2020-8

Volume 20, issue 8

JASON

MRAZ Musician opens up about coming out as bisexual and talks Pride, protesting and our current uprising

Handwashing

at Home, at Play, and Out and About Germs are everywhere! They can get onto your hands and items you touch throughout the day. Washing hands at key times with soap and water is one of the most important steps you can take to get rid of germs and avoid spreading germs to those around you.

How can washing your hands keep you healthy?

Germs can get into the body through our eyes, nose, and mouth and make us sick. Handwashing with soap removes germs from hands and helps prevent sickness. Studies have shown that handwashing can prevent 1 in 3 diarrhea-related sicknesses and 1 in 5 respiratory infections, such as a cold or the flu.

Handwashing helps prevent infections for these reasons: People often touch their eyes, nose, and mouth without realizing it, introducing germs into their bodies.

Germs from unwashed hands may get into foods and drinks when people prepare or consume them. Germs can grow in some types of foods or drinks and make people sick.

Germs from unwashed hands can be transferred to other objects, such as door knobs, tables, or toys, and then transferred to another person’s hands.

What is the right way to wash your hands?

1. Wet your hands with clean running water (warm or cold) and apply soap.

2. Lather your hands by rubbing them together with the soap.

3. Scrub all surfaces of your hands, including the palms, backs, fingers, between your fingers, and under your nails. Keep scrubbing for at least 20 seconds. Need a timer? Hum the “Happy Birthday” song twice.

4. Rinse your hands under clean, running water.

5. Dry your hands using a clean towel or air dry them.

CS 280522A

When should you wash your hands?

Handwashing at any time of the day can help get rid of germs, but there are key times when it’s most important to wash your hands.

• Before, during, and after preparing food • Before eating food • Before and after caring for someone who is sick • Before and after treating a cut or wound • After using the bathroom, changing diapers, or cleaning up a child who has used the bathroom • After blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing • After touching an animal, animal food or treats, animal cages, or animal feces (poop) • After touching garbage • If your hands are visibly dirty or greasy

What type of soap should you use?

You can use bar soap or liquid soap to wash your hands. Many public places provide liquid soap because it’s easier and cleaner to share with others. Studies have not found any added health benefit from using soaps containing antibacterial ingredients when compared with plain soap. Both are equally effective in getting rid of germs. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol.

How does handwashing help fight antibiotic resistance?

Antibiotic resistance occurs when bacteria resist the effects of an antibiotic – that is, germs are not killed and they continue to grow.

Sicknesses caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria can be harder to treat. Simply using antibiotics creates resistance, so avoiding infections in the first place reduces the amount of antibiotics that have to be used and reduces the likelihood that resistance will develop during treatment. Handwashing helps prevent many sicknesses, meaning less use of antibiotics.

Studies have shown that handwashing can prevent

1 in 3 diarrhea-related sicknesses and

1 in 5 respiratory infections, such as a cold or the flu.

For more information and a video demonstration of how to wash your hands, visit the CDC handwashing website:

www.cdc.gov/handwashing

FabLasVegas.com

9

SÍNTOMAS DE LA ENFERMEDAD DEL CORONAVIRUS 2019 Los pacientes con COVID-19 han presentado enfermedad respiratoria de leve a grave.

Los síntomas* pueden incluir

TOS

Consulte a un médico si presenta síntomas y ha estado en contacto cercano con una persona que se sepa que tiene el COVID-19, o si usted vive o ha estado recientemente en un área en la que haya propagación en curso del COVID-19.

FIEBRE

*Los síntomas pueden aparecer de 2 a 14 días después de la exposición.

DIFICULTAD *Symptoms may PARA RESPIRAR appear 2-14 days after exposure.

cdc.gov/COVID19-es CS 315252-B March 16, 2020, 1:35PM

FabLasVegas.com

10

SYMPTOMS OF CORONAVIRUS DISEASE 2019 Patients with COVID-19 have experienced mild to severe respiratory illness.

Symptoms* can include

COUGH

Seek medical advice if you develop symptoms, and have been in close contact with a person known to have COVID-19 or if you live in or have recently been in an area with ongoing spread of COVID-19.

FEVER

*Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure.

SHORTNESS OF BREATH

cdc.gov/COVID19-symptoms CS 315252-A March 20, 2020, 12:51PM

11 Fab Vegas

Love can shape your future.

On the 2020 Census, you’ll have the option to identify a relationship as same-sex—informing community planning for families and providing vital statistics to advocates and policymakers who work on LGBTQ+ issues.

For more information, visit:

2020CENSUS.GOV D-PO-LG-EN-043

Stay safe, Southern Nevada.

COVID-19 continues to be passed around Southern Nevada. Help to slow the spread.

• Wear a cloth face mask or covering when out in public.

• Wash your hands with soap and water, or use hand sanitizer.

• Cover your coughs and sneezes with tissue.

• Clean and disinfect objects and surfaces you frequently touch.

Find testing locations at www.snhd.info/covid-19-testing-sites

Follow us on: SNHD.info and GetHealthyClarkCounty.org Instagram.com/SouthernNevadaHealthDistrict Facebook.com/SouthernNevadaHealthDistrict Facebook.com/ez2stop Twitter.com/SNHDinfo Twitter.com/ez2stop 15 Fab Vegas

South Torrey Pines Dr

Upland Boulevard

Alta Dr

iv e

West Charleston Boulevard

West Charleston Boulevard

Valley Vi ew Boulevard

Buffalo

South Cimarron Road

South Durango Drive

rd

va

ard

South Decatur Boulevard

lev

South Rampa

u Bo

rt B ou le

nd

Charleston Heights

Alta Drive

South Jones Boulevard

ridge

r

la Up

ive

w Boulevard

a Dr

Ramparet Boulevard

A lt

Alta Driv e

FLEX

WEST CHAR

Hills R

oa d

Buffalo Drive

THE PHOENIX

ve Dri

Sout hR anc ho

W es t Flamingo Road

15

West Tropicana Avenu e

CHARLIES

Raphael Rivera Way Roy Horn Way

Dean Martin Dr

West Sunset Road

Sunset Rd

West Sunset

South Fort Apache Road

d West Warm Spring s Roa

South Decatur Boulevard

South Decatur Blvd

S El Capitan Way

Mountain's Edge

Jones Boulevard

Buffalo Drive

South Durango Drive

West Wigwam Avenue

West Pebble Road

16 Fab Vegas

Enterprise

Dean Martin Dr

West Windmill Lane

West Robindale Road

Rainbow Boulevard

South Buffalo Drive

West Robindale Road

South Jones Boulevard

West Warm Springs Road

Warm Spri ngs Road

Rd

215

Raphael Rivera Way Roy Horn Way

Dean Martin Drive

Raphael Rivera Way Roy Horn Way

Raphael Rivera Way Roy Horn Way

Way

South Jones Boulevard

Brent Thurman Way

a el Riv era Way

orn

Dr

Raph

yH

West Sunset Rd

Sunset Road

South Rainbow Boulevard

Ro

rtin

15

West Sunse t Road

Road

Russell Roa

Dean Ma

South Decatur Boulevard

South Buffalo Drive

South Rainbow Boulevard

Tar kanian W Jerry ay

West Hacienda Avenue

West Russell Road

Rue de

Dean Martin Drive

ay Brent Thur man W

e

West Harmon A ve n u

Dr ive

West Tropicana Avenue

Spanish Trail

Spanish Hills

Sinat ra Dr

De Mar an tin Dr

West Flamingo Road

South Decatur Boulevard

West Tropicana Ave

in A ve

Dean Martin Dr

Spring Valley

Flamingo Heights

Tw a

Frank Sinatra Dr

West Flamingo Road

South el Capitan Way

We st

West Twain Avenue

Buffalo Ranch

Bridgeport

Spring Mou

Arville Street

Peace Way

Chinatown

Frank Sinatra

South Durango Drive

West Twain Av enue

South Jones Boulevard

South Cimarron Road

South El Capitan Way

Spring Mountain Road

South Lindell Road

st Twain Avenue

South Torrey Pines Drive

West Desert Inn Road

Polaris Avenue

th Drive

Rainbow Boulevard

Buffalo Drive

as t Dri ve eE ak

Lake Sou

West Pennwood Ave

Edna A venue

Decatur Boulevard

South Fort Apache Road

L

Valley View Boulevard

The Lakes

Frank

West Sahara Avenue

Road

Lake North Drive

Arville Street

South Cimarron

Canyon Gate

West Oakey Boulevard Lindell Road

anch

West W

Av e

Pecos Road

Ro ad

lark

Pe co

s Ve

Av e

East Stewart Avenue

BACKDOOR

th La

ville

EC

Eastern Ave

rd leva Bou

ne

gas

St

Av e

Bo n

s

La St

4th

th C Bou asino leva Cen rd ter

ue

Sou

S Cen outh tral Grand Par kway

Ma in

South Rancho Drive

So uth Martin L King Boulevard

ss

CENTER

rk A ven

Boulevard

Cla

Ga

Marion Dr

515

ndhill Road

Downtown

North Mojave Road

West Ave Bonneville

Eastern Ave

Alta Drive

d

Sou

on e tre

d ise R

Par ad

HE

HAWKS GYM

Sand Rd hill

LAS VEGAS LOUNGE SPOTLIGHT LOUNGE

East Desert Inn Road

Swenson Street

Maryland Parkway

UNLV

EASTERN AVE

Koval Lane

ne

515 East Flamingo Rd

EAST HARMON AVE

e Monte Carlo

East Harm Ave

515

THE EAGLE

East Tropica na Ave

Parad

East Hacienda Avenue

EASTERN AVE

East Hacienda Ave

Ru ss

Russell Road

ell

Ro

ad

North Green Valley Parkway

East Patrick Lane

Sunset Road

Sunset Road

Sunset Road

Sandhill Road

N

oa

R et

ns Su

South Las Ve gas Boulevard

MCCARRAN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

Ru s Rd sell

South Pecos Road

Departing Flights

East Hacienda Avenue

East Hacienda Avenue

oad ise R Russell Road

ad

East Tropican a Avenue

EAST TROPICANA AVE

Mountain Vista Street

Giles St

Swenson Street

EAST TROPICANA AVE

Mandalay Bay Rd

East Flamingo Road

Sandhill Rd

RD

Swenson St

DISE

THE GARAGE

NAPLES DR

on

EAST FLAMINGO RD

PARA

The Loop

rc

ct

Spencer Street

In

MARYS

East Flamingo Road

te

Sandhill Road

od

e cL

Koval Lane

FUN HOG

South Nellis Boulevard

s-M

PARADISE RD

EAST DESERT INN RD

East Twain Ave

FREEZONE GET BOOKED PIRANHA QUADZ

Veg as Valley D rive

o Pec

Sands Ave

EASTERN AVE

Paradise Rd

EG SV LA

my

BADLANDS SALOON ENTOURAGE

d

Sa m

C

“T

VD BL AS

rD riv e nio

Da vis

Ju

e

HAWKS GYM

Convention Center Dr

d

Karen Avenue

Center / Square

R ill

ve

Karen Avenue

Karen Avenue

E

East Sahara Avenue

dh

lley Pa rk

Eastern Av enue

East Windmill Lane

Windmill Lane

Green Valley

le Val N o rth e Dr V erd

East Windmill Lane

East Windmill Lane

North Pecos Road

Paradise Road

South Las Vegas Boulevard

East Robindale Road

North Valle Verde Dr

East Warm Springs Road

North Arroyo Grande Boulevard

Road

W

Va ll e Verde Drive

wa

y

or th

East Warm Springs

East Warm Springs Rd

East Warm Springs Road

South Pecos Rd

East Windmill Parkway North Vall e V er de

Pecos Road

Wigwam Parkway

Pebble Roa

d

Pebble Road

Paseo Verde

oV er

de

P ark

wa y

e Drive

FabLasVegas.com ut h

Green Valley

So

eo Verde Par kwa y

Pa se

Pa se

P as

V alle Verd

oV e rd

Serene Ave nue Serene Avenue

de

eP a

ay rkw

n Gra South A rroyo ar d B oulev

Eastern Avenue

Bermuda Road

Pebble Road

ive

East Pebble Road

Dr

Wigwam Park way

South Maryland Parkway

Warm Springs R d

215

d

Hidden We ll Road

George Cro ckett Road

North Green Va

Dri

East Sahara Avenue

n Sa

nd

East Saint Louis Avenue

EAST SAHARA AVE

McLeod Drive

hla

East St Louis Ave

East Saint Louis Avenue

East St Louis Ave

North Lamb Boulevard

ST RIP ”

t

Hig

East Wyoming Avenue

tS

South Bridge Lane

e

515

em Fr

15

d

EAST CHARLESTON BLVD

South Main St

18b Arts District West Wyoming Ave

untain Roa

EAST CHARLESTON BLVD

South

RLESTON BLVD

17

Photo Credit: Netflix

FabLasVegas.com

18

By: Chris Azzopardi

Jason Mraz

Jason Mraz opens up about coming out as bisexual and talks Pride, protesting and our current uprising The coronavirus pandemic has forced Pride events around the world to go virtual this year.

For Jason Mraz, that means he can, for the first time, take part in the annual summer festivities. After all, thanks to the virus, the “I’m Yours” singer-songwriter can’t tour in support of his latest album Look for the Good. Usually, he says, he’s on the road during Pride season.

“I’ve got friends and neighbors who invite me every year, but my schedule never allowed it,” Mraz says during our recent Zoom call. This summer, he says, he’s “probably gonna hole up with my friends and neighbors and do the virtual Pride event and go hard.”

From his home studio in San Diego, Mraz, 43, discussed his side hustle – food agriculture – as a metaphor for the fight for racial and LGBTQ justice, how Mister Rogers inspired his latest album, why he’s

thanking his childhood bullies who used to call him a “fag,” and his journey to being openly bisexual.

I once read that one of the best things to do is to go outside and just lay on the ground. Just feel the Earth underneath you.

Jason, how are you and your family doing? And the avocado farm?

So nice. I think one of the best things to do is just lay down in general, which I always forget. I’m always on my feet. I’m always going, going, going. A cool thing I like to do when I lay down on the Earth, especially at night, is remember that we’re not necessarily sitting on top of the globe; we’re kind of stuck to perhaps the side of it, or depending on how it’s photographed, maybe we’re on the bottom of it. Who’s to say the poles are really on top and bottom? We’re floating in a vacuum of space. There’s really no up or down. So when I’m laying on the side of the Earth, I like to imagine I’m on the side of it, just dangling. And if you put your feet up, you’re really dangling out into the universe, which is this big vast

I’m fine. I’m a bit of an empath, so yeah (gets choked up) ... feeling pretty terrible about what’s going on. I’ve tried to use my superpowers for good. I’ve tried to sing songs of hope and positivity and peace and joy. So, you know, thinking about how I’m going to keep singing and breathing life into a better future. We have a little apricot tree, which for the first time is producing fruits. It really is a pleasure and a privilege to work in food production and to work with the Earth and to have that level of peace, and that interaction with nature.

FabLasVegas.com

19

------------------------------------------------------------------------

CELEBRITY INTERVIEW

-----------------------------------------------------------------------ball of confusion. It’s a good thing.

I know right now is not really the time to lay down and be quiet and look at the stars, but let’s talk about food for just one second. You can’t grow food overnight. It takes time and it takes rest, it takes daylight and it takes darkness; it takes the earth to regenerate and renew itself.

That said, everyone who’s out there fighting for justice right now, also remember to stay hydrated and get good sleep and stay rested so that a season of this can continue and real transformation and regeneration can occur.

They say that if you’re not taking care of yourself, you can’t take care of other people.

That’s right. The flight attendants tried to teach us well. Secure your oxygen mask first before securing others.

But, nowadays, careful how you even say that, because there’s been plenty of people who never even had an oxygen mask to begin with.

So here we are in a whole new educational America.

There really couldn’t be a better time for this album.

You couldn’t have predicted that this is where we would be, and yet it feels like this album could have come out of this very moment. Can you talk about your headspace when you decided to write this music and how relevant it is to what we’re going through right now?

In 2016, after the election that year, my heart exploded and I started writing different kinds of songs. I knew that 2020 was going to be another engaged election year, so last year I just started putting all this together. I teamed up with Michael Goldwasser of (reggae collective) All-Stars – he’s a phenomenal reggae producer – and we put a phenomenal band together. We thought, “The sound of reggae and all the different genres inside of it are so danceable and also beloved around the world; let’s make a full album of reggae tracks and at the same time let’s try to breathe life into some issues we care about through these songs and lyrics and offer it to the world in 2020 because we know it’s gonna be heated, we know there’s gonna be debates, we know there needs to be radical change and recognition for many.” We, of course, didn’t predict this level of radical change. But I’m glad to see an uprising. I really am.

I’m not an anarchist, but I am glad to see America getting its education and an invitation for new ways to mobilize, strategize, react, use our resources, use our powers. So Look for the Good was intended to be that. It was intended to be this little album of songs that are easy to dance or march to, to remember to stay positive while you’re out there using your voice or your time for the greater good.

With everything feeling so heavy right now, where do you find the good?

Well, if I’m not on the internet (laughs), I’m at my piano, usually. And it’s kind of a new instrument for me. It has a different voice, it has a different weight. So that’s been my peace. That’s been my little church.

And then on the internet, I go for peace. I follow (civil rights activist) Shaun King and the NAACP and I just want to educate myself more on how I can better use my internet resources. I feel like the battlefield for a more equal and just America is not (only) on the streets, it’s also on the internet. Because we’ve clearly seen propaganda come our way to heighten our president and those initiatives, but we also need the propaganda or the internet content and bravery and songs and sharing to heighten the injustices and to advance equality.

Here’s something interesting: about 10 years ago I took a trip to Ghana and I got to visit “the door of no return,” which is what they would call the door that slaves were passed through; if they went through that door they were going to be boarded onto a slave ship and exported out of Africa to either London or the United States. It was an intense place. But the thing that helped abolish slavery was the printing press. This blew my mind. A printing press.

Because suddenly now we’ve got newspapers and we can make more people aware of what a slave ship looked like, what humans look like stacked in a boat, and how harsh the conditions are. And it started to touch people’s hearts.

FabLasVegas.com

20

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------------And eventually people said, “Enough is enough. Why are we doing this to other human beings?”

beautiful, beautiful, peaceful world. All of that can come together through music.

So we are experiencing the same thing right now with the level of communication that we have, the many cameras and eyeballs and engaged people we have. We have all these microprinting presses all over the planet exposing the harsh realities and brutalities that people of color and (the) LGBT community as well have experienced. This type of hatred and bigotry. So I feel like this is a huge awakening.

There’s a huge new printing press. Sorry. Your original question: What am I doing to look for the good…

I think music has the power to get through to people when other means of communication cannot.

Do you recognize that as a musician?

Yeah, you said you’re at the piano, making some music and writing some songs.

That’s really where my best spirit is enjoyed is at the piano because I can transmute my fear and my pain into something more pleasant.

Our life experience is going to be the result of our thoughts and our speech, our beliefs and our actions and our attitudes. I feel that music – and art in general – is such a great way to access and get all five under control: your thoughts, your speech, beliefs, your actions, your attitude.

Then your life experience gets completely transformed and gets basically connected to that big planet that we’re dangling on, and that universe that we’re praying to and wondering, “What the eff is this all about?” Beliefs that we can truly live in a beautiful,

It’s not as easy to memorize a quote, but what is it about a melody that allows it to sink and stay with us? I don’t know the science behind it, but I’ve been experimenting with it since I was a little kid and it’s a magical phenomenon that we as humans get to experience.

It’s a language that transcends the words even. And it’s a human phenomenon. And I’m so thankful that it exists.

Imagine if we only had to deal with speeches. That would be a miserable existence.

What does the rainbow on the cover of Look for the Good represent?

I got this idea from a Mister Rogers album cover. He has an album that says “Mister Rogers knows you’re special” and it has a little mirror on the cover and also a little rainbow around it. I was really touched by that, and I was really touched by his work. And even the song “Look for the Good” is a bit of a reference to an interview I saw with him.

I guess it was his mother who told him, when watching the news, if something bad is on the news, look for the heroes.

Look for what’s good on the news. And that inspired the songs. That inspired the album

cover. Really it inspired who I am as an entertainer. So the album cover was really meant to be a reflection back on the viewer to see the good in themselves.

We’ve had some phone interviews in the past, and I’ve sort of seen you come fully into yourself.

(Smiles.) Getting there.

The journey of you being an out public figure took some time. I was looking back at some of our conversations and you dropped a couple of hints. In 2010, you told me you didn’t like feeling another man’s facial hair on your skin. And then in 2012, you said you’d been asked to join in on a threesome with a couple but it wasn’t a reality at that point. And then, in 2018, we got the news that you were bisexual (via a Pride Month poem Mraz wrote for Billboard). Why, at that moment, did it seem like the right time to come out as bisexual?

I wanted to be careful (because of) my family, which is probably a struggle a lot of people have. And when I say this, it’s not because they wouldn’t love me for who I am. I was afraid to say who I was when I was younger. I was afraid to explore it because I thought exploring it was the wrong thing to do because of things I heard when I was growing up and because of how I saw society react to the LGBT community. So I thought if I go down this lane, FabLasVegas.com

21

I was taught that it was not a good path. And so for me to come out and say I was taught that that’s not a good path is potentially causing harm to my mother who raised me well, so I never wanted to put her in a position that made her feel or look like a bad parent.

Same to my stepfather or my stepmother or my father. I had four parents. They’re not all to blame. I’m not going to throw any of them under the bus.

So it was just growing up in a kind of community where I didn’t feel safe to go down that path and explore some intuitions that I had. So I closeted it. I suppressed it.

I put it aside. And as I go through life, and as I started having experiences, it’s in my programming, it’s the systemic issues of going through life and thinking, “This is not healthy.” But the more I went through life and the more I became supported and supportive of the LGBT (community), I realized I was safe, I was home, and enough is enough.

Silence doesn’t do anybody any good. And it wasn’t doing me any good. It wasn’t giving me the opportunity to have more of the experiences I wanted to have in my life.

And as I was getting older, I thought, “Jesus, am I gonna waste my whole life on fear?

Or can I step into this and be proud of who I am and see where this takes me, see where this journey takes me, see what kind of new friendships I form, see the level of love that I’m capable of that I’ve not given myself permission for?”

That was my journey.

Honestly, I thought, “I’m gonna have to wait until my parents leave the planet before I get to be who I am.” I didn’t want that. I wanted them to see who I am while they’re still alive and I want to be who I am while I’m still alive. It gave me even more empathy and more compassion for those who are taking that journey every day, and for the out community who just lives bravely in this world every day. So it was time for me to come out. If I was really going to use my superpower for good, it was time for me to start addressing who I am, because authenticity is the new reality.

put into tearing me down was a waste of their energy because all I’ve done is build myself up to be a bigger, better, stronger, more active person. I’ve known that for a long time I did want to put that in song, so I started this song back in 2010. I played it live a few times, but it never really found its home on an album.

Thank you for sharing that.

It takes me to the last song on the album, “Gratitude.”

I don’t think I’ve ever thought to give gratitude to the bullies who called me a faggot when I was a kid, which you do on the song.

Can you talk about how that song came about and how you were able to get to a place where you could show gratitude to the people who ridiculed and put you down as a kid?

That’s what this album project was. How can I look for the good in this? How can I look for the good in 2020? How can I look for the good in my past?

And I knew I needed to figure out: How can I look for the good in the trauma of my high school bullies? And if I can, it’s that drive; they gave me that drive. And I hope that they’re embarrassed or sorry or feel like total failures because their bullying did nothing but help me change the world.

I can’t fight violence with violence, and I can’t just call names back to the people who’ve called me names. So rather than name-calling, I tried to look for the good in the situations that I experienced in high school.

My last question is Priderelated. What message do you want to send out to the LGBTQ community? Because Pride is different this year.

We’re going virtual. A lot has changed.

I didn’t want to go back and attack that person. I just wanted to demonstrate that I was better than that person and that all that energy they

So finally on this album, working with this phenomenal reggae band and having 10 years to really build the song, (and) I listened to a lot of gospel music, especially on Sundays, I was able to weave some of my gospel influences into this song “Gratitude” and do my best to try to look for the good.

Just because it’s going virtual does not mean that Pride is still not a protest. And the battlefield is not just on the streets, it’s on the internet; FabLasVegas.com

22

it’s amplified when our voices come together. So my message to people this year is to keep going and go harder than ever. I honestly feel like what’s going on in the world is getting closer to the Equal Rights Amendment and that’s been a long time coming. The last time the Constitution was amended and ratified was in the ’90s and it had to do with Congress’ salaries. Who gives a fuck about that? So I think what’s really heating up is going to get us closer to the Equal Rights Amendment. So my message to Pride is, even though we may not be in the streets, go harder than ever.

And who knows? This thing might spill over into the streets anyway because the internet can’t hold us. It can’t.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

FabLasVegas.com

23

Information for Teens: Staying Healthy and Preventing STDs If you choose to have sex, know how to protect yourself against sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).

What are sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)?

STDs are diseases that are passed from one person to another through sexual contact. These include chlamydia, gonorrhea, genital herpes, human papillomavirus (HPV), syphilis, and HIV. Many of these STDs do not show symptoms for a long time. Even without symptoms, they can still be harmful and passed on during sex.

consider before having sex. It’s okay to say “no” if you don’t want to have sex.

•

If you do decide to have sex, you and your partner should get tested for STDs beforehand. Make sure that you and your partner use a condom from start to finish every time you have oral, anal, or vaginal sex. Know where to get condoms and how to use them correctly. It is not safe to stop using condoms unless you’ve both been tested for STDs, know your results, and are in a mutually monogamous relationship.

•

Mutual monogamy means that you and your partner both agree to only have sexual contact with each other. This can help protect against STDs, as long as you’ve both been tested and know you’re STD-free.

•

Before you have sex, talk with your partner about how you will prevent STDs and pregnancy. If you think you’re ready to have sex, you need to be ready to protect your body. You should also talk to your partner ahead of time about what you will and will not do sexually. Your partner should always respect your right to say no to anything that doesn’t feel right.

•

Make sure you get the health care you need. Ask a doctor or nurse about STD testing and about vaccines against HPV and hepatitis B.

•

Girls and young women may have extra needs to protect their reproductive health.

Talk to your doctor or nurse about regular cervical cancer screening, and chlamydia and gonorrhea testing. You may also want to discuss unintended pregnancy and birth control.

•

Avoid mixing alcohol and/or recreational drugs with sex. If you use alcohol and drugs, you are more likely to take risks, like not using a condom or having sex with someone you normally wouldn’t have sex with.

How are STDs spread?

You can get an STD by having vaginal, anal or oral sex with someone who has an STD. Anyone who is sexually active can get an STD. You don’t even have to “go all the way” (have anal or vaginal sex) to get an STD. This is because some STDs, like herpes and HPV, are spread by skinto-skin contact.

How common are STDs? STDs are common, especially among young people. There are about 20 million new cases of STDs each year in the United States. About half of these infections are in people between the ages of 15 and 24. Young people are at greater risk of getting an STD for several reasons: •

Young women’s bodies are biologically more prone to STDs.

•

Some young people do not get the recommended STD tests.

•

Many young people are hesitant to talk openly and honestly with a doctor or nurse about their sex lives.

•

Not having insurance or transportation can make it more difficult for young people to access STD testing.

•

Some young people have more than one sex partner.

What can I do to protect myself?

•

The surest way to protect yourself against STDs is to not have sex. That means not having any vaginal, anal, or oral sex (“abstinence”). There are many things to

26 Fab Vegas

against sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).

If Iare getsexually an STD, how will Idiseases know? (STDs)?

What transmitted STDs are diseases that are passed from one person to another Many STDs don’t cause any symptoms that you through sexual contact. These include chlamydia, gonorrhea, would notice. only way(HPV), to know for sure genital herpes, humanThe papillomavirus syphilis, and HIV. if you haveSTDs an STD to get tested.forYou can get an Many of these do notis show symptoms a long time.

Even without they can stillwith be harmful and passed STDsymptoms, from having sex someone whoonhas no during sex. symptoms.

Just like you, that person might not

even he or she has an STD. How are know STDs spread?

You can get an STD by having vaginal, anal or oral sex with Where can I get tested? someone who has an STD. Anyone who is sexually active can get an STD.There You don’t have that to “gooffer all theteen-friendly, way” (have anal or vaginal areeven places sex) to get an STD. This is because some STDs, like herpes and HPV, confidential, and free STD tests. This means that are spread by skin-to-skin contact.

no one has to find out you’ve been tested. Visit

How common to arefind STDs? GetTested an STD testing location near

STDs are common, especially among young people. There are you. about 20 million new cases of STDs each year in the United States.

About halfSTDs of thesebe infections are in people between the ages of Can treated?

15 and 24. Young people are at greater risk of getting an STD for Your doctor can prescribe medicine to cure several reasons:

some STDs, like chlamydia and gonorrhea.

• Young women’s bodies are biologically more prone Other STDs, like herpes, can’t be cured, but you to STDs.

can take medicine to help with the symptoms.

• Some young people do not get the recommended If STD youtests. are ever treated for an STD, be sure to

•finish Manyall young peoplemedicine, are hesitanteven to talkifopenly and better of your you feel honestly with a doctor or nurse about their sex before you finish it all.

Ask the doctor orlives. nurse

testing and treatment for your partner, •about Not having insurance or transportation can make it more difficult young people to access STD avoid testing.having too.

Youfor and your partner should until you’ve both been •sex Some young people have moretreated. than one Otherwise, sex partner you may continue to pass the STD back and forth. It is possible to get an STD again (after

What can I do to protect myself?

• The surest way to protect yourself against STDs is to not you’ve been you have sex with have sex.

Thattreated), means notifhaving any vaginal, anal, or someone who has anThere STD. oral sex (“abstinence”). are many things to consider before having sex. It’s okay to say “no” if you don’t want to What happens if I don’t treat an STD? have sex.

Some curable STDs can be dangerous if they aren’t treated. For example, if left untreated, CS287360A chlamydia and gonorrhea can make it difficult— or even impossible—for a woman to get pregnant. You also increase your chances of getting HIV if you have an untreated STD. Some STDs, like HIV, can be fatal if left untreated.

What if my partner or I have an incurable STD? Some STDs, like herpes and HIV, aren’t curable, but a doctor can prescribe medicine to treat the symptoms.

If you are living with an STD, it’s important to

tell partner before youyouhave sex. partner Although • Ifyour you do decide to have sex, and your should get tested for STDs beforehand.

Make sure that you and it may be uncomfortable to talk about your your partner usehonest a condom from start to finish every STD, open and conversation can help time you have oral, anal, or vaginal sex. Know where to your partner make informed decisions to get condoms and how to use them correctly. It is not protect his or her health. safe to stop using condoms unless you’ve both been STDs, knowwho your results, and are them? in a mutually If Itested havefor questions, can answer monogamous relationship.

If• you have questions, talk to a parent or other Mutual monogamy means that you and your partner both trusted be afraid be each openother. andThis agreeadult. to only Don’t have sexual contactto with honest with themagainst aboutSTDs, yourasconcerns.

If both you’re can help protect long as you’ve been and know evertested confused or you’re need STD-free. advice, they’re the first place to start.

After were young once, • Before you have sex, all, talk they with your partner about how too.you will prevent STDs and pregnancy. If you think you’re ready to have sex, you need to be ready to protect your

Talking about sexalso with parent or another body. You should talkato your partner ahead of time adult doesn’t need bewill a one-time about what you willto and not do sexually. Your partner conversation. bestyour to leave the forthat should alwaysIt’s respect right to saydoor no to open anything doesn’t feel right. conversations in the future.

• Make sure you get the health care you need. Ask a doctor It’s also important to talk honestly with a doctor or nurse about STD testing and about vaccines against or nurse.

Ask which STD tests and vaccines HPV and hepatitis B. they recommend for you.

• Girls and young women may have extra needs to protect

their reproductive health.information?

Talk to your doctor or nurse Where can I get more

about regular cervical cancer screening, and chlamydia

CDC and gonorrhea testing. You may also want to discuss

unintended birth control.

How You Canpregnancy Preventand Sexually Transmitted • Avoid mixing alcohol and/or recreational drugs with sex.

Diseases If you use alcohol and drugs, you are more likely to take www.cdc.gov/std/prevention/

risks, like not using a condom or having sex with someone

Teen youPregnancy normally wouldn’t have sex with. https://www.cdc.gov/ teenpregnancy/teens/ index.htm

CDC-INFO Contact Center 1-800-CDC-INFO (1-800-232-4636) Contact wwwn.cdc.gov/dcs/ ContactUs/Form HealthFinder.gov STD Testing: Conversation Starters https://healthfinder.gov/ HealthTopics/ Category/health-conditions-and-diseases/ hiv-and-other-stds/std-testing-conversationstarters American Sexual Health Association Sexual Health and You http://www.iwannaknow.org/ teens/ sexualhealth.html FabLasVegas.com

27

STD (SEXUALLY TRASMITTED DISEASES) INFO SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES INFO, TESTING & RESOURCES WHAT IS A SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASE? Sexually transmitted infections (STIs), also referred to as sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), are infections that are commonly spread by sexual activity, especially vaginal intercourse, anal sex and oral sex.

WHAT IS HIV? HIV is a virus that attacks the body’s immune system.It is usually spread by anal or vaginal sex or sharing syringes with a person who has HIV. The only way to know you have HIV is to be tested.

Everyone aged 13-64 should be tested at least once, and people at high risk should be tested at least once a year. Ask your doctor, or visit gettested.cdc.gov to find a testing site. Without treatment, HIV can make a person very sick or may even cause death. If you have HIV, start treatment as soon as possible to stay healthy and help protect your partners.

Nevada is the fifth highest state in the United States for rates of new HIV diagnoses and is #1 in Syphillis *According to CDC HIV Surveillance Report, 2017 and the CDC Sexually Transmitted Disease Surveillance Report, 2017 released in 2018

28 Fab Vegas

STD TESTING RESOURCE SOUTHERN NEVADA HEALTH DISTRICT ADDRESS: 280 S. Decatur Blvd. Las Vegas, NV 89107 HOURS: Monday – Friday 8 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.* *The clinic opens at 9:00 a.m. on the first Thursday of every month.

The following services are offered at the Sexual Health Clinic: 1.

Diagnosis and treatment of active or suspected cases of:

•

Chlamydia

•

Gonorrhea

•

Syphilis

•

HIV

•

Trichomonas (females only)

•

Bacterial Vaginosis (females only)

2.

Free condoms and instruction on how to safely use them (both male and female condom)

3.

Follow-up bloodwork

4.

High-risk behavior counseling

5.

HIV Nursing Case Management

6.

Injection series for syphilis medication

7.

Partner notification

8.

Referrals by private physicians

9.

Sexual assault follow-up

10. Test results and couseling Clients seeking treatment at the Sexual Health Clinic should know that the Health District is required to report cases involving assault or abuse to appropriate agencies.

HIV Testing: HIV antibody testing is a simple blood test performed by a trained professional. This procedure is strictly confidential. Counseling regarding the meaning of the test and its result take place before the actual testing to ensure you understand HIV infection and the testing procedure.

HIV testing procedure: Blood Test – Blood drawn from a vein is tested for HIV antibodies. This test is available at the Sexual Health Clinic (280 S. Decatur Blvd. Las Vegas, NV 89107 ), Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Please call (702) 759-0702 for more information.

If you have questions, contact the clinic by phone at (702) 759-0702 or by email at SexualHealth@snhd.org.

FabLasVegas.com

29

PRIDE FLAGS

PRIDE FLAGS

COMMUNITY RESOURCES 34 Fab Vegas

35 Fab Vegas

www.afanlv.org Aid for AIDS of Nevada (AFAN) provides support and advocacy for adults and children living with and affected by HIV/AIDS in Southern Nevada.

AFAN works to reduce HIV infection through prevention and education to eliminate fear, prejudice and the stigma associated with the disease.