Only Black men have their sexual practices policed and framed in pathological terms.
Down Low discourse is a matter of race and public health
by Marc Lamont Hill | TheLoop21.com
A few weeks ago, comedians DL Hughley and Sherri Shepherd came under fire for comments that they made on an episode of The View. While discussing the FDA’s ban on blood donation for gays and bisexual men, the two matter-of-factly mentioned that HIV was prevalent in the Black community because of the “Down Low,” or the sexual practices of bisexual men who identify to their partners (and themselves) as heterosexual. The comments sparked firestorm from gay advocacy and public health organizations, both of which rightly regarded the comments as bigoted and untrue.
My interest is not in criticizing Hughley and Shepherd, whose comments merely echoed the sentiments of many people in the Black community. Rather, my frustration is with the very notion of the Down Low, which rests upon a set of problematic assumptions and dangerous claims that undermine the physical and mental health of the community.
Despite what countless magazines, news outlets, and everyday people have reported as “fact,” there is no evidence that Down Low men are responsible for the spike in the HIV infection rates of African American women. To the contrary, according to the US Centers for Disease Control, high-risk heterosexual sex and injection drug use are actually the leading causes of infection for Black women. In fact, according to experts, incidents of female infection from bisexual male partners are relatively low. While more research needs to be done—particularly studies that deploy more complex methodologies for tracking the sexual practices and identities of bisexual men who don’t identify as such—there is absolutely no scientific basis for blaming HIV infection on DL men.
In addition to being empirically baseless, the current Down Low panic follows a long and deep history of framing Black males as immoral, diseased, and dangerous. Do “DL brothers” really exist? Of course. But they exist among every race and culture throughout history. (For evidence of this, check out the critically acclaimed movie Brokeback Mountain, which tells the story of a secret gay romance between two men in the American west from 1963 to 1983. Interestingly, but not surprisingly, the film was not referred to as a “DL movie.”) Despite this reality, only Black men seem to have their sexual practices policed and framed in pathological terms.
Read the Full Essay @ theloop21
Down Low discourse is a matter of race and public health
by Marc Lamont Hill | TheLoop21.com
A few weeks ago, comedians DL Hughley and Sherri Shepherd came under fire for comments that they made on an episode of The View. While discussing the FDA’s ban on blood donation for gays and bisexual men, the two matter-of-factly mentioned that HIV was prevalent in the Black community because of the “Down Low,” or the sexual practices of bisexual men who identify to their partners (and themselves) as heterosexual. The comments sparked firestorm from gay advocacy and public health organizations, both of which rightly regarded the comments as bigoted and untrue.
My interest is not in criticizing Hughley and Shepherd, whose comments merely echoed the sentiments of many people in the Black community. Rather, my frustration is with the very notion of the Down Low, which rests upon a set of problematic assumptions and dangerous claims that undermine the physical and mental health of the community.
Despite what countless magazines, news outlets, and everyday people have reported as “fact,” there is no evidence that Down Low men are responsible for the spike in the HIV infection rates of African American women. To the contrary, according to the US Centers for Disease Control, high-risk heterosexual sex and injection drug use are actually the leading causes of infection for Black women. In fact, according to experts, incidents of female infection from bisexual male partners are relatively low. While more research needs to be done—particularly studies that deploy more complex methodologies for tracking the sexual practices and identities of bisexual men who don’t identify as such—there is absolutely no scientific basis for blaming HIV infection on DL men.
In addition to being empirically baseless, the current Down Low panic follows a long and deep history of framing Black males as immoral, diseased, and dangerous. Do “DL brothers” really exist? Of course. But they exist among every race and culture throughout history. (For evidence of this, check out the critically acclaimed movie Brokeback Mountain, which tells the story of a secret gay romance between two men in the American west from 1963 to 1983. Interestingly, but not surprisingly, the film was not referred to as a “DL movie.”) Despite this reality, only Black men seem to have their sexual practices policed and framed in pathological terms.
Read the Full Essay @ theloop21
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