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.

The Tropical Alternatives Film Festival was held in 23rd May and was a great success. Many thanks to all those who supported the event, especially to The Palms BnB who kindly prepared and donated all of the food served at the intervals. Thanks also to all the community members who came along and made the night such fun. As in previous years, the staff of DanceNorth took great care of us all and their new, extra large screen allowed us to enjoy the films in all their glory. No doubt we’ll be back there next year.

Plans are underway to run a health promotion retreat for HIV+ men later this year, The retreat is a result of collaboration between QAHC, Queesland Health, Positive Directions and Queensland Positive People. Any positive men interested in taking part should contact Nick or Kevin at QAHC’s Nth Qld office (4041 5451).

August sees the third Tropical Pride Festival which will again be held in Cairns. This year the festival will be held over two weekends, with the Pride Float taking part in the Festival Cairns parade along the Esplanade on Saturday 22nd August. The parade will be followed by a dance party, Out! Proud! at the Blue Sky Brewery (34 Lake St).

The Pride Awards night (Skinny Dips Resort @ 6.30pm) will be held the following Saturday with the ever-popular Tropical Pride Fair Day being held on the Sunday (The Tanks, Collins Ave, 11am - 6pm). Last year the Festival was attended by many community members from Townsville, with spectacular appearances by Townsville drag queens making a strong impression on the residents and tourists of Cairns. So give your mates a bell an organise a trip up north for this year’s festival it would be great to see you there.

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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