Rush for gays

Affirming Services Address Gay Health Disparities 

Here at Affirm: The Rush Center for Gender, Sexuality and Reproductive Health, we understand that LGBTQ+ people justify the same quality of health protect as their cisgender/heterosexual peers, but gaps exist in the system that steer to health disparities.

Physical health can also be greatly affected from long-standing internalized stigma, trauma and socioeconomic disparities, putting you and your loved ones at greater risk for conditions and diseases, including the following:

• Alcohol, tobacco and substance misuse
• Anxiety
• Eating disorders
• Mood disorders
• Suicide and suicidal thoughts

Physical health can also be greatly affected, putting you and those you treasure at greater exposure for conditions, diseases and infections including:

• Greater likelihood of obesity
• Higher rates of HPV infection
• Increased likelihood of chronic conditions
• More likely to rate health as poor

These health risks are compounded by lack of access to necessary care, which means the following conditions are more often true:

• Less likely to fill prescriptions
• Lower likelihood of having health insur
  
  

  Poppers

  What's the Score?

  Poppers are also known as: amyl/butyl/isobutyl nitrite, amyl (especially in Australia, where it's promounced 'ammul'), aromas and by brand names like Liquid Gold, Rush, etc. They're often (but wrongly) called 'nitrates', which is a similar, but other chemical.

  Poppers are a liquid made from chemicals from the alkyl nitrite family. The designate comes from the days when they came in glass capsules that popped when broken open.

  Sex on Poppers

  Poppers can make you feel horny, bring down your inhibitions and make orgasms feel stronger. Because they loosen the sphincter (the muscle in the arse hole) poppers can make it easier to be fucked or fisted. They can cause a man to surrender his hard-on too.

  Research shows poppers might play an essential role in HIV being passed on. The reasons could be:

  • poppers can lower inhibitions, making unsafe sex more likely
  • there's a bigger risk of the arse bleeding (poppers expand blood vessels inside the arse)
  • and/or poppers might make the immune system weaker for a fleeting time, so that people are more open to infection.

  It's thought the biggest risk of HIV being pass
  

  How are they used?

  Alkyl Nitrites are inhaled, most often directly from the bottle.¹

  Never swallow or inject alkyl nitrites.¹Incorrect apply can cause grave harms including blindness, brain damage, organ failure and death.¹

  Alkyl Nitrites are used for their muscle relaxing and euphoric effects.¹ They’re commonly used to boost sexual experiences.⁵ They’re also used as a ‘party drug’, to experience a general sense of pleasure and euphoria.⁶

  Alkyl nitrites are often labelled for other uses, such as a boot/leather cleaner, room deodoriser or nail polish remover.¹ These labels often state ‘not for inhalation’, which can lead to confusion and, in some cases, people swallowing it instead.¹

  Effects of alkyl nitrites

  Use of any drug can have risks. It’s important to be careful when taking any type of drug. Alkyl nitrites will affect everyone differently, based on:

  • size, weight and health
  • whether the person is used to taking it
  • whether other drugs are taken around the same time
  • the amount taken
  • the force of the drug
  • environment (where the drug is taken)

  The effects of different alkyl nitrites are similar, but some are more potent than others.⁷ I
  
  

  Dangers of Poppers

  Poisoned?

  Call 1-800-222-1222 or

  HELP ME online

  Prevention Tips

  • Avoid use of poppers, as they can result in significant health problems and even death.
  • Keep poppers safely away from children and pets.
  • Be wary when buying or using energy shots and read the packaging carefully to ensure that the ingredients do not contain nitrites.

  This Really Happened

  A 62-year-old man developed a headache, nausea, vomiting, and unsteadiness within an hour of drinking less than 2 tablespoonfuls of “Jungle Juice.” At an emergency room, his blood oxygen saturation was found to be dangerously low. He was admitted to the intensive care unit for further treatment. A blood test diagnosed methemoglobinemia, and he was treated with the appropriate antidote and made a full recovery (from Tello et al., 2021).