In a full page ad Monday appearing in
Variety Magazine, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against
Defamation (GLAAD) is calling on ABC executives to correct a
June 22 The View segment on HIV/AIDS the group called
inaccurate.
GLAAD has called the comments of host
Sherri Shepherd and guest host D.L. Hughley “dangerous” for
perpetuating myths about African-American gay and bisexual men.
“When you look at the prevalence of
HIV in the African-American community, it's primarily young women who
are getting it from men who are on the down low,” Hughley said.
Shepherd agreed, explaining that the
“down low” is “black men who've been going out.”
“They are having sex with men and
they're not telling their girlfriends or their wives that they're gay
and their husbands, as well. And it's very prevalent with
African-American women because they come home and have sex with their
wives or their girlfriends. And they're not telling them that
they're gay.”
“It's so big in the Black community
with women because they're having unprotected sex with men who have
been having sex with … men.”
Citing a 2009 Centers for Disease
Control (CDC) study that found “relatively few” infections coming
from bisexual partners in the Black community, GLAAD said the segment
fueled a dangerous myth and urged the network to correct its mistake.
According to the group, ABC executives
have refused to take action.
“When The View talks about
these kinds of issues, people listen,” the Variety ad says.
“And there's a responsibility that comes with that.”
“ABC now knows that it put out
dangerous and false information about HIV/AIDS on its airwaves, yet
the network still refuses to take responsibility,” Rashad Robinson,
senior director of programs at GLAAD, said.
“ABC and The View's refusal to
correct these inaccurate remarks comes at the expense of
African-American gay and bisexual men, straight African-American
women and millions of audience members who need facts about HIV/AIDS,
not myths. It's extremely disheartening to see a program that
usually covers our community with respect, unwilling to correct this
serious lapse in editorial judgment.”