PRINCE HALL
New Member
This article will make you think, ponder, wonder and wander.
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, 5--17-02
BY KAREN HUNTER
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, 5--17-02
BY KAREN HUNTER
Black Women's Danger:
Closeted Men With AIDS
In the 1993 Pulitzer Prize-winning play "Angels in America," the Roy Cohn character, after being
informed he has AIDS, tells his doctor that it can't be true because AIDS is associated with
homosexuals and he isn't gay.
"Homosexuals are men who know nobody and who nobody knows," Cohn tells his doctor. "[These
are men] who have zero clout. ... Roy Cohn is not a homosexual. Roy Cohn is a heterosexual man ...
who --- around with guys."
Cohn, the famed lawyer, died in 1986. Unfortunately, his mind-set lives on and is running rampant in
the African-American community. So much so that black men like Cohn ? men who sleep with men
but do not consider themselves gay ? are one of the primary reasons so many black women are
being infected with HIV and dying of AIDS.
Until recently, the most at-risk groups for AIDS were intravenous drug users and homosexuals.
Today it's blacks, especially women. According to the latest statistics from the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, African-Americans (12% of the population) make up 47% of the new AIDS
cases reported. And 63% of women reported with AIDS are African-American. A black woman has a
21 times greater chance of contracting HIV than a white woman.
That is why Kimberly Whitfield, project coordinator of Sisterlink Prenatal Care Action Coalition in
Harlem, is holding a forum today on this phenomenon. She has invited J.L. King, one of the few men
willing to discuss it, to educate women.
"We want to raise community awareness around the issue of MSM [men sleeping with men] and how
heterosexual women ? women who are in what they believe to be monogamous relationships ? are
contracting the disease," said Whitfield, whose program starts at 9:30 a.m. at 127 W. 127th St., third
floor. "It's scary, but it's time we face up to what's going on. It's time we have a dialogue about it."
King is a father of three who was once married to what he describes as the "perfect woman." They
had it all ? careers, money, cars and a loving home. They attended church every Sunday and were
pillars of their small Ohio town. But King's sexual habits ? he slept with men ? ruined it all. He is
speaking out now because "too many women are dying."
For the last two years, he has made it his mission to expose the double lives of men who, like Roy
Cohn, don't consider themselves gay yet have sex with men. It's a huge challenge, because black
men who come out of the closet are almost always subjected to intense vilification. Men refuse to say
they're gay for fear of being ostracized by family, friends and the black community at large.
This problem isn't confined to blacks, of course. Hispanic men face similar hostility. And while
probably more white men have come out than other groups, they often face intimidating abuse, too.
That's why Whitfield's forum is so important. Not only can it help black women in Harlem, but it may
serve as a model for other communities.
King notes that there is really nothing a woman can do to prevent her man from sleeping with
another man if that's what he wants to do. But he says they can and must protect themselves.
"Women need to be nosier about what their men are into," says King. "A lot of women have that sixth
sense, a gut feeling that something's not right. If they'd take that vibe and pursue it, they would find
out the things they may not want to know but need to know. That may be the thing that saves their
lives."
The message: Ladies, just because you're in a committed relationship does not mean your man is.
And it does not mean that you are safe from being infecting with the HIV virus. Do not be a statistic.
Get educated. Get nosy.
-----------------
In the 1993 Pulitzer Prize-winning play "Angels in America," the Roy Cohn character, after being
informed he has AIDS, tells his doctor that it can't be true because AIDS is associated with
homosexuals and he isn't gay.
"Homosexuals are men who know nobody and who nobody knows," Cohn tells his doctor. "[These
are men] who have zero clout. ... Roy Cohn is not a homosexual. Roy Cohn is a heterosexual man ...
who --- around with guys."
Cohn, the famed lawyer, died in 1986. Unfortunately, his mind-set lives on and is running rampant in
the African-American community. So much so that black men like Cohn ? men who sleep with men
but do not consider themselves gay ? are one of the primary reasons so many black women are
being infected with HIV and dying of AIDS.
Until recently, the most at-risk groups for AIDS were intravenous drug users and homosexuals.
Today it's blacks, especially women. According to the latest statistics from the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, African-Americans (12% of the population) make up 47% of the new AIDS
cases reported. And 63% of women reported with AIDS are African-American. A black woman has a
21 times greater chance of contracting HIV than a white woman.
That is why Kimberly Whitfield, project coordinator of Sisterlink Prenatal Care Action Coalition in
Harlem, is holding a forum today on this phenomenon. She has invited J.L. King, one of the few men
willing to discuss it, to educate women.
"We want to raise community awareness around the issue of MSM [men sleeping with men] and how
heterosexual women ? women who are in what they believe to be monogamous relationships ? are
contracting the disease," said Whitfield, whose program starts at 9:30 a.m. at 127 W. 127th St., third
floor. "It's scary, but it's time we face up to what's going on. It's time we have a dialogue about it."
King is a father of three who was once married to what he describes as the "perfect woman." They
had it all ? careers, money, cars and a loving home. They attended church every Sunday and were
pillars of their small Ohio town. But King's sexual habits ? he slept with men ? ruined it all. He is
speaking out now because "too many women are dying."
For the last two years, he has made it his mission to expose the double lives of men who, like Roy
Cohn, don't consider themselves gay yet have sex with men. It's a huge challenge, because black
men who come out of the closet are almost always subjected to intense vilification. Men refuse to say
they're gay for fear of being ostracized by family, friends and the black community at large.
This problem isn't confined to blacks, of course. Hispanic men face similar hostility. And while
probably more white men have come out than other groups, they often face intimidating abuse, too.
That's why Whitfield's forum is so important. Not only can it help black women in Harlem, but it may
serve as a model for other communities.
King notes that there is really nothing a woman can do to prevent her man from sleeping with
another man if that's what he wants to do. But he says they can and must protect themselves.
"Women need to be nosier about what their men are into," says King. "A lot of women have that sixth
sense, a gut feeling that something's not right. If they'd take that vibe and pursue it, they would find
out the things they may not want to know but need to know. That may be the thing that saves their
lives."
The message: Ladies, just because you're in a committed relationship does not mean your man is.
And it does not mean that you are safe from being infecting with the HIV virus. Do not be a statistic.
Get educated. Get nosy.
???????????????????
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, 5--17-02
BY KAREN HUNTER
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, 5--17-02
BY KAREN HUNTER
Black Women's Danger:
Closeted Men With AIDS
In the 1993 Pulitzer Prize-winning play "Angels in America," the Roy Cohn character, after being
informed he has AIDS, tells his doctor that it can't be true because AIDS is associated with
homosexuals and he isn't gay.
"Homosexuals are men who know nobody and who nobody knows," Cohn tells his doctor. "[These
are men] who have zero clout. ... Roy Cohn is not a homosexual. Roy Cohn is a heterosexual man ...
who --- around with guys."
Cohn, the famed lawyer, died in 1986. Unfortunately, his mind-set lives on and is running rampant in
the African-American community. So much so that black men like Cohn ? men who sleep with men
but do not consider themselves gay ? are one of the primary reasons so many black women are
being infected with HIV and dying of AIDS.
Until recently, the most at-risk groups for AIDS were intravenous drug users and homosexuals.
Today it's blacks, especially women. According to the latest statistics from the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, African-Americans (12% of the population) make up 47% of the new AIDS
cases reported. And 63% of women reported with AIDS are African-American. A black woman has a
21 times greater chance of contracting HIV than a white woman.
That is why Kimberly Whitfield, project coordinator of Sisterlink Prenatal Care Action Coalition in
Harlem, is holding a forum today on this phenomenon. She has invited J.L. King, one of the few men
willing to discuss it, to educate women.
"We want to raise community awareness around the issue of MSM [men sleeping with men] and how
heterosexual women ? women who are in what they believe to be monogamous relationships ? are
contracting the disease," said Whitfield, whose program starts at 9:30 a.m. at 127 W. 127th St., third
floor. "It's scary, but it's time we face up to what's going on. It's time we have a dialogue about it."
King is a father of three who was once married to what he describes as the "perfect woman." They
had it all ? careers, money, cars and a loving home. They attended church every Sunday and were
pillars of their small Ohio town. But King's sexual habits ? he slept with men ? ruined it all. He is
speaking out now because "too many women are dying."
For the last two years, he has made it his mission to expose the double lives of men who, like Roy
Cohn, don't consider themselves gay yet have sex with men. It's a huge challenge, because black
men who come out of the closet are almost always subjected to intense vilification. Men refuse to say
they're gay for fear of being ostracized by family, friends and the black community at large.
This problem isn't confined to blacks, of course. Hispanic men face similar hostility. And while
probably more white men have come out than other groups, they often face intimidating abuse, too.
That's why Whitfield's forum is so important. Not only can it help black women in Harlem, but it may
serve as a model for other communities.
King notes that there is really nothing a woman can do to prevent her man from sleeping with
another man if that's what he wants to do. But he says they can and must protect themselves.
"Women need to be nosier about what their men are into," says King. "A lot of women have that sixth
sense, a gut feeling that something's not right. If they'd take that vibe and pursue it, they would find
out the things they may not want to know but need to know. That may be the thing that saves their
lives."
The message: Ladies, just because you're in a committed relationship does not mean your man is.
And it does not mean that you are safe from being infecting with the HIV virus. Do not be a statistic.
Get educated. Get nosy.
-----------------
In the 1993 Pulitzer Prize-winning play "Angels in America," the Roy Cohn character, after being
informed he has AIDS, tells his doctor that it can't be true because AIDS is associated with
homosexuals and he isn't gay.
"Homosexuals are men who know nobody and who nobody knows," Cohn tells his doctor. "[These
are men] who have zero clout. ... Roy Cohn is not a homosexual. Roy Cohn is a heterosexual man ...
who --- around with guys."
Cohn, the famed lawyer, died in 1986. Unfortunately, his mind-set lives on and is running rampant in
the African-American community. So much so that black men like Cohn ? men who sleep with men
but do not consider themselves gay ? are one of the primary reasons so many black women are
being infected with HIV and dying of AIDS.
Until recently, the most at-risk groups for AIDS were intravenous drug users and homosexuals.
Today it's blacks, especially women. According to the latest statistics from the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, African-Americans (12% of the population) make up 47% of the new AIDS
cases reported. And 63% of women reported with AIDS are African-American. A black woman has a
21 times greater chance of contracting HIV than a white woman.
That is why Kimberly Whitfield, project coordinator of Sisterlink Prenatal Care Action Coalition in
Harlem, is holding a forum today on this phenomenon. She has invited J.L. King, one of the few men
willing to discuss it, to educate women.
"We want to raise community awareness around the issue of MSM [men sleeping with men] and how
heterosexual women ? women who are in what they believe to be monogamous relationships ? are
contracting the disease," said Whitfield, whose program starts at 9:30 a.m. at 127 W. 127th St., third
floor. "It's scary, but it's time we face up to what's going on. It's time we have a dialogue about it."
King is a father of three who was once married to what he describes as the "perfect woman." They
had it all ? careers, money, cars and a loving home. They attended church every Sunday and were
pillars of their small Ohio town. But King's sexual habits ? he slept with men ? ruined it all. He is
speaking out now because "too many women are dying."
For the last two years, he has made it his mission to expose the double lives of men who, like Roy
Cohn, don't consider themselves gay yet have sex with men. It's a huge challenge, because black
men who come out of the closet are almost always subjected to intense vilification. Men refuse to say
they're gay for fear of being ostracized by family, friends and the black community at large.
This problem isn't confined to blacks, of course. Hispanic men face similar hostility. And while
probably more white men have come out than other groups, they often face intimidating abuse, too.
That's why Whitfield's forum is so important. Not only can it help black women in Harlem, but it may
serve as a model for other communities.
King notes that there is really nothing a woman can do to prevent her man from sleeping with
another man if that's what he wants to do. But he says they can and must protect themselves.
"Women need to be nosier about what their men are into," says King. "A lot of women have that sixth
sense, a gut feeling that something's not right. If they'd take that vibe and pursue it, they would find
out the things they may not want to know but need to know. That may be the thing that saves their
lives."
The message: Ladies, just because you're in a committed relationship does not mean your man is.
And it does not mean that you are safe from being infecting with the HIV virus. Do not be a statistic.
Get educated. Get nosy.
???????????????????
