10 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE February 25, 2005

eveningsout

Fact and fiction on the DL

Keith Boykin takes aim at HIV transmission myths, while a novel asks what is DL and what isn't

by Anthony Glassman

To watch Oprah, it would seem that the most pressing issue facing the African American community today is not poverty, crime, education or anything similar.

No, Black America's toughest challenge is men on the "down low," spreading AIDS to black women by secretly having unprotected sex with other men and then sleeping with their wives or girlfriends.

The down low phenomenon started really getting attention when J.L. King released his memoir, On the Down Low.

Countering what he refers to as a deceptive, self-serving book, Keith Boykin wrote Beyond the Down Low: Sex, Lies and Denial in Black America (Carrol & Graf, $25, hardcover), a new tome effectively torpedoing the entire down low, or DL, mythos.

Boykin, a tireless community activist who served on the staff of Bill Clinton's White House, looks at the statistics and research others have used to popularize the theory of men on the DL as a bridge for HIV transmission between the gay community and black women. He uses the same information to show that the DL did not cause the high infection rate among African American

women.

While refraining from making any extraneous personal attacks on the somewhat shady Mr. King, Boykin does masterfully point out the flaws in King's logic and the contradictions in his statements. For instance, King says that it's impossible to tell if a man is on the down low, but then proceeds to tell women how to spot a man on the down low.

Interesting, but not quite damning enough? How about this:

King refers to himself at various points as a man who was on the down low. He offers a mea culpa for putting his then-wife at risk for HIV by having unprotected intercourse with another man. He says in the book that using a condom was never even brought up before he and this man had sex.

Boykin does the math involving King's marriage: The affair was in 1982, before safersex messages were known across the board, before AIDS was even named and HIV identified.

He also covers the history of the down low craze, as well as backing up his assertion that the only thing new about the down low is it being called "the down low."

In the end, Boykin's book is an intelligent look at how an easy explanation and a convenient scapegoat have hijacked HIV prevention in the black community and allowed black women to absolve themselves of responsibility for their own safety.

Continuing on the DL tip, Stanley Bennet Clay's novel, In Search of Pretty Young Black Men (Atria, $15.95, hardcover) tells the story of Maggie Lester-Allegro and her husband, Lamont Allegro, a wealthy, urbane black couple in Los Angeles in the 1980s.

While they may seem the perfect couple, there is a darkness in their relationship that has been slowly pushing them apart since they were married. On their honeymoon, Maggie discovers she is pregnant with the child of her slain Black Panther boyfriend. Lamont disappears for a few days, eventually returning and settling down with his wife.

Eighteen years later, as the couple seem to be rocketing in different directions, it becomes clear that they are joined more closely

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than they know, through the young, highclass hustler Dorian Moore.

As much as Dorian is the fulfillment of all their dreams, he is also a nightmare waiting to invade their unconscious minds. His presence in their lives leads to tragedy, madness, death and eventual redemption.

Stanley Bennett Clay is an award-winning playwright, filmmaker, actor and novelist. This novel, however, meanders across the mental landscape like a dizzy sidewinder. It zigs, it zags, and when it finally reaches its destination, one wonders whether it was really worth the trip.

In all, though, the novel is engagingly written, and one reads it all the way through almost more to see where he's going with it than with any real interest in the characters.

He also seems to have this fixation on the thought of women performing analingus on men, although four out of five black women

polled for this story insist that such a thing is not common. Of course, if it makes him happy to write about it, more power to him.

The novel does, however, lead directly back to Boykin's book, especially when he deals with the problem of defining the down low: Is Lester Allegro on the down low? He told his wife about a previous same-sex encounter, but is not forthcoming about his current encounters, either with Dorian or with women. Is Dorian on the down low, since he has sex with both Maggie and Lester? Is Maggie on the down low, since she is having an affair behind her husband's back?

Both books provide some answers, although to different questions. Boykin provides practical advice to the black community, while Clay resolves the conflict in Lester's life. While the two diverge on the queries, both provide the same answer: be open, be honest, be yourself.

To make a long story Shortt

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Rachel Shortt will make her debut appearance at the Nickel, the site of shows by favorites like Anne E. DeChant, Commonbond and the Swamp Boogie Band, supporting her CD In Between Black & White, a collection of ten tracks featuring a girl, a guitar, and a lot of attitude. Shortt's voice has a razor-sharp edge that is infectious, and performing alone with her guitar she can easily carry an entire CD.

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Rachel Shortt will perform at the Nickel, 4365 State Road in Cleveland, on Saturday, February 26 with opening band Kill Shawns Head. Cover is $5, and doors open at 6 pm. The Nickel can be reached at 216-661-1314. For more information about Rachel Shortt, visit her website at www.freewebs.com/angrychickmusic.

-Anthony Glassman

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