Kwame Banks (left), Frank Roberts,
Darrell Wheeler and Mark McLaurin participated in
a forum on HIV infection held Nov. 14 at the Fashion Institute of Technology.
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By James Withers
Friday, November 18, 2005
When the Centers of Disease Control made the announcement over the summer that
46 percent of black gay men were HIV-positive, there was a ripple of buzz and
e-mails, but aside from that, not much else. The flurry left an important
question unanswered: What did the statistic mean in practical terms?
This week a panel moderated by local activist Keith Boykin tried to give some
context to the numbers and suggestions to what can be done to end the rise of
HIV rates in the black community. Sponsored by People of Color in Crisis, Gay
Men of African Descent, and the New York State Black Gay Network, the two-hour
forum dealt with a number of topics, ranging from how anti-prevention programs
are funded to the role of testing in HIV prevention.
Mark McLaurin, the director of federal affairs for the New York AIDS Coalition,
spoke first, noting that since 1994 the CDC has been chronicling high HIV rates
among black gay men and nothing has been done about it. While he was more than
willing to be critical of politicians in power and institutions who have done
very little, he wondered why a community so at risk is not making its voice
heard when decisions are made.
“To make ourselves invisible requires our consent,” McLaurin said.
“A consent we have heretofore far too often given in our halls of government.”
Frank Roberts, a graduate student at New York University and editor of an upcoming
book of essays on black men and same-sex desire, cautioned the 50-member audience
that one of the hazards of touting the 46 percent statistic is that it can become
something young black men feel is inevitable. Roberts also noted that academic
forums are preaching to the converted.
“These are not the same people I see at the club on Friday night,”
Roberts said, pointing to the audience. “How do we take this conversation
somewhere else?”
Darrell Wheeler, a professor at the Hunter College School of Social Work,
warned the CDC figures are a snapshot at one particular moment that do not take
into account education levels, economic background, employment history and a
host of factors that are part of a overall health profile. Wheeler also wondered
about the black gay men who are negative.
“We have no clue about what drives black men to stay safe,” Wheeler
said.
While the number may be an imperfect snapshot, McLaurin noted that armed with
that information he could get things done in Albany and Washington, D.C.
“Forty-six percent opens some doors for me on the Hill,” he said.
Be that as it may the panel did recognize there are multiple levels in the
battle against HIV infection that range from the seats of political power to
talking to men in the clubs and at sex parties.
“We need to completely work within the sex parties,” Roberts said.
“We need to stop demonizing sex and equating sex with unprotected sex.”
There was also a sense it was time to infuse anti-HIV work with new people
and experts. Kwame Banks, founder of Safer + Saner, a safer sex outreach project
targeting men of color in the leather community, said he declined at first when
asked to be on the panel because he knew who would be in the audience and what
to expect. “We need some other folk talking about this,” Banks said.
“Community members need to be stakeholders.”
While some of these concerns were not abated by the end of the evening, he
did acknowledge the night could be the start of something new when it comes
to HIV and black gay men.
“What I hope comes from this is people decide to take responsibility
for the work,” Banks said.
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