Entries from May 2007 ↓

Straight from the Source In the wake of this past week’s mainstream media and blogosphere coverage of news involving the gay porn website Cocodorm and its corporate parent FlavaWorks, blogger Darian Aaron spent Saturday morning in an exclusive interview with one of their models, Alex Flex.

Don’t Get It Twisted Prime has come out of hibernation to comment on the CocoDorm drama, and he’s not taking the same positions everyone else is. He thinks we’re all missing the larger issue.

Violations Revisited Conrad, one of the participants in my Black Gay Men at Midlife series, has been moving closer towards the adoption of a son. However a recent obstacle, maliciously placed in his way, has reminded him of past abuse.

Good Police Work Police Detectives in Brooklyn who worked the case following the attack and subsequent death of Michael Sandy last October may have felt considerable community pressure to find his assailants, but the way in which they handled the case was just good detective work. Gay City News updates the story and provides a profile of Judge Jill Konviser who is hearing the pre-trial testimony.

The Meaning of Mother’s Day I have just spent the last three days visiting my mom, but it might surprise you to learn the origin of this holiday in 1870 had nothing to do with sending greeting cards or ordering flowers. It was organized by female activists as an anti-war effort.

What an interesting 48 hours I’ve had.

Two days ago, I posted an item about a recent report issued by the Chicago Department of Public Health that mentioned the findings from their investigation into health practices at CocoDorm.com, the gay porn website that used to be located in the Windy City. (See article below.) Within hours I received emails attempting to silence me for reporting on what is in a publicly accessible government agency document, from which I simply quoted verbatim.

A day later, a complaint was filed by the folks at Flavaworks, owners of CocoDorm, with the company that hosts this blog, claiming copyright infringement for my use of a screenshot of their website. Due to some confusion involving my webhost and their communications to me of this complaint, this site actually went down for about an hour earlier today. The screenshot is gone. The article will stay.

A fellow blogger, Jasmyne Cannick, whose writing and steadfast activism I greatly admire, also wrote about the CDPH report, and also received similar attempts at intimidation from the same source at CocoDorm.

In the interim, a television station in South Florida, NBC6 WTVJ, ran this report on last night’s newcast.

In the wake of a recent spate of bad press, it seems an awful lot of effort is being expended by Flavaworks to silence people who are merely reporting on what is happening. One is left to wonder why?

As a trained and former full-time working journalist, I understand the rules regarding libel and slander. As was explained to me so many years ago in my communications law classes, the truth is the strongest defense against any libel accusation. Report verifiable fact and those who object will be hard-pressed to find fault or prove malicious intent. I believe I have upheld those tenets.

Absent any real grounds upon which to object to what they perceive as negative news, character assassination is the next step, and that too has been engaged in. Jasmyne’s site has seen comments posted that read more like public relations spin than honest statements from legitimate readers. I don’t know the source of those comments, but I have my suspicions.

In response to one of them that referenced me, and in the interest of full disclosure, I am not now, nor have I ever claimed to be either a saint or a prude. I own pornography. I own lots of pornography. My porn collection dates back to the mid-1980’s. I even own pornography produced by Flavaworks (Dorm Life 5, 6 and 7, for the record) and think a lot of their work is quite hot. I’ve even told them so in emails, including those in which I suggested ways to make them even hotter. I make no secret of any of this.

But hot porn shouldn’t have to be unsafe for those who appear in it, and this is at the heart of my problem with this company. Sex workers have a hard enough life. They should not have to subject themselves to unsafe working conditions or management that seems indifferent to their safety.

As someone who at various times has worked for two of the oldest HIV/AIDS agencies in New York City, I am well aware of HIV risks, transmission and prevention information. I once use to teach it. Testing people once is not enough. If they are required by the rules of their relationship with CocoDorm to perform a live sex show at least once daily, they need to be tested at least weekly, if not more frequently. If they test positive, they need to be given treatment. They should not be allowed to continue to work or simply kicked out of the house. If models are performing penetrative sex acts with multiple partners in the same scene, they need a new condom for each partner! Just wearing one condom isn’t enough. It’s the “new hole/new condom” principle. Otherwise you are merely transferring microscopic and potentially dangerous organisms from one partner to the next.

When the Chicago Free Press first reported on the CDPH investigation in April 2006, Flavaworks spokesmen denied they were doing anything wrong. They claimed they were operating safely. The recently released CDPH report suggests otherwise.

Now that similar questions are being raised about health safety at their new location in Miami, as mentioned in the television story, they are making the same denials. What proof has Flavaworks presented that should make us believe them now?

I am a Black gay man who loves my Black gay brothers unconditionally. I am always concerned about our collective well-being. I can’t sit idly by, staring at a video image, knowing the people I’m watching may be unnecessarily putting themselves at risk of infectious disease while someone else makes money off of it. That’s not sexy. That’s not hot.

Instead of trying to silence bloggers for writing about what’s going on, perhaps Flavaworks should spend more time really doing something to keep their models safe.

Addendum In the interest of the truth, and in response to criticism that I failed to report that the Illinois Attorney General’s office dropped its investigation of Philip Bleicher’s alleged involvement in a scheme to defraud school systems through a separate entity, that is indeed correct. The Illinois AG did in fact drop their pursuit of a civil case. However this was only because federal investigators are now pursuing a criminal investigation. The case involves alleged interstate violations, which are the sole jurisdiction of federal law enforcement agencies.

The Chicago Department of Public Health has released a comprehensive report on the latest rate of syphilis and HIV infections in that city in its Winter 2006 report (a PDF of the full report can be downloaded here).

Their findings include a detailed follow-up to an investigation they conducted, first reported here, into the unsafe sexual practices conducted by FlavaWorks, operators of the Internet website CocoDorm.com, where young gay Black and Latin men engage in sexual acts for the enjoyment of viewers who pay a membership fee to watch.

From the CDPH report:

In Autumn 2005, community health providers reported the first suspected cases of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) among residents of a North Side apartment building to the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH). Over the next several months, additional cases of syphilis, gonorrhea, and HIV were identified among employees and residents of the Northside dormitory. Follow-up inquiry by CDPH investigators led to the identification of a large cluster of syphilis and HIV infections associated with an Internet pornography operation. The Internet-associated business employed young African-American and Latino men as “models”. Models were paid to have sex in the dormitory in exchange for money, room, and board. Sex acts were recorded and broadcast online for paid subscribers of the website to view. The website offered free previews and members’ only services including access to photos albums, live webcams, live video chat, streaming video, stories, and weblog diaries; in addition to offering the sale of popular magazines, calendars, and DVDs. Furthermore, several models were reported to have engaged in male escort services for other men, separate from their employment through the Internet business.

The purposes of the investigation were to determine the extent of the outbreak, and to identify public health interventions to limit further disease transmission in the community. Data were obtained from a review of reported syphilis and HIV case records, patient interviews and medical charts. Cases, contacts, and associates were linked to identify the sexual network. A case was defined as syphilis or HIV infection occurring in a person involved in the sexual network. A contact was defined as a person who was exposed to another person infected with syphilis or HIV. An associate was defined as a person within the social circle named by a case-patient during a confidential interview, but who is not a sexual partner of the case-patient. Results of the investigation revealed a dense sexual network of 47 persons and documented syphilis and HIV infections associated with the Internet pornography business. Exposure histories and incubation periods were consistent with transmission of syphilis and HIV within the sexual network. Of the 19 individuals who were identified as employees of the business, the median age was 23 years (age range 19-35) and all were African-American males. Of the 19 men involved with the business, nine (47%) were infected with HIV, and nine (47%) were with syphilis. Six (32%) men were co-infected with syphilis and HIV. In total, 10 cases of syphilis and 13 cases of HIV infection were indentified in this large sexual network.

The Chicago Department of Public Health is mandated to respond to community reports of disease transmission, and to prevent and control disease in the community. Continued reports of cases associated with the Internet site and the North side apartment prompted CDPH officials to contact the business owner. The business owner did not return phone calls, despite multiple attempts made by CDPH officials. Next, CDPH officials issued an order for the business owner to develop a corrective action plan due to high rates of disease associated with the business practice. Despite the order, the business owner did not attend the scheduled meeting. Failure to respond to the order to develop a corrective action plan prompted an inspection of the business practice by city officials to assess compliance with health, safety, business and licensing codes. The on-site inspection was met with resistance by a representative of the business owner, and city officials were dismissed from the premises. Cease and desist orders were immediately issued from the Department of Business Affairs for licensing violations, and from CDPH until the business practices no longer posed a threat to the health and safety of its workforce and to the general public. CDPH officials arranged for a special clinic for all employees of the business and other persons exposed to infection to offer voluntary STD and HIV testing, medical evaluation, and prophylactic treatment for possible infection. Despite this, the employees of the dormitory did not attend the special clinic. The business owner disbanded the dormitory on the next day after the inspection; the owner and models were seen moving out of building, and the website was temporarily shut down. As of May 2006, the business was reported to have relocated to another state. CDPH officials contacted the health departments in other jurisdiction to inform them of the identified cluster of syphilis and HIV infections.

News coverage of the syphilis and HIV cluster investigation and public health actions was extensive in gay community press with concern expressed for the employees, allegations of exploitation, and the nature of the work. Collaboration between the health department and community agencies led to the identification of an outbreak of sexually transmitted diseases, and the prevention of further transmission of syphilis, HIV, and other STDs in the community.

Flavaworks also operates the porn sites, Cocoboyz, Thugboy and PapiCock, and the magazines Flavamen and FlavaLife. As a result of the CDPH investigation last year, Flavaworks closed their operation in Chicago and relocated to Miami, Florida. The business’s owner, Phillip Bleicher, has also been charged by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan with operating a fraudulent charity that bilked schools nationwide out of millions of dollars.

Previous articles:
Links contained in old articles may no longer work.

Porn, HIV and the Lives of Young Gay Men of Color LINK

CocoDorm Responds LINK

More Problems at the CocoDorm LINK

Hot, Safe Sex LINK

I haven’t updated this blog in ages now largely because there hasn’t been a helluva lot going on lately. Just run of the mill busy keeping. Here are a few snapshots.

A week ago, I was witness to a performance of Charles Mingus’s epic musical piece Epitaph. It was only the third time in history the 500 page score has been played since it was written in the 1960’s and only the first time in its entirety.

I did lots of celebrity spotting this past week at the Sports Emmys and National Magazine Awards, two events that took place where I work. You’d have thought the television people would put on a glitzy show, but the magazine publishers and editors were far more glamorous. As it was explained to me, nobody really pays them any attention, so they better put on a big show or no one else will.

Had an interview with these folks. We’ll see what happens.

Three people whose work I admired when I was young, passed away this week.

Tom Poston was a very funny actor and comedian who often played guys who were a few cards short of a full deck. Some of his earliest television work was on the Steve Allen Show in the 1950’s and 60’s. More recently he played dizzy George the handyman on Newhart.

Tommy Newsom was an accomplished saxophone player and composer and a member of the orchestra on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. He often filled in when bandleader Doc Severinsen was away. Because of his low-key demeanor, Carson pegged him “Mr. Excitement.” In 2006, at Carson’s passing, Newsom, Severinsen and former Tonight Show drummer Ed Shaughnessy performed a musical tribute on LateNight with David Letterman.

Walter Schirra was a space pioneer and genuine hero to young boys like me who dreamed of being astronauts. He was one of the original 7 astronauts in America’s first space program. He would fly into space not only in the one-man Mercury program, but the two-man Gemini project and the three-man Apollo program that led to putting the first man on the moon. Back when space travel was just a grand experiment, he and his colleagues were gutsy enough to get strapped to the top of a big rocket and fired off into the stratosphere.

A couple of old friends have new blogs and are still getting their feet wet. Please make them feel welcomed.