The women in Winfrey's studio audience were furious that they were being kept in the "dark and ran a high risk of contracting HIV from their supposedly monogamous husbands and boyfriends. In April the talk show featured men who identify as straight and have wives or girlfriends but also have random, often unprotected sex with men on the sly. "As I become more comfortable with my sexuality, it will eventually be something I will express to her."īy now most Americans are far0ilinr with the term "on the down low"-at least those who read national newspapers or watch the Oprah Winfrey show. But if I were to take something home to her, be it HIV, gonorrhea, or chlamydia, it's going to be a question of, How did this happen?" he says.
"I consider that whenever I have intercourse with another man that I have a wife to go home to. You meet people in casual, everyday contact, just as you would a female."Įzel prefers effeminate men and always insists on safer sex. "I meet people at work, on the bus, and on the street. "She's open-minded, but I don't think she'd be that open-minded," says Ezel, who calls the men he sleeps with "associates" and never has boyfriends. He is bisexual, although his new 24-year-old wife has no idea he sleeps with men.
They keep their sex with other men a secret, refusing even to tell their wives or girlfriends.Ī man named Ezel, a volunteer with Minority AIDS Project who declines to give his last name, is staffing a table in a corner of the bar, offering free condoms and information on STDs to help educate patrons about safer sex. The Study is a place to find a quick same-sex hookup, although many of the men here say they don't consider themselves to be gay at all. A song by Lauryn Hill bleeds into a Madonna classic as customers play pool, chat up the bartenders, or watch spogs. On a recent Sunday night, however, the place is packed with mostly African-A3nerican and Latino men who squeeze by each other along the aging paneled walls. Most visitors to Hollywood would never notice the Study, a gay bar tucked into a side street about two miles east of Grauman's Chinese Theatre. APA style: Reaching out to the down low: a look inside the clubs where men have secret gay sex reveals why many can't be convinced to play safe.Reaching out to the down low: a look inside the clubs where men have secret gay sex reveals why many can't be convinced to play safe." Retrieved from MLA style: "Reaching out to the down low: a look inside the clubs where men have secret gay sex reveals why many can't be convinced to play safe." The Free Library.