PinkUk news: Miami's G8 festival - My fight against HIV/AIDS - Esmale: a decade of adult pleasure
Issue No. 20 - December 2021
See our latest listings for what’s happening over the 2021/22 festive season and beyond. Noting it's World Aids Day on Wednesday, 1 December, PinkUk founder Dave Walsh shares his story of living with HIV since the late 1990s, below.
Wishing you a safe, fun, cool or hot festive season. Anyway, a very Pink one...
Winter sunfest in Miami, USA?
The next Gay8 festival, Miami’s Hispanic LGBTQ+ celebration, is planned for Sunday 20 February 2022
A decade of supplying adult pleasure |
My story fighting HIVBy PinkUk founder Dave Walsh
Obviously it remembers everyone around the world including those in the LGBTQ+ communities who have lost their lives from an even longer-running pandemic. I was diagnosed as HIV positive in 1999 at a time when HIV anti-viral treatments were only just beginning to make a difference. |
Luckily for me, by the time I was diagnosed with HIV, treatments were able to stop you from passing to full AIDS and likely death. Just a few years earlier, it did.
My CD4 count went as low as seven, which is within defined medical AIDS levels. I had years of a treatment regime which involved my taking multiple tablets across the day, starting at 6am, and complex instructions to follow the rest of the day. Now I only take one pill a day and there are new options such as monthly injections. Also, of course, we have PREP pills for HIV-negative people (free on England's NHS). All thanks to advances in medicine. I will take a moment on 1 December to reflect on the past, but also appreciate the improving medical outlook. Then I’ll have some safe fun in the festive season. Hope you do, too.
Read the whole story of my life with HIV
Love & Pink Respect from Dave & the team,
PinkUk
Read this newsletter as a PDF? December 2021
You can see this newsletter as a PDF magazine (this one) and previous editions on that page. |
Scene is the top UK, free to read, online, LGBTQ+ magazine. Scene recently relaunched with its fabulous new print copy... wow. See what’s in the latest edition.
Here’s a video showcasing Scene’s latest edition
Featured Venue: Townhouse Exeter, Devon
Townhouse Exeter is a gay-owned and run nine-bedroom guesthouse in the centre of Exeter, Devon. The proprietors say they are “about duvets, dishes and having a great stay while in Exeter.” They serve a tasty breakfast, offer comfortable rooms, free Wi-Fi and complimentary permits for local on-street parking (private parking by arrangement). Well, PinkUk thinks this is a dream. Located in a quiet corner of the city centre, the guesthouse is a ten-minute walk from the High Street, Exeter Cathedral, both Exeter St. Davids and Exeter Central train stations. It’s close to pubs, restaurants and shopping.
More on Townhouse Exeter
Featured Pride: Weston-Super-Mare’s first Winter Pride
First Winter Pride for Weston-Super-Mare, Somerset
Weston-Super-Mare’s first Winter Pride takes place over the weekend 11-12 December 2021 on the seafront in the Tropicana complex.
The daytime event has live acts and entertainment and a selection of stalls to get your rainbow Christmas goodies. In the evening 8pm - 2am you can dance the night away and get into the Pride Christmas spirit, with the bar open and the music playing into the early hours.
Info and tickets
Land of the free is open for biz
Some good news for LGBTQ+ travellers is that the United States has opened up for fully vaccinated and tested UK and EU citizens with ESTAs. More info from the UK Government.
Venues in the USA
Prides/LGBTQ+ events
Right now for 2022 we have 49 prides in the UK and 186 prides and events globally. For 2023 we have one pride event in the UK and four prides and events in four countries.
Add your Pride 2022/23
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