Born this way

Mental Health

You've got a lot going on. Whether it's work pressures, bills, relationships, family issues or feelings of isolation, life as a gay man can sometimes be overwhelming. This section provides resources, articles and information about how you can take care of your mental health.

Men on Men: Born This Way

Posted by HIM on Tuesday January 3rd, 2012

Beginning on Tuesday, January 10th, the Men on Men Relationship Discussion Group will evolve into the new Men on Men: Born This Way Discussion Group.
The group will come together each week to explore the joys and complexities of not identifying as heterosexual in a culture largely designed by and for straight guys.  The workshops will be facilitated and themed for weekly skills-building and lively interaction. 
The group is open to all men who love and/or have sex with men.  We welcome positive, negative and unknown HIV status guys, men of all ages and ethnic identities, gay, bisexual, queer, trans, two-spirit guys and all men who love men.
START DATE:         Tuesday, January 10th, drop-in
TIME:                        6:30 pm - 8 pm
LOCATION:              The Roundhouse181 Roundhouse Mews at Pacific Blvd - the Yaletown end of Davie St.(check at reception for which room we're in).
This is a collaborative group from HIM and QMUNITY.  Scheduled topics will be available early January. To register, email register@checkhimout.ca or education@qmunity.ca or call HIM at (604) 488-1001 or QMUNITY at (604) 684-5307 ext.112.

Come celebrate with us!

Transition

Hello friends,

Since the fall of 2007, HUSTLE has been a program of PEERS Vancouver Resource Society www.peersvancouver.com , offering the male/youth component to PEERS programs and services. While at PEERS, HUSTLE has been very successful at sharing knowledge and best practices by integrating sex worker supports through a male lens. Through PEERS, HUSTLE has been effective at offering outreach and support programming to male sex workers (MSW) as well as supporting youth who may be at risk of sexual exploitation. HUSTLE would like to express our deepest gratitude to Executive Director Ty Mistry as well as the dedicated staff and board at PEERS for their tireless commitment to supporting our ongoing efforts in community. Most importantly, HUSTLE acknowledges all the clients, former and current, for their personal resilience and commitment to change. It is a privilege to work alongside all of you toward a healthier and safer community for us all.

Due to systemic changes in government funding for employment programs which began in 2010, PEERS as a non-profit organization will itself, significantly change over the next year. By March 2012, PEERS will have gone through extensive internal program restructuring as well as experience considerable downsizing of its staff and services. This change has necessitated HUSTLE to transition our program to another host organization able to effectively house and facilitate our ongoing efforts in community.

As of January 2012, HUSTLE will become a program of HIM - Health Initiative for Men www.checkhimout.ca a gay men’s community based health organization dedicated to strengthening the health and well-being of gay men and other men who have sex with men (OMSM).  HIM’s approach includes physical, sexual, social and mental health programming, research and support. Through HIM, HUSTLE will continue to deliver a program relevant to male sex workers and youth and is excited about opportunities to develop new ways of engaging with other populations of OMSM, youth and individuals in our communities.

Exciting times ahead J

Matthew Taylor

Program Director

HUSTLE: Men on the Move

Sex Work in Canda - Research Opportunity

Thank you for taking the time to read this request! We are trying to get as many people involved as possible!

I'm a PhD student based in Vancouver, BC, and I am the lead researcher on a project exploring occupational health and safety in the off-street sex industries across Canada. The research team itself consists of a diverse group of sex workers from across Canada and we are hoping you might be interested in sharing your opinions and perspectives on some of the issues facing sex workers in Canada. The research comprises both an online survey (www.workviolence.ca) and in-depth interviews, but if you are interested, you could participate however you would like- with the survey, doing a phone or internet-based interview, or doing both!

Our previous work was used in the Ontario Charter challenge to show that the sex industries in Canada are extremely diverse and that generalizations about the industry are simply untrue. This current project will be the most comprehensive study on the off-street side of the industry to date in Canada as it includes all genders and all forms of off-street work. We hope to identify forms of victimization, including how the laws and law enforcement affect your work, workplace conditions, and sex industry workers' recommendations for policy change. Ultimately, we hope to enlighten current policies, practices and understandings pertaining to sex industry work by including the voices of all persons working in the industry.

Anyhow, if this has piqued your interest at all, please do check out our website (it is completely secure and participation in the survey is anonymous).

Thank you so much!

Tamara O'Doherty, Ph.D Student, School of Criminology, Simon Fraser University.
www.workviolence.ca
778.772.2998

Positive Living B.C - Free Dental Work

Dentistry

POSITIVE LIVING BC has places available for people to get their teeth and mouth examined by 4th year UBC dentistry students, supervised by a Professor.
The types of services that can be performed include:

• oral hygiene inspection
• dental polishinga and flouride
• tartar removal
• denture adjustment
• tissue conditioning under dentures
• treatment of active decay in teeth not already causing pain or infection
• simple filings not requiring anestesia
• re-cemenation of crowns/bridges

The types of servces NOT available include:

• extractions requiring local anesthesia
• root canal procedures
• major restorative work (crowns, bridges, dentures, etc)

The service is free but appointments are required. A BC MSP number is required in advance.

Cost: 

Free but appointments required.

Location: 

POSITIVE LIVING BC

Contact: 

Paul Kerston at 604 646 5309 or paulk@positivelivingbc.org

Dates: 

6 October 2011 - 2:00pm

Brene Brown: The power of vulnerability | Video on TED.com#.ToFdtFSCLLJ.facebook

Brene Brown: The power of vulnerability Video on TED.com#.ToFdtFSCLLJ.facebook

HIM Community Consultations

Social Health

It gets better when we make it better. At HIM, we have a pretty simple idea: gay men with high self-esteem tend to live healthier lives and have access to better health choices. We're interested in improving social health factors that impact gay men, including the big-picture stuff like homophobia and heterosexism.

Community Consultation

Posted by HIM on Monday September 12th, 2011

Part of what makes HIM so special is that we make sure our efforts are targeted and tailored to the right guys.  This can be done in a number of ways from using the right language to putting our messages in the right places.  We’ve also been known to use some pretty ‘eye-catching’ images from time to time.  However all of this would be pointless if we don’t know what’s going on in the lives of gay men and other men who have sex with men (OMSM) so that we know that our message is the right one.
Since there is not a monolithic gay experience HIM is engaging with communities and populations of gay men and other men who have sex with men in metro Vancouver.
While the overall aim is to improve the programming that we offer and share what we've learned with other organizations and agencies that have an influence on our health, we also want to know more about the communities and populations we would like to serve.
There are three ways to get involved:
1)      Web Discussions: Join the discussion!  Answer one of our key questions or leave comments for other users.
2)      Focus Groups: We’re looking for guys who are willing to talk about their experiences in a group setting. Group topics include:

• Guys with non-Western backgrounds (Asian, Latino, Middle Eastern, etc)
• Recent immigrants
• Bisexual guys
• Guys who love straight guys
• Guys older than 60
• Guys who like to cruise
• Guys who use sex venues (bathhouses etc.)
• Guys who live outside the City of Vancouver (New West, Richmond, etc.)

 3)      Interviews: We're looking for certain men to have one-on-one discussions with us. We’re looking for:

• men who are in long-term relationships, but are not in the 'gay' scene
• straight men who sometimes fool around with other men
• bisexual men
• guys who go to sex parties
• guys who sometimes use recreational drugs

Visit the consultation website for more details.
Email consultation@checkhimout.ca or call us at (604) 488-1001 x 225