April 10, 2009

Study: Black Men on DL Pose No Greater Risk of Spreading HIV

A new study has found that African-American men who identify as being on the “down low” (DL) do not affect the high rate of HIV in the black community more than openly bisexual men who have female partners, the Philadelphia Gay News reports.

According to the article, researchers from the Public Health Management Corporation interviewed more than 1,100 gay-, bisexual- and heterosexual-identified men who have sex with men (MSM) in the New York and Philadelphia area to access their sexual practices; 361 of them identified as DL.

In the study, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 56.3 percent of men who did not identify as being on the DL were HIV positive compared with 43.7 percent of DL-identified men. The study also found that the definition of down low varied among different people.

PHMC senior researcher Lisa Bond, MD, said she believes that the study’s findings emphasize the importance of focusing on high-risk behavior as opposed to “subjective labels.” “Rather than crucifying black gay and bisexual men, it’d be more productive if we spent our time demanding further action to address this crisis,” says Bond.

Editor's Note: "DL-identified men" is an update to the third paragraph.

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Previous Comments:

Terry L, Danville IL, 2009-04-14 13:34:21
Even though I agree with much of what you stated...Men truly on the Down Low would not have likely been interviewed by you or anyone. This story was vague concerning definitions of down low also. No one is crucifying black men either. Still it is important to divulge into types of behavior that increase risks and despite what your survey vaguely depicted I will still target African American Men on the Down low as a primary group needing to be educated along with African American Women.

David G Ostrow, Chicago, 2009-04-14 11:56:48
This sounds like an interesting study, but because of a serious typo in the second paragraph of the abstract provided, it is impossible to tell what the results of the study was. can you please make the full pdf of the original article available to your readers working in this area so that we are not left fully confused by a comparison of "men who did not identify as ...DL" with "non-DL-identified men?"

David, Atlanta, 2009-04-14 11:05:02
Lis Bond, MD, says "... it’d be more productive if we spent our time demanding further action to address this crisis.” What does that even mean? What action? And by the way, being on the down low is hardly an exclusively African American issue. Plenty of white and Latino men engage in the same behavior. This is about honesty, personal responsibility and integrity.