Jack
Mackenroth continues to travel the
country speaking about HIV education and fighting the stigma. He will
be at this year's World AIDS Conference in D.C. on July 20, with the POZ
ARMY. (pozarmy.com)
Poz Army is a grassroots movement to re-energize the fight against HIV
and AIDS, and to push for a cure. Jack is a "general" in the POZ ARMY,
joined by fellow celebrity activists like Olympian Greg Louganis, singer
Jamar Rogers from The Voice, Ongina from RuPaul's Drag Race,
the
"Berlin
Patient" Timothy Brown, who is the first person to be cured of AIDS,
and many other activists. You can do your part by following POZ ARMY on
Twitter @pozarmy and by showing support on Facebook.Jack is in the final stages of preparation for the launch of a new dating/hook-up site and mobile app for HIV-positive guys. HIV-positive men often don't feel welcome on the existing sites and are tired of having to have "the conversation" or worrying about when to disclose their status. This new site will cater to HIV-positive men and help to combat the stigma through visibility. All of the models are HIV-positive and members don't have to feel the stigma of living with HIV. It goes live on Sept. 1 after beta testing. Unfortunately, the site's name is still confidential. Check Jack's Facebook page for updates in August.
Initially the site will be fairly simple in order to build membership. We all know sex sells so that's part of it, but it will also have a health and resources section. As the site grows, they will build more of a community aspect where people can chat in forums and the site can partner with other agencies. They want to have cutting edge information on studies and medication. They've also partnered with Dr. Frank Spinelli who is the go-to guy for HIV education. This could have a massive affect on building a solid HIV-positive community of men who have sex with men. There has never been a site like this before and they aim to hit a million members. The site will be free to sign up and members will control their content so Jack encourages everyone to take a look.
And if you are not following Jack on Twitter--get on it!! He was voted Best Gay Tweeter of 2011/2012 by National Lampoon and one of the Top 10 Celebrity Tweeters by Metrosource Magazine. He's hilarious.
Jack Mackenroth photos by West Phillips - South Beach
