I have the great privilege of writing from my hotel room in Philadelphia, PA where I'm attending the 2007 LGBTI Health Summit. This was an annual organizing event and, really, political movement that Eric Rofes worked hard to put together year after year. In his absence this year, there's a great deal of rumbling over what the future has in store for this conference, and the movement for LGBTI health as a whole (gay men's health, in particular of course).

I also had the great privilege of spending a great deal of time getting to amazing, wonderful, and inspiring activists and thinkers like Tony Valenzuela, Michael Hurley, Bill Jesdale, the French activists from WARNING, and Amber Hollibaugh. These folks made this summit one of the most academically rich and thought-provoking weekends of my life. I owe them a great deal. If America had just one HIV social science researcher like Michael Hurley from Australia, we would be a much better place. His thoughtful presentation on gay men's intensive sex culture was mindblowing. What a treat!

I also was honored to present my thesis work here at the conference under the title "HIV Panic and Young Gay Men: Preliminary Results from an Exploratory San Francisco Study." It really turned out to be a lot more about gay communities, sexual shame, and then of course about fear of HIV for young gay men. I was really pleased with how my presentation came together - I kept making changes in the days during the conference before my own workshop was scheduled. Add some sex here - a bit more about desire there. The feedback and support from my colleagues was nothing short phenomenal. I hope I can post the slides from the presentation here soon!

Anywho, must sleep. More conferenceing tomorrow! Then back home to SF tomorrow night.