Dismayed
by
the
results
of
a
recent
study
that
show
nearly
half
of
gay
black
and
bisexual
men
surveyed
in
five
major
cities
are
HIV-positive,
gay
black
leaders
recently
issued
an
open
letter
and
met
with
high-level
officials
from
the
Centers
for
Disease
Control
&
Prevention.
More
than
70
gay
black
leaders
from
around
the
country
participated
in
the
meeting
Aug.
29-31
in
Atlanta,
which
was
sponsored
by
the
CDC.
The
federal
health
agency
released
the
study
in
June.
Phill
Wilson,
chief
executive
officer
of
the
Black
AIDS
Institute
in
Los
Angeles,
attended
the
event
and
noted
the
enormity
of
the
CDC
statistics
in
an
“open
letter”
to
gay
black
and
bisexual
men
published
after
the
figures
were
released.
Posted
June
12
on
the
Black
AIDS
Institute’s
Web
site,
the
letter
portrayed
the
disease
as
“genocide,”
noting
the
CDC
calculated
46
percent
of
black
men
who
have
sex
with
men
were
HIV-positive.
The
date
was
obtained
from
Baltimore,
Los
Angeles,
Miami,
New
York
City
and
San
Francisco.
The
letter
—
titled
“Nearly
Half
of
Us
May
Already
Be
Infected.
Who
Gives
a
Damn?”
—
was
signed
by
50
gay
African
Americans
from
around
the
country
who
vowed
to
bring
the
issue
to
light.
“I
was
shocked
there
wasn’t
any
reaction
from
anyone,”
Wilson
said,
explaining
why
he
posted
the
letter.
“Not
from
the
black
community,
gay
community
or
straight
community.
This
data
demanded
front
page
coverage.”
Wilson
said
a
total
lack
of
interest
in
an
entire
segment
of
the
population
was
inexcusable.
“It’s
critically
important
to
understand
the
data,”
he
said.
“Many
people
are
taking
from
this
data
that
gay
blacks
are
engaging
in
riskier
behavior,
but
that’s
not
the
case.
HIV
prevention
in
the
black
community
was
delayed,
which
is
why
there’s
higher
incidence.”
Much
of
the
blame
for
failing
to
reach
out
to
black
gay
men
falls
on
the
CDC,
according
to
Wilson.
“The
prevention
program
was
designed
for
gay
white
men,
and
we
were
told
to
make
it
work
for
gay
black
men,”
he
said.
“It
didn’t.”
In
1994,
a
CDC
study
found
21
percent
of
black
men
who
have
sex
with
men
were
infected
with
HIV.
Six
years
later,
the
number
had
risen
to
30
percent,
according
to
the
CDC.
The
latest
study
shows
the
figure
approaching
50
percent.
“We
recognize
that
this
is
not
business
as
usual,”
said
Ron
Valdiserri,
CDC
deputy
director
for
HIV,
STD
&
TB
prevention.
“As
a
nation
we
need
to
take
a
serious
look
at
the
state,
local
and
community
level.
That’s
why
we
called
this
meeting.”
In
2001,
the
CDC
adopted
a
strategic
five-year
HIV
prevention
plan
with
the
goal
of
cutting
annual
U.S.
infections
in
half
by
2005.
Valdiserri
said
last
week
the
effort
was
not
a
failure.
“One
thing
I
want
to
make
clear
is
this
was
not
just
the
CDC’s
plan,”
Valdiserri
said.
“There
was
input
from
government,
people
who
were
HIV-positive
and
AIDS
advocates.
Have
we
reduced
new
infections
by
half?
No.
Is
the
program
a
failure?
No.
“We
understand
this
epidemic
is
complicated
and
changing
over
time.
We’ve
modified
our
research
to
understand
the
high
rate
of
infections
in
the
black
community,”
he
said.
Valdiserri
said
he
understands
the
frustration
among
those
who
attended
the
recent
meeting
in
Atlanta,
but
the
CDC
cannot
turn
the
tide
of
new
infections
among
African
Americans
without
help.
A
vast
majority
of
the
agency’s
$350
million
budget
for
prevention
planning
goes
to
state
and
local
health
departments,
he
said.
“There’s
not
one
single,
simple
solution,”
Valdiserri
said.
“We
can’t
just
flip
a
switch
and
say
today
we’re
going
to
do
it
this
way.”
Keith
Boykin,
a
black
gay
author
and
activist
who
attended
the
conference,
was
equally
critical
of
the
CDC.
“One
of
the
panelists
asked
[CDC
Director
Julie
Gerberding]
if
she
could
make
a
commitment
to
respond
to
our
recommendations
in
a
certain
time
frame,”
Boykin
said.
“She
said
she
couldn’t
do
that.
Where’s
the
urgency?”
The
agency
lacks
the
proper
mindset
to
combat
the
problem
among
black
gay
and
bisexual
men,
according
to
Boykin.
“I
don’t
think
the
people
running
these
programs
can
reach
the
community
it
needs
to
reach,”
he
said.
“There
is
this
belief
that
more
education
will
change
these
numbers.
But
we
need
to
change
the
whole
mentality.
Some
people
are
consciously
choosing
to
have
unprotected
sex.”
Although
Atlanta
was
not
included
in
the
latest
CDC
sampling,
there
is
no
reason
to
believe
the
city’s
infection
rate
is
any
less,
said
Craig
Washington,
volunteer
and
...