Welcome to the Gay Townsville site, an online resource for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community of Townsville and surrounds, and their family and friends.

Townsville will hold its second Pride Festival in September 2011

The Pride Festival is a project of the Townsville GLBTI Anit-Violence Committee Inc.

Townsville Pride 2011 comprises the following events:

Rainbow Awards Night
This event is being held on Friday 9th September from 7.30pm at the Mansfield Hotel on Flinders St. This event will recognise some of the individuals and groups that have made significant contributions to the LGBT community of the Townsville region over the past year.

LGBT Workshops
These will be held throughout the day on Saturday 10th September at the PCYC on Wellington St, Aitkenvale.

Dance Party
This well be held on Saturday 10th September at the PCYC on Wellinton St. Aitkenvale from 8pm to 2am.

Family Pride Fair Day
Sunday 11th September is Fair Day at the PCYC on Wellington St. Aitkenvale from 9am.

The website for Townsville Pride is www.townsvillepride.org.au

This site is produced and maintained by the North Queensland branch of the Queensland Association for Healthy Communities (QAHC) as a community resource, for and on behalf of FNQ's LGBT population. The site went on-line in January 2009 and is, as it will remain, a work in-progress. The progress of the site will depend, to a great degree, on the input of community members, and QAHC invites contributions from you all. If you’ve got anything to contribute or any suggestions for what you’d like to see on the site, please drop us a line at
mail@gaytownsville.com.au

Hot Tip Spot

STIs and HIV

Did you know that having a sexually transmissible infection (STI) increases your chances of contracting or passing on HIV by up to ten times? It’s true!

This is the case for a number of reasons but there are two main ones; increased immune cells at the sites of infection, and sores.

HIV replicates in CD4 cells in your blood. These cells are an important part of your immune system and are also the natural ‘home’ of HIV. When you have an STI the concentration of these cells at the site of infection increases as your body tries to fight the infection. Unfortunately this also provides many more targets for HIV to get a hold in your system should you be exposed to it, increasing your chance of becoming HIV positive. STIs also usually cause some damage to skin or mucus membranes in or around the genitals. This damage can provide a route for HIV to enter your bloodstream if you are exposed to it.

To reduce your risk of picking up or passing on HIV always use condoms and lube for anal sex, and get into the routine of having a thorough sexual health check-up at least every six months (or more often if you have a lot of sex partners). Look after yourself and your mates!

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