The Down Low and AIDS Awareness

The Wisconsin Abstinence Coalition commends the organizations in the African-American community of Milwaukee for raising awareness of HIV transmission through the phenomenon known as the Down Low.

Men on the down low describe themselves as straight and are in heterosexual relationships, often as husbands and fathers, but sneak sex with men on the side. Obviously, this exposes women and their babies to HIV/AIDS even though they assume they are in "safe" relationships.

By exposing the Down Low, and offering the new rapid HIV testing, women and children can discover their contagion early when treatment can be more beneficial. Rumors about jailhouse sex and inmate rape also must be confronted. However, first and foremost, men who have sex with men, whether they know they have HIV or not, need to accept the responsibility to tell women of their status prior to initiating a sexual encounter. When a killer is lose, in this case AIDS, all stops have to be pulled. In about half the United States, it is a crime to knowingly pass on HIV/AIDS to anyone. The knowing part is that you know you have it. Wisconsin does not have such a law.

An article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on June 25th, attributes only 720 of the 1755 African American AIDS cases in Wisconsin to homosexual sex. Even discounting the taboo of homosexuality in the African-American community that might have skewed that figure, a dangerous behavior is now affecting innocent people through no choice of their own. This is the point when the AIDS tradgedy becomes a public concern. It is one thing to make risky choices that have personal consequences; it is another to inflict those consequences on others to satisfy personal needs. A loving husband and father does not go on the down low nor does he have sex with prostitutes or other women. He doesn't bring the risks of his contemptible secret life into his own home.