Last modified: Tuesday, November 27, 2007
David Malebranche to speak at IU for World AIDS Day 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Nov. 27, 2007
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Internationally recognized sexual health researcher and clinician David Malebranche will speak at Indiana University Bloomington on Thursday (Nov. 29) to commemorate World AIDS Day 2007. His talk, "Black Bisexual Men and HIV: Time to Think Deeper," is sponsored by the Center for Sexual Health Promotion in the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation.
"We are truly honored to have Dr. Malebranche, a renowned sexual health scientist as well as a true humanitarian, join us for this special event," said Brian Dodge, associate director of the Center for Sexual Health Promotion, located in HPER's Department of Applied Health Science.
David Malebranche
Malebranche is a physician and assistant professor in the Division of General Medicine at Emory University School of Medicine. In addition to his research efforts, Malebranche provides a wide array of clinical services to diverse HIV-positive clients in the southeastern United States. He also was appointed recently to the prestigious President's Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS in Washington, D.C.
Dodge noted that Malebranche is one of the few scientists actively engaged in research funded by the National Institutes of Health and aimed at gaining an objective understanding of the lived experiences of black bisexual men. His IU talk will offer insights from a forthcoming paper in Black and Latino Bisexualities, a special issue of Archives of Sexual Behavior.
"Demonizing black male sexuality has been a staple of American culture since slavery, where our role was to work and breed, and the Mandingo stereotype of a hyper-sexual black man with an insatiable appetite for white women was created," Malebranche says.
"That history haunted my thoughts as I watched Oprah Winfrey's recent show about 'down low' black men, or guys who live a 'heterosexual lifestyle' but have sex with other men on the side. We distort the truth about HIV in the black community to divert our attention from the real 'down low' issues of oppression, racism, low self-esteem, sexual abuse, substance abuse, joblessness, hopelessness and despair. The time for irrational, fear-based HIV prevention tactics is over," Malebranche said.
The talk will run from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in the Dogwood Room of the Indiana Memorial Union, 900 E. Seventh St. For more information, please visit the Web site of the Center for Sexual Health Promotion at https://www.sexualhealth.indiana.edu. Dodge can be reached at 812-856-0792 or bmdodge@indiana.edu.
