One Colorado: Time is running out to enroll in health insurance

By Cara Cheevers, Policy Director, One Colorado Education Fund
Do you need to purchase health insurance on Connect for Health Colorado, our state’s health insurance marketplace? You’ve only got a few more days to do so to have health insurance that starts on January 1, 2019.

Are you seeking insurance coverage for transition-related care or a person living with HIV that needs specific prescription drug coverage? We’ve got some resources that will help find the insurance carrier that’s right for you.

Here’s what you need to know: 
• Saturday, December 15, 2018 is that last day that you can purchase health insurance that will begin on January 1, 2019
• You have until January 15, 2019, when open enrollment ends, if you don’t need insurance that starts on January 1st.
• You can talk to a navigator and purchase health insurance online from Connect for Health Colorado.

We’ve also released three new and improved health insurance guides, so that transgender Coloradans and people living with HIV can make informed decisions about which insurance companies provide them with coverage that meets their needs: 

• 2019 Transgender Health Insurance Buyer’s Guide
• 2019 Hormone Therapy Prescription Coverage Guide
• 2019 PrEP and HIV Prescription Coverage Guide

These guides not only look at whether the seven plans on the marketplace cover behavioral health services, hormone therapy, and gender-affirming surgery, but also review the availability of an LGBTQ health navigator, coverage of puberty blockers for minors, quality of hormone therapy coverage, and HIV prescription coverage.

Don't wait to get covered! You have until December 15, 2018 to get health care that starts on January 1, 2019. Shop online now or call 855-PLANS-4-YOU.
 
P.S. Don't forget to tell your friends and family — share this on Facebook and Twitter with the hashtags #GetCovered, #COHealth, and #LGBTQHealthMatters!

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Koelbel Urban Homes: The New Modern in Denver

Koelbel Urban Homes (KUH) has quickly emerged as a leader in creating urban neighborhoods that promote community and synergy by integrating life, work and play.

As the newest division of legendary developer Koelbel and Company, KUH is focused on in-fill properties, designing and building innovative homes tailored to each unique site.

Offered homes run the gamut of detached single-family homes to svelte modern attached designs featuring today's popular spaces, such as rooftop decks and open-plan concepts. All KUH homes, of course, are designed for optimum living and with respect for the surroundings.

Are You Gay With Something To Say? Bloggers Wanted For Denver's Best Gay Blog!

Are you a new or experienced writer or blogger? Do you want to be? Or maybe you're just some gay guy with something to say? Well, what better forum for you than MileHighGayGuy?

MileHighGayGuy is looking for regular and guest bloggers to write about local news and events, do music and movie reviews, or write opinion or feature pieces from a gay perspective.

These are unpaid positions but offer the opportunity to be published in Colorado's Best Gay Blog (2010, 2011, 2012 OUTstanding Awards, Denver 2012 #WebAwards), expand your audience and gain valuable experience. There's also swag available in the form of free movie and concert tickets, music, books and other cool stuff.

If interested, shoot an email over to Drew Wilson at drew@milehighgayguy.com. And if you've got column or story ideas to pitch, this is the place to do it.

Nice to See StevieB: Done With School

By StevieB

Today was the last day of class. I have to say this is the very first time I’m sad about this. Historically, I’m counting down the days until the semester ends. Dreading the last couple of weeks. But, this semester has been completely different. My classes have been amazingly interesting; Feminist/Queer Philosophy and a history class about Denver.

This is ironic as the history class was based upon the racist KKK dickheads that controlled Denver in the early days. Followed by a class based on liberating modern voices in queer literature. In fact this morning I received this...




It didn’t hurt that I’m 100 years old and actually lived the ‘80’s/‘90’s AIDS crisis. At one point I was explaining Act Up to 20 year old girls. Like I was on the front porch of a gay retirement home in a rocking chair. But, hey, I guess I got an "A".

The Denver history class is motivating me to start a new YouTube channel. Based loosely around the traditional history narrative about a western US city, but with a marginalized voice perspective. Like what happened to Denver’s China Town? Spoiler: Racists. It’s callled the "1880 Race Riot", but really it was a "white assholes with torches"

So, yeah. This semester was actually amazing and I’m sad to see it go.

STDs are Up in Denver. Get Down with Testing Today!

Regular STD testing is an important part of your self health care. STD and HIV testing is offered at Denver Public Health’s Denver Metro Health Clinic and other community partners.

Syphilis infection rates have increased 30% in #Denver County since 2014. Testing is easy and treatment works! Find a location here DenverPublicHealth.org/GetDown.

Bearracuda Denver is Back!

MileHighGayGuy is proud to once again partner up with Bearracuda Denver for their upcoming Winter Party at Ophelia's. Don't miss DJ Matt Consola, the sexiest go-go bears in all the land, and much, much more! Now in 61 cities across the world, Bearracuda is the largest attended bear dance party in the U.S.!

WalletHub Names Denver One of 2018’s Best Places for New Year’s Eve

Source: WalletHub

With New Year’s Eve around the corner and the majority of Americans spending up to $200 each on the occasion per year, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2018’s Best Places for New Year’s Eve Celebrations (as well as accompanying videos) to go along with its 50+ New Year’s Eve Facts – Traditions, Spending & More infographic.
To help Americans ring in the new year without breaking the bank, WalletHub compared the 100 biggest cities across 28 key metrics. The data set ranges from legality of fireworks to average price of a New Year’s Eve party ticket to forecasted precipitation for Dec. 31.
 

Best Cities for New Year’s Eve
1	New York, NY		11	Miami, FL
2	Los Angeles, CA		12	New Orleans, LA
3	Atlanta, GA		13	Philadelphia, PA
4	San Diego, CA		14	Birmingham, AL
5	Las Vegas, NV		15	Seattle, WA
6	Denver, CO		16	San Antonio, TX
7	Orlando, FL		17	Dallas, TX
8	Chicago, IL		18	Louisville, KY
9	Washington, DC		19	Nashville, TN
10	San Francisco, CA		20	Virginia Beach, VA

HIV Activists Announce Alternative 2020 Conference in Mexico City

An alliance of key population-led networks, networks of people living with HIV, treatment activists, and supporters has formed to organize an international community-led conference titled HIV2020: Community Reclaiming the Global Response. The event is scheduled to take place in Mexico City, July 6-8 of 2020, and will run concurrently with the 2020 International AIDS Conference which is happening in the United States. The HIV2020 Alliance has decided to organize the community-led event to provide a safe alternative for individuals who cannot or will not attend AIDS2020 due to discriminatory U.S. immigration and travel policies directed to people from Muslim, African, Caribbean and Latin American countries, people who use drugs, sex workers, and transgender people. The announcement of the event comes on the advent of Human Rights Day, as the conference aims to offer new opportunities to reaffirm the leading role communities can and should play in the global fight for sexual health and human rights.

The International AIDS Society's (IAS) decision to host their 2020 event in the San Francisco Bay Area sparked vocal protests and calls for an "AIDS2020 For All" and an "HIV Power Shift" at the 2018 International AIDS Conference in Amsterdam this July. IAS's decision went against the recommendations of community advocates worldwide, including the national networks of people living with HIV in the U.S., creating a dilemma for many in the global HIV movement. The HIV2020 Alliance's decision to hold an event parallel to the 2020 International AIDS Conference is not without precedent. When the IAS hosted their last event in the U.S. in 2012, sex worker activists and people who used drugs organized their own events in India and Ukraine in protest. In fact, key populations have been organizing their own pre-conferences at IAS events to specifically address the needs of their communities for over a decade.

"It is irresponsible to put on an event of this size in a country that is inhospitable to people most affected by HIV and AIDS. The IAS's decision resurfaces questions about the importance and community-relevance of large, multi-million-dollar conferences in the face of shrinking investment in the global HIV response," said George Ayala, executive director of MPact Global Action for Gay Men's Health and Rights. "Their decision to move ahead with a conference in the U.S. suggests a willingness by mainstream HIV actors to tolerate the discrimination of people from Muslim, African, Caribbean and Latin American countries, people who use drugs, sex workers, and transgender people. We plan to rectify this and to work with community members to reclaim the global HIV response at the HIV2020 conference."

HIV2020 will be a community-centered, key population-led, interdisciplinary, intersectional, and sex positive event. Its aim is to: build safe and friendly space for the equitable exchange of information, knowledge, experiences and expertise by ensuring diverse voices are heard and reflected; promote community-led solutions and good practice in sexual health and human rights; amplify community voices in calling out the inequities experienced across key populations and specific legal restrictions on some key populations' right to freedom of movement; demonstrate the importance of meaningful involvement of communities in health and human rights responses; reaffirm community commitments and priorities to global health and human rights responses (inclusive of HIV); and model an innovative approach for deliberating new research, tools, and strategies and their real-life implications, with communities as equal partners.

Organizers are calling for statements of solidarity with HIV2020. Advocates, community-based organizations, healthcare and service providers, researchers, public health officials, and funders are invited to endorse the event in writing, on social media, and during high-level global meetings.

Visit St. Pete/Clearwater becomes the first Florida destination in the International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association’s Global Partner program

The International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association today announced its global partnership with Visit St. Pete/Clearwater, the tourism marketing organization for the popular destination on Florida’s Gulf Coast. As a Global Partner, Visit St. Pete/ Clearwater strengthens its commitment to LGBTQ+-welcoming travel and IGLTA, the organizational leader in advancing LGBTQ+ travel around the world.

“St. Pete/Clearwater’s partnership with IGLTA brings with it a level of global recognition in the LGBTQ+ tourism space like no other,” said David Downing, CEO & President of Visit St. Pete/Clearwater. “We’re honored to work with IGLTA to continue growing as an authentically LGBTQ+-inclusive destination.”

LGBTQ+ inclusion is built into the destination’s DNA. St. Pete Pride is the largest Pride event in the state of Florida, drawing some 200,000 visitors annually, and the city is home to a year-round LGBTQ+ welcome center. In 2017, St. Pete hosted IGLTA’s 34th Annual Global Convention, attracting tourism professionals representing 36 countries—the most globally diverse convention that the association had hosted at the time. That same year, Visit St. Pete/Clearwater was honored during Tampa Bay Business Journal’s Business of Pride awards for its LGBTQ+-focused marketing efforts.
As an IGLTA Global Partner, Visit St. Pete/Clearwater will have increased engagement with the association’s global business members and its progressive offerings will receive enhanced visibility among LGBTQ+ travelers.

"One of the most exciting aspects of holding our Annual Global Convention in St. Pete was being able to share this LGBTQ+-welcoming gem with so many industry leaders from around the world who had not yet experienced its charms,” said IGLTA President/CEO John Tanzella. "Through this global partnership we can continue building upon that success and showcase St. Pete/Clearwater—from its gorgeous beaches to its world-class museums—to an even wider network of global LGBTQ+ tourism professionals and travelers.”

Transgender Military Ban Plaintiffs Argue in DC Circuit Court of Appeals Today to Keep Preliminary Injunction

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit heard oral arguments today in Doe v. Trump—the first legal challenge filed in opposition to Trump’s transgender military ban—brought by the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) and GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD). GLAD Transgender Rights Project Director Jennifer Levi presented arguments on behalf of plaintiffs, urging the court to keep Doe’s preliminary injunction in place, which prevents implementation of Trump’s transgender military ban while the case is being heard in court.

There are four lawsuits challenging the ban, and all four federal judges in these cases have issued nationwide preliminary injunctions blocking it. In issuing those orders, the courts each determined that the plaintiffs challenging the ban—including current servicemembers, ROTC, military academy students, and enlistees—would likely prevail on their claim that the ban violates their constitutional guarantee of equal protection. Today’s argument concerned the government’s appeal of D.C. federal district court judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly’s forceful denial of its request to dissolve her injunction after the administration released its implementation plan for the ban in March. Judge Kollar-Kotelly reiterated her finding that there has been no change in circumstances to invalidate the injunction in a November 30 ruling denying the government’s subsequent request for a stay while the Supreme Court considers its application for cert before judgment.

“The government is playing word games by arguing that transgender people can serve in their birth sex. That is a contradiction in terms,” said GLAD Transgender Rights Project Director Jennifer Levi.“ This is not a game. What’s at stake here is the lives of dedicated servicemembers, who are willing and able to serve—and are prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice for their country.”

“Throughout this case, I have been privileged to meet and represent courageous young people who want nothing more than to meet the military’s high standards and to serve their country,” said NCLR Legal Director Shannon Minter. “Instead, they have been swept up in a discriminatory political firestorm that has nothing to do with either what’s best for the military or their ability to serve. Their futures and who we are as a country are at stake.”

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Do you want to advertise to Denver’s gay community? Of course you do, it’s the 7th largest in the United States! And the best way to reach them is with MileHighGayGuy – Colorado’s Best Gay Blog.
 
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We Did It!

We Queered the Vote and now 161 LGBTQ people across the country have been elected to office. That’s a historic amount of diversity for just one mid-term election!

Let’s tell our newly elected officials how happy we are! Please sign the National LGBTQ Task Force's e-card welcoming them to DC so they know we support them as they head to represent all of us at the state, federal, and local level.

But there’s more good stuff your vote and support made happen. Massachusetts passed the first state-wide anti-discrimination statute supporting transgender rights. And Florida voters gave the right to vote back to people who served their time incarcerated – a disproportionate amount who are LGBTQ people of color.

That’s a lot of awesome queer voting!

OUT on DVD/VOD: A Moment in the Reeds

 

The feature debut of Finnish writer/director Mikko Makela is a moving gay romance between a young Finnish academic and a struggling Syrian refugee,set against an idyllic Finnish summer. Filled with nuanced and sexually charged performances from the film's two openly gay leads, Finnish theatre actorJanne Puustinen, and openly gay Syrian actor Boodi Kabbani (who fled Syria and eventually settled in Finland, where he is based - he is one of the very few openly gay Syrian actors in the world), A Moment in the Reeds is a potent, inherently political, and remarkably mature exploration of an LGBT immigrant refugee's experience in today's world.

One of the first LGBT-themed films made in Finland, Makela's intimate drama places at its center the freedom and acceptance of sexual and ethnic minorities, amidst the backdrop of breathtaking Finnish lake country.

Indiewire called it "one of the best queer international films of 2018," and Edge said the film is "a fresh new voice in queer cinema...pitch perfect performances." Film Inquiry wrote "one of the most moving gay romances of recent years...full of sexually charged, intimate moments."

After world premiering at the 2017 London Film Festival and a year of critical success on the worldwide festival circuit, the film was nominated for The Discovery Award at the British Independent Film Awards. It also opened theatrically to critical acclaim in Finland this past summer. A Moment in the Reeds will now be available for all U.S. and Canadian audiences.

Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Tammy Baldwin, Gov.-Elect Jared Polis, and Virginia Delegate Danica Roem to Kick-Off International LGBTQ Leaders Conference

The 2018 International LGBTQ Leaders Conference will open with a powerful lineup of LGBTQ and allied elected officials at its Opening Plenary: Celebrating the Rainbow Wave, on Thursday at 4pm ET at the JW Marriott Washington, DC. Mayor Annise Parker, President & CEO of LGBTQ Victory Institute, will open the conference with a fireside chat with the newly elected Senator Tammy Baldwin. 

Tune in at 2pm to watch live on Facebook Live. 

Senator Tammy Baldwin will present the 2018 Tammy Baldwin Breakthrough Award to Virginia Delegate Danica Roem, which will be followed by Senator Elizabeth Warren receiving the Congressional Ally Award. Colorado Governor-elect Jared Polis, the first openly gay man elected governor in the United States, will then provide remarks on his historic win and the “Rainbow Wave” of LGBTQ people who won on Election Day.