Cleo Manago (born September 21, 1960)[1] is an African-American activist and social architect who coined the term same-gender loving[2] (or SGL) as an alternative for African-descended or black people who do not wish to identify as gay or lesbian due to the perceived Eurocentric nature of the latter terminology and community practices.
Since its foundation in 1989, it has become one of the replicated organizations in the United States, making Manago an early provider of the AIDS movement of culturally specific HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention services for African-Americans using a psychosocial, mental health model.
[3] Founded in 1989, the Black Men's Xchange (BMX) is the oldest and largest community-based movement in the U.S devoted to promoting healthy self-concept and behavior, cultural affirmation, and critical consciousness among SGL, gay-identified and bisexual African-descended males and their allies.
[3] This organization has chapters in Los Angeles, Oakland, San Francisco, Sacramento, Orange County, Detroit, Denver, Atlanta, Minneapolis, Baltimore, and Philadelphia.
[5] According to Manago, "In the midst of a need for affirmation and acknowledgment from the 'gay' community, same-gender-loving Black people are subject to sexual objectification, discrimination, white supremacist treatment and indifference.