The “downlow” refers to secret sex among men who don’t identify as gay, and who are often in relationships with women. “My concern is for women who are being faithful and have no clue that this is going on,” says CeCe Jones. In addition to her position as Membership Services Coordinator at the Connecticut AIDS Resource Coalition (CARC), Jones has founded Sing for Change, a non-profit that works with churches to fight the spread of HIV. To shed light on the hidden community of the downlow, Jones organizes symposiums across the state of Connecticut that invite women to learn more about the downlow and HIV risk. The next forum, sponsored by CARC, The Institute for Community Research (ICR), and True Colors, Inc., will take place at ICR, 146 Wyllys St. in Hartford, on Tuesday, September 11, 2007, from 6-8 pm. The event is free and open to the public; light refreshments will be served.

Jones will start the evening by showing an extended clip of the documentary, “Out of Control: AIDS in Black America,” and will then introduce speakers, including women infected with HIV by men on the downlow, members of the HIV/AIDS outreach community, and males involved in downlow sex. The Hartford forum will also include Mentoring Director Kamora Herrington of True Colors, Inc., an advocacy, service, and support organization for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning (LGBTQ) youth in Connecticut. In addition to other panelists’ personal stories and perspectives on the downlow and HIV risk, Herrington will talk about the larger context of homophobia that drives men to engage in underground sex in the first place. “Any discussion of the ‘downlow’ needs to include a discussion on homophobia in the Black community so that we can begin to understand why same gender loving men of color don't feel that they can live openly as gay or bi men,” she says.

Jones is amazed at how the traveling symposium has grown organically. “It started as a one-time event hosted on Yale University's campus,” she says. “But people drove from Hartford to New Haven just to join the conversation. The feedback we got from the women was, we needed to have more forums around the state.” Many HIV/AIDS activists, outreach workers, consumers, and researchers believe that the downlow phenomenon, which is generally associated with black males, is contributing to the alarming increases in new, sexually transmitted HIV infections among African-American women. AIDS is currently the second-leading cause of death among African-American women between the ages of 18 and 44. According to Colleen Coleman, Artistic Director at ICR, a recent downlow symposium in Bridgeport drew about 50 people. “They were mostly women who wanted to know more about the phenomenon,” says Coleman, who is working with Jones to raise awareness of the virus, particularly among women in the African-American community. “They asked about their own HIV risk – particularly, how to tell if a man is on the downlow, how to raise the issue in a relationship, and what to do.” Jones says in many relationships, it’s difficult to talk about. “There are socioeconomic, gender, power, safety, and many other issues for women that come into play with this topic,” says Jones. “But the bottom line is, it’s something we need to talk about, because women are dying.”

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The Institute for Community Research is an independent, nonprofit organization that conducts applied research and community enhancement programs to promote equal access to health, education, and cultural resources.