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A New H.I.V. Alarm
NY Times ^ | January 16, 2005 | SCOTT JASCHIK

Posted on 01/17/2005 8:02:49 PM PST by neverdem

JONATHAN M. PERRY has never been shy about being identified as gay at Johnson C. Smith University, a historically black college here. He tells anyone who asks, and plenty who don't. At 6-foot-2 and a trim 150 pounds, he's hard to miss. He sometimes paints his fingernails and toenails black and wears flip-flops so no one will miss the fashion statement. He has an ''I Like Your Boyfriend'' T-shirt.

''I don't believe in having any skeletons in any closets,'' he explains. So Mr. Perry was a logical choice to speak at a sorority-sponsored forum on AIDS during his sophomore year. As he recalls, he started off by posing a question: ''How many of you know someone who has H.I.V.?''

''Turn to your left; turn to your right,'' he told them. ''Do you know anyone with H.I.V.?''

No one raised a hand.

''Well,'' he added, ''how many of you know me?''

On this campus of 1,600 students, they all knew Mr. Perry, and many in the audience began to cry. They had never associated AIDS with their own campus. In fact, Mr. Perry is the only student at Johnson C. Smith who is openly gay.

''I want black college students to hear my story,'' says Mr. Perry, now a 28-year-old senior. ''I don't want them to be able to avoid thinking about this.'' He adds: ''My school and lots of schools are very homophobic, and they are not going to address H.I.V. on black college campuses until they are able to get over the homophobia.''

State health experts and campus officials say that the truly unusual thing about Mr. Perry is not that he has the virus that causes AIDS, but that he chooses to be open about it.

Amid new concern about the incidence of H.I.V. among black students, public health officials describe an environment of denial about homosexuality in general and AIDS in particular. Coming from a culture that tends to frown on homosexuality, many black students hide their orientation. They either don't participate in gay life on campus or, in the case of Johnson C. Smith and many other historically black campuses, don't have one to participate in. Instead, gay black students head to bars and clubs in town, where they are more likely to engage in unsafe sex with strangers.

''The stigma of being gay drives kids into higher-risk behavior such as doing club drugs and engaging in anonymous sex,'' says Dr. Peter A. Leone, the state's medical director for sexually transmitted diseases and an associate professor of medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. ''There's nowhere for them to go to explore their sexuality safely.''

That, according to Dr. Leone, is a key reason for the results he saw last year in a study of H.I.V. among North Carolina's college students.

Although the growth of the virus among minority groups is well documented, public-health officials had assumed the problem was greatest in low-income, poorly educated communities. College students had not been considered at risk for AIDS because prevention education and awareness is usually high on campuses. But the study -- of 42 colleges, public and private, historically black and predominantly white, secular and religious -- produced results that stunned Dr. Leone, the lead researcher. From 2000 through 2003, 84 male students were found to have H.I.V., and 73 of them were black. In a state where only 22 percent of college students are black, 87 percent of students contracting H.I.V. are black.

Data from 2004, not counted in his study, indicate the numbers are rising and will likely increase exponentially.

''We are seeing this huge outbreak among young black men who don't view themselves as at risk, and we're not doing a good job of delivering the message that they are,'' Dr. Leone says.

The problem the researchers documented also raises concerns about the vulnerability of young women. About 40 percent of the H.I.V.-positive black male students said they had also had sex with women in the year before their diagnosis. In the last two years, five female students in North Carolina, all of them black, have been found to have H.I.V.

Health educators in other cities, including Atlanta and Washington, say they believe campuses in their areas face similar problems. The findings have set health officials scurrying to discover why H.I.V. is more prevalent among African-Americans on campus and to figure out what institutions should do to prevent its spread.

''This is the next wave of H.I.V.,'' Dr. Leone says. ''It is a shift from marginalized African-Americans to mainstream African-Americans. College students are at risk.''

JOHNSON C. SMITH is just a 10-minute drive from downtown Charlotte's banking and business hubs, but it feels leafy and suburban, with lots of open space and a mix of traditional campus architecture and 60's-era function. Academically, it lacks the prestige of black institutions like Morehouse College or the breadth of Howard University. But it has a solid academic reputation, growing enrollment and some buzz in college circles for its creative use of technology, such as giving all students laptop computers.

In many ways, Johnson C. Smith is a good fit for Mr. Perry. He is committed to attending a black college. He speaks with affection of some of his professors. He likes chatting the night away with friends. His cellphone is seldom quiet.

But he has also faced hostility here. He has been called names and threatened. One night during summer session, he was awakened in his dorm room by a shout at 3 a.m.: ''Where is that faggot's room?''

The intruder coated the door with shaving cream, urinated on the floor outside the room, and then ran away. No students along the hall came to Mr. Perry's defense. He says he was told to clean up the mess himself.

Benny Smith, a spokesman for Johnson C. Smith, says he cannot discuss specific cases but acknowledges that homophobia is a problem ''as it can be seen on other campuses.'' He says the college has punished students who ''violated the rights'' of gay students. Mr. Perry continues to be rattled that no one was charged in the incident, even though he thought he recognized the voice of a fellow student. Similar antigay incidents have been reported at Morehouse and Howard.

Conventional wisdom is that black institutions are liberal, but in reality many are socially conservative, founded by or having strong links to churches (Johnson C. Smith's roots are Presbyterian). By all accounts, they have been slow to accept homosexuality.

A survey in 2003 by the Pew Research Center on the People and the Press found that 60 percent of black people, compared with 50 percent of whites, have an unfavorable view of gay men. The survey also found that 61 percent of black Protestants believe sexual orientation can be changed, compared with 47 percent of white Protestants and 21 percent of secular people of all races.

At Johnson C. Smith, students who are asked how they feel about gay people initially voice tolerance, but then say things like, ''I can't imagine how a man would do that with another man'' or ''It's not natural.'' They talk about liking Mr. Perry and wishing him well, but some also roll their eyes and call him ''too gay.''

For that matter, Mr. Perry was not always so comfortable with himself. Growing up on Air Force bases, where his mother served in the military (his father had no role in his upbringing, he says), he was conscious of his orientation well before he could put a name on it. He prayed that he would stop being gay. Pastors tried to ''cure'' him, he says, adding: ''I felt in danger of damnation. I despised myself.''

Mr. Perry has come to terms with himself. After he graduates this spring, he plans to work for the Black AIDS Institute in Los Angeles on education programs for black students. He has not developed AIDS and says he adheres to safe-sex guidelines. A condom broke, leading to his infection, he says. He is typical in that he contracted the virus off campus.

AIDS experts point to the gay bar scene, where the consumption of alcohol or drugs may cloud judgment, as one reason for H.I.V.'s spread among black students. Another, they say, is that they are more likely than whites to maintain sexual relations with both men and women. The ''down low'' subculture, in which black men live straight lives but secretly engage in gay sex, has been the subject of considerable media attention recently, including a discussion on ''The Oprah Winfrey Show,'' because of its contribution to the spread of AIDS.

Information on H.I.V. testing and AIDS has also been slow to reach black students.

Jerry L. Blackmon II, a graduate student at North Carolina State University and past editor of its black student newspaper, says that ''AIDS is not outwardly acknowledged'' at his campus. At North Carolina State, a predominantly white institution in Raleigh, gay students are ''persona non grata'' in its black community, Mr. Blackmon says. ''Homosexuality is scorned, ridiculed and outcast here.''

He sees the North Carolina H.I.V. study as a wakeup call. ''I would hope that something like this would cause the black community to rethink its stance on homosexuality within its own ranks,'' he says. ''The black community must use this information to address the problem before it becomes too big to handle, both on campus and off.''

LES KOOYMAN, executive director of the Metrolina AIDS Project, a nonprofit group here, says that for several years his group has offered AIDS testing to any college in the area. The only college that has not participated is Johnson C. Smith. ''It's been a challenge to get testing started at black colleges,'' Mr. Kooyman says.

In the wake of the North Carolina H.I.V. study, institutions are stepping up their programs. A spokesman for Johnson C. Smith says the university is ''eager'' to start testing and is in the process of organizing it. In some respects, Mr. Kooyman says, Johnson C. Smith is doing smart things. The college makes condoms available without charge and offers AIDS education during orientation.

Still, local mores make it particularly difficult for colleges here to connect with students about safe sex.

Children may be taught about sexually transmitted diseases in North Carolina's elementary and secondary schools, but the only prevention method that can be encouraged is abstinence. AIDS educators report that condoms are frequently discussed in sex education programs, but what children hear are stories about how they break, with the idea that they can't count on protection that way. Many students arrive at college convinced that condoms may not make much of a difference.

''I'm appalled at the lack of information students get,'' says Karen Butler, associate professor of health education at Johnson C. Smith. She favors extremely explicit sex education for college students. And with her models of key parts of the male and female anatomy, she provides just that in sessions she conducts during orientation.

North Carolina Central University, in Durham, has been one of the few historically black institutions to address the problem aggressively. H.I.V. issues are covered in a mandatory health course for freshmen. The college also gives away condoms, offers free H.I.V. testing and sends ''peer educators'' door to door in dormitories to talk about safe sex. Laverne Reid, the university's chairwoman of health education, calls these moves ''revolutionary'' for black colleges. Her efforts have been hindered, she adds, by ''a need in our community to be in the closet.''

To make programs like North Carolina Central's typical, the state health department has created Project Commit to Prevent, a coalition of 12 historically minority colleges that share information and strategies. The state financed the program through the end of 2004, and the federal Centers for Disease Control has provided additional money that will allow the project to continue into September. Health officials intend to lobby the governor and Legislature to keep the program alive, says Evelyn Foust, North Carolina's AIDS director.

All 12 colleges in the coalition added H.I.V. education to freshman orientation programs this past fall, as well as to orientation programs for new faculty members. Six have added H.I.V. testing to standard student health services.

Concern about the H.I.V. trends extends beyond historically black colleges. Duke University's health center had Dr. Leone speak at a retreat and has been considering how to respond to his findings. Five Duke students have been reported with the virus: a Latino woman, two white men and two black men (65 percent of Duke students are white, and 10 percent are black).

Duke, also in Durham, has had antigay incidents. But it is in another league from the black colleges in the state on gay issues.

Duke has offered free, confidential testing for H.I.V. since 1989 and has extensive information about AIDS and H.I.V. available to students, numerous gay student organizations, a prominent gay-studies program and health educators who are experts in the field. The university is considering adding new services designed specifically for black students.

IN a human sexuality class at Johnson C. Smith last summer, the students (one man, eight women) agreed to talk with a reporter about H.I.V. The students had all heard about the North Carolina study but they knew few details and some of what they had heard was inaccurate. One student named the colleges where she heard the study found the most H.I.V. cases (no such ranking was released). Another was surprised to learn that the data also cover students at predominantly white colleges.

Fear of having sex with a man who is on the ''down low'' was a big issue for the women.

''I think about this a lot,'' said Shekia Johnson, a student from New York City. ''Two minutes of pleasure isn't worth my life.'' A classmate found out recently that a male student she ''used to mess around with'' is bisexual. ''It's disgusting,'' she said. The other women in the class insisted their boyfriends were not on the ''down low.'' They said that men were annoyed when asked to use a condom, and that on a campus where 60 percent of students are women, men hold an advantage in sexual negotiations.

To Ms. Butler, such attitudes reflect ''the large level of denial in the black community, that AIDS is a white gay thing.''

Later, Mr. Perry laughed when told of the women's comments. ''Girls tell me, 'I know my man,''' he said. ''I look at some of these girls saying that, and I have to tell them that I know their men, too.''

Scott Jaschik is editor of Inside Higher Ed, a Web publication to appear this winter, and former editor of The Chronicle of Higher Education.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; Government; News/Current Events; US: North Carolina
KEYWORDS: aids; broondadownlow; gaydisease; grid; hiv; hivaids; homosexual; homosexualagenda
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1 posted on 01/17/2005 8:02:50 PM PST by neverdem
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To: neverdem

How can a school be homophobic?
Honestly, I think some people are homophobic-paranoid.


2 posted on 01/17/2005 8:09:46 PM PST by Lorianne
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To: EdReform; backhoe; Yehuda; Clint N. Suhks; saradippity; stage left; Yakboy; I_Love_My_Husband; ...

Homosexual Agenda Ping. I didn't read the whole article; started to but it was way long and I have to do something right now.

I could tell that it was highly biased after the first sentence or two. Duh. Isn't sick how homosexuals with AIDS are put on a pedastal as though they were living saints and heroes? Why not have former homosexuals brought it to tell their stories? They're the heroes.

Let me AND DirtyHarryY2K AND ItsOurTimeNow if anyone wants on/off this pinglist.

(Heh, we are actually the same person...)


3 posted on 01/17/2005 8:10:11 PM PST by little jeremiah (The "Gay Agenda" exists only in the minds of little jeremiah and his cohort. - Modern Man)
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To: little jeremiah

Or... these guys could just not have sex outside of marriage between a man and a woman. I can hear the muttering now... too easy, I don't like it.


4 posted on 01/17/2005 8:21:19 PM PST by Nevada Mark
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To: neverdem

"The stigma of being gay drives kids into higher-risk behavior such as doing club drugs and engaging in anonymous sex..."

Right.

Nobody is responsible for their own actions anymore.

"It's all the stigma's fault! It's not mine! Damn that stigma!"

Give me a break.


5 posted on 01/17/2005 8:23:43 PM PST by canuck_conservative
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To: neverdem
My school and lots of schools are very homophobic...

Wow! That's amazing.

Stereotyping doesn't bother him apparently.

6 posted on 01/17/2005 8:23:47 PM PST by TaxRelief (NC Freepers are heading to the FR Ball in droves: See you there!)
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To: neverdem
I for one am so tired of people acting like they're slaves to their sexuality. Every sexual instinct or proclivity must be "explored", must be "respected", must be "open". BULLSHIT.

And attaching "phobe" onto people who disdain the gay lifestyle is BS, too. I'm not afraid of gay people nor do I 'hate' them, but I am contemputuous of slutty gays who infect others with no restraint and stick their gayness in society's face....who think their deviancy must be respected and accepted. I don't respect it and I never will. Fling all the names you like. It won't change a thing.

7 posted on 01/17/2005 8:24:04 PM PST by Lizavetta (Modern liberalism: Where everyone must look different but think the same.)
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To: Nevada Mark

Welcome to FR.


8 posted on 01/17/2005 8:24:25 PM PST by 82Marine89 (U.S. Marines- Part of the Navy....located in the men's department.)
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To: Nevada Mark
Site Meter
Umm...lets see...oh yes...it will never work - and its all Bush's fault!
9 posted on 01/17/2005 8:24:44 PM PST by KMC1
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To: El Gato; JudyB1938; Ernest_at_the_Beach; Robert A. Cook, PE; lepton; LadyDoc; jb6; tiamat; PGalt; ..

FReepmail me if you want on or off my health and science ping list.


10 posted on 01/17/2005 8:26:13 PM PST by neverdem (May you be in heaven a half hour before the devil knows that you're dead.)
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Comment #11 Removed by Moderator

To: neverdem
''I want black college students to hear my story,'' says Mr. Perry, now a 28-year-old senior.


He graduated high school at age 24. He was used to being at the back of the pack.
12 posted on 01/17/2005 8:28:07 PM PST by 82Marine89 (U.S. Marines- Part of the Navy....located in the men's department.)
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To: Huber; NCSteve
It is a shift from marginalized African-Americans to mainstream African-Americans

Who are they trying to kid? In most black communities, homosexuals are more "marginalized" than drug dealers. Homosexuals will never be "mainstream", no matter how hard the media tries.

13 posted on 01/17/2005 8:33:28 PM PST by TaxRelief (NC Freepers are heading to the FR Ball in droves: See you there!)
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To: Lizavetta

DITTO everything you said!!!


14 posted on 01/17/2005 8:34:08 PM PST by goodnesswins (Tax cuts, Tax reform, social security reform, Supreme Court, etc.....the next 4 years.....)
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To: neverdem
'The stigma of being gay drives kids into higher-risk behavior such as doing club drugs and engaging in anonymous sex,' says Dr. Peter A. Leone.

Oh, so it's all our fault these guys love anonymous sex and drugs! Geez, is there no end to this crap. {sigh}

15 posted on 01/17/2005 8:38:22 PM PST by Northern Alliance
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To: 82Marine89
He was used to being at the back of the pack.

I guess so.

16 posted on 01/17/2005 8:38:59 PM PST by Navy Patriot (I'm gonna hear it for this.)
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To: little jeremiah

Oh right, it's a NYT article. No wonder it's long and biased.


17 posted on 01/17/2005 8:39:33 PM PST by little jeremiah (The "Gay Agenda" exists only in the minds of little jeremiah and his cohort. - Modern Man)
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To: Nevada Mark

Welcome aboard!


18 posted on 01/17/2005 8:42:06 PM PST by KoRn
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To: neverdem
ON'T USE INTRAVENOUS DRUGS/SHARE NEEDLES.

DON'T HAVE ANAL SEX WITH MEN

any questions?

19 posted on 01/17/2005 8:44:48 PM PST by montag813
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To: neverdem
''Girls tell me, 'I know my man,''' he said. ''I look at some of these girls saying that, and I have to tell them that I know their men, too.''

And he's proud of it, too.

20 posted on 01/17/2005 8:45:28 PM PST by GVnana (If I had a Buckhead moment would I know it?)
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