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ur collective Pride
grows every year,
and this month
Portland is joining
23 other major U.S.
cities hy presenting a
series of events for
African American gay
and hisexual men. A
strong coalition of groups
is playing host to two
parties that are intended
to huild community, pro
vide education and sup
port, and discern what
services are needed in
the future.
“Our idea and intent
is to put on a fun, social
event to start to huild
community— to show
men there is a communi
ty out there and huild a
base and clarify where to
go in the future,” says
Phillip Knowlton, C as
cade AIDS Project HIV
prevention director.
“Many of the men we
are hoping to attract are
those who do not identi
fy as gay or bisexual but
might find these parties
as a way to explore their
sexuality.”
Knowlton says that
men who have sex with
Stephan Herrera calls African American gay and
men, hut do not identify bisexual men “ an isolated community within an
as gay, engage in more
isolated community”
Parties with
a purpose
Portland celebrates
African American Pride
by
risky sexual
behavior and that
HIV infection
rates among black
men are dispro
portionately high.
A Centers for Dis
ease Control and
Prevention study
released in May
2001 found black
gay and hi men
were five times
more likely to
become HIV in
fected than their
white counter
parts— 2.5 percent
vs. 14-7 percent.
“The majority
of black gay men
do not identify
as gay and do
not attend a lot
of G L B T events
as a whole,” says
Stephan Her
rera, Brother to
K im S tephenson
Brother organizer. “The African American
community is so small here in Portland, and
the G L B T community is an isolated commu
nity. We are an isolated community within
an isolated community. Black men are faced
with so many issues and harriers, and often
sexual orientation is not high on their priori
ty list.”
The threat of homophobic violence and
discrimination is already a crushing pressure for
gay men, and it is doubly so for black men.
They have the added pressures of societal
racism (including within the queer communi
ty) as well as the generally homophobic
African American church, and many feel an
obligation to black women to be a traditional
male figure in a culture that is lacking men.
“A woman friend of mine told me she finds
it very upsetting that most of our African
American brothers are either in jail, dead or
gay,” Herrera says. “And then many see coming
out as gay as delving into the white culture and
betraying our own.”
This hostile environment not only affects
the health of black men who have sex with
men but also their unknowing female partners.
“It’s really not acceptable to be gay or bi
sexual in the African American community,”
Knowlton says. “There is pressure from the
church, and they have really strong family ties
that keep them from coming out. Often their
family and friends don’t even know they have
sex with other men, and they have a riskier
level of sex behind closed doors. We have seen
a large rise in contributing factors to African
American women becoming HIV infected, and
that’s because many of the men are having sex
with men and not telling their female partners
about it, so they are infecting their female part
ners with HIV.”
The first event, “A Night of Flava,” was
aimed toward the younger set June 6 at Klub Z.
The second one, “Ebony Knights at the Fez,”
will attract an older crowd June 13 at the Fez
Ballroom.
Both parties offer HIV testing, and all of
the sponsors— CAP, Brother to Brother, the
African American Health Coalition, Washing
ton and Multnomah counties— have informa
tion tables and outreach workers present. The
groups hope to make lasting connections with
men and to organize forums, groups and other
events in the near future.
“We want to show that we are recognizing
black men as part of the G LB T community
and we do understand their needs and we are
responding," Herrera says. “And to let them
know we are here and we are going to do more
and better work in the future. ” j n
E bony K nights at the F ez will feature food,
drinks, prizes, information and DJ Alex spinning
old- and new-school grooves 10 p.m. to 4 a.m.
June 13 at the Fez Ballroom, 316 S.W. 11th Ave.
For details call 503-41 7-7991 or 503-223-5907.
K im STEPHENSON is a Portland free-lance writer.
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