LOCAL FEATURE

Pride in the City offers quick results
Annual event plans no wait for HIV status

By JAMES WITHERS
Friday, July 29, 2005

Don’t put the Pride wear away yet because there are a few more days left to celebrate and to get some serious work done in terms of politics and health. People of Color in Crisis is sponsoring its fourth annual Pride in the City.

Gary English, executive director of the Brooklyn-based health organization, has seen Pride in the City turn into a mid-summer event people have come to expect.

“The numbers have skyrocketed over the years,” English said. “Our first year we got 1,200 and each year it has gotten better. The community expects us to do this event every year and sees it as a staple.”

English already knows how he will measure PIC as a success.

“Our goal is to get a minimum of 500 men tested for HIV and AIDS,” English said.

HIV testing, especially in the black gay male community, has become a national priority. Recently the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention called “the HIV/Aids epidemic a health crisis for African Americans.” Nationwide in 2003, of the estimated 32,000 new HIV/AIDS diagnoses, half were black. The numbers in New York City mirror the country. In 2003, 50 percent of the city’s HIV diagnoses were in the black community. New York figures mirror the nation in another troubling way: 56 percent of blacks who learned they had HIV also discovered they had AIDS. These numbers make it an imperative for any event that is about gay men of color to offer free and easy HIV testing. Unlike previous PICs, this year the plan is for people to learn their HIV status immediately after they are tested.

“We are using the oral quick advance test”, English said. “Historically we had a 3-day wait. We are also providing access to medical providers. Testing is so needed at these Pride events. It would be unconscionable if we didn’t offer HIV testing.”

Pride in the City organizers plan to make health concerns front and center.

“We will also be offering breast screening, vision, cholesterol, and high blood pressure check-ups,” English said. “It is a comprehensive health fair with a Pride twist.”

Health care, specifically around HIV and AIDS, was the birth of Pride in the City

“The genesis of this event was to target black gay men in respect to HIV testing so they can get an opportunity to get tested.” English said.

Because PIC is geared toward the African-American community it makes even more sense, considering the statistics that show the other medical issues the black community deals with on a disproportionate basis. This is something PIC organizers say they will not shy away from: PIC is an opportunity for people to be both black and gay with no apologies.

“I think it is important for folks to be affirmed about who they are,” English said. “I think it is important for people to have public spaces that are for them and by them. It is a safe place for people who might not feel comfortable going to a non-LGBT event. We will not be in the minority. We will be the majority.”

Safety issues, especially when it comes to gay men of color has been in the news recently. In early June, Dwan Prince was attacked by three men in front of his apartment (one of the alleged attackers was arrested in New Jersey, but the other two remain at large). In February, 19-year-old Rashawn Brazell’s dismembered limbs were found in a subway station. The police have no leads in that case.

If safety is a concern, so is visibility. Being part of two minority communities, black and gay means unfortunately the type of invisibility novelist Ralph Ellison described in “Invisible Man.” English thinks the reason why the high incidence of HIV rates in the black community gets so little attention is due to race.

“If it were white boys in the 1980s whose numbers who were at 50 percent this Pride event would be 20 times bigger than what it’s now and more testing would targeted toward those high risk population.”

English also says that while the rainbow flag is an appropriate symbol, there are differences in the gay community due to race, class, and ethnicity. These differences mean prevention strategies have to be culturally relevant and cannot use one-size-fits-all model.

“What worked for the white gay community in the 1980s is not working for the black gay community in 2005.”

Michael Roberson, People of Color in Crisis director of services, agrees and thinks that any outreach to black gay men has to take into account the specific communities they live in.

“We forget about internalized homophobia and sexism and how the church impacts us,” Roberson said. “How we perceive ourselves and our risk. We hear messages of being abomination and we still have to exist in a community that repeats that message.”

It would be wrong to simply see the four days as pure seriousness. It’s summer, and Pride in the City is also meant to be fun. Singer Vivan Green is the artist opening the festivities on Aug. 4. On Aug. 6, at Commodore Barry Park Deborah Cox is scheduled to perform. A black gay research summit is scheduled from Aug. 3 to Aug. 5 where scholars can exchange information about research on black gay men.

Added to the mix of research and music, there are also art exhibits and a few spoken word events planned.

“We want people to celebrate who they are and also have an opportunity to bring in our allies and friends of the community who want to celebrate and support the black LGBT community,” English said.

While he knows how he will measure success for this year, English’s plan for PIC is for it to join the other summer activities that are a typical for any self-respecting New York City gay man.

“We are fairly young, but I want this to turn into an entity. We need to turn Pride in the City into an institution.”

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