The Game is a rapper. The Game likes speaking about himself in third person. The Game don’t have a problem with gay people. The Game has a problem with people that are pretending not to be gay… because they all give their girlfriends AIDS… or something. Seems like someone has been watching a bit too much of R. Kelly’s In The Closet.
We’re actually happy another successful rapper has encouraged his gay peers to come out, but while homophobia and AIDS continue to create big challenges in African-American gay communities, it’s erroneous to conflate the two a la “homophobia causes AIDS.” Homophobia certainly contributes to rising HIV rates, but saying that closeted men spread AIDS completely excludes the straight men, women, and social factors that also play a part.
And of course gay people exist in hip-hop. We’ve been saying that long before Hot 97 DJ Mister Cee got caught getting a beej from another dude (no homo).
natedog
I just saw a Craigslist ad in which the poster was looking for some hardcore BDSM action, but required anonymity because of his status as a married man. This seems really disturbing to me and if that’s what Game is talking about, then I agree people like this and the people who reply to these ads should be vilified.
Mav
@natedog: I agree. If the Judeo-Christian right REALLY wanted to go after things that erode the institution of marriage, they would platform against adulterers.
REAL adulterers.
redmont
Um…he said you “can” be in the closet and give your girlfriend AIDS. This “downlow” thing is a HUGE problem in the African-American community.
To be honest, I have a huge problem with guys who are in the closet, being with a woman and pretending to be into her when he’s really fucking other guys on the side. That’s a big issue. And yes, closeted guys do give AIDS to their significant others, that’s a fact. I’m not saying all do, and neither is The Game, but some of them do, and that’s what’s dangerous.
Why is this article hating on him for bringing up that topic? If anything, I wish that view was adopted by more people, especially in the African American and Hip Hop communities that can be so homophobic. I’d rather the hatred go towards the people who are lying than the people who are being true to themselves.
The ONLY thing about this video that I have an issue with is the nonchalant manner in which the word “tranny” is thrown around by the guy doing the interview.
Jesus Queerty, crucify someone even after they say very clearly they don’t have any problem with gay people. Oy.
Aiden
@redmont: It already is adopted, by the black community. In fact gays have been scapegoated as the reason Aids is prevalent in the black community.
Mav
I thought the reason AIDs was prevalent in the black community was because there is apparently a large segment of the black community that doesn’t practice safe sex. Homosexual AND heterosexual.
redmont
@Aiden: The view that being in the closet or “downlow” is bad but being honest and true to yourself is good? That view has definitely NOT been adopted by the majority of the Hip Hop and African-American communities. Gays are still vilified by the majority of both. Luckily, that majority is diminishing as time passes.
What you’re assuming I mean is the view that being gay is what causes AIDS. Which I’m sure, based off of everything else I was saying, you know is not what I meant.
Jack
@redmont:
Gays are vilified by the majority of African-Americans? If this is true, is this different than the white Americans or Latino Americans or Asian Americans?
The majority of Republican presidential candidates have blatantly anti-gay positions. The party’s national platform is anti-gay, pushing anti-gay legislation throughout the country. Right?
Gay Veteran
@Jack: I’ve been fighting that battle but for some reason people think the black community is some how more homophobic than others. I guess the whopping 13% that make up the US population are such a huge threat to the LGBT community.
Although I don’t care for The Game or agree 100% with what he said.. I think it’s only fair that Queerty showcase rappers that are gay friendly; i.e. Nicki Minaj, Kanye West, Jay Z, Lil Kim, P. Diddy, LL Cool J, Will Smith, Common, Queen Latifah, etc.
Mav
Maybe if black communities didn’t completely ostracize their young gay men at the level of an Amish shunning, gay black men wouldn’t be having sex on the downlow to begin with. There’s a reason the overwhelming majority of gay homeless kids are African-American.
“To be honest, I have a huge problem with guys who are in the closet, being with a woman and pretending to be into her when he’s really fucking other guys on the side.”
^ I have a huge problem with this too, except I think infidelity and promiscuity are infidelity and promiscuity no matter what your sexual orientation is. But the deceit involved in the downlow phenomenon makes ALL gay people look like sneaky, slutty bastards.
Sorry if that irritates proponents of “free love” and all that, I just call ’em like I see ’em.
N00b
@redmont: “And yes, closeted guys do give AIDS to their significant others, that’s a fact.”
But those who are out and cheat, dont? I thought promiscuity and unsafe sex propagated AIDS, not staying in the closet. I guess I was wrong.
“being with a woman and pretending to be into her ”
Maybe they’re bi? Maybe they really are into her, but don’t want to jeopardize their social or professional lives? But yes, let’s just apply our own “morals” onto everyone else and tell them how to live their lives, the way the Good Lord intended to. Being righteous and judgmental does not make us hypocritical at all, right?
N00b
@N00b: *Self-righteous
Little Kiwi
oh please, the fault is not just on “the black community” the gay WHITE community (ie, the gay communities at large) have a lot to answer for.
i’m talking about the culture of “no fats fems asians or blacks”, folks. come the fuck ON.
you know damn well there’s a world of gay white wimps out there who still suck up to their bigoted families by reflecting the passed-on racism of their piece-of-shit parents.
a culture of lazy thinkers who still want their ideal man to be as close to “a straight white guy” as possible due to societal influences on “preference.”
is there homphobia in the black communities, or non-white communities? yes. just as there’s still racism in many of the white-oriented gay communities.
check your OWN ‘prejudices’ before you start calling out the prejudices of others.
Mav
@N00b: Maybe they really are into her, but don’t want to jeopardize their social or professional lives?
^ If Downlow Guy was really into her, he wouldn’t risk jeopardizing her feelings towards him by cheating on her, not only with a woman but with a man, which is just as painful as if she was being cheated on with another woman, only more humiliating because of society’s perception of gay men.
Who *hasn’t* heard people spew ridicule and hate at women who date closeted gay men or have ex-boyfriends who turned out to be gay? You only have to read some of the comments in the “Michele Bachmann” articles on Queerty to see that women who are perceived to be in relationships with closeted men are treated as lesser-than, as if they are stupid or desperate for being in such a relationship to begin with.
To me a guy on the downlow is just a selfish bastard who wants to get his cake and eat it, too. As long as he gets to **** around on the side, he doesn’t give a crap about being a second class citizen because he refuses to recognize himself as one. If he can manage an artificial straight relationship, he doesn’t have to admit that he’s gay. That’s cowardly as hell.
I’m embarrassed for gay guys (even politicians who theoretically know better) who do stuff like this.
Ess
@Mav
We hate Michele Bachmann because she’s an anti-gay loon who wants to take away our rights while being married to an obviously gay man who runs ex-gay clinics, which makes him a disgusting hypocrite and an asshole.
I’m am also sick of all this constant vilifying of gay men. Yes, closeted gay men who cheat on their “girlfriends” are bastards. So are the thousands of fucking straight men who cheat with skanks and hookers and spread diseases to their girlfriends/wives too.
N00b
@Mav: Two things: one, you’re lumping every guy who fucks a guy while married to a woman in the same basket. Some couples are aware of their situation, and are comfortable with it. For every couple where the DL guy is brutally outed and the wife gets humiliated (more on that in my second point), there is probably one where the wife knows the guy is gay but marries him anyway for other reasons, or knows he’s bisexual but they have an open relationship. Again, sometimes guys use women as “beards,” and those women are perfectly okay with being able to be “married” and fuck everyone but their husbands, while enjoying the financial security and social standing he can provide. Being on the DL doesn’t necessarily mean nobody knows (which is impossible, unless you never, ever act on your sexual orientation), just that you don’t advertise it to the world.
Second, you seem to base part of your argument on the idea that it’s okay for society to judge women who get cheated on by gay guys more harshly. It’s not okay. If people outside of the couple have a problem with the fact that the homewrecker was of the same sex as the guy instead of the opposite, it’s their problem (I call it homophobia, pure and simple). If the woman gets cheated on with a guy, it shouldn’t be any different than if she were cheated on with another girl.
And let’s stop pretending this is about “protecting the woman.” Just as many women do this to their husbands (“sorry love, leaving you for another woman and I’m taking the kids with me”). I don’t see why DL men should somehow be judged more harshly. In any case, it’s other people’s private lives. Unless you’re in a relationship with one (as in, a DL gay guy) and you really can’t stand having to hide (in which case just walk away, or deal with it since you knew what you were getting into), it shouldn’t be any of your business, just like it shouldn’t be the GOP’s business what gay guys do in their private lives.
Mav
@N00b:
“one, you’re lumping every guy who fucks a guy while married to a woman in the same basket. Some couples are aware of their situation, and are comfortable with it.”
^ Then it’s not cheating, is it?
“For every couple where the DL guy is brutally outed and the wife gets humiliated (more on that in my second point), there is probably one where the wife knows the guy is gay but marries him anyway for other reasons, or knows he’s bisexual but they have an open relationship.”
^ I don’t know a single straight girl who would knowingly marry a gay guy so he can have all the gay sex he wants on the side. I think I’d be hard-pressed to find one. The benefits of marriage aren’t THAT great.
“If the woman gets cheated on with a guy, it shouldn’t be any different than if she were cheated on with another girl.”
^ I agree with you, it shouldn’t be this way – like I said in my post, where I stated that infidelity and promiscuity are the same regardless of gender – but it IS this way. And that’s why it’s worse for women (and men) who get outed right along with their gay and lesbian SOs. A large segment of society thinks that there is something wrong with YOU if your spouse turns out to be queer.
“Just as many women do this to their husbands (“sorry love, leaving you for another woman and I’m taking the kids with me”). I don’t see why DL men should somehow be judged more harshly.”
^ I feel just as strongly against this behavior in lesbians as I do in gay guys, for the record. Because it reinforces stereotyped situations like the one you stated above. This discussion just happens to be about closeted gay guys – closeted gay black guys, if you want to be specific.
“Unless you’re in a relationship with one (as in, a DL gay guy) and you really can’t stand having to hide (in which case just walk away, or deal with it since you knew what you were getting into), it shouldn’t be any of your business, just like it shouldn’t be the GOP’s business what gay guys do in their private lives.”
^ How the hell does a heterosexual woman know what she’s getting into if her gay husband has gay sex IN SECRET? Most women who have a downlow husband or boyfriend think that their SO is a) heterosexual, and b) monogamous.
“In any case, it’s other people’s private lives.”
^ Your private life stops being your private life when it undermines the authenticity of the LGBT community and indiscriminately spreads deadly disease.
Let’s not give the hets any more ammo in the “gays are a public health hazard” camp.
n00b
@Mav: “Your private life stops being your private life when it undermines the authenticity of the LGBT community and indiscriminately spreads deadly disease.”
Nonsense. Your private life stops being your private life when you become a person of public figure. There’s no LGBT community signing form that I know of, and just because you’re gay, lesbian, bi or trans doesn’t mean you give up certain rights. It’s not a privilege, it’s a sexual orientation. The LGBT community will just have to deal with the fact that some people don’t, well, want to associate with it. It doesn’t turn them into celebrities. Also, being on the DL doesn’t spread the deadly disease. Not using condoms and not knowing your status do. Notice how your argument comes dangerously close to that of social conservatives: “your private life stops being your private life when it undermines the authenticity of marriage/the fabric of society and indiscriminately spreads deadly disease.” We all know this is wrong. If you don’t want to catch AIDS, use a condom and ask your partner to stay faithful and/or check his status. You do the same.
“Most women who have a downlow husband or boyfriend think that their SO is a) heterosexual, and b) monogamous.”
And you know this, how? Like I said before, being on the DL does not mean your partner in life doesn’t need to know. Just because a guys were outed this way spectacularly doesn’t mean they’re talking for everyone, or even a majority.
“Then it’s not cheating, is it?”
No, it’s not. Therefore it makes your argument weaker. You didn’t say (paraphrasing) “I despise DL guys except those who don’t cheat.” You said you despised them because they cheated. If they don’t all cheat, maybe you should rethink your position?
“The benefits of marriage aren’t THAT great.”
Maybe not for you. Tell that to all the gays and lesbians fighting for marriage rights. You think it’s so that they can fuck each other exclusively only? No, it’s for the extra. That extra still applies even for marriages where two people aren’t sexually attracted to each other.
Ronbo
The Game don’t be liking no anti-gay Republicans; we know them is the worst kind of low-down, er.. down-low diseased, light in the loafer, juicy fruited, pecanned punched, shirt liftin, tight end lovin, playing with the rear guard, bog boy, dic ky licker, Bent, Swings the other way, Poofter, peter-puffers, Irish creamers, fairy-feeling, butt pirating, pillow biter, friend of Dorothy, batting for the other team, pole-smokin, sausage jockey, nancy, knobgobbler, butt-basin’, shit stabbin, Phil McCrack,Skip Chicks, butt muffin, fudgepacken, fairy flaimn, anal assassin, rectum raiding, Baloney Smoker, Fudge Packer, Bone Smuggler, Rump Wrangler, closet case, back-door bandit, nancy-boy, nance, twinkie, pansy, nellie, bent, butch, chicken, chicken-hawk, fruit. midnight cowboy, poof, poofter, swish, three dollar bill, left handed hitter, swings the other way or switch hitter.
Damn, I know there are a lot more. I’ll need to consult my 6th grade yearbook.
Mav
“Maybe not for you. Tell that to all the gays and lesbians fighting for marriage rights. You think it’s so that they can fuck each other exclusively only? No, it’s for the extra. That extra still applies even for marriages where two people aren’t sexually attracted to each other.”
^ If I’m not in support of lying in order to get to fuck whoever you want on the side, why would I be in support of lying in order to get government benefits that *I* have to pay for? Either are equally sleazy choices as far as I’m concerned. One cheats me out of my dignity as a gay person, and the other cheats me out of my paycheck. Either way I think the person doing it is an ass.
“The LGBT community will just have to deal with the fact that some people don’t, well, want to associate with it.”
^ And guess what? We’re free to deal with it by condemning closeted people who have no problems disparaging us in public and promoting heteronormality, but still like to fuck like we do on the sly.
It’s hypocritical and it’s a sleazy thing to do. Being gay and pretending to be straight “to protect your social and professional life” is cowardly, bottom line. Yes, it’s cowardly to be in the closet.
I’ll support one’s right to be a coward (I guess that’s part of what comes with support of privacy) but that doesn’t mean I have to approve of their cowardice, their shame, their promiscuity, or their infidelity, especially when it makes all gay people look bad by association.
“You didn’t say (paraphrasing) “I despise DL guys except those who don’t cheat.” You said you despised them because they cheated. If they don’t all cheat, maybe you should rethink your position?”
^ How exactly are you defining DL guys? Because I think we have different definitions. A guy on the downlow (to me) is a guy who upholds a heterosexual relationship with a female to the public, and fucks guys in secret on the side without the knowledge of his heterosexual partner. Pretty sure that’s the definition this rapper is using as well, and the one that is being used in the context of black communities. A gay guy who is in a heterosexual relationship and doesn’t act on his gay feelings isn’t on the downlow, he’s just in the closet.
“And you know this, how? Like I said before, being on the DL does not mean your partner in life doesn’t need to know. Just because a guys were outed this way spectacularly doesn’t mean they’re talking for everyone, or even a majority.”
^ And you know this how? Have many closeted gay friends whose heterosexual girlfriends know that they’re gay and are totally cool with it?
Interesting
@Mav: Great comment. Well thought out. Part of the problem here is that this discussion of HIV and its spread trips over a wider issue in the gay main stream that has become an orthodoxy: That behavior is not linked to the spread of the disease. I don’t mean behavior in a moral sense. I mean behavior in the “what increases the likely spread of the disease” in an epidemic sense. Part of what increases the spread of diseases is something you allude to and/or may have discussed: That our social behaviors, such as being in the closet, and having sex with men in secret on the side, can promote irresponsible behavior. I can only speak for me on this point, but I suspect it is true of a lot of gay men. I was once in the closet, but having sex. I found that when I was in the closet because I would take the sex when I could find someone quickly to hook up with- that meant I took greater chances and engaged in more risky behavior. Normally while drinking to gain the courage to hook up in the first place. I came out. I grew out of all of that. But political correctness aside, it was a dangerous point in my life in terms of the chances that I could have caught the disease simply from again the science of how diseases spread in humans, which is deeply dependent on social behaviors. This does not mean out men don’t contract HIV. Many do. The point is that it is not unreasonable to point out that the closet can lead to risky behavior. That’s before one even considers the moral and emotional element of fucking with the life of someone else.
Interesting
@Mav: Quick follow up: A clear way to find out whether the gay mainstream is uncomfortable discussing behavior is if one brings up whether a gay married couple who is monogamous for 5 years should be counseled the same about HIV spread as someone with a different partner each week. If you get someone arguing that they are same, then you know they are arguing orthodoxy rather than science regarding likelihoods.
Homer
I’m black, and i can tell you all right now that the black community is FAR from accepting of Homosexuals. Black upbringing, black music ( R&B and HipHop) is to blame for that.
Don’t sit there and tell me you haven’t felt the 20 year sting against gays that HipHop has been preaching? HipHop and Rap has been the most prevelant genre that bashes and downgrades Homosexuals.
Well, i’m just waiting to see the names of these “down-low’ rappers.
For years they have been rapping about “faggot this” and “gay ass ni**a that” and “die faggoty die”,
Point me to the gay rappers who were responsible for those lines please!!!
SBC19
@Homer:
LOL…really Jason?
Adman
What’s so typical is that as long as this convo is outlined as a discussion of gays, then everyone straight gets a pass to be a scumbag in a self serving way, until it’s too late. I mean everyone knows people aren’t getting sero converted using needles anymore, right? All those dinner whores picking up at bars to pay the rent never fuck IV drug users and straight guys who are in and out of jail having unprotected sex in both places, right?
So many blue collar communities call this “gay” when it’s anything but, it’s TRADE, you fucking morons. Gay people do it, and yes straight people do too. In fact they wouldn’t have it any other way, since it’s fun having your cake and eating it. Go to a straight bar and tell me straight people aren’t living this way with the above described “straight lifestyle” being sold to them, and then we’ll talk, OK? Then you can mad dog strangers and get your cut-eyed girl (For the night, er evening, um. hour, fuck, whatever) to throw shade when I’m out having a good “gay” time.
redmont
I agree with @Mav up there, and @n00b is apparently an idiot.
Close reading, people. Downlow guys are NOT indicative of the whole gay population. They are a subset if anything.
I’m speaking specifically about downlow guys and how I see them as selfish cowards who risk exposing others around them to their potentially dangerous lifestyle.
A downlow guy is not a bisexual man. Those are two different people. A huge difference would be the fact that the bisexual man is honest about who he is while a downlow guy isn’t.
A cheater and a guy on the downlow are similar, but still different obviously. A heterosexual couple may be in an open relationship but with implied heterosexual fidelity by both parties. That is, neither party does any gay stuff.
I’m specifically talking about men on the downlow, just like the game is talking specifically about men on the downlow, which has some criteria:
In the closet about their sexuality.
In a relationship with a woman or projecting the image that you want to be in a relationship with a woman even though you are attracted to men.
Engaging in secretive sexual encounters with men even if in a “committed” relationship.
You don’t need to be a minority to be on the downlow, you just need to be in an environment that makes you uncomfortable being out. If you are out to your partner, you are no longer on the downlow, simple as that.
As @Interesting pointed out, and I think he makes a good point that we’ve been trying to express here, is that being in the closet and being secretive is ultimately detrimental to us not only as a subset of the LGBT community, but to our allies. I went through a similar phase, where I would just take whatever I could get and was very secretive about it. Luckily I wasn’t in a relationship so the only person I would have hurt was myself. I’m lucky I didn’t catch anything…it would’ve been very easy to do with my behaviours.
If your’e gay and you’re in the closet, you’re saying you don’t want to be part of the gay community. That’s fine, you can go and have all the women you desire, but if you don’t the work, then you don’t have the fun.