"A Tiger in the House: Gay Black Men Take on AIDS"

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1988. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

"A Tiger in the House: Gay Black Men Take on AIDS"

Village Voice (12/27/88) Vol. 33, No. 52, P. 15
Howard, Michael E.

AIDS is now "a tiger in our house," says a black New York City internist who often treats people with AIDS. Black gay men are an invisible group within a forgotten minority, says the Village Voice's Michael E. Howard. Few black doctors, politicians, and ministers provide support. In New York, gay or bisexual men make up about 40 percent of the 8000 AIDS cases among blacks and Hispanics. About 5 percent of the total are both gay and IV drug users. The Gay Men of African Descent is a group inspired by the AIDS crisis that gives some blacks a chance to discuss what it means to be educated, middle-class, gay, and black in the city. Others receive counseling, support, and social services from the Minority Task Force on AIDS. The two-year-old group, which has a staff of two and a budget of $200,000, works on a "self-help" counseling model, drawing counselors from both the gay and drug worlds. There is much denial about gay life and about AIDS in the black community, writes Howard, but the reality is harder to ignore.
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