life-on-the-dl

[life-on-the-dl]

Republicans: bitter

Democrats: better

[life-on-the-dl]

[life-on-the-dl]

For those asking, 'How will I recognize examples of christofascism?'

[life-on-the-dl]

[Hedge funds are taxed at 14%.]

It's weird how people who romanticize the past because of awesome infrastructure, good paying jobs, and the "American Dream" conveniently forget that we used to tax the rich people/corporations to make that happen.

[life-on-the-dl]

Elect/support/trust women. #FaniWillis

[life-on-the-dl]

[life-on-the-dl]

People with privilege are the best judge of what is considered privilege.

[life-on-the-dl]

'Good' cops are murdered by bad cops. #ACAB

[life-on-the-dl]

It's not just the LGBTQ students, it's any student who has a LGBTQ person in their life: a mother, a father, a friend, a neighbor, an aunt, an uncle, a cousin. It's more than just classmates.

No one has no right to question if people are valid.

[life-on-the-dl]

Republicans are malware.

[life-on-the-dl]

Be a Dolly.

[life-on-the-dl]

This is a blog that I want to use to explore and detail my experience as a man on the Down Low or “DL,” which is how I will refer to I from the is point. For someone not familiar with this I’ll cover some F.A.Qs so as they come up throughout this blog you can refer back to them.

What is on the DL, as copied from Wikipedia, Down-low is an African-American slang term specifically used within the African-American community that typically refers to a sexual subculture of Black men who usually identify as heterosexual but actively seek sexual encounters and relations with other men, practice gay cruising, and frequently adopt a specific hip-hop attire during these activities. They generally avoid disclosing their same-sex sexual activities, even if they have female sexual partner(s), they are married to a woman, or they are single. The term is also used to refer to a related sexual identity. Down-low has been viewed as "a type of impression management that some of the informants use to present themselves in a manner that is consistent with perceived norms about masculine attribute, attitudes, and behavior".

That is pretty much it though I don’t adopt a specific hip-hop attire and don’t know of anyone that does but that’s the gist of it. I have been on the DL since 1996 when I was a senior in high school, at least that is the timeframe of my first experience though I could argue that I really didn’t embrace that lifestyle till the 2000s when I decided that I wanted to have an encounter with a man. Truthfully I did not even know about being on the DL till well past my first few experiences, I stumbled across it and the definition of it related to me. Though at the time it was a strong belief of those not in that lifestyle that any man who participates in that is considered gay. This was a time where men starting to identify as bisexual but even those men were still categorized as being gay or just confused gay men. I did not want that label and felt like keeping my experiences secret was my best choice. I had considered myself bi-curious to give myself a definition of where I stood but kept that to myself or communicated that when seeking someone to have a shared experience with. On some level I do regret it because the caution I took in doing so kept me from fully embracing experiences. The internal struggle I faced after hookups delayed me from figuring out who I am while I denied who I was if that makes sense. When the majority of society is screaming this point of view that you don’t agree with you hesitate to be brave enough to step out of the societal norms out of fear of facing those labels and repercussions. I did not want my family or friends to know and feared what would happen if they found out, though my sexual life is no one’s business we all tend to make it ours as a society. Additionally, I will often talk about masculinity and femininity. The conflicts of sexual acts that are considered feminine but as a masculine man doing can confuse you. I think as a young man that was a difficult path to navigate but as a middle age man I can tell that one does not mean the other. I’ll try to limit my rambles in this blog, as much as I’m gonna share in hopes of being relatable to others like me, this is also therapeutic on some level for me as I continue to navigate that lifestyle. I hope you join me on the trip.