I am relatively new to HuffPost blogging, but a few constants have emerged since I began posting late last year: Few folks actually read entire HP pieces; reader comments typically have zero relationship to the pieces being critiqued; and mention the words "Black men" and "gay" in the same graph, and the conversation will invariably turn to the DL.
The DL -- or "Down Low" -- popularly refers to a subculture of urban Black men who inhabit a fuzzy middle-ground between hetero and homo. Back in the day, they would have been called "bisexual". But mostly operating outside of mainstream Gay realms, DL dudes have today traded sexuality-based labels for an identity far more rooted in race and class. Far removed from the loci of White homo-politans, the DL is basically a Black and Brown thing, with little need or interest in dominant-culture approval.
Trouble is, as the case of recently-outed NFL-er Ovie Mughelli confirms, the rest of Gay society can't seem to get enough of the DL -- fetishizing, problematizing and pathologizing it in the media, academy and public health organizations. Falsely vilified for spreading HIV within the larger Black community, DL men have also become a convenient totem for the "dangers" of a sexuality that strays from easily-brandable and acceptable conventions.
Rather than align themselves with the "good" Gays now popular on TV, DL men have formed their own kind of "in-group" allegiances -- trading mainstream visibility for the comfort and security many simply need to survive. Along the way, they've been derided as a quasi homo-Fifth column -- blasted as weak-kneed and cowardly for not embracing their "true" homo-selves.
There is nothing new about the DL. Indeed, it had a bit of a moment one-half decade ago when both The New York Times Magazine and The Oprah Winfrey Show devoted ample air-time and column inches to the topic. I, however, was living abroad back then and missed most of the DL's initial media frenzy. But in tandem with recent attacks by Marriage Equality leaders on larger Black culture, dissing the DL has now reached levels that can no longer be ignored.
There is little doubt that many Gay Black men operate in a world far removed from their White brothers. But whether this condition demands its own sub-cultural classification is far from certain. What is certain, however, is that Black men contend with social, cultural and economic pressures often far more complex than Caucasians. Author Benoit ("I'm-a-sex-addict") Denizet-Lewis touched upon this nuanced reality in his New York Times Magazine piece, quoting noted Black Gay artist Glenn Ligon:
Ligon, whose artwork often deals with sexuality and race, thinks that the pressure to keep homosexuality on the DL does not come exclusively from other black people, but also from the social and economic realities particular to black men. ''The reason that so many young black men aren't so cavalier about announcing their sexual orientation is because we need our families,'' he says. ''We need our families because of economic reasons, because of racism, because of a million reasons. It's the idea that black people have to stick together, and if there's the slightest possibility that coming out could disrupt that, guys won't do it.''
Writing about a Black topic as only a white man could, Denizet-Lewis gives scant attention to what should have been his piece's key conceit. Indeed, rather than vulgarly focusing on bath-houses and "bottom brothas", Timberlands and Thug-life, the author might wisely have explored an issue central to Gay men of every color: What is the literal price of the closet and how do men cope when that price is too high.
The funny irony is that we need only look at White Gay America for answers. Whereas Black men who live beyond the Gay-stream are demonized and derided, their white counterparts are certainly tolerated -- if not celebrated. In fact, a quick look at the public profiles of...say...well-known news anchors or weather-men or Oscar-winning actresses reveals a life that -- if they were Black -- might easily be called the DL.
Yet, while poor Blacks are bashed as traitors for opting out of openness, wealthy White folk are offered compassion and understanding -- afforded excuses like "the glass closet". Those closets protected, they're then coddled with "cutesy" gossip mentions and snarky Gawker exposes despite the very real damage their hiding-in-plain-sight does to the communities that need them most. Many are certainly rich and possibly powerful -- but where are they in the battles to end DODT and DOMA.
In fact, where are they at all?
It's oh-so easy to declare Pres. Obama homo Enemy Number One for not yet reversing the homophobic actions of his White democratic predecessor. And, indeed, the President's second year must demonstrate far more "fierce advocacy" than his first. But I say some of the worst enemies of Gay America aren't politicians, but rather its bloated, greedy and quasi-closeted court jesters whose cowardice makes a mockery of the brave -- and far more vulnerable -- LGBTs living truly open and authentic lives.
Back during DL 1.0, I was living in Tel Aviv where I dated a young Israeli-Arab who -- according to Yankee LGBT conventions, would be on the DL. Tarek (as we'll call him) came from a lower-income neighborhood in Jaffo, the son of a fisherman. Although outwardly secular, Tarek was raised in the type of traditional Muslim family typical of the Middle East: Abaya-covered home-maker mother; extended family under one roof; strong expectations of marriage. When he said "my father would kill me if he knew I was Gay," Tarek was not exaggerating.
But as an Arab minority living within a Jewish majority, Tarek was also -- without doubt -- socially, culturally and economically disadvantaged among an openly anti-Arab Israeli society. He may have had the brains to succeed as high as a Jew, but certainly not the support or opportunities. So Tarek (often like DL Blacks) inhabited a clutch of cultures -- a common presence in Tel Aviv's Gay bars, but closeted back at home. Aware of the risks and limitations of his Jaffo community, but with zero ability to abandon it.
Perhaps -- most crucially -- Tarek deeply loved and cared for his family in a way that is often foreign to middle-class Westerners. As much as Tarek couldn't risk losing his family -- despite their obvious limitations, he mostly didn't want to. Tarek's life was far more complex than anything I'd ever encountered and made me -- a Gay/Black/Jewish dude -- very proud and grateful to have been born American.
Back in New York, I've often though about Tarek -- who despite those deep family ties, would certainly have traded his life in Israel for a chance at my American birthright. I'm also certain he would have been horrified by the kind of America-bashing often employed by U.S. Gay-stream leaders shamefully ignorant of what it really means to live as an oppressed LGBT like Tarek.
Like many of the kinda-Gay men who inhabit my Harlem 'hood, Tarek had a very real desire for love, compassion, family and security that transcended simple notions of sexuality. While many Gay may find all that -- and much more -- in Chelsea or the Castro, those who seek it elsewhere have every right to do so. For these are core human conditions -- and there is nothing "down" or "low" about that!
Follow David Kaufman on Twitter: www.twitter.com/transracial
Pernessa Seele: We Must Stop Ignoring Black Gay and Bisexual Men!
Loading comments… 
"I'm also certain he would have been horrified by the kind of America-ba
Mr. Kaufman, I resent the above statement.
Being critical of America for not living up to its principles of fairness and justice for all its citizens is hardly "America-b
I, for one, am well aware that in many ways I, as a gay man, am most fortunate to live in the United States, as opposed to an Arab country, for instance.
That acknowledg
We have a fascinatin
Oppression is oppression
I am neither ignorant nor unapprecia
Black men have many challenges
Living in a society that oppresses you and sees you as a threat.
Living in a community that is religious based.
Living in family units that act as support systems in on otherwise hostile environmen
Looking for love whereever you can find it.
and wanting to feel good about yourself.
The culture is undergroun
Their sense of power comes from their deception.
Don't castigate potential allies for societal crimes that are beyond them.
The rest of the Gay populace (in your article represente
I like this article for showing multiple perspectiv
When you can look past castigatin
One popular response to the down low is to demonize all down low men as villains. That may make us feel a little better for a moment, but it won't change the reality of who they are. In fact, demonizing men on the down low is more likely to push these men further into denial about their sexuality. People often ask, "Why don't these men simply come out and say they're gay?" That's a good question, but as long as we keep demonizing homosexual
10. Stereotypi
Much of the discussion about the down low recently has portrayed women as "victims" of black men. Framing the issue this way disempower
The media machine behind the down low business (and it is a business) has tried to exploit women's fears about the DL in order to make a quick buck. But fear is not the answer. Education is. Knowledge is power, and all women and men need to know the truth.
If a woman and man agree to a deception, that's fine, but a man should not pretend/le
I have never heard an explanatio
Log onto various Internet web sites about the down low, and you'll find lots of informatio
A better solution is to confront the homophobia in our community that contribute
There are going to be a lot of people out there trying to tell you how to find out if your man is on the DL. Don't waste your time. The whole point of the down low is that these are people who do not want to be detected. The moment you come up with a "guidebook
All the time we've spent sensationa
On an individual level, we need to encourage men and women to exercise personal responsibi
In 2003 (the last year in which we have full CDC data available) there were more than 7,000 black female AIDS cases reported in the United States. Out of that number, only 118 reported "sex with a bisexual male" as the method of exposure. That's just 1.6 percent of all black female AIDS cases. Believe it or not, there are other ways to get infected besides having sex with a man on the down low. Many women are also becoming infected through injection drug use, sex with an injection drug user, and sex with a heterosexu
Focusing on the down low misleads women to think that the down low is a health threat instead of HIV. That's a serious mistake. A man on the down low who is HIV negative cannot pass the virus to you, but a straight man who is not on the down low could easily give you HIV if he is infected with the virus. The down low does not cause AIDS. HIV causes AIDS.
When Jim McGreevey, the governor of New Jersey, announced last year that he had cheated on his wife with another man, no one bothered to make the obvious point -- Governor McGreevey had been on the down low. When white men do it, we call it what it is and move on. When black men do the same thing, we want to pathologiz
4. The down low is not simply a gay thing.
The term "down low" entered the mainstream of black popular culture in the early 1990s. In 1993, Salt-n-Pep
We laughed about it when it was a heterosexu