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This body-positive, fabulously queer music video has a critical message behind it.

There's a new super queer, bright, and merry music video you won't be able to watch without smiling and singing along.

[rebelmouse-image 19534500 dam="1" original_size="500x244" caption="GIF via Howard Brown Health/YouTube." expand=1]GIF via Howard Brown Health/YouTube.

It happens to be all about preventing HIV, too.

The song, brought to you by the team at Chicago's Howard Brown Health, is aptly called "Let's Talk About PrEP."

Based off Salt-N-Pepa's original bop, "Let's Talk About Sex," Howard Brown's version aims to inform viewers about the benefits of accessing PrEP (or Pre-exposure prophylaxis) — a medication that, if taken daily, drastically reduces the chance of HIV transmission.

[rebelmouse-image 19534501 dam="1" original_size="500x247" caption="GIF via Howard Brown Health/YouTube." expand=1]GIF via Howard Brown Health/YouTube.

Who knew a song about sexual health could be so damn delightful?

Watch "Let's Talk About PrEP," starring rapper KC Ortiz (story continues below):

"We need to talk about PrEP and HIV in our community," Ortiz says in a statement given to Upworthy.

"When we talk to our partners and our loved ones about sexual health, we are eliminating stigma," says Ortiz, who is transgender.

First approved by the FDA in 2012, PrEP has become a critical component in combating the spread of HIV. Many health providers and LGBTQ advocacy groups have made growing awareness and expanding PrEP access a priority throughout the past six years. Howard Brown, for instance, is one of the nation's leading prescribers of the medication, accounting for roughly 10% of all PrEP prescriptions in the U.S., according to CEO David Munar.

[rebelmouse-image 19534502 dam="1" original_size="500x244" caption="GIF via Howard Brown Health/YouTube." expand=1]GIF via Howard Brown Health/YouTube.

Some obstacles stand in the way, though.

Truvada, the drug's brand name, has surged in price since 2012, alarming health officials who are aiming to get the medication into more hands.

"We have the most effective tool for ending the HIV epidemic, and one reason we're unable to scale up is because it costs so [much] unnecessarily," James Krellenstein of advocacy group ACT UP New York told NPR in June.

While PrEP remains free or at low-cost for many, a larger share of the price tag continues being shifted onto patients' shoulders, making the medication inaccessible for those most at-risk of HIV infection — namely, low-income people of color in the LGBTQ community.

Still, we have the opportunity to end HIV/AIDS once and for all.

"We are on the precipice of an HIV-free generation," says Erik Roldan, director of communications for Howard Brown. "And PrEP is one of the tools we need to get us there."

We need to talk about PrEP (baby), and continue getting it into the hands of those who need it most.

Want to learn more about PrEP? Get info on how it works and where you can access the medication in your area at the CDC website.

Community

Facebook group brings people together IRL to make meaningful friendships

True

Making new friends as an adult is challenging. While people crave meaningful IRL connections, it can be hard to know where to find them. But thanks to one Facebook Group, meeting your new best friends is easier than ever.

Founded in 2018, NYC Brunch Squad brings together hundreds of people who come as strangers and leave as friends through its in-person events.

“Witnessing the transformative impact our community has on the lives of our members is truly remarkable. We provide the essential support and connections needed to thrive amid the city's chaos,” shares Liza Rubin, the group’s founder.

Despite its name, the group doesn’t just do brunch. They also have book clubs, seasonal parties, and picnics, among other activities.

NYC Brunch Squad curates up to 10 monthly events tailored to the specific interests of its members. Liza handles all the details, taking into account different budgets and event sizes – all people have to do is show up.

“We have members who met at our events and became friends and went on to embark on international journeys to celebrate birthdays together. We have had members get married with bridesmaids by their sides who were women they first connected with at our events. We’ve had members decide to live together and become roommates,” Liza says.

Members also bond over their passion for giving back to their community. The group has hosted many impact-driven events, including a “Picnic with Purpose” to create self-care packages for homeless shelters and recently participated in the #SquadSpreadsJoy challenge. Each day, the 100 members participating receive random acts of kindness to complete. They can also share their stories on the group page to earn extra points. The member with the most points at the end wins a free seat at the group's Friendsgiving event.

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friendship
Education

3,700-year-old Babylonian stone tablet gets translated, changes history

They were doing trigonometry 1500 years before the Greeks.

via UNSW

Dr. Daniel Mansfield and his team at the University of New South Wales in Australia have just made an incredible discovery. While studying a 3,700-year-old tablet from the ancient civilization of Babylon, they found evidence that the Babylonians were doing something astounding: trigonometry!

Most historians have credited the Greeks with creating the study of triangles' sides and angles, but this tablet presents indisputable evidence that the Babylonians were using the technique 1,500 years before the Greeks ever were.

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education
Family

Mom’s blistering rant on how men are responsible for all unwanted pregnancies is on the nose

“ALL unwanted pregnancies are caused by the irresponsible ejaculations of men. Period. Don't believe me? Let me walk you through it."

Gabrielle Blair/Twitter

Mom has something to say... strongly say.

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly known as Mormons, are a conservative group who aren't known for being vocal about sex.

But best selling author, blogger, and mother of six, Gabrielle Blair, has kicked that stereotype to the curb with a pointed thread on reducing unwanted pregnancies. And her sights are set directly at men.

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women
Family

Dad takes 7-week paternity leave after his second child is born and is stunned by the results

"These past seven weeks really opened up my eyes on how the household has actually ran, and 110% of that is because of my wife."

@ustheremingtons/TikTok

There's a lot to be gleaned from this.

Participating in paternity leave offers fathers so much more than an opportunity to bond with their new kids. It also allows them to help around the house and take on domestic responsibilities that many new mothers have to face alone…while also tending to a newborn.

All in all, it enables couples to handle the daunting new chapter as a team, making it less stressful on both parties. Or at least equally stressful on both parties. Democracy!

TikTok creator and dad Caleb Remington, from the popular account @ustheremingtons, confesses that for baby number one, he wasn’t able to take a “single day of paternity leave.”

This time around, for baby number two, Remington had the privilege of taking seven weeks off (to be clear—his employer offered four weeks, and he used an additional three weeks of PTO).

The time off changed Remington’s entire outlook on parenting, and his insights are something all parents could probably use.

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parenting
Science

She tattooed half her face and you'd never know it. Her skills are just that good.

This incredible medical tattoo technology is giving renewed hope to burn victims.

All images via the CBS/YouTube

Basma Hameed runs a tattoo shop, of sorts...


Meet Samira Omar.

The 17-year-old was the victim of a horrific bullying incident.

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Education

8 changes that were made to a classic Richard Scarry book to keep up with the times. Progress!

All the misogyny and racism you may not have noticed are now gone.

Images via Alan Taylor/Flickr, used with permission.

Updating the kitchen.


Remember those beloved Richard Scarry books?

Books from when you were a kid?

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Education

Voice recordings of people who were enslaved offer incredible first-person accounts of U.S. history

"The results of these digitally enhanced recordings are arresting, almost unbelievable. The idea of hearing the voices of actual slaves from the plantations of the Old South is as powerful—as startling, really—as if you could hear Abraham Lincoln or Robert E. Lee speak." - Ted Koppel

Library of Congress

When we think about the era of American slavery, many of us tend to think of it as the far distant past. While slavery doesn't exist as a formal institution today, there are people living who knew formerly enslaved black Americans first-hand. In the wide arc of history, the legal enslavement of people on U.S. soil is a recent occurrence—so recent, in fact, that we have voice recordings of interviews with people who lived it.

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history
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