Dear Oprah - I AM PISSED

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HIV and the Down Low Syndrome

Great response on Justin's HIV Journal to the base-less comments regarding HIV, black men and the "down low" heard on The View.

CDC says DL is BS

Recently, Dr. Kevin Fenton, Director of the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention at the CDC dismissed the claims that down-low black men are contributing to most of the HIV infections among black women in this country.

LifeLube is happy to see the truth come out on this issue. Gay black men have been unfairly demonized by this dangerous myth for far too long (no thanks to Oprah.) Time to get real.

There have been a ton of news stories on this, below are links to a few. 

via Advocate

Straight black men with multiple partners, and not bisexual men on the"down low" are more responsible for the high rates of HIV in black women, according to an official from the Centers for Disease Controland Prevention.

Read the rest.


And via The Griot

In recent years, it's become common to blame black men having secret and unprotected sexual encounters with other men while simultaneously sleeping with their female partners for the rise in HIV among heterosexual black women. I guess if it's been on Oprah, it must be true.

Not quite.

Read the rest.


And via HIV Plus

"We have looked to see what proportion of infections is coming from male partners who are bisexual and found there are actually relatively few," says Kevin Fenton, MD, director of the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention. "More are male partners who are having female partners and are injecting drugs or using drugs or have some other risks that may put those female partners at risk of acquiring HIV."

Read the rest.

Don't blame it on our "down low" brothers

via The Grio, by Kellee Terrell

As a single black woman, I am getting really tired of folks telling me, "Girl, you better watch out for the men on the DL, 'cause they have, and spread, HIV."

In recent years, it's become common to blame black men having secret and unprotected sexual encounters with other men while simultaneously sleeping with their female partners for the rise in HIV among heterosexual black women. I guess if it's been on Oprah, it must be true.

Not quite.

Read the rest.

STRONG

My name is Keith and I’m a strong black man. For the past 37 years I have called the Westside my home. I love the Westside but I remember the only way I could survive on the Westside was being on the Down Low (DL). Many of you might be asking, “What in the hell is DL?” It’s hard to describe, but those of you who know about DL know what I’m talking about. I had to live in secret about my sexuality.

Living on the Westside, it was difficult to get information from outside of the neighborhood and at least for me I didn’t hear nothing about HIV/AIDS. I did hear about condoms, but that was just to keep women from getting pregnant. So what I did was just use condoms with women and not with my boys.

Now I got more information and proud to say that I am using condoms every time I have sex. For some 15 years now, I have decided to only be with my boys. Now that I know about HIV/AIDS, I know that condoms are more important than ever. I know now, that knowledge makes me strong!

I know that many of us from the hood can’t do this, and I don’t know how long this will last for me, but it’s a step that I believe is right for me.

African-American men ‘on the down low’: a stigmatising and counter-productive description?

via Aidsmap

The uncritical use of the term ‘on the down low’ in HIV prevention strategies is likely to undermine efforts to understand the nature of HIV risk among African-American men, write researchers in the January 2009 issue of Social Science & Medicine. The term is used to describe black men who identify as heterosexual but have secretive sex with other men, but the authors believe its use stigmatises and exoticises this behaviour as an issue unique to black men.

In the United States, HIV infection rates are seven times higher among African-American men than they are for white men, and twenty times higher for African-American women than white women. In discussing the issue, the media have frequently focused on the possibility that men ‘on the down low’ have high-risk sex with other men and may also be responsible for HIV transmission to their female partners.

Moreover, some public health and HIV prevention professionals have used the term in order to highlight a subgroup of men whose needs may be overlooked in programmes for gay men.

The authors highlight the origin of the term in African-American communities in the early 1990s. At the time it simply meant a desire for discretion or secrecy, and there was no specific reference to sexual behaviour. However it was later appropriated by African-American men to describe secretive same-sex behaviour, as an alternative to terms such as gay or bisexual which are stigmatised in black communities. Appropriating the term “has functioned to reinforce men’s sense of masculinity and membership in the African-American community,” the authors write.

However authors believe that there are several problems with outsiders such as public health professionals using this terminology:

• It suggests that there is something unique and peculiar about African-American men’s same-sex behaviours that merits special language, whereas similar behaviours are found in men of other ethnicities.

• Discussion often assumes, but does not demonstrate, that men ‘on the down low’ engage in behaviour that is particularly risky for HIV transmission.

• It may also be assumed that these men are inherently gay, but are yet to embrace that identity. This characterises men’s self-understanding as flawed and dishonest.

• The way African-American men use the term is likely to change over time, and not all will agree on its meaning. However outsiders’ use of the term does not reflect this.

• The term is used as a simple label, without understanding the social, cultural and historical factors that drive behaviour.

The authors don’t deny that there are African-American men who have secretive sex with other men, and suggest that qualitative research could further clarify their HIV prevention needs.

However they underline the importance of poverty, racism and social inequality to the HIV epidemic, and note that few HIV prevention interventions address these structural factors. Moreover, targeting interventions to men who fit the ‘down low’ profile “conforms to a narrow, individual-level approach to HIV prevention”.

Reference
Saleh LD & Operario D Moving beyond ‘the Down Low’: a critical analysis of terminology guiding HIV prevention efforts for African American men who have secretive sex with men. Social Science & Medicine 68: 390-5, 2009.

secrets of Jackson park

straight guys
told by dale

So i know a lot of you guys may have dated a DL guy. Or knOW somebody who is DL. But I use to be on this website which I will not name just to let you know it is a all gay black website . But anyway the has Bi, DL and Gay. But I never knew they have straight guys yes I said it straight guys. Most of them are looking for sex but very few are looking for a relationship with a guy. Some are married and a lot have girlfriend, even though some admit they do have girlfriends and wives. But others choose to lie, and cheat. Some guys were actually looking for girls not transgender but actually looking for real females on a all gay men site pretty Suspicious if I might say . The thing I don’t get is how in the blue hell can you be straight but yet your seeking sex from the same sex . And the strange thing is that most of all of the so called straight guys are bottoms. Which I would think if your straight and you have a girlfriend I would think that you would be using your wiener half of the time. (ha ha I said wiener get it wiener haha) ok I know that wasn’t funny but I try . But anyway I thought the suppose to be straight guys would be tops. I know a lot of you say hey why complain it’s a lot of hot straight guys we wish that were gay. But I’m not complaining it’s just if a guy wants to be on a gay dating site and if he sleeping with men I’m sorry you are bi. There’s no if and or buts about it. It use to make me mad because I ran in to a lot of these guys and the only thing they wanted from me was sex and maybe money which I never gave up. Ok the sex, but that was a one time thing and I used a condom so don’t panic. But I realize with a lot of these so call straight guys they will be quick to give you their number in a hot ass minute. But some straight guys will treat you like their sex buddy not caring about your feelings or how you feel after the whole sex ordeal. It’s just get up you have to go be for my girl gets home, and to a lot of them it’s all about the Nut. But in some cases a lot of girls like to see their men having sex with Men. And a lot of guys like for their girlfriend or wives to bang them with strap on Dildos. So I guess it’s not that bad of a thing but to me I see it as I just don’t get it. If you like Guys and Girls just call yourself Bi that’s not hard to say. Say it with me straight guys BI not bye like saying good bye and not buy like buying sex as some of you guys might have done. But bi as in bisexual, see you said it now you won a free trip to neverland ranch where Jesus juice is in Michael Jacksons closet right next to bubbles. And if you see bubbles you can tell him he can always come home . So I guess if we didn’t have these straight guys it wouldn’t be fun playing the who’s straight and who’s gay game (which I play that game everyday). So if your so called straight and you like to have sex with the same sex keeping doing your thing, only thing I have to say is that it’s this hot guy who calls me said he was bi I would be super happy.

read more secrets of Jackson park

Patti Labelle talks to CNN about new down low movie

The boys behind LifeLube invite readers' comments on this story below.

Legendary soul singer Patti Labelle appeared on CNN Newsroom Saturday morning to talk about her new film "Cover" that explores the connection between men on the down low and the HIV/AIDS epidemic among black women. CNN host Betty Nguyen interviewed Labelle and introduced the piece by describing men on the down low as "having unprotected sex with other men and transmitting HIV to their girlfriends, even their wives." Labelle, who plays a role in the movie as a mother with a son in the closet, described the down low problem as "a subject that people don't talk about." In the movie, the down low "ends up killing" a young woman who "dies of AIDS," she said. "It's because everybody's so secretive and so down low and undercover." During the interview, Nguyen said that "African-American women account for 70 percent of all new HIV/AIDS cases." That figure is actually incorrect, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. Blacks as a whole account for 49 percent of all new HIV cases and most of those cases are men. Black women only make up about 17.6 percent of all new HIV/AIDS cases (6,243 out of 35,537 total cases), not 70 percent as was reported. But HIV infection is still "the leading cause of death for black women" aged 25-34 years. Labelle offered advice to women who find themselves in these situations. "I say if you have a little suspicion, walk, girls. You know, because sometimes there are signs and you might not see them, and sometimes there are signs and you ignore them because you're so in love with these people." She also offered advice to those who are living on the down low. "If you're going to live a lifestyle, don't be afraid of it, don't be ashamed. Tell somebody so that you can save somebody." The film is directed by Bill Duke and includes stars Vivica A. Fox and Louis Gossett Jr., among others.