WWAV is proud to be featured for our gender analysis in a 2012 TheBody.com slideshow on the structural drivers that are REALLY fueling the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Black America.
For the past 15 years, we have been bombarded with images and media attention that have blamed the “down-low brotha” — the closeted gay man who sleeps with both men and women — for the HIV epidemic in black America. Meanwhile, numerous studies have debunked those claims. Yes, there are closeted gay black men, but the reality is that so much more is at play when it comes to why African Americans account for only 14 percent of the U.S. population but make up almost half of all newly diagnosed HIV cases each year.
Take a look at what HIV advocates from across the country say is really worsening the epidemic in the African-American community: