Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2005. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
 |
Miami Herald - March 25, 2005
Steve Rothaus, srothaus@herald.com
"Almost everything we were told about the down low wasn't true," said Boykin, who wrote Beyond the Down Low: Sex, Lies, and Denial in Black America and will read from it tonight at Barnes & Noble bookstore in Aventura.
"The down low isn't new," said Boykin, 39, who in 1993 was named a special assistant to President Clinton. "It's not just a black thing. When [then-New Jersey Gov.] Jim McGreevey came out, it was the same thing." Before McGreevey announced he is gay and resigned as governor last year, HIV activist J.L. King wrote On the Down Low: A Journey Into the Lives of "Straight" Black Men Who Sleep with Men.
"It was all about men on the down low and teaching women how to spot them," Boykin said. "Something was wrong with the message."
Boykin argued that King's concept is based upon "five assumptions."
That all people on the down low are
* Black. "It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that there are white men, Asian men, black men and Latino men on the down low," Boykin said.
* Male. "It fits into our stereotypical notions of men as predators, particularly black gay men as predators," he said. "And there are [married] women doing some of the same things men are doing."
* HIV positive. "Not likely," he said. "If you were on the down low and married, you would have more impetus to use a condom to prevent HIV and not be caught."
* In relationships with women. Most gay men are not sleeping with women, he said.
* Secretly sleeping with men. "They are not always doing it as a secret." Many couples, both gay and straight, have open relationships, he said.
Boykin cited statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: About 7,000 black women were diagnosed with AIDS in 2003. Only 118 of those women reported contracting HIV by having sex with bisexual males.
That's because many black gay men call themselves straight, said Alesia Miller, a senior project specialist at Care Resource in Miami, Florida's largest AIDS service agency.
Miller, who has worked with thousands of HIV-infected black women, disagreed with Boykin. "[Many black men] don't identify themselves as being gay or bisexual. To prove their sexuality they have sex with women in order to take the stigma of the down low away from them."
050325
MH050310
Copyright © 2005 - Miami Herald. All rights reserved. Reproduced with permission. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the Miami Herald, Permissions, One Herald Plaza, Miami, FL 33132-1693 TEL: (305) 376-3719. http://www.herald.com.
AEGiS is made possible through unrestricted grants from Boehringer Ingelheim, Bridgestone/Firestone Charitable Trust, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Elton John AIDS Foundation, the National Library of Medicine, and donations from users like you. Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2005. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.
AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.
Copyright ©1980, 2005. AEGiS. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content. .