"On the Down Low"
Stories about black men "on the down low" -- ie, having gay sex but not identifying as "gay" -- have been popping up all over the place this year. The US Centers for Disease Control reports that young black "men who have sex with men" have very high rates of HIV infection, which many attribute partly to black men "on the DL" being more resistant to safe sex message. In last week's Village Voice, Kai Wright looked at both health concerns and questions of cultural identity among "down low" black men. "Tevin won't have anything to do with gay culture, doesn't know anything about it and couldn't care less. By and large, his thoughts on the subject are in lockstep with most of black America's: It's all good if it's your thing, but I ain't no punk." This article has spawned a discussion thread on Plastic. The New York Times ran stories about "the down low" and AIDS in February and again in April. More stories appeared this month in the San Francisco Chronicle and Newsweek.
Village Voice | Plastic | New York Times | San Francisco Chronicle | Newsweek
Alicia Montgomery looks at the high rate of HIV/AIDS infection among young African-American men, a problem exacerbated by homophobia in the black community. Lots of depressing accounts of squabbling over federal AIDS prevention funds. Montgomery manages to avoid using the term "on the down low" even once in the article.
Salon (June 2001)
