4.06.2004
I have tried for some time now to ignore all of the reports from both the newspaper and television about the all too popular DL phenomenon. I guess a small part of me hoped it would eventually fade…but I am slowly starting to realize that this is only the beginning.Last night I made the mistake of reading the New York Times. There on the front page were the words: AIDS FEARS GROW FOR BLACK WOMEN. A look of exhaustion instantly crossed my face. I knew exactly what the article would entail before even reading it. Every part of me wanted to ignore the expose and trash the paper because honestly, I have had enough. But curiosity, (a strange twisted disease) always gets the best of me.
The heading continued: Experts Say Risk Is Tied to Bisexual Male Partners.
Of course, I thought as I prepared myself for yet another set of expert opinions, who else would assume the blame but, bisexual men. Bisexual men who sleep with gay men. Bisexual men who do not consider themselves gay…they uh: just mess around. Bisexual men who are carelessly—don’t forget deliberately destroying the fabric of the black family. Oh, and let us not forget, the black man.
The more things change, the more they stay the same. H.I.V. is fast becoming a gay man’s disease again. The way the media, and some SGLO’s (Same Gender Loving Opportunists) are portraying black gay life it is only a matter of time before fear fills the hearts of people everywhere, and the clock of equality is pushed back twenty, maybe even thirty years. I can see the picket signs now: Black Men Are Evil: Especially Those That Sleep With Other Men.
My heart goes out to the countless number of black women who have fallen due to the promiscuity of her sexual partner. Trust is a major component in every relationship. But I will not agree or begin to believe or tolerate the theory: women are contracting H.I.V. from bisexual men. Yes, for some, this may be the case but it is not the end all, be all. H.I.V. is a disease of opportunity, and it strikes where carelessness rears its head. Therein lies the problem.
The more I hear, the more frustrated I become. The more I read, the more I see this phenomenon [blaming gay men for the rise of HIV in straight women] as a window of opportunity to attack the very things the black community, namely the church, sees as unjust. Un-God. Un-Christ-like. There is most-definitely a war going on…and unfortunately the black gay—excuse me—black bisexual man (shame-shame) is the prey.
My only hope is that we start looking for solutions to this noticeable epidemic, instead of someone else to blame.
“I’ve been on field trips to the gay bars and have seen guys that look like men you would date. [As a result] I treat every man as a bisexual because I don’t want to end up as the sister with H.I.V.” ~The New York Times
“I understood that there was a possibility he was seeing other people, but I was willing to overlook it. His infection most likely came from having sex with another man, but he was afraid to say that.” ~The New York Times
“Quite honestly, I am disgusted with African American gay men. I’m afraid to really get out there and date because of the brothers on the “DL”. You don’t know what you are getting in 2004. I have gay male friends and I have hung out with them in the gay clubs. I have seen firsthand that gay men are not looking like pink pump-wearing punks. They are VERY muscle bound, macho, well-groomed, well-educated, professional men that often want no part of a women. Wasup with that?” ~Rolling Out
What are your thoughts?
