Monthly Archives: August 2015

The ACAS Men's Program announces its launch of its new official SLAM! (Sex, Love, Asian, Men!) website (http://slam.acas.org/) and a new PSA "HIV Testing: As Easy As Ordering Bubble Tea"! About the SLAM! (Sex, Love, Asian, Men!) website: SLAM! is the gay/bi Asian Men’s program created by Asian Community AIDS Services (ACAS) based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The SLAM! website is a hub to curate relevant and interesting information for gay/bi Asian men. ACAS’ Men’s Program aims to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS among Asian men who have sex with men by promoting safer sex practices, harm reduction behaviours and early intervention in culturally relevant ways. Interactions with community members through our outreach activities at bathhouses, bars, and other community events have indicated a gap in the sexual health information being provided to our target population, Asian gay/bi men. Further, inconsistent and potentially unreliable or out-of date information is, we believe, contributing to inadequate sexual health-related decision-making among Asian gay/bi men. In November 2009, the ACAS Men's Program piloted a sexual health symposium entitled Sex, Love, Asian Men! (SLAM!) in order to reach a broad audience as well as to identify gaps and barriers in Asian men’s sexual health education and service needs. The symposium was targeted to self-identified Asian gay/bi men from all ethnic backgrounds. Over 30 participants attended the inaugural event, which consisted of three interactive educational and knowledge translation workshops on sexually transmitted infections (STIs), risks, and HIV testing (Sex Without Fear), relationships (Sex and Relationships), and body image (Sex and Body Image).Workshops were facilitated by prominent members of the Asian community. ACAS’ Men’s Program is committed to reaching the broader Asian male population using an inclusive, non-judgmental approach to identify and respond to the needs of our target population. To that end, we intend to expand the scope [...]

This August, we are honoured to have Bosco Yan, long-time survivor, activist, and the recipient of the 2012 ACAS Patrick Truong PHA Leadership Award, to tell us what ACAS signifies to him. Thank you Bosco for your years of dedication to ACAS and for your courage to speak up as an Asian living with HIV to raise awareness within the Asian community.

July has been an exciting month for Toronto, especially with us hosting the PanAm Games in town. We hope all each and everyone of you had a wonderful month enjoying the wonderful warm and sunny weather. Here is a re-cap of what happened this past month and a very important announcement:     It’s Scotia Run Time! Are you ready to run for a great cause and raise money for Asian Community AIDS Services (ACAS) to support East and Southeast Asians living with HIV in Toronto? Join ACAS at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon (STWM) Charity Challenge 2015 on Sunday, October 18, 2015 to help us reach our $20,000 goal! We invite each and everyone of you to take part of the challenge as a runner, walker, fundraiser, donor or supporter! If you would like to register to become a runner and raise money for ACAS, you can register as a runner at https://secure.eventsonline.ca/reg/crs/.  As a runner/walker for ACAS, you can use the special Charity Pin Code15TSCC when you register after which you can choose Asian Community AIDS Services as your designated charity. This special Charity Pin Code allows you to register at the preferred charity rates: $40 for 5k; $50 for 5k with a single baby stroller; $80 for Half Marathon (21k) or Marathon (42k). Please make sure that you utilize the 15TSCC code when you register as ACAS will not be able to reimburse you after you have registered. The only exception is for the top 10 fundraisers whom ACAS will reimburse the amount of the registration to you after the race. Free Registration fee will be waived for first 3 PHAs to register with ACAS, and the top 10 fundraisers will have their entry fee refunded after the race. Also, there will be a prize for the top fundraiser, so [...]