poets have built a culture around here on sharing and writing their own and other’s poetry. Sage Morris-Greene, co-owner and manager of the cafe, co-created the weekly event with North Carolina poet Neal Ray, who used to host. They wanted to create a different sort of poetry night than those around town.

Morris-Greene says she started the night to be a place of expression for people, where they could share pieces they were working and get constructive critique on the process.

“I don’t think there’s any other open mic in town that allows you to work on stuff that you’re unsure about, or that’s unfinished,” said Morris-Greene. “I really wanted to see something more like that.

The name of the night, Musings, was meant to reflect the open, meditative and thoughtful rumination of poetry, of expressing poetry, and most importantly, of performing poetry. It’s set up as an open-mic, with a style of laid-back lounging and discussion.

“[Neal] and I wanted it to be a mode of expression and recreation of one’s work,” said Morris-Greene. “That really starts touching poetry on a deep level.”

She believes, she said, that poetry becomes the vehicle of the way that we see the world, the way that we paint our perspectives to others through words.

Unfortunately, back in April, Ray, the original host, had to go back to North Carolina. Morris-Greene then took over as host. For many of the poets, Ray gave the night a soulful feel, allowing them to open up and really share their artistry, straight from the gut.

Isaac Freitas, a Colorado State Alumnus, is a regular at Musings. He only began performing his poetry in front of people last November, and says that before that, he had never read his work to anyone. Since then, he said his style has changed a bit, because reading and speaking poetry can have two different effects on the way it is perceived.

“Sharing has definitely given me ideas about what else to write, where to get inspiration, who to mock,” he said jokingly.

He likes the comfortable atmosphere of the poetry night, compared with the monthly poetry slams that go on at the Bean Cycle Cafe.

“You can say what you want to say,” he said. “You can do your worst poem, and people may cringe, or roll their eyes or something, but more in a playful way.”

Joe Dominica is another regular, and has been coming to the poetry night since February of this year. The first poem of the night was one he recited by Adrian Mitchell, called To Whom it May Concern.

“The first time I heard that, it just blew me away,” said Dominica. “I don’t know what it was, but it just sent me somewhere.”

Dominica said his poems are more political, even the ones he recites that are not his own, but loves coming to the weekly poetry night to see what’s out there and draw inspiration from other poets.

The place is such a welcoming and open place that after intermission, a couple participants bring their own instruments. Howard Landman, local poet and self-published author, pulls out a guitar and begins to strum away. Dominica and some new-comers discuss meditation and Buddhist philosophy. A regular coffee-house jam session unfolds.

“I just got a drum recently because I was inspired by Neal Ray, the former host, to express myself musically,” Dominica said.

Ray often brought his own percussion instruments and played them when he was up at the mic. Dominica has frequented other poetry nights– particularly the Monday Night Poetry at the Alley Cat Cafe, but says he prefers the way Musings integrates the music into the night, keeping in-tune with it’s soulful flavor.

Landman has been in the Fort Collins poetry scene for about a decade, and despite writing only about ten or 15 new poems, he has translated about 120 of Rainer Maria Rilke’s works. Like Rilke, he believes that a writer must go into his or her own heart, ask themselves why they are writing, and then “be true to that.”

He enjoys performing in front of an audience, as well.

“When it works,” he said, “there’s just really something about performing in front of people and getting the feedback, and knowing that what you’re doing is affecting them.”

Morris-Greene, who has now become the new host, hopes that Musings will contribute to the poetry scene by providing an open place where people can relax.

“[They can] really let their soul-selves, true-selves, their heart-selves… feel heard,” she said.

NCAP: Humble office, Ambitious Strides in Help for Persons Living With HIV/AIDS

Maybe it was his destiny. I couldn’t tell. But sitting there, across from him, I felt the warmth emanating from his heart and mind. Or maybe it wasn’t so much that, but the graceful way in which he spoke about the people he fights hard to help every day.

I found him through a little red door underneath a quaint office building on the corner of 400 Remington St, a humble office for its ambitious dedication of over 20 years of service to eight counties in the Northern Colorado area.

His name is Jeff Basinger, the executive director of the Northern Colorado AIDS Project, and this story is not so much about him but about his work. More specifically, about NCAP, which was started in 1986.

“NCAP started like all other AIDS service organizations in the world,” said Basinger, “with families and friends helping people die of this incredibly mysterious and frighteningly terrifying disease.”

Helping them die because no one knew. He’s speaking about HIV/AIDS, and for a short run-down for those of you too young to remember, here is a short history (not included: perspective of social injustices).

NCAP was just a small volunteer run organization until 1989, when it was granted 501(c)3 status. In 1990, they acquired funds from the Federal government through the Ryan White CARE Act, which was the first Federal funding given out for the care and treatment of people with HIV/AIDS. Since then, it’s just been growing. Basinger said that currently NCAP is serving about 190 active clients each month, but that there are more out there who are either not getting the help they need or receiving substandard care.

People do have hesitations about getting help. In smaller communities, people are just living in “holy fear of their neighbors knowing, or their families finding out” due to the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS, as well as various other reasons, Basinger said.

“When a person walks through our front door for the first time, usually they’ve been thinking about it for six months, a year, three years,” Basinger said.

Depending on what a person’s needs are, Basinger said their clients are professionally trained to meet them there, and to express to them that the office is a safe space. The staff, he said, listen and empathize with clients, support them in risk reduction, and help them in gaining access to other services within the community.

And they do so much. As far as prevention programs goes, NCAP offers rapid HIV testing, hepatitis C testing and peer-networking to assist the population of injection drug users, as well as programs for keeping partners safe for those who are living with HIV/AIDS. They offer medical case management which look at the resources and ways that help stabilize people who are especially under-served, in high need, living in poverty, or homeless.

“If we can stabilize them and get them into care, retain them in care,” said Basinger, “their health outcomes shift hugely from dying of AIDS to living with HIV.”

NCAP is also unique, said Basinger, in that they offer an in-house mental house counselor. They also provide a food-bank for those in need, proffering a pantry of ingredients that create over 800 meals a month. They offer financial services which include eviction prevention, housing assistance, and insurance co-pay programs. Basinger says, with these services, “their health outcomes are just so much better.”

With all that they do, funding is a hard score.

“We cost about $700,000 a year,” Basinger said.

Seventy percent of that is through Federal funding programs such as the Ryan White CARE Act, contracts from the CDC through the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, and other government contracts. The other 30 percent is from private donations. Basinger said the organization feels fortunate for being funded at almost 100 percent of their 2008 contracts from the government for 2009, but that they have seen about a 40 to 60 percent drop in private donations. That money is what pays the rent. It’s overhead.

“Funding is an issue everyday,” Basinger said. “That’s definitely a big part of my job.”

So is advocacy. A part of NCAP’s mission is to reduce the spread of stigma about HIV/AIDS, as well.

“It’s not new,” said Basinger. “It’s always been here, but just has surfaced finally because it found the way to go global. All species have immunodeficiency viruses. Ours is human.”

NCAP works well with the Fort Collins interfaith community, especially around Christmas time, when families are in greatest need. He said that although there has been obvious friction between people living with HIV/AIDS and religious communities, NCAP has been working to improve those relationships and making in-roads.

Basinger wants to stress that the organization is a safe place for anyone who is looking for more information, education, resources or support.

“Everything we do is medically accurate and evidence based, non-judgmental,” he said. “We take individuals as people.”