Beyond the Down Low

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Beyond the Down Low: Sex, Lies and Denial in Black America (ISBN 0-7867-1704-1, Carroll & Graf) is a 2005 book by Keith Boykin.

This book of essays analyzes the validity of the down low phenomenon. It covers multiple discussions around gay sexuality, the African-American community, homophobia, and the spread of HIV. Boykin has several points. First, he distances himself from author J. L. King. accusing him of making a name for himself by spreading misinformation. Second, he stresses that not only African-American men who have sex with men are "on the down low." He names two Caucasians, Jim McGreevey and Ed Schrock, as examples of non-blacks technically on the down low. He pinpoints how a New York Times article stating that a large number of black, gay men has been twisted to suggest that there are many men on the down low purposely infecting heterosexual, African-American women. Finally, he opines that when he and other African-American men and women are out to the media, this will diminish homophobia in black communities or disprove that homosexuality is "a white thing."


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