Gay In America

Just so you all understand, this is still MY president and why I believe so fully in equality and in America:

Prescriptions and Refills

The most complaints we hear, the more free hours we spend on paperwork during this healthcare crisis, the one issue that seems to bring up so much conflict and time is the issue of prescription refills
So, here are the rules.

When you pick up a drug that needs you to have a blood test before we refill the test, get that scheduled ASAP when you receive your last refill

If you have any questions you have all of our email addresses. Ask us before you run out of the medication if you need a blood test. Examples would be blood pressure, diabetes, HIV medications, and Cholesterol issues. communicate with us.....

If you have a non-life-threatening refill do not expect on a Friday. It would be less rude to ask for these refills from your pharmacy way before the last day of a week.

And, remember all Refill requests should be called to your pharmacy first.

Cholesterol Medications, HIV medications, Diabetes, blood pressure medications and anything toxic to the liver cannot just be continually refilled without a medical visit.

Rob Killian, MD

What is is like being a primary care physician serving an underserved community?

This blog entry is in response to the overwhelming and increasing feeling that the health care crisis is the physicians' fault and that we should be perfect every minute. I guess I must admit that it is exhausting fighting for excellent health care for my patients.

Quite frankly given the last month, like many of us in this role, I am also have been debating giving up email access altogether.It appears to be causing as many problems as it solves and when someone get's mad, boy their anger rises rapidly via email.

The old way, or the way others' do it, is to have the patient come in twice for each visit...to discusss and diagnosis and then to go over results from the lab and the xrays, etc. ....

It is also that of the hundreds of medical insurance claims none of us get an email or fax or letter when benefits change. And, even though at all times it is the patients' responsibility to know what their benefits are, most expect us to know this about their insurance benefits at all times.

Every singe day I feel like i am standing in front of a fire hose going full blast and have to treat the patients in the office with the best health care-- no matter the cost But also have faxes, phones calls, lab results to explain, consulations with other specialists and then the 50-100 emails I am getting per day.

And it all has to be done right now or somehow I don't care.

One of my favorite patients got diagnosed on a Monday recently with a very common disease. With all of the testing we did he still demanded more information and immediate access. It was a Monday morning and I had about 50 charts on my desk, several phone messages, patients waiting to be seen and about 25 emails at that time. He had already emailed me more then three times before 10 AM. And then I phone him immediately. When I could not do so he decided he needed a second opinion and it all fell apart after that. And this was a minor diagnosis, that I knew the cause, the treatment for and had already ruled out other rarer options.

Needless to say, when he asked for and then made an appointment for a second opinion it was a gut punch that still hurts. I wish him well, but, thank God, he is not dying and his new doctor hopefully will not take advantage of his fear or his anxiety.

I admit the work I do is full of surprises and stresses and sometimes un-answered questions. But, if you cannot understand that, then you need to seek out other medical care. Do not add to the intensity of the fire hose. I never leave my office without the urgent issues solved or the urgent questions answered. But, sometimes there is a que for these answers.

Michelle and Shorts.... the weather is over 100 degrees

What is the fuss? This is one of the many reasons we voted for the Obama's in the rirst pace. Let her alone. Let her be comfortble on vacation....
Imagine yourself of TV 24 hours a day and be humble.

Way to Go Michelle. Still voting for you and your family.

Stockholm

THe most beautiful city in the world has changed for me. I love Stockolm. And, if anyone wants to invite me a long to just hang out in this land of Swedes. I am up for it. Taylor and I have still to talk. But talk about a beatiful, European sunny city on the water makes me wnat to leave the dreams of New York Behind and just go live out my days in Stockholm.

It was gay pride the whole week prior to our arrival and we arrived as "the OUT Games" were completing. Let's just say that the partipants were drunker than the locals observing the spetacle. But, al of the city's flags were Rainbow for the week. The Largest shopping mall changes ii's name for one week to "Pride House" and talk but a save and sunny and beautiful

Russia and Estonia and why I travel

I am having laptop problems, but wanted to let my family and friends know I am fine...just spent the last twelve hours in St. Petersburg, and yesterday in Tallin, Estonia. I have lots of photos and so much to say, but at 75 cents/minute on these cruise ships I do not want to waste too much money.


But, Everyone at least once needs to see both Russia and St. Petersburg and then to also see a formerly occupied "Soviet Bloc" country..... Tim, Taylor, and I were lucky enough to see The Czech Republic and I have now been to Croatia and Estonia....


But, I have so many thoughts about my personal history and how it has been shaped and how much internationational politics and history rule our lives and what we think and what we know and what we don't know.

But, St. Petersburg is by far the most beautiful city in the Northern Baltics/Eastern Block. One more day here tomorrow...out in the countryside and then on to Finland.

Berlin: The New Germany.... Where is the real Germany?

Photos will be coming. I just have not had time to edit them. But, I have to write. I am full of such horror and joy and emotion after my day in Berlin, standing at the Reichstag, the Kristalnacht memorial, the only synagogue in Berlin and numerous other buildings representing today and yesterday's Germany. I saw the built in shelves that would host the lost 25,000 books and manuscripts; My heart is full.

But, to stand at the site of the SS headquarters, the land upon which genocide was planned and acted upon. The numerous sites of horror and beauty that this city has is quite stunning. and, mind you....the original buildings are all destroyed and there is an outdoor memorial of photos as they redesign the new 'monument'. Remember this is 55 plus years ago and all there is flattened sand and gravel to walk upon.

Their holocaust memorial is offensive. The stench and names of the dead were no where to be found. The Gypsies, and Christians, and men who dared kill another man, and all of those Jewish communities and families are no where to be found. There is no explanation, story, apoolgy, etc. 2711 cement blocks, No Stench. No Explanation. No not even ASH, but cement that look like coffins in a variety of sizes and levels...no words, no apology, no explanation. Just the fact that the world is making them remember the nameless dead and destroyed that the country still cannot understand. The slaughtered millions...each with a story to tell. They burned their books; they stole their silver and china and art. They spat upon "The Jew'... not realizing in some ways we are all Jews.

I have stopped writing for a time after Berlin. I have much to say. Stockholm was my favorite surprise. Helsinki had the best tour of the day. But, I cannot get past Germany. Maybe some great artist can explain all of the death and now. I will try to put into better words. But, the stench of such hatred is missing. And, I miss it.

And across the street, almost unnoticed is another metal block with a window that shows a short film of men kissing each other. This is their 'apology' for the 50,000 men who were arrested under proclamation 175 that made it a crime of death for a man to kiss another man.

Germany has lived in denial for too long. May light and words and more art begin to enlighten hearts and divisions. May we all be able to acknowledge our sins and beg The Universe for forgiveness!

I loved the day, the horror, but the honor of bringing myself to this place of history and to bring my own honor to those who suffered and fought and the terror that still today fills so many homes across the world. But, this city and the country of Germany has still not fully accepted or explained themselves. Nor have they apologized appropriately for the terror and slaughter and horror they brought to this world

I hope some day to write similar things about the Taliban, those running the, the leaders in Pakistan who cow to the threat of violence done in the name of religion. I vow someday to call Robert Mugabe to account for the horrors he is currently reigning down upon the people of Zimbabwe. I hope our own country, despite electing Barack Obama, can come to grips with the hatred that reigns from pulpits to police halls, the racism, the homophobism, the misunderstanding of each of us humans as brothers first and then to understand there will always be divisions. We may never get past war and hatred and genocide. But, can we hope? Our young tour guide, yesterday from Roostock, Germany, told me that the young are tired of war and fighting. But, the suicide bombers, the soldiers in every religion and in every army seem to be the young.

Can we create a world where all, the young included, want justice and peace and understanding? No one religion over another? No dis-respecting one's religious faith over another?.....and surely not killing over it,

But, in Berlin, a new capitol city once again, cleaned up from it's past, one can tell that this country still a journey to go. "The Reader" in book and film was a good start in the past few years. 'Schindler's List" knocked us into some sense in understanding the depth of loss and also that even some can be heroes during times of terrible trouble. "A Beautiful Life" and "Bent" have taught us that even those imprisoned can find life and meaning among their suffering.

If you to to a group or church that does not preach "LOVE THY NEIGHBOR:" get up and walk out. Not one of those Christian, Jew, or Muslims groups that teach and preach division and hatred deserve your time or effort. If your religion teaches that they hold all of the answers and truth..run as fast as you can away from them. God has many plans and is loving, forgiving and kind We are all the chosen people. PERIOD.

We have a world to heal. Only today works. But, we need to know where injustice is happening now.


In Berlin, they had a night where they, along with 70 other German cities had a night where books were burned. They still burn books in America and other places in the world today. We are all Berliners--as John Kennedy reminded us in his memorable speech after they built a wall around East Berlin to keep their own people in....that all men who love Freedom and hope for a day where no walls are built to keep people from the truth and from learning and experience, the we are all Berliners.

They burned witches and still do in places. These are often Lesbians. Families destroy their gay children today in almost every society, Muslims hate the Jews. And I use such a short sentence to say that..because even the educated and gay Muslims I know are first and foremost anti-semitic. Maybe it goes both ways. I would not be surprised

Now that I have been there. Ich Bin Ein Berliner as well.

Copenhagen

I did not take my camera today....just wanted to wander the city and not be a tourist. Boy, Sweden and Copenhagen are expensive at the moment...thank God, we live in the U.S. right now unless we have to buy European goods.

But, tonight was about food, which is rare in Denmark, since there is not that much good food in either Sweden or Denmark. But, the city is beautiful, clean, and has neighborhoods that remind me of Seattle...from one block to another one can change completely their atmosphere and temperment.....

Leave on the boat tomorrow..... had dinner with two friends from old times who now live on the East Coast tonight...it was the best meal yet. Think of "The Herb Farm" meets "Poppy" on Capitol Hill or "Rain City Grill in Vancouver....everything is local and in season and was wonderful.

Thank you to my patients for giving me this break and for getting to see parts of the world I have never seen: Scandenavia. And. yes, Taylor, I went to a Swedish food market and bought pounds of different candies for you. But, Dave.....still no boxes of chocolate with liquor...maybe when I get to Stockholm.

Malmo, Sweden

My youngest son, spent some of his mission in Malmo, Sweden, the gateway to Sweden...and I got to visit for a few hours today. Just a ticket on the train from Copenhagen and there I was. It is a beautiful, small, and tidy place full of tourist traps..but the countryside is beautiful and with all the water that surrounds Scandanavia...who can complain?

Thank you Taylor for reminding me that it was easy to get from Denmark to Sweden. And. Thank you for being my son.

Doctor and pain medications, sleeping pills, addictive drugs

Just to remind my readers. There are laws governing the prescribing of narcotic and/or addictive drugs. When I say no to such a requests I can give you all of the reasons, but have rarely been asked.

If I feel you are lying or using more than one supplier for a drug habit then I will end our relationship.

If you are willling to recognize a problem then I will work my heart out to get you into help.

But the refill of drugs that I say no to always has at it's core an ethical and /or legal reason.

I just assumed that everyone in the world knew this.

Hiker lost in OUTBACK in Australia found

Hi:

I only heard part of this story tonight on NPR.....but google it. It will warm your heart. Two weeks lost and found alive and the dad had already done a memorial service, but still was so grateful to have a living son at the end. It is heart warming.

there are good stories every day.

Let's focus on that.

Communication with and from your doctor

Email....while convenient and modern and easy, can often lead to conflict between a patient and a physician. See below for the numerous email rules printed here...

I have had two examples this week, which ended sadly for both patients...both angry, hurt, calling me names and thus threatening to damage this work and my career.

Email is a short, uncomplicated way to pass along information. If the questions get complex, the issues become more than miniscule...it is always better to make an appointment. Email can be read in so many different ways.

Also, if you have a life threatening illness and are not seeing and communicating with the doctor more than once a year, something is wrong or you are not following good medical advice. If you have not kept a diary of your blood sugars or your blood pressures, or your emotional state and communicated it with you doctor in several months something is wrong......

Do not be afraid to bring up your worries with your doctor. Plan for your visits. Write down your questions.

Communicate these concerns.

If you misunderstand or feel angered by an answer, it may not be that was what was meant. Think about it. Yes, there are assholes in medicine, but most want to do what is best and right in our fucked up health care system. Most of my colleagues would go to bat for you in a second if you let them.

But, build a relationship with your provider. Understand that your provider did not create our hellish medical system. And, your provider did not give you any of the illnesses you have. Own your story. Be powerful in the relationship with your provider, but also recognize their humanness.

And, see the emails rules posted several times below.

Jennifer Hudson soars at Michael Jackson Memorial...

Hooray for Michael's Mother for asking Jennifer to sing this song.....One knows a star that one can't explain when they see one:

She is one of the greatest. Period. and it seems that only a few of us know this...... And she is just a girl who can sing......even when she wore her friend's orange jumpsuit on American Idol....Wow....to watch her perform with such confidence. Very few people know this, but I saw Jennifer in LA with the man that turned out to kill her mother, sister and nephew...

The stories of life....and loss and love and hope. Good for you Jennifer for coming back and just standing up and doing your thing. You are one of my personal heroes and favorites. I call down the blessings of heaven upon you and your new child soon to be born.

and, Michael...I wish we could have met and I could have warned you about all of the hucksters and snake oil salesmen around you at the time...

Vietnam, China Beach and why I have been so silent

I have thought about breaking my silence a million times. But, I went to Vietnam and other places in Asia in April and I still find that words do not describe this experience...about visiting a war zone, a people I grew up with as 'enemies' and then visiting them in my adulthood and finding a beautiful paradise where they profess forgiveness....



So here are two images from China Beach.....the real China Beach in Vietnam...in Da Nang....the China Beach I was quoted about nationally in the eighties trying to save an incredible television show with Dana Delany and Marg Helgenberger.... Included in this trip was a stop in Ho Chi Ming City....or as we American's know it as 'Saigon'...where I saw the places that were on our televisions in the Johnson, Nixon, and Ford eras.... Where our 'friends' were helicoptered out of and some left behind...


War has been on my mind for awhile now....both what our personal response to it is, our culpability and what our 'leaders' and 'friends' do in the name of freedom and 'democracy' do on our behalf....millions of Vietnamese were slaughtered in my life time over these issues....and today war rages in most parts of the world over religious intolerance, political differences, and hatred.

And, I am stunned.

I tried to save China Beach, the television show...even got to meet the stars of that show as proud supporter of "viewers for quality television or "VQT".... I watched the news of the sixties and the seventies...

and, now I am old or aging and I see war still raging among people and humans and families....and I am stunned.

Stunned into silence. I am unsure of who my enemies are. And, who my fiends are.

I need to go back...I would rather be with the 'vanquished' at this point.....and maybe I am. I am proud to be an American and yet, I am also ashamed of what our country has done in reality to people and nations and peoples....

I love freedom. I hope for mercy.

But, most of all I hope for an end of hatred and killing and division and for death and murder to be disguised by religious zealotry and politics.

We should each be aware enough that we own what our roles are in bringing understanding and peace to the world we live in.

I am not sure what else to say.

Except....travel. See the world; get to see the many sides of the story and meet your enemies....we may have more in common than what we wish to acknowledge.

Rob

I am proud to be an American represented by Barack Hussein Obama

I have just finished reading the speech President Obama gave in Cairo, Egypt today. I have so much to say, but I will add to this later, but most of all I am so proud of him and to have supported his presidency and I am so hopeful for a more peaceful world.
The first and foremost feeling I have is that we now have a Peacemaker as our leader.....and the 'so-called' "Christian" that led us the last eight years we now know what a true peacemaker looks and sounds like....and he is not from Texas and not George Bush or his puppeteer, 'Dick' Cheney....it is a man of experience and hope and love and who wants to change the world.

I will add to this later...but today's speech in Cairo combines with my trip to Vietnam, war as a 'peacemaking' attempt, and the Tiananmen anniversary are all tied together...

Work for healing. We can all live together and we can learn to listen and understand one another!!!!!

Rob

Tiananmen Square

This anniversary is very meaningful for me both because I got to protest at the Chinese Embassy twenty years ago in Washington, DC and because I have subsequently honored these protestors myself at Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Stranger, this week has some great writing and photos so that we never forget

To see the photos that go with this story you can follow this link...I could not get the link to be automatic:

http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2009/06/04/the-tiananmen-massacre-twenty-years-later


Frontline also has some great coverage of this story and this anniversary here:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/tankman/


I just spent an hour watching this PBS story...and am so moved... it is the enduring image of people standing up to government, military, violence.... I would recommend to anyone who can to spend the time with the front line series....to remember and learn the fullness of what we can about how a pro-freedom movement flourished and then was silenced by both a Chinese government and by those today in the West's technology companies who continue to work with this Communist regime to keep control of it's citizens.

But, this event, twenty years ago, as I struggled to understand my mission in life; to want to survive the coming out process and the mission in medicine I was called to, changed me is still evident today. I break my months long silence on this blog to remember freedom and hope and to be proud to have witnessed this time in history.

But, here is the story in The Stranger today:

The Stranger
The Tiananmen Massacre, Twenty Years Later
posted by JONATHAN GOLOB on THU, JUN 4, 2009 at 11:18 AM


Twenty years ago today, on June 4th 1989, the People's Liberation Army violently ended a student-led pro-democracy protest in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. The protest grew out of the funeral celebrations of Hu Yaobang—an anti-corruption and reformist party member—with crowds collecting around April 15th, 1989.

A few excellent sources exist on the events, and background that lead up to this peaceful protest and it's eventually violent end at the hands of the PLA. The Wikipedia article on the Tiananmen Square massacre, and particularly its references, are a decent place to start.

Even to this day, all the details and even the number who were killed or imprisoned is unknown. When I was a student at Johns Hopkins, I stumbled upon a collection of first-hand accounts and images from the clearing of the streets of Beijing, that I transcribed and scanned: (Some of these images are quite graphic.)




They stood there hand in hand, unarmed - the student pickets... The tanks moved forward, then paused and solders immediately dashed out, and apparently with their guns aimed at us. Many of the students swore not to give way and shouted slogans like 'Down with fascists!' 'Down with autocrats!' At this instant, the machine guns on top of the tanks were tilted down and started strafing the crowd.
All the people in the first row were instantly killed. Then followed the assault troops who raked the crowd with their assault rifles. The tanks then savagely rolled over the first row of the crowd, leaving a paste of human flesh behind its trail....




The armored vehicle approached quickly from the west. As the people were very closely packed, the vehicle simply rammed into the crowd. Immediately, I saw 8 people crushed under its wheels - their bodies were no longer identifiable... The armored vehicle moved to and fro, intending to clear the way for the troops to pass. As it had killed so many people, and as the crowd was determined to protect the unarmed students, the people used concrete stands to set up new barricades. The vehicle broke through the first line of stands, but not the second. Then the people used some iron bars to stop its wheels. Somebody lit a bottle filled with petrol, dropped it into the vehicle through its door and covered it up with huge blankets. After about 10 minutes, a soldier emerged, waving white underwear which he used as a white flag. There were four of them altogether, two of whom were old soldiers with white hair, their rank being at least above that of a lieutenant colonel. Everybody was very furious when they came out and was prepared to tear them into pieces. The soldiers said, 'We understand. We do not want to do this. But we have no choice. Please forgive us.' The people asked, 'Who will forgive you? You are murderers, you have killed so many people, you are so brutal, you must pay for it!' However, the students dissuaded the crowd from killing the soldiers, saying, 'Protect them, for if you hurt them they will have the excuse for further suppression.' ——

Hong Kong and a gay cruise

Hi;


Just to pass along that Hong Kong was everything it has ever been....busy, full of shops, full of art (anyone want to donate some money so I can buy more art?) the boat is small and I am not into the gay pretty boys around the pool.....so am doing other things and looking for my first off the boat all day tour tomorrow at Da Nang City in Vietnam....I am sure I will have something more to report

Thoughts in the middle of travel

I don't know why today I had to tell my family I love them....I am on my way to Hong Kong for a trip that will take me to places I still have never been: Vietnam, parts of Thailand, and Singapore....and as I wrote one of my brothers today.....I feel so blessed to travel and see the world and to let life teach me that I just want that to be my legacy..that rather than growing more cyncical by the day I traveled and learned and heard others' stories and cried with them and felt more compassion for the other as I grew older. I also know I have not been the perfect father or friend at times along the way, and for this I apologize.

If I make it back to my busy life I will update this blog, but if I don't that is what I want my legacy to be...that I lived fully and loved the good and hated the bad and tried to scream at all of the injustice I see in the world and in my personal life; I loved my sons imperfectly, but I loved them none the less. They are incredible. I love my family, especially those who struggled and loved me back despite my imperfections.....and theirs.

I am currently in Vancouver waiting for a flight to Hong Kong.......but this is what I feel as I sit endlessly in an airport and also every day of my life. I am grateful first and angry and sad second. The world is not perfect. I am trying to help improve it and I would ask that those that love me or care about me do the same.

Rob

Taylor's Homecoming address

Hello from Provo, Utah....

Taylor and Miles and (even though it is not the best photo of me) you can see that I am now clean shaven again.


Taylor left on his mission quoting scripture about how he was going to "thrash"a people and change a country and returned a humble, yet proud, young man who talked of love.

I am going to write more, but wanted to share this photo for now and tell both of my kids how great they are and how proud of a dad I am.

Anyone who has paid attention to this post will know that I have my issues with the politics and religious bigotry of the Mormons but I was once again reminded this weekend that my people, as a group, are good people at heart....I just wish that they could be more Christ like and work harder on solving injustice and poverty in the world than in counting numbers and working only to baptize....THe mission of Christ was not just to build a church and support a bureaucracy, but to reach out an heal those who needed healing and to love and teach each of us to love one another.

But, Thank you to the universe for bringing both of my sons through the fire of a mission experience in lands much different than they both knew and for their loving hearts and souls.


(And, yes, I know my tie is too long....I need someone to go with me to help me pack, dress and organize my life, but so far, this is how it turns out for me...)....)

A missionary sons comes home from Sweden

Miles and Taylor are finally reunited.... it has been a long time...and that is Jolene just to the right of Taylor....



Boy it is sweet to have Taylor back in the U.S....

and, it was sweet to be the first one to greet him...and surprise him. His Mother and brother and other family members and friends missed the arrival by about 20 minutes.... So Proud Dad today.

Emailing the Doctor

I am sorry to have to put these new rules into place. But, the work and the demand and the assumption that one gets to repeatedly and 'urgently' interrupt my day with email prompts these new rules.

1. Email is a free service for direct and non-urgent communication or clarification with the doctor.

2. There will be no treatment offered by email. If you are ill you must call the office and make an appointment to be seen.

2.5: ALL pharmacy refill requests are to be directed first to the pharmacist. If you have changed pharmacies, your new pharmacist will help you transfer these scripts.

3. If you feel you want to give me a heads up about what our visit is going to entail, then email is a good way to get it all down on paper, but please explain you do not need a return email so we can then go over it when you arrive.

4. Do not ask me where you should go when you have a life threatening emergency. You should go to the nearest ER or Urgent care center and you should know where that is in proximity to where you live. You should also not think twice about calling 911. Minutes count in Strokes, Heart Attacks, Appendicitis and numerous other instances.

5. If you email me, I will assume the issue is not urgent and will respond when I can. If you phone my staff wanting to know when I will email you back you will lose your email privileges and the staff have been instructed to make you an appointment. Your email will then be printed for our visit but not responded to electronically.

6. If your email is more than two paragraphs long then you should make an appointment. I am already spending two to three hours a day responding to emails. Complicated issues must be dealt with in person.

7. If you have a billing question please contact the office billing staff

8. Please read the numerous policies and FAQs on our website: htttp://www.capitolhillmedical.com many of your insurance questions are already answered there.

9. If you are emailing me three or four times a day you are abusing this system and I may have to abandon it for my own sanity.

10. Your name must be included for liability sake with your email. if your email address does not identify you please remember to sign your email.

I am sure more will follow.

AIDS ACTION AWARENESS DAY: FEBRUARY 18

Here is our HIV provider letter to the Governor and the Washington State Legislature:

February 18, 2009

The Honorable Chris Gregoire
Governor
Office of the Governor
PO Box 40002
Olympia, WA 98504-0002 The Honorable Frank Chopp
Speaker of the House
339C Legislative Building
PO Box 40600
Olympia, WA 98504-0600

The Honorable Lisa Brown
Senate Majority Leader
307 Legislative Building
PO Box 40403
Olympia, WA 98504-0403

Dear Governor Gregoire, Speaker Chopp, and Majority Leader Brown:

We know that Washington State is facing a profound financial crisis and a record deficit, and that as leaders you will be forced to make difficult choices during your deliberations over the state budget. However, we are writing to you today to implore you to retain funding for the many valuable AIDS and AID-related services in the state.

As health care professionals and HIV care providers we are committed to giving care to all who need it regardless of their ability to pay. However, our ability to provide care to those in financial need is directly tied to funding assistance we receive from the state.

As we look out at the landscape we see an ongoing crisis, with providers facing higher infection rates and growing challenges accessing quality care. On AIDS Awareness & Action Day (A3D), February 18, 2009, we will bring several hundred advocates to your offices and the state Capitol to highlight the challenges our community is facing.

On A3D we hope that you will remember that Washington State has been a leader not only in care for people with HIV/AIDS, but in addressing the challenge of covering uninsured children and adults. This state has been a national leader in making sure that the under and uninsured do not go without care or access to medications.

We not only fund the Evergreen Health Insurance Program (EHIP) well, but we fund prevention efforts and we fund the most nutritionally sound food program for the sick in the country. If we cut funding to these programs, all of the progress we have made will have been for nothing, and we face the prospect of turning people away, having some go uninsured and losing access to critical nutrition programs.

As physicians and healthcare providers we know that the uninsured receive care, but they receive it in clinics and emergency rooms when their condition is critical and requires the most costly forms of medical intervention. For every dollar we spend on prevention we save thousands if not hundreds of thousands in treatment costs down the road.

In the midst of a crisis that has tremendous human services implications is not the time to
cut prevention efforts. From our perspective as providers who see patients every day, we see the demand for services increasing rather than diminishing.

We believe that our investment in services should be equal to the healthcare challenges confronting the State of Washington. Please do not cut these essential services.


Sincerely,

Robert Killian, MD
Jeffrey Olliffe, MD
Guy Forte, Rph
Darren Augenstein, PharmD
Peter Shalit, MD
David Aboulafia, MD
David Holt, ARNP
Vy Chu, MD
Steven Carzasty, MSW
Steven Burrows, MD
Wayne Dodge, MD
Jamie Hasse, LPN
Pat Hogan, ARNP
Michael Syputa, LPN
Jason Thams, PharmD

New blog: capitol hill medical

SO...I am dividing my time to our new Capitol Hill Medical blog and answering questions asked of the doctors.... and am enjoying a lot.... you can catch us at: http://blog.capitolhillmedical.com

Look at the answers and ask one of your own that we can respond to....

Rob

Washington State's Budget Crisis means disaster for AIDS Prevention and treatment

Everywhere one turns these days there is crisis, financial troubles, friends and neighbors having lost their jobs or living under the threat of job loss. As an HIV doctor working daily with groups at the greatest risk of contracting or living with this chronic deadly illness these financial woes seem especially frightening.

I have seen some of the proposed budget cuts that are being tendered to AIDS services, insurance programs and prevention efforts that will turn Washington from being a proactive state working on prevention and making sure no one lives without care and access to health care to a state where there are waiting lists, loss of support and access to adequate health care will be more difficult.

This also at a time when HIV infection rates continue unabated and more and more need is forecast for health care.

From my office on First Hill looking out at the landscape of what is pending I want I feel a crisis brewing that could lead to more disease, more death, less access to health care and the loss of many of our valuable prevention efforts and support programs.

From Insurance expansion and access to medications; from efforts at peer education and preventative approaches; to feeding and housing the weakest among us, I would beg that budgets cuts for these vital programs be maintained at the very least current levels and not cut.

We are in a crisis that remains unabated. Help!!!
You can link to the Life Long AIDS Action blog and activities here:

BIN 941

So...enough of the personal stuff.

I spent the evening watching over the kitchen at BIN 941 (941 Davie Street, Vancouver, BC)...

This was my second visit....and although I still haven't share my favorite restaurant in the world with this blog yet.....This would be a close second. Undiscovered by tourists and brilliant should be enough to get you in the door... But, this hole in the wall on Davie street in Vancouver is literally like watching Top Chef compete dish after dish.... The food is phenomenal and creative and never served imperfect. Period. The wine list--stay with the local wines they recommend......

But, I will go back again and again.....


And yes, in a perfect world I would be Rick Steve's partner and co-guide, but for the undiscovered and non-tourist food and travel that make up much of the world.

Milk

Milk

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So...this movie could not have come out at a more perfect time personally or professionally. It was inspiring and thought provoking and sad, in a way, that all that we have lost along the way--the struggle just for civil equality and understanding in this world--still remains lost. Here is one of the heroes of our time...an imperfect man who tried to change the world. Thank God to Gus Van Sant and Sean Penn and all those involved in this movie... it was Brilliant.

Proposition 8: The Musical

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

My Resignation letter from the Church

I had planned on waiting till my youngest son had returned from his mission before making this formal. But, he has made it clear his choices and his feelings. I can no longer wait for this to happen. I have formally and hereby, publicly, share my resignation letter from the Mormon Church:

November 24, 2008

Member Records
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints
50 E. North Temple, Room 1372
Salt Lake City, Utah 84150-5310

To Whom It May Concern:



I hereby resign my membership in the church. I do not and will not meet with my local Bishop or Stake President, but do expect an acknowledgement from the church that my name has been removed from the membership roles of the church.

This letter is to be considered effective as of the moment you receive it. I hereby waive any and all "waiting periods" or delays for reconsideration and instruct you not to try to impose any such delays. As of this moment I am no longer a member of the church, and am not to be treated as such in any way shape or form. Any attempt to treat me as a member after your receipt of this letter, including any contact other than your official written acknowledgment of my resignation will be deemed an invasion of privacy and will be met with immediate litigation to secure my rights in the free exercise of religion. No official policies or procedures of the church can be used to negate the immediate efficacy of this resignation.

I am a father of two sons...I grew up religious and Mormon...I served a mission and when I got home it all got really complicated. I fell in love with a boy from BYU--but no sex was involved--just the feelings and the desire and the hope he would love me back.

I went to my Bishop with these feelings. He blessed me for being sin free and promised me that if I married these feelings would go away and just have been a test...

I married within six months to the only girl I knew and had ever really connected with...

But, six years and two sons later the feelings had never disappeared...they had only grown stronger and they infected my life and my dreams and since God had not changed me, I felt unworthy and that I should die...

But, I could not leave me sons....

And, after therapy and time I came out and discussed this with my wife and family... They all knew. But, had been too afraid to talk to me and did not know what to say.

Now, sixteen years later. I am out and proud and working hard to pay the bills, to keep my love life real and to have a life full and rich and rewarding. I serve my community daily. I still feel like a missionary in the church, still.

Then, Prop 8 passes and I am right back in that place where I am struggling to hold on to my relationship with my Mormon sons, my family is silent and some are true to the faith and some are not. But, my boys, my kids, the people who I believe helped keep me alive during my darkest struggles to understand what being gay and alive was all about are still very committed to their belief and their church and I still question if I have a family and if my love for them has been enough.

And, then I learn that some many strangers who want to save marriage have donated money and time and lies and such to a political campaign to interfere with my work and my love and my family.

I blame you.

I have stopped attending church, but was waiting to send this letter until my youngest son had returned from his mission. I did not want my resignation to hurt them in any way; I did not want to publicly criticize the church at any time that may hurt their growth through their missions.

I also hereby call you to repent. You have ignored the pain of your gay and lesbian and transgendered children for too long. When I look at the traditional family in our world today and what is hurting it the most I see divorce, abuse, addiction, dishonesty, poverty. But, I don’t see gay and lesbian marriage anywhere in the list of what the modern family is struggling with. Yet, you are willing to pile on abuse and hatred against those already outcast. Can you imagine what you could do for good in the world if you really addressed what the family is facing in today’s world?

Jesus Christ suffered for your sins. He suffers today as these children and their families struggle to find love and forgiveness and self-respect and dignity. He would be on the side of healing and not on the side of hatred and misunderstanding and ignorance.

Shame on the church for losing sight of what the Lord’s mission in the world truly is. I walk away with my dignity intact and I call upon heaven to rain down destruction upon you until you are on your knees begging forgiveness for the pain you have caused your lesbian, gay and bisexual childre--and their families-- for so long.


Sincerely



Robert Killian, MD/MPH
Seattle, WA

Rituals, Resignation, Calling upon the Church to Repent

December 1, 2008



Thomas S. Monson
President and Prophet
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
50 E. North Temple Drive
Salt Lake City, UT 84150


Dear President Monson:

As an Elder, and a father of two young sons, the youngest of whom is currently serving his mission in Stockholm, Sweden, I am writing to call you and the church to repentance. This may come as a surprise and a shock to be called to repent.

But, the church has sinned against those who are gay, lesbian or transgendered for too long. This sin against your gay and lesbian children has led to the destruction of faith; the destruction of families; to countless suicides. This has led to the loss of your mission to love your neighbor as yourself.

I am sending this on World AIDS day as well. My cousin died from AIDS in 1984 in Provo, Utah. She got AIDS from a blood transfusion during the delivery of her fifth child. She was the first person to die of AIDS in Utah. And, in honor of all of those we have lost along the way and the journey her death led me to in medicine to serving those most despised among us I send this letter on this important day.

I also with the power of my Melchizedek priesthood still intact at this point, I ceremoniously shake the dust off of my feet. I call upon the heavens to rain down the power of Heaven to bring you and your people to their knees in sincere repentance for the pain you have caused and continue to cause against the outcast and unwanted and their families dealing with this reality.

I have read the scriptures all of my life. I love my Savior. I try every day to live His example. Not once would he have entered a political fight against an unwanted minority and ignored what was the real trouble He was called to fight: ignorance, hatred, and poverty.

The traditional family is hurting. But it is not because there happen to be Lesbian and Gay’s in the world. No, the family is hurting because of divorce, abuse, addiction, poverty, gambling, etc. These are the true enemies of the family today. Yet, you have gambled the church’s growth and mission on institutionalizing discrimination against your gay and lesbian children and those like them in your community and in this world.

To sin is to deny your Lord. His mission was to call the world to repent. It was not to cause pain to the lowly and already hurting.

Shame on you, and shame on my people, the Mormons. And, I say this out of a complicated love that I feel for you and the Church.

During my years at BYU and my medical training at the University of Utah I would count the number of unexplained deaths in the Salt Lake newspapers of young men and women who died. Weekly the numbers piled higher and higher. The suicide rates of these many youth became one of the pains of my life and the ongoing silence of the church—now twenty years and counting is nearly as bad.

The reality of growing up gay in a faith that denies and ignores this pain has led me to the realization that my people do not love Christ, nor do they serve him. They serve a bureaucracy and organization. But, they have lost the work of the Lord somewhere along the way.

I am sorry for the pain that my actions today will cause my sons and my mother. But, I choose to love them even though they have repeatedly chosen their church over our relationship. I will continue to work for justice and love in the world to heal pain rather than cause it.
I beg you to get on your knees and speak your forgiveness to your lesbian, gay and transgendered children and their families.

Sincerely,


Robert Killian, MD/MPH
Seattle, WA

More Thoughts on Mormons, Marriage, and Being Gay

So...just so anyone who reads this understands that my emotions about my people are still raw......

The U.S. put a constitutional Amendment against polygamist marriages into the Constitution early in this century. For nearly one hundred years the Mormons have been playing the victim; claiming prejudice and bigotry and religious intolerance...... they play the victim well. We were taught in church how painful this act was; how discriminatory it was and how unfair it was to a minority goup.

And, they hold a grudge.

Now....a small minority group has a different view of marriage and they, the Mormons, without any intellectual honesty, put millions of dollars and their full faith and trust into the same type of movement and discrimination against another minority group--into constitutions. The hypocrisy boggles my mind. I learned my passion for equal rights and non-judgement from the Mormons. I learned that we treat those different than ourselves with respect and dignity. I learned to be an activist for equality and justice from the Mormons. Yet, here they are leading the way to evil and hatred and they now claim they are being attacked for being 'mainstream' and on the side of the majority.

So..here is the thing. If you are being victimized, misunderstood, and attacked...then you should feel pain, understand pain and recognize when others are being unfairly treated in such manner. If you don't then you are a hypocrite, unfeeling and unfair and unworthy soul.

I think it was Christ that worked for the unheard; the unloved; those that were despised by the majority. How could such 'Christians' have gotten this so wrong?

It boggles my mind.

Hypocrisy is alive in the world.

Don't buy into their victimhood. The Mormons are wrong. And they are hurting others, knowing what it feels like to be hurt, another group of people like themselves: the outcast and despised.....

Seattle Protest against writing into Constitution discrimination against GLBT community

This was written by one of my friends, a Gay Mormon, Steve Barden:



A bit of background: I am 53 years old, and out to myself and everyone else for a year and a half. That, in and of itself, is another entire story. I now have a boyfriend, and we have registered for domestic partnership. I am also a Mormon, though I am writing a letter to the Bishop of my ward, here in Seattle, to have my name removed from the records of the Church for several reasons. Again, another story. In the last year and a half, I have had an insatiable thirst to learn about who I am, adjust to it, work past the pain and rage, and make an effort to see that others don't have to suffer as I have.

Now, last Saturday, I marched in Seattle's protest against California's Proposition 8. Never in my life have I ever been politically active -- I never felt the need. In fact, much to my shame, when I lived in Omaha, Nebraska, I helped collect signatures in support of Nebraska's proposition in "defense of Marriage". Even then, something didn't feel right about it. Anyway, my boyfriend and I went to Volunteer Park for the march "kick-off", and were gratified to see men, women, children, gay, straight, many races, many religions, and many ethnic backgrounds, all working together to secure civil rights. I estimated somewhere in the neighborhood of 6000 people when I was there, though my powers of estimation are less than stellar. I was moved.

We went home for a short time, so that I could get a few things done, then I left to go join the procession. I met them on Broadway and began walking and chanting with them. I quickly moved to a position between the two giant flags, where I not only participated in the chanting, but ended up leading some of the chanting. I was excited to see so many people of diverse backgrounds, both gay and straight, lining the streets, cheering us and encouraging us. Only one person, an evangelical, hurled insults and called us to repentance or else condemned us to the depths of hell. If I had been half as clever as my boyfriend, I would have called back that I was on my way to the store to purchase a handbasket in which I could travel there.

I marched with the group to Westlake Mall, where the closing rally was to take place. I only saw four placards denouncing us with threats of hell fire, but again, we entered the square to applause and cheers. I was very moved, but it was nothing compared to what I saw when I turned around and looked up the hill. It was crowded with people marching, from sidewalk to sidewalk, all the way back up the hill, as far as I could see. I almost broke down and cried. You have no idea how validating it was for me to see so many people like myself, after hating myself for so long, and thinking that something was so very wrong with me (I had even been suicidal at first). This was a wonderful, nurturing experience for me, allowing me to feel the indignation, and vent the rage I've been feeling in a very constructive way.

I recognized in myself a passion that I never knew existed. I have a renewed sense of community, and I have a need to serve others. It isn't a service which comes from being "assigned" to serve, out of duty, and not out of love, as it was for me when I was active in the church, but rather, a need to serve which comes from inside me, and motivates me, and gives me joy. I even fear for those who would destroy me, and desire to protect them from the very machine which they have set in motion with Proposition 8.

It seems to me that this is no longer just an LGBT issue, but rather a general civil rights violation which has the potential of affecting every minority in the nation. I know of no other instance, in the history of the United States of America, when the established rights of a group of people have been revoked. This sets a dangerous precedent which can easily justify the abolishment of rights of religious groups, racial groups, ethnic groups, women, senior citizens, and so on, and so on. This is why this proposition is so pernicious -- it sets a VERY dangerous precedent in American law. We can no longer look at this proposition as only a gay and lesbian issue. It must be recognized as a general civil rights issue, and every minority group must be made aware of its danger. And here's the kicker -- every person in the nation belongs to one minority group or another, even if they don't know that they do.

We have to work for the civil rights of ALL Americans, not just ours. We must stand up for the rights of those who would see us eliminated, as well as our own. ALL Americans must be treated as equals, as the founding fathers intended, no one group having more rights than another. The time for full civil rights across the board has come, and we must demand them for ourselves, our families, our friends, our neighbors, our co-workers, et al.

It is such a shame that the media glossed over the protest, and have not been following the progress of the lawsuits filed against Prop 8. It's a shame that no one has heard that over a million people were involved in this nationwide, even global event. It's a shame that the speeches were not published, and interviews were not done in greater depth, and that our civil leaders have not recognized that this is a serious matter.

This was a life-changing event for me, and I fully intend to be involved, from this day on, talking with my friends and acquaintances, family and friends. I want to declare that I will dedicate myself to this cause, and I hope that many others will do so, as well, for the more voices there are which cry for liberty, freedom and civil rights, the more our leaders will have to listen, or know that they will be voted out of office.

Thank you for letting me share this with you. If you are of a mind to share it with others, please do. You have my permission to publish it, and to attach my name to it.

Elder Killian and Companion singing Feliz Navidad in Spanish in Sweden.....what a world...:)

Proud Dad:
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Thank God for the Internet and tonight, YouTube

This is what I would say if I were less angry and less hurt and less passionate and as smart as this man. Please share at will and watch this in it's entirety if you have ever once felt you cared about me.....and those I care about....
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Why I cry.......

So...I shed tears of pain this week and tears of joy. I have spent 16 years worrying that my sons will get it: THAT I LOVE THEM. I have spent 16 years of my life waiting for a time when we can get past religion and judgement and the self-loathing combined with the worry that my sons may hate me for being who I am. Sixteen years post 'coming out' as a gay man and as a 'gay Mormon' and 'gay father' and to have my joy this week--with the election of Barack Obama as President of these United States--tempered by the worry that once again the Mormon Church and their beliefs will somehow wreck my relationship with my boys, my sons--whom I love more than life itself--it is almost too much to take.

But, let us remember the good of this week. The Hope Of Freedom and the Goodness of Equality. The promise of America. Gone are the Bush years and gone is the despair of division and hatred and inequality. Gone is the fear that we cannot heal ourselves and the world we live in.

Here is why I shed tears of joy:

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The World Needs Healing and it ain't the Mormons or the Christians who seem to want to do the work.....

I have to admit that this post is a work in progress. I have emailed much of my thoughts to my family, many of whom are Mormon, about the devastating and evil work that Mormons and other religious people have done this week by writing into Constitutions discrimination against gay people.

Even this late in my life, I am still shocked that such hatred exists in our world.

But, first and foremost, let us celebrate the election of Barack Obama to the presidency of the United States. At this great and momentous time America has once again proven that we are capable of hope and being a beacon of light to the world; that we can in one dramatic move heal centuries of racial hatred and discrimination. I celebrate the repudiation of the Neo-Conservative hypocrisy and corruption that has plagued our land and this world for much too long. I look forward to having as our leaders people who understand the need to unite rather than divide; who understand that there is more about each of us that is similar than that is different. I welcome leadership that will avoid evil and perpetuating division and stereotypes.

But, on to Mormons.

My people, the Mormons, have sinned against their lesbian and gay children for too long. Mormons understand bigotry and hatred and misperceptions. They feel attacked by the world for their religious beliefs; they understand what it is to be outcast and despised. So, it is all the more evil and sinful when they work to discriminate and legislate against another minority group of people that are different than them.

No one I know or trust would expect Mormons to change their faith or their beliefs. But, if you don't support the idea of gay people needing to make their own families, to marry the person they love most in the world, then just don't come to the wedding. Why do these people feel a need to put into law discrimination? Why do they feel a right to tell me who to love and to comment on who I love when they would not tolerate for one minute anyone telling them their love is wrong?

I come from a very large Mormon family. We are typical. But, let me tell you, that in all of my family--cousins and aunts and uncles extended through several generations--that no one had a perfect or ideal marriage. My family, like everyone else I know in the world has problems and issues and some even have illness and abuse as part of their history. The Mormons may have an ideal of the family, but they are just like the rest of the world.....a people with good intentions who are usually imperfect.

I believe that Jesus Christ was an advocate for the outcast; He worked to heal divisions and taught love of neighbor as the key of His mission in the world. He would not once have tolerated a bureaucracy or group of HIs followers spreading hatred and division and misunderstanding of those outcast from society. My view of Christ is that He was an advocate for healing and understanding and forgivenness. All of us are human and all of us are brothers.....regardless of race, color, background, and sexual orientation.

Daily I see the outcomes of what being an outcast does to people. I see disease and depression and self-loathing; But, I also see people who despite their status as pariahs here in the world, have come to love themselves and to live lives full and rich--to serve their families and their communities. I am proud of my gay and lesbian and transgendered family who have worked on themselves to the point that they live their lives openly and honestly and claim their stake in the world just as much as their neighbors do.

The majority of money raised against the rights of gays and lesbians to politic and legislate discrimination were from Mormons. This means that they funded an ad campaign that included lies and negativity and further spread hatred and fear about gay people in the world. This is evil work. It is not what Christ would have been doing with His time and efforts in today's world. Can anyone imagine what 40 million dollars could have done to work on poverty, health care, abuse victims and therapy? Shame on my Mormon people. Shame on all of those who understand hatred and bigotry and prejudice who perpetuate hatred and prejudice against others. This evil was part of the cost of Christ's suffering and you have added to His suffering and the suffering of the very outcasts He came to save.

The Perfect Tuscany.....

Florence from the hillside Piazza Michaelangelo

It is hard to label a vacation as the perfect vacation, but our time in the countryside of Tuscany must rank up there among the greatest trips ever taken.... The traumas of travel are real....luggage getting waylaid by British Airways, gay men packing too much and thus having to lug too many suitcases through train stations and the narrow streets of Florence looking for the car rental shop...to getting lost learning to drive in ancient Florence and looking for a villa among many hills outside of the town....

But, renting a car, and driving in the countryside among olive groves and the fields of grapevines ripe with grapes just waiting for the picking was one of the highlights of this week long stay at the Villa Poggio al Merli....
The Bronze copy of David in Piazza Michaelangelo

We were able to see the art and history and the palaces and churches of Florence..... We saw The David and where Michaelangelo is buried. We drove to San Gimignano, Montenegronni (Which was Dante's inspiration for the gates of hell in his poem, The Inferno) and into Siena. We drove to Lucca and into Pisa to see the real leaning tower of Pisa and the beautiful San Pietro chapel it is built next to. We even spent a day driving through the Alabaster city, Volterra to the Meditteranean in search of the best wine in Italy from Bolgheri.....

This is Siena

Lucca, in the rain

But, by the time we get to Pisa, just 20 more Kilometers, the sun has come out and it is stunning...


The River Arno reflects some of the older buildings in Florence

This is from a hilltop in Siena

This is the center of town in San Gimignano.

Hello from Tuscany

Hello from The Villa Poggio ai Merli in the hills outside of Florence. Rome was a blur, and we have arrived finally in Florence. We will live our lives telling the stories of driving on these crazy roads and thank you to a local who got in his truck and drove in front of us to the villa in the hills of Tuscany.....and would only accept our thanks after being so lost.. What a beautiful and perfect spot for our week of adventure in Tuscany....

Meefers Highlights Seattle's Capitol Hill Medical Clinic

You can see all of this on the Seattle page at Meefers.com



BY: Michael Sarko




Posted: Monday, September 29, 2008


UNCOMMON PRACTICE



The reality of being queer means understanding that our sexuality may alter the way we are seen by the people on whom we depend. When it comes to those individuals who have access to the more intimate aspects of our lives, this prospect is especially worrying, and what professional service is more intimate than medical care? For many in the LGBT community of Seattle, the search for the right doctor ends at the intersection of Boren Avenue and Marion Street, at Capitol Hill Medical.

Founded in August 2008, Capitol Hill Medical is Seattle’s first general care office designed to meet the healthcare needs of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. Dr. Robert Killian, Dr. Vy Chu and Nurse Practitioner Dave Holt have set out to provide care based on honesty and acceptance for a community that remains largely under-served. The driving logic behind CHM is the importance of patient comfort. For anyone seeking medical assistance, withholding personal information can mean incomplete or improper care. For many who have fallen victim to discrimination by medical professionals because of their sexual orientation, or have simply opted to remain closeted to their doctors, incomplete care is exactly what they receive. Dr. Killian sums it up nicely when he says, “If we get the whole story, we can provide whole care.”

Listening to the stories of Dr. Killian, Dr. Chu and Mr. Holt, it becomes apparent that Capitol Hill Medical is the recent history of LGBT medicine in microcosm. Just as gay patients so often have to struggle with fragmented health care while searching for doctors who are properly educated about their needs, the providers at CHM have had to compete with the resulting overwhelming demand. One of the biggest problems, according to Dr. Chu, isn’t the dearth of gay doctors, it’s the lack of attention paid to the necessary science behind the care. In a time when medical practices rely so heavily on studies and statistics, the queer community must be included in the research and policy-making in order to have sufficient data to inform treatment. For instance, Gardasil, the vaccine for the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) has yet to be sufficiently tested and thereby approved by the FDA for use by men. This is all despite the fact that gay and bisexual men are considered at high-risk for contraction of the virus and 17 times more likely than straight men to develop some form of cancer as a result. However significant the danger, the medical community of America simply isn’t as engaged in LGBT-centered research as they need to be.

It is the hope of the staff at Capitol Hill Medical that their practice will provide an excellent example of what should be done to improve medicine in America. If the queer community’s care providers are visible, so too will the healthcare needs of the community. From the inside perspective, those needs are no different than those of any other community—Comprehensive care on a case-by-case basis without discrimination. Whether discussing the studies conducted by the scientists of our day or the kind of care all people require, whether commenting on the education of medical professionals or the education of our children in school, it is that word, Comprehensive, around which the care professionals at CHM focus the philosophy of their practice and their hopes for the future of American health.

Capitol Hill Medical

so, lots to catch everyone up on...

But, the summer has been full of so much stress and busyness. But, I would like to announce the opening of the first, permanent GLBT Community Health Care Center in Seattle. Three providers with several waiting in the wings. I have added to my practice a new medical doctor, Vy Chu and a Nurse Practitioner, David Holt. These guys are now open and building a practice to serve our community and to assist me create a space that is safe and unique to provide health care for our community. We are off and running in new space (although the address remains the same) and have a five and ten year plan to be in our own building or space and to have a multi-speciality practice that could meet the needs of all those who seek us out.

So, please pass on the news. The practice is open. We have new providers, finally, willing to see and build a practice that serves those with HIV, those who happen to be GLBT and their friends and family: Capitol Hill Medical, PLLC. Http://www.capitolhillmedical.com

Live the Gospel of Love. Affirmation asks the Mormons to stay out of Marriage fight

I applaud Affirmation, the national organization for gay and lesbian Mormons for the statement they released today:

Affirmation Issues Statement on the May 2008 Ruling of the California Supreme Court
“We encourage LDS leaders to find a new focus by preaching and living a Gospel of love and respect toward all peoples and all families”

May 30, 2008

Affirmation: Gay and Lesbian Mormons commends the California Supreme Court for their decision striking down the denial of marriage equality to same-sex couples.
“One of the core elements of the right to establish an officially recognized family that is embodied in the California constitutional right to marry is a couple's right to have their family relationship accorded dignity and respect equal to that accorded other officially recognized families, and assigning a different designation for the family relationship of same-sex couples while reserving the historic designation of 'marriage' exclusively for opposite-sex couples poses at least a serious risk of denying the family relationship of same-sex couples such equal dignity and respect.“

—California Chief Justice Ronald M. George, writing for the majority
Like all Mormons, the members of Affirmation believe strongly in the worth and sanctity of families—all families. We believe that the presence of more committed marriages will strengthen our society rather than weaken it. Like Mormons throughout the world, we believe that our homes can be like a small piece of Heaven, and that every person should have the opportunity to realize their hopes and dreams by being able to marry the person they love. We affirm the worth and dignity of all individuals, straight or gay, as children of a loving Creator.

Affirmation members look forward to the day that the LDS Church will be a welcoming place for gay Mormons and their families. It is ironic that a church which in the past has been so persecuted and excluded for practicing an alternative family model (polygamous families), can now be so invested in condemning and making illegal another alternative family model (same-sex couples and their children). But this ruling really isn't about Mormon families. It is not about temple marriage, or any form of religious marriage for that matter. It has nothing to do with doctrine. This is about civil marriage as an institution of the state—a legal institution based on core societal values, such as the worth and dignity of the family unit. Religions are not being asked to marry anyone they don't want to marry.

We urge the leaders of the LDS Church to use their energies and their funds not to work to overturn the Court ruling affirming the worth of the family, not to meddle in politics, not to spread fear, or demonize our families, but rather to work with us to counsel and assist individuals and families who have been devastated by the Church’s teachings that have caused family members to reject their children who are gay. We encourage LDS leaders to find a new focus by preaching and living a Gospel of love and respect toward all peoples and all families.

Affirmation: Gay and Lesbian Mormons

W. Olin Thomas III
Executive Director

David W. Melson
Assistant Executive Director

James R. Morris
Assistant Executive Director

Ten Years into Private Practice

A letter to my patients:

Many of you have commented on the recent footnotes to my email and some have heard of the trauma in the practice lately.

So, here is a few thoughts as I reach my tenth year in practice:

I do not practice with malice nor am I out to harm anyone.

As a primary care physician my responsibility is not only to provide timely care, but also to know when we need a specialist's help and further evaluation. I am often surprised by the expectation that some seem to have that I should be able to provide all care that they need; that there is a criticism when I refer to another specialist or seek the advice of another medical consultant. That is the role of the primary care physician. I would run as far as possible away from anyone in medicine who knows it all and who does not know when to ask for help. But, the assumption that a physician should know everything about every specialty is as dangerous and can prove very damaging to one's health. In my patient population I see this most often play out when someone refuses to see the specialist or delays care or does not follow the advice given.

What happens when a doctor says 'no' to a request?

Most of you usually ask why I have turned down the request or come in to discuss the issue. But, some of you get very angry. Let me remind you that I will have a very good reason for saying no. My job is to provide you excellent care or to direct you towards a better health outcome. The most common reasons for saying no are that I feel the request is for an inappropriate or even harmful treatment, or the use of the medication may be harmful, or that the request is for a treatment I am not comfortable providing. If you do not understand the response please ask why or come in to discuss it. There is absolutely no malice or harm intended on my part, but saying no is part of providing good health care.

This practice is a non-traditional practice. Most of you seem comfortable here. But, If you feel more comfortable in a more traditional multi-specialty clinic then please make this change. If you do not understand something, feel you are not getting what you need, or wonder why something happens in the office a certain way then please bring it up to discuss it with me. The relationship between a physician and patient is first and foremost about open communication. And, I believe I am at least the most accessible physician to communicate with in Seattle. Don't sit at home wondering. Ask the questions.

If you have a chronic illness that requires ongoing medication you need to be seen on a regular and timely basis. When you are on the last refill of your medications this usually means it is time to make another appointment to be seen and in some cases to come in for more blood testing. Please call for an appointment when you fill the last refill so that there is no break in your care. I am constantly amazed that patients can take very dangerous and expensive medication and expect ongoing refills when they are not monitoring their health, communicating with their doctor about the treatment outcome or refusing to have their blood test monitored as needed.

In flu and cold season most illnesses are caused by viruses. It is inappropriate--and can be dangerous--to treat viral illnesses with antibiotics. For many years physicians have placated patients' demands for antibiotics at the first sign of a viral illness, but this has changed. Medicine has gotten wiser and more cautious as the evidence is growing that this over-use of antibiotics is actually harming patients and the public health. Every year during the winter months I feel daily your frustration about this issue. I hear how difficult it is to take a day off work, how badly this illness is timed and how you just want a pill to make it all better. Every day it feels like I have to argue to provide the best care—which is usually rest and fluids. Asking for antibiotics for viral illnesses is asking for bad care. Sometimes a pill is not the answer to an illness. Please understand that there is no malice or malpractice in this. And, as always, if you feel you are not being heard or are getting worse then please come in to be evaluated.

And, finally. Email. Email is a marvelous tool for easy communication. But, in medicine it is for non urgent communication only. It cannot replace evaluation and observation. It is a service I offer free of charge and hope to continue to do so. I have offered this email access free of charge for ten years now and I get about 50-100 patient communications per day...I answer these between scheduled appointments, at the end of my day and as best and as fast as I can. This also on top of the two to three hours a day of paperwork and the behind the scenes battles with insurance companies and pharmacies on behalf of my patients. There is no ‘tone’ to my questions or short responses. I am usually seeking more information, trying to answer a question—which can be difficult in cyberspace, or I am asking the patient to make an appointment to be seen.

To close, it is a joy to serve my own community; to provide a safe place for my patients to come in to discuss their fears, their concerns, to build plans to better health. Thank you for the opportunity to be part of your lives.

The Failed War on Drugs: Thoughts after a decade of activism

For many of you who know me, this post won't be a surprise. But, I feel a need to put down my thoughts as I acknowledge more than a decade writing, speaking and thinking about the failed war on drugs, the plight of those who use marijuana as medicine, and how damaging the mistreatment of addiction is on the communities I serve and the wider damage this 'war' has on society in general.

We are facing an exciting time in American politics as change seems so clearly the choice we face. And, I believe, public and political policy changes should include discussions on what to do about drugs and how we talk about them with our children and each other.

1. Drug Use is rampant in our world. Whether that be alcohol, over the counter medications, nicotine, or the use and abuse of prescription medications or illicit drug use--our society uses drugs. We seek out pills and medications for illness, to feel better, to celebrate, to relax, to escape, to recover. The reasons humans use drugs can be as simple as treating pain to the complex interaction of psychological and societal pressures. But, it seems that the public and media driven discussion about drugs has not changed much in the years that I have been participating as best I can to speak openly and honestly about what is a drug and how drugs should or could be used as medicine.
2. The criminalization of human behavior seems painfully inadequate to address addiction and the whys of illicit drug use and abuse--or for that matter--abuse and misuse of legal substances are woefully misunderstood and poorly handled by society in general.
3. It is in this setting that our children are still being raised--in a society that drinks and pops pills for numerous reasons and yet puts simplistic answers in the media and classroom about "drug use". After all these years the simple answers--which continue to fail us--are the go to answers for parents, schools, law enforcement and the medical community. Just say no is not working. Putting drug users in prison is not working. Arresting and criminalizing addicts is not working to save them or our communities from the cost of their addictions.

I call upon medicine to take the lead in this discussion. We have spent enough money on a war against addicts and nearly not enough on how to effectively treat addiction and those affected by it. We have spent enough money putting flashing red lights around 'illicit drugs'--and not enough on how to train parents and churches and teachers on how to discuss the realities of why humans use and misuse substances; how to best speak to each other and to our most vulnerable in language that does not insult their intelligence but also lowers the curiosity factor; that acknowledges drugs as part of our world and human history.

I call upon politicians to stop politicizing this discussion for points and to call a truce for all to begin a better dialogue and discussion. The costs to our families, our health and our world is too high for political points to be had.

I call upon the drug czar to use his budget more effectively to stimulate open and honest discussion about addiction and harm reduction; to fund research into more effective means of treating addiction.

I call upon law enforcement to speak honestly about the lessons learned in this multi-decade war that seems to have created more criminals but done little to diminish the damage done to our communities by addiction.

Beware of Reparative Therapy

Beware of Reparative Therapy
By
Dr. Rob Killian

The brazen claims of "healed" homosexuals that one sees on occasion have reminded me of the time I, myself, spent attempting to find the cure for homosexuality. I wanted so badly to have these feelings disappear that I did everything my religious leaders recommended. This included not only religion-based psychotherapy, but also the singing of church hymns, wearing tight clothing to bed, and marriage after having been promised that God wanted evidence of my desire to change. Marrying a "daughter of God" was to be the ultimate act of faith that would bring me to a normal sexual life.

My religion-based psychotherapy was damaging--not only to me, but also to my wife and my family. I was introduced to the works of Jospeh Nicolosi, a Catholic writer and psychotherapist. He had written of his theories to cure homosexuality. These theories, based upon the assumption that homosexuality is pathologic, set out to define the cause for this pathology. What I did not initially realize, is that, in Nicolosi's theory, the assumed cause falls very close to home-dysfunctional families, distant fathers, overbearing mothers, jealous parents, etc. And if one of these is the cause for unwanted personal feelings and viewpoints it leads to blame and hatred and further dissolution of family ties. It also perpetuates hating a part of ones self.

Reparative therapy seeks to find blame for same sex desires then seeks to create new sexual desires for the opposite gender. In theory, this can sound promising to those struggling to not want their sexual feelings; those wanting to be ‘normal’ and to fit into their view of the world and how it should play out.

Reparative therapy attempts to create same-gendered non-sexual relationships for the struggling homosexual on the assumption that gay people have no healthy relationships with heterosexual members of their own gender. Men are encouraged to befriend straight men, to play sports, to discuss and explore opposite sexual feelings. Women are to heal their relationships with their mothers, to find healthy straight women friendships and to accept Christ and the patriarchal order that "God" has designed for the world. Reparative therapy does not offer wholeness. It seeks to compartmentalize the unwanted feelings into a hated part of one's being that is buried and ignored. Reparative therapy does nothing to heal this self-hatred. Reparative therapy does nothing to help deal with repressed feelings, nor do they prepare the individual for the various ways that repressed, unwanted feelings manifest themselves.

It is medical malpractice to advocate and direct patients to compartmentalize parts of their being into wanted and unwanted parts--to divide the psyche internally. It is a sad experience, as I know all too well, to deny part of ones self. The personal experience not only did not lead to mental or spiritual health, it gave me even more reason to hate my father and did nothing to assist me in loving my wife more.

Any psychologist or physician who would approach a patient with a presumed and preconceived agenda is definitely not worth the time or the money they are being paid. In fact this approach can be extremely dangerous to the health and spiritual well being of the patient. Any therapist or mental health professional that claims "cures" for homosexuality is lying. Do not be swayed by their words of sympathy or by the psychobabble. Do not be swayed by their degrees and licenses. These are snake oil salesmen or even worse. They are not ethical therapists or doctors. They have hidden agendas and the well being of the patient is not part of that agenda.

Reparative therapy is dangerous. It is based upon worn out theories that do not withstand independent evaluation or scientific observation. It is based upon theories that include lies about the history of homosexuality and the psychiatric profession. It is anti-science. The reparative theories have been dismissed by all independent mental health organizations and should be thrown on the heaps of discarded dangerous theories of mankind.

No scientific study has proved any efficacy for reparative therapy. No scientific study has been published which discusses the results of blame or the ongoing dangers of repressed self-hatred following such therapy. No study has been published looking at the heterosexual marriages that result from reparative therapy. No long-term study has been published looking at those who claim having found cures from homosexuality-like, how long the "cure" lasts, what the individual is feeling five years after therapy has been terminated, etc.

Now for those of you reading this who still feel shame or hatred for the part of you that has same-sex desires. Please know that these feelings are understandable in a world that teaches us that our lives are less valuable, that we are perverts and unwanted. It is not unusual to wish for a life of apparent normalcy. It is okay to struggle. It hurts to be different in a world that often values sameness. But, life can be full of joy and growth and peace as well as pain and struggle.

A life of joy comes only through self-acceptance and mental and spiritual wholeness. That does not mean that life has been without struggle or pain. This is part of the process of self-discovery and truth seeking. Struggle is worth the reward that comes with the ability to claim ones truth. Being gay does not preclude one from finding meaning and happiness in life. It does not preclude one from reaching their full potential.

Therapy may be an important part of the process of learning to love one's otherness; of learning to understand one's purpose in living. Health is more than just a normal blood pressure and normal body weight. It is spiritual and emotional health that will bless life. You will not get there with reparative therapy designed to "cure" you of your homosexuality.

The Church announces a meeting with Gay Mormons

After finding a speech I gave on Gay Mormons at a Sunstone event ten years ago, an Associated Press reporter phoned me alst weekend and wanted a few quotes about an announcement that the Mormon Church had agreed to meet with representatives of Affirmation, the gay Mormon group. The interview was lengthy and the reporter was prepared and asked very good questions. But, like many other times I have been interviewed for stories, only one partial line and one other quote made it into the story. There is much more to this story.... But, first, here is the article:

Dr. Rob Killian poses in his office in Seattle on Sunday, April 6, 2008. After decades of silence, Mormon church officials have agreed to meet with a gay Mormon support group. Killian called a meeting between Affirmation and the church a "small improvement" and said he thinks the church may be acting for public relations reasons and fears it will perpetuate a false belief that the church will change. (Source:AP/Kevin P. Casey)


Mormon church agrees to meet with gay group
by Jennifer Dobner
Associated Press
Monday Apr 7, 2008



SALT LAKE CITY -- After decades of silence, Mormon church officials have agreed to meet with a gay Mormon support group that has sought to forge understanding between the faith’s leaders and its gay members.

In a letter received last week, leaders of Affirmation were invited to meet with Fred M. Riley, commissioner of Family Services for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Harold C. Brown, the agency’s past commissioner.
"We’re pleased the church is opening up the possibility for dialogue," said Dave Melson, Affirmation’s assistant executive director. "Affirmation has tried 5 or 6 times over the past 31 years to meet with church leaders. This is their second response."

Affirmation has repeatedly invited church leaders to meet or attend the group’s annual conference, but the only response was a letter last year declining the conference invitation, Melson said.

In February, just three days after 80-year-old Thomas S. Monson was named president of the 13 million-member church, Affirmation petitioned the new leader to meet and begin an unprecedented conversation about gays in the church.

Riley’s letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, says he and Brown were asked by Monson to meet with Affirmation on his behalf.

"We believe that is always important to have the opportunity to be given better understanding of your points of view so that the church can appropriately understand your organization and how best to be helpful," Riley wrote.

The meeting is scheduled for August, Riley confirmed Sunday in an e-mail to The Associated Press.

Among the specifics Affirmation wants to address: the historical treatment of gays by the church, including recommendations for aversion therapies to "cure" homosexuality; recommendations for more effective counseling methods; ways to avoid family break-ups; and a change in the honor code at church-owned Brigham Young University that can result in expulsion for sexually active gay students. The same standard applies to straight students.

"None of this requires a change in doctrine," said Melson. "They’re good for both gays and the church."

Melson, who spoke with Riley on Friday, said he asked if the meeting would result in any change or was simply and effort to placate Affirmation.

"They said that there won’t be immediate changes, but they are definitely interested in helping ... that they are sincere," he said. "We would like to start to a dialogue, even if it isn’t immediately fruitful.

For Affirmation, which has about 2,000 gay, lesbian and transgender members worldwide, an official meeting with anyone from the church organization is unprecedented.

Founded in secret by gay students at BYU in 1977, Affirmation has traditionally been ignored by church leaders, Melson said.

Killian called a meeting between Affirmation and the church a "small improvement" and said he thinks the church may be acting for public relations reasons. He fears it will perpetuate a false belief that the church will change.

"There is no way under the current system or the current administration that our story would be even listened to or heard," he said.

Valerie Larabee, executive director of the Utah Pride Center in Salt Lake City, is more hopeful.

"Any time that two groups come together there’s a possibility, and I hope the possibility can lead to more understanding, more acceptance and less isolation," said Larabee.

Many gay, lesbian and transgender church members seek support from the center after failing to find the help they need at LDS Family Services, she said.

"Part of the reason Affirmation does their work is to build bridges," Larabee said. "This is definitely the building of a bridge ... sometimes that process is long and arduous."


Copyright Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Now, comments from me:

First:

I don't hate my parents. I was explaining that Reparative Therapy seeks to find blame for homosexuality--much of which follows the old line that a 'distant father' or 'abusive father' or a mother who is 'too close' to their gay sons cause the homosexuality. And, that if one follows the line that hating one's homosexual feelings in this setting leads one to learn to hate and blame their parents was where I was going with the story.

Second:
This is a public relations stunt by the church. The meeting is not with any leader, but with the very Social Services that has for years destroyed gay and lesbian Mormons by offering shock therapy, marriage as a cure. The very social services that does not have their clients, the patients, as their main concern, but a theory and religious organization as the most important focus of the therapy. The very social services that has led to increased rates of suicide among gay and lesbian Mormons; the very social services that has pushed marriage as a cure and thus led to many failed marriages, destroyed self esteem and broken relations between children and their gay parent. This meeting is not set until August--months from now...late in the summer.

Third:

I feel for those still trapped in their belief systems that place LDS Doctrine as paramount and their own struggles to understand or fit into a church that despises them, that teaches them to hate themselves; to put their own loving natures and gifts aside for the promise of a place in heaven. This is such a painful place to be. There often seems no way out. I have now spent decades observing this personal journey in many men and women. I can only offer the hope that there is a way out of this pain. That there is a life outside of such pain. There is a spiritual journey to be had. And, most importantly, God Loves you. God does not hate you; He is not ignoring your pleas to be changed; to be made 'straight'; to take away this 'gift' of being or having homosexual desires and curiosities. You do not need to destroy yourself or your families to make it right with God. There are thousands and thousands who you can reach out to. There are so many good therapists to find; There are groups to connect with; You are not alone in this journey.

Fourth:
Reparative Therapy is a false therapy and malpractice in medicine and psychology. Anyone who is offering it as a valid option to gay and lesbian and transgendered and questioning people is offering snake oil and bad medicine to you. Avoid them at all costs.

Fifth:

If anyone who reads this needs some personal advice or direction in private, please feel free to email me or comment on this blog. I have lists of books, online stories, therapy referrals, and other things to offer. I can point you in safe directions where you can meet other people who have survived this journey--even with a variety of choices and decisions. You can learn more about how to survive and come to understand this journey. You can learn to love yourselves.

Rob Killian
Seattle, WA

Shooting someone because they are gay....

Hi:

On February 12, 2008 Larry, a fourteen year old junior high student in Southern California, who happened to be gay, was shot and killed by his classmate, Brandon. Rumor has it that Larry had asked Brandon to be his valentine... Brandon, another fourteen year old was so upset by this display of affection and even love, that he took a gun to school and shot this kid.

We all live, I think, in a world where we live as if the world is better than it really is. That the jokes and prejudice and underlying hatred is okay. I have two sons who love their dad, but they still go to a church that teaches them that I am not worthy of their love and that I won't be in heaven with them. I have a mother who would rather spend time at that church than with me or my sister, who happens to be dating a woman right now. All she has for us is recommendations to pray and read the scripture. There are no questions from them about what we feel or how we think or what it does to us to see them spend their life and time on an organization that teaches misunderstanding and hatred.

And, it seems we hear daily about these isolated stories of bashing and murder and hatred. Society has gotten to a point of some tolerance in our larger cities and our lives. But, the message that it is okay to murder and kill someone who is gay is still visible if one looks close enough. It is okay to marginalize someone who is different than us is still the loudest message I see in my own personal story---despite years of struggle to be the best son and the best father.

What can we do to stop the hatred? Have we analyzed our own hearts and souls to rid ourselves of prejudice and hatred?

I loved Ellen Degeneres for taking the time the other day to address her large audience. And, I leave you with this video:
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The Mountains: The Himalayas and Annapurnas

I have so many photos and stories to share....and while I begin the food prep for Turkey today I am going to try to organize some of my thoughts about Nepal and trekking in the mountains....

Poverty, Women, the cycle of violence and ignorance

Hello from Seoul...three flights down and the last one to finally get back to Seattle leaves in a hour or so....I am ready for my bed and, I believe, a shave(!!!!!)...

I watched a movie on the plane from Kathmandu to Bangkok yesterday called "Provoked"...about a Punjabi woman in Great Britain who killed her abusive husband after ten years of being a battered wife...and it is weighing heavily on my mind along with the overwhelming subtext of my travels recently. One cannot just go see the sights of the world without also seeing the reality of the way people live. Asia is so vibrant and so full of natural and historical beauty. But, the poverty of so many people living in squalor is at times overwhelming....

Having grown up in the 1970s, I guess I must have assumed that the struggle for human rights and for the equality of women was world wide. But, here we are living in a world full of hatred, misunderstanding and where most of the world lives at poverty levels we cannot fathom in the West.

Lots of thoughts about how to help; how to make a difference still in the world even though I live thousands of miles away and have my own personal struggles and a community I serve daily in my work.

I believe it is unacceptable to live in the world and not worry about equality and human rights. I believe that the abuse of women and of those weaker than ourselves is evil and must be met with a united front of intolerance by the world's communities.

yet, I know that women often perpetuate this second class status; perpetuate the condition that leads to further abuse; raises children to perpetuate these conditions and attitudes. Religion is a very powerful influence here and there are whole societies still in the world where a woman is the property of the man in her life; where she has no rights both legally speaking and personally speaking.

One cannot see photos of the natural devastations such as the cyclone that hit a few days ago in Bangladesh and not see that women and children--the poor--will be the most hardest hit as far as suffering and hunger and the search for shelter goes.

In Nepal, the amount of children not getting an education, roaming the streets and the trails in search of food and a subsistance was, at times, overwhelming. One must really question governments and societies that does not protect it's children. The squalor apparent on the streets of Kathmandu, while not the most powerful memories I want to return with, will live with me forever. It reminds me of the overwhelming sense of outrage I often felt while serving as a missionary in South Korea as a young man and seeing such extremes of wealth living side by side....

For many of the world very little has changed.

Back to Kathmandu, almost back to reality....

Just off a final rugged outdoor experience in the Royal Chitwan National Park at a wildlife refuge...no electricity, no phone access..and of course no internet access...but a life time of memories... WOW!!!

I rode an elephant three times, spent two hours trailing and finally seeing a Rhinocerous...danced with the local tribesmen in a tribal dance last night and got to ride down a beatiful river in a dug out canoe.

I am proudest of making it off the mountain safely and without too much pain (boy those calf muslces climbing down hill.....)

I still have not shaved and even though it is incredibly itchy....I will see how it wears back home....:)

I have a million photos and tons of thoughts to share but will wait till I can download this from my journal and my camera to my own computer....

I will be back to work on Monday

Hello from Ghorepani, Nepal

Just finished the fourth day of trekking...hit our highest point today in the Annapurna range at 11,000 feet. I have so much to share, but this is a dial up connection and I want to share my pictures as well. The Altitude is fine..no sign of altitude sickness.

The mountains tower above us...they are majestic, silent, snow-covered and beautiful. I am moved spiritually and have lots of time to think, journal, hike...

Just to share, four days of hiking with a tent and sleeping bag means I have not shaved in four days, have only had a chance to shower once.....it is not pretty....but I feel rugged and very healthy....the strenuous climbing is really exhilirating.

Lots more to share....

Bangkok, Thailand

I had a layover for two day here in Bangkok, and am now just waiting for a car to take me back to the airport and on to Kathmandu this morning...It is hot, humid and a major city here in Bangkok...the people are very friendly. I used my time to get a new tux made and five dress shirts... There is a thrill seeing someone take a clothing idea and quickly turn it in to reality. So, Tim, watch out I also now have a tux that fits and looks marvelous...:)

So far the story has been about the ease with which one can board a plane in Seattle Washington and within a full day be completely on the opposite side of the world. This old man watched as Boeing grew from a baby into the huge corporation that builds the best jets in the world..but it is still AMAZING to me.!!!!!

There is a lot of sexuality on display here...no shame in being transgendered, a money boy,frequenting the clubs and saunas and dance clubs. I do get to add BAngkok to my Dancing around the world series....I was doubtful at first when the club with the only option before 2AM started the night with some of the worst drag I have ever seen and yet thousands of men and boys were there to cheer on the performers.

But the dancing started and after a couple of hours I went to the overflow/after hour club where the music wa GREAT and there was room to get lost in the joy of 'ecstatic dancing'

I am definitely living well.

Leaving for Nepal Today

Hi:

I am going to begin my long awaited journey to trekking in Nepal today.....but will not be posting on here until at the end of my trip since I will not be carrying my computer or phone up the mountain with me. I do promise photos when I can and will do my best to capture the experience in a journal I am carrying with me along the way.
Here a couple of photos from my trip to Kathmandu in 2005

Rob

My home art collection

I recently added two paintings by a local Seattle artist, Roderick Rojo, to my collection in honor of the remodel in my life and in my condo. I wanted to show them off here and to highlight some of my other art....the photos are not the best and as I can I will update them...but you will all be invited to the house warming when I unwrap the remodeled condo and start having dinner and cocktail parties again....
This is titled 'Seethe' and is 48" by 60"

This is 'Carapace' and is smaller:

Roderick will be showing his new collection at a gallery on November 29, 2007. Please let me know if you would like more information to see this new and talented artist in Seattle.

The next three pieces are by a Portland artist, represented locally by the Friesen Gallery, Matthew Denison. I love these pieces of whimsical and complex art about identity and gender.




A friend from high school, Evan Ferwerda is now painting and I have two of his early pieces. Here is the larger of the two.


Here is a very popular painting among my friends..it is a painting that is covered with glass tiles and the grout is painted to match the painting underneath it. It is done by my friend, Cassandra Blackmore.

This piece, I commissioned by a Houston Artist, and is titled: "Blue Rain". It is based upon a poem I wrote when I was coming out, missing my hometown of Seattle, missing my boys, and my family and hoping for a better future as an openly out and honest gay man.

I have several paintings, sculptures, and artisitic photos by local artist, STeve Jensen. Here are a few of the things I have by him:



This is a version of Warren Knapp's "Circle of LIfe" (a local Seattle artist whose studio is on Bellevue Way). I commissioned this from an earlier painting he did that had previously sold to another collector.

And, then I have my three Ghost paintings from China and a copy of a Terra Cotta Warrior that I truly love. I feel him watching over me and my home....




This I call "The Gladiator"


And, I will leave you one last Steve Jensen: "My Man's Back"

HRC Gala Dinner, Seattle, with T.R. Knight and Jane Lynch

Glamour, black tie and lots of alcohol always seem to bring the chic to Seattl each year as we gather to raise money for the Human Rights Campaign...and this year was no exception....Thank you to my friends and family who filled the table I sponsored and donated both their time and talents to make this years' dinner a great success....

Besides all of the great people and how fun it was to see everyone dressed to the nines...and to bid on exceptional auction items, our celebrity guests...from M.C. 'Ross the Intern of The Tonight Show fame, and T. R. Knight our gay surgical intern on 'Grey's Anatomy" and the honoree, Jane Lynch from the Christopher Guest players and The L Word made it all very special. Everyone was gaga over T. R. Knight--who seemed shy in his celebrity status and yet delivered on of the most simple and powerful messages of power and pride as a gay man that we all needed to hear.






My friend, Ward, who I met on my China excursion last year joined our table and spent the weekend visiting from Fort Lauderdale....He seemed to fall in love with Seattle and even mentioned that he could live here. We now just need to find him a boyfriend.

Glenn, my office manager and his partner, David joined us as well. They are now living in Granite Falls and have opened their seventeen acre Llama and Alpaca farm. Check out their website, pacapride.com...it is amazing and beautiful.

I am always amazed at how many people do not attend these events. They are fundraisers to support our very work for civil liberties in WAshington, DC and around the states...this is the group that helps push legislation and supports good proggressive candidates across the country. HRC is one of many worthy causes we should be donating our time and money and support to. Please join today--even if it is a simple membership and volunteer. Http://www.hrc.org.... And, maybe we can see you at the fundraisers and social events for the coming year as we gather our strength and power for the 2008 election cycle....

Kudos to the great local dinner captains for a fantastic evening.

Atlanta, The Largest Aquarium in the World, Birthdays and a third date with John

How is that for a long title? I just got back from a great birthday weekend in Atlanta, courtesy of my friend John (Whom I met in Mykonos in July)....I got to meet many of John's friends at my birthday party on Friday night with The Crimson Party"...We all had to wear something red and the house was full of red and a signature red cocktail was served....What a great group of men and women who made me feel very welcome and who obviously love John.

One of the highlights of the weekend was the chance to get to the largest Aquarium in the world--in downtown Atlanta. The beg drawa there was the 61 million gallon 'ocean' tank...which was phenomenol. The following were all taken with my iphone. The first one is my favorite. Taken from a tunnel under the tank This is a sawtooth shark from below....


And, here is a grouper in the Ocean tank:

And a Beluga Whale:

And another view of the Whale Shark.....

John took me to Wisteria, his favorite restaurant in Atlanta for my birthday dinner last night...it was great...great food, romantic, I even splurged and had cobbler for dessert.....:) Great way to turn 47!!!!

Corfu: The Greenest of the Greek Isles

Our last stop in Greece--after a full day at sea since leaving Istanbu--brought the boat to Corfu... This quaint, green island was, especially for those of us from the Northwest, the most beautiful place we saw. Trees, sailboats dotting the horizon and a small old city that was extremely relaxed, less tourist oriented and overall calmer than the other Greek ports. Across the bay is Albania....and the promise of Croatia the following day.

Istanbul: A City on Two Continents

It has been a life long dream to get to Turkey and to see Istanbul. This dream was made stronger after reading the incredible book, "My Name is Red" by Turkish author Orhan Pamuk...which was set in sixteenth century Istanbul. The thought that our cruise would be diverted and not dock in Istanbul was a real fear only allayed by our greeting and welcome the day before in Kusadasi.....

I got up at dawn to watch the boat arrive into the Bosphorus strait in approach the inlet where Asia meets the European Continent.




Highlights included lunch on the river overlooking the city; Seeing the blue Mosque and Topkapi Palace where the Sultans used to live and the Grand Bazaar, the fifteenth century covered bazaar full of stall and businesses selling rugs, clothing, ceramics and jewelry....it was full of both tourists and locals. It appeared to be the center of much of the action in old town Istanbul. The sounds and smells of the place even today bring a smile to my face.

Here is the last stop on "The Orient Express"..the train station in Istanbul...where coincidentally the train from London had just arrived the day prior and was preparing for the return journey...

Mestrovic, A Croatian Sculptor... A day in Split, Croatia

For those who don't know me well, I am a fan of art.....of all kinds, but especially of paintings and sculpture. One of the joys of traveling for me is the discovery of new art or an artist I have never heard of. My earliest memory of this discovery in my adulthood was the day I spent in a Philadelphia museum learning of and enjoying Brancusi's work..... My day in Croatia was such a moment. I had chosen to get away from the 'ruins' and to discover art and the most beloved artist in Split, Croatia is their native son, Ivan Mestrovic. He is mostly a sculptor, but also drew. His medium was either Walnut, bronze, marble or plaster...

His work is full of a religious nature. His Pieta is both painful and beautiful....nearly as dramatic as Michaelangelos in St. Peters in Rome.

Here is his St. John the Divine....

But, he is best known for his love of women and the care that he creates their curves and capturing their pain. It may be hard to get a sense of this without photos of the many pieces in the gallery that were not to be photographed....but here are a few pieces to enjoy....




Having worked the first half of this century, in a society that was destroyed and changed by world wars and then communism, the common man is also a common theme. There are pieces in his gallery of families with horror and hunger on their faces. And then throughout the city of Split his work is found in churches and public squares.... I found it moving and refreshing to see such an artist in a country that is just waking from nearly a century of isolation and destruction.


I found Split to be a beatiful spot very different than Greece. The center of town is focused around the huge palace built by the local son who became Roman Emporer in the third Century...known as the Diocletian Palace. This third century structure largely remains intact and from this ancient city one can witness how religion changed and time also added to a city's structure...for on top of the palace homes were built, mausoleum's and temples changed into Catholic Churches; military barracks now as apartments....

The Ephesians...Ephesus....in Turkey

So, the biggest story as we enter Turkey is that Kudasai, the port is welcoming a gay cruise--in a predominantly Muslim country. There are rainbow flags in the shops along the port and businesses and people are very welcoming.

But, just a few kilometers away is the famous and barely excavated city of Ephesus.




This is where John, the Beloved took the mother of Christ after the Crucifixion. This is the city that welcomed Paul and to whom he preached and wrote letters found in the New Testament.

The ruins were full of tourists.....the most and busiest place we stopped at during this cruise. There were religious pilgrims (there is even a 'house' which the Catholic church now claims is the house Mary lived in--outside the city wall....As our tour guide admitted, this is only speculation and the house is a 'reproduction'. But, if it is truly the place where the mother of Christ lived....she chose to live outside of the huge city for reasons that would include the animosity she felt for the Romans (whose city this was)....or so our Tour Guide told us).



I am just so happy to be in Turkey.....to have this cruise ship dock in a Muslim country. The Sunshine and heat are both exhausting, but beautiful.

We toured the site of the first church dedicated to John just above the old ruins of Ephesus as well.

Rhodes, Greece....

So, more ruins, another Greek Island, sunshine and a walled city. Now, as I write this one week later, exhausted from so much excitement on the boat and the daily excursions I long for a Greek Island with just sunshine and beaches and nothing to do. Rhodes, a walled city was just as charming and calm as the other islands I have now visited.

I must say that with so many ancient cities now lying in ruins or un-excavated....they begin to blend in my mind. But, each site contained a history that was long, proud and fascinating. Here on Rodos (as Rhodes is called by the Greeks) the ruins were of a large city built by the farmers who grew olives and other agricultural goods to trade with other islands and among the civilizations along the Aegean sea.

Delos and Mykonos....

So...back to Mykonos to start the "Gay Cruise..."...which means there is not much to tell you about Athens...(Yes, go there once, but you will never need to go back)...

God, I love the sun...and I love Mykonos...such an idyllic town and setting.

I got out of the boat on my first day of the cruise to see more ruins...Delos....an ancient city destroyed because of it's prosperity and success....anciently one of the economic centers of the Mediterranean and advertised as the 'party city' of it's time....

I will write more about 'why gay travel?'...but this cruise is proving to be more for me than even hoped. The only thing lacking is a man to share it all with and to hold my hand with as we see the sites, smell the smells and taste the local wine....

So, below are photos from Delos...

Hello from Istanbul

For those checking in.....I have very limited and expensive Internet connection on the boat...But, "Gay Cruising" is definitely a great way to vacation.....I have so many things to say, talk about....lots on my mind about this year of intensive travel.

But, today I am in Istanbul, Turkey......definitely a great place to visit and definitely a place to come back to. eight hours in port is just enough to get a taste of this great city of 14 million people. There is a great book that I read last year that won many awards called: "My Name Is Red" that is set in ancient Istanbul by a Turkish author that I would definitely recommend.....and can't wait to read it again now that I have walked through the Grand Bazaar and the Palace and the other sites of old town....

I'll write more when I can. But, I am having one of my favorite 'times of my life'....

Delfi....a Day trip outside of Athens

So...hello again from Athens and Greece. Twice in one year is making my brain spin a bit. But, I live with the universe giving me gifts and I don't question all of the reasons yet...I now know why I was supposed to be in Mykonos last month....but here I am back in Greece, preparing for my first ever "Gay Cruise".

I have to admit, I was not looking forward to the beginning of this trip...another two days in Athens with temperatures pushing 100 degrees and not much to see other than the Parthenon.....to admire the Acropolis from afar.

Well, I got into town last night and the concierge helped me book a day trip to Delphi.....the home of Apollo's temple and a sacred site..with so many archeological benefits that one could spend a life time elucidating all that happened here and because of the work done at this sacred place in Greece history. But, the site includes not only the temple and all of the area or a religious nature..the buildings and various offerings and monuments...but, also the stadia and the gymnasium (Schools) that they have unearthed. The amphitheatre where poets such as Homer delivered their timeless and classical views of life and purpose.

Here are the four remaining colums of the most important temple rebuilt the third time in th 3 fourth BC period. this is where the oracles or prophecies would be given to reish and other powerful indidivuals and groups. The remains around this large temples are the various "tithings' places for various families and city-states--to store their valualbe offerings.
This is the real stuff. this is where centurires of decisions were made in communication to the gods of the times down to the nit-picky way to get into war and feed a comunity and serve a nation.




The drama lover that I am...the writer and the on who would know best what had taken place at this various amphitheatre made it the most interesting stop today. There thousans could participate and witness teh dramas and comedies; heard some of the greatest literature of al time performed here.... or Read here as they say in the poet's world.
It took me a moment to honor the setting, the history, my membership as one who thinks and writes and would love to have somethign to say to a gathered group at such a staidum.

Here is a intact, basicaly stadium. It is where the games and competitions could be performed. it sits at the top most point of the complex...it works one's deepepest strength just to attend and cheer on your favorite.. but iti also very well preserved....stone staium seats. I thought alot about Tayloy and My trip the Rome Olympico Stadium...Just change the history and purpose of games and you could have his in Rome.




Can't you picture the early Gree poets and playwrights and writers of music trying out their themes here at the temple of Adona. Mayby if one of you with lot so time could fine the appropriate HOMER poem about ths time adn how important ths temple and gymnasium are I could add to this entty.


And, here, in Greece is once again visual acknolewgement that one of their great leaders, Hadrian, had young Male companion--whom he loved. This is one version of his male lover who died way too soon and became a 'demi-god' in Greece by decree of Hadrian. There it is out there in the open and honest. His likeness is the best preservered and well cared for. Love has very few boundaries. What a great way to end up the display.

And, just to make this note as interesting as possible. It is nearly 40 degrees in Athens today...Hot, Sizzling, all you want to do id drink and sit by the pool or in the pool. One of my tour companions, A chef named Paul, today after we both decided we could not eat the buffett lunch that this hotel had prepared for us would go out and sit at the pool and wait. Well our feet got in this cool refreshing water and within minutes I had all of my clothes off except fro my dark blue underwear and I went swimming. It was remarkable and refresshing. Private, but I got out of my day clothes and went swimming in my underwear in Delfi today. No one on the cruise seemed offended. But, no on joined in.

Beaches: Puerto Vallarta....Dancing and the Sun.....

I thought I would pass on a few photos of me from Mexico....it was a great vacation...and I love the sun. Who knew even an old geek like me would want to sit on a beach and also dance until dawn?


Got to love those ten dollar Prada knockoffs....

Miles: Thoughts about my oldest son.....

What a great week. And, I am a proud dad. And, so happy to have Miles home with us again. He has grown up so much, and yet, his silliness and personality are so present after his two year mission to Argentina. On our last full day in Puerto Vallarta, when we all were just relaxing on the beach, doing our own thing, Miles came to visit me at the gay beach, The Blue Chairs. He joined the group of my friends--who found it very interesting to have a young son visit his gay father. He quickly set them straight that I wasn't the most unique or weirdest one in my family...his way of giving the old man a compliment. But, for those of you who watch this blog...here is my son: home from his mission, 21 years old, silly and serious and just a great young man.