Down-low, sometimes shortened to DL, is an African-American slang term[1] generally used within the African-American community that typically refers to a sexual subculture of black men who usually identify as heterosexual but actively seek sexual encounters and relations with other men, practice gay cruising, and frequently don a specific hip-hop attire during these activities.
[7][8] Down-low has been viewed as "a type of impression management that some of the informants use to present themselves in a manner that is consistent with perceived norms about masculine attribute, attitudes, and behavior".
[5][13][14][15] A 2003 cover story in The New York Times Magazine on the down-low phenomenon explains that the American Black community sees "homosexuality as a white man's perversion.
"[13] It then goes on to describe the down-low subculture as follows: Rejecting a gay culture they perceive as white and effeminate, many black men have settled on a new identity, with its own vocabulary and customs and its own name: Down Low.
[13]In his book Beyond the Down Low: Sex, Lies and Denial in Black America, Keith Boykin states that secret homosexual relations are not unique to African-American men, and in fact occur in many societies and among all races.
[18] The term was popularized in the late 1990s and after by a series of mainstream media reports emphasizing the danger of Black men transmitting HIV/AIDS to their unsuspecting female partners.
[19] The first mainstream media account of the down-low as a subculture of closeted homosexuality or bisexuality was reported in the Los Angeles Times on February 7, 2001.
[20] On the heels of that article, San Francisco Chronicle contributing writer Frank Leon Roberts published "Stereotypes and Sexual Orientation: The 'down-low' – Coming out your own way in [B]lack clubs"[21] in the newspaper's July 23, 2003 issue.
Then in August 2003 The New York Times Magazine ran a cover story called "Double Lives on the Down Low", written by Benoit Denizet-Lewis.
[22] The down-low subculture was also part of story lines on episodes of the television shows Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Homicide Hunter, The Starter Wife, ER, and Oz.
The report connects non-disclosure to an increased risk of HIV by stating: "Young MSM who do not disclose their sexual orientation (nondisclosers) are thought to be at particularly high risk for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection because of low self-esteem, depression, or lack of peer support and prevention services that are available to MSM who are more open about their sexuality (disclosers).
"[28] The CDC added a note to their report stating, in part: "The findings in this report are consistent with previous research suggesting that among MSM, nondisclosure of sexual orientation is associated with being a member of a racial/ethnic minority group, identifying as bisexual or heterosexual, having greater perceived community and internalized homophobia, and being less integrated socially within homosexual communities (1—3,6).
"[28] The CDC cited three findings that relate to African-American men who operate on the down-low (engage in MSM activity but don't disclose to others): In Beyond the Down Low, Keith Boykin denied this connection, attributing the media claim to sexism, racism, homophobia and classism.
"[32]Additionally, a qualitative study, published in the Medical Anthropological Quarterly, concluded that: "... covert and unprotected sex among bisexually active Black men was commonplace for reasons that included prostitution, habituation to same-sex relations during incarceration, and the desire to maintain a facade of heterosexuality in homophobic communities.
The risks of bisexuality among Black men are exacerbated by incarceration, homophobia, drug use, and the prison and public health focus on surveillance rather than prevention.
This type of hypervisibility reinforces the confining space of the glass closet, and continues to position Black men as subjects of regulation and surveillance.