VIBE Magazine

Chicago Reporter, The, July, 2001 by Sarah Karp

The July issue of VIBE magazine introduces readers to "homo thugs"--young black and Latino men who don tough, hip-hop-style baggy clothing, work boots and flashy jewelry and. don't consider themselves gay even though they have sex with men. Author Malcolm Venable writes that these men hide their sexual orientation because "the last thing any American wants to be is poor and black.

And so the reasoning continues, if you're unlucky enough to win both prizes, and be a man, the last thing you want to be is a fucking 'faggot.'" But there is danger in staying undercover, Venable notes. He cites findings by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that 30 percent of gay and bisexual African Americans nationwide are infected with the HIV virus, compared to 15 percent of Latinos and 7 percent of whites. "If guy A, for example, believes guy B is 'down low,' but sees that B has girlfriends, doesn't mess with 'gay' guys, and maintains a firm, healthy-looking physique, then A may believe that their anal sex is specia--so special it does not require a condom," Venable writes.