By Ytasha L. Womack
Special to the Tribune
Published June 30, 2004
The secrets that men keep can break more than a woman's heart.
That was the consensus of the 30 women and one man who came out to the eta Creative Arts Foundation's theater on the South Side recently to hear J.L. King talk about his life on the "down low," a term that describes men who hide their sexual relations with men from family and friends, and the women they date and marry.
Discussing his book, "On the Down Low: A Journey into the Lives of 'Straight' Black Men Who Sleep with Men" (Broadway Books), a current New York Times best seller, King held his listeners spellbound with tales of his clandestine sexual affairs.
"I had no clue," about down low behavior, said Shirley Whitmore, a sixtysomething South Side grandmother who counsels teenage mothers. Saying she missed King's much-talked about interview on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" in April, Whitmore came to the talk to get details about a topic that has gripped the black community.
"It's really devastating," she said, referring to the rising rates of HIV infection among black women, which health officials believe is rising as a result of men who have sex with both men and women. After she reads King's book, Whitmore said she wants to have a candid discussion with her longtime boyfriend.
For Whitmore and many other women, what has them talking--and listening--is the growing awareness that the down-low subculture is more widespread than they ever imagined.