Um…yeah. This man is an entertainer who was outed to the public by a scorned lover. Nothing you’ve posited suggests that this guy has engaged in any behavior that the norm considers DL.

I guess I’m taken aback by the thought that in this day and age of manufactured celebs that any rational mature adult would think that the person being marketed to them is anything like that persona. In other words, when I hear a man sing a love song, I don’t automatically assume that he is heterosexual just because he croons love songs about women and is marketed as a hetero anymore than I would assume that a man who regularly dons women’s clothes in just about every movie he appears in, is a cross dresser or desires a sex change. It’s all entertainment – a facade, a fantasy not a calling card for the real person.

It’s patently unfair and inappropriate to mark this guy with the “DL” tag solely because you took the fantasy his marketing team put together to mean that he was an available heterosexual. The enetertainment industry is replete with examples of attractive gay men who were marketed in the mainstream as hetero in order to satiate the female demographic. It’s about $$$, not some nefarious DL scheme.

Until this guy starts hitting the red carpet with a “female date” or starts giving interviews talking about his desire to get married to a woman and have children, he’s not trying to deceive anyone and certainly isn’t on the “DL.”

What “obviousness” are you speaking about? There is no denial about his sexuality. There is photographic proof that he is sexually attracted to men. My problem with the post is that the author has conflated being a gay man with gay men who engage in DL behavior. There is no evidence — which the author of the piece admits — that this man has engaged in DL behavior or that he is even invovled with women at all. So why tie him to this piece? The author’s sole inkling of any DL tendencies on his part is the fact that he sings about women in his music. Really? A stretch at best. Since when did singing a song equate to someone being on the down low? The silliest notion I’ve heard in awhile.

If a woman takes her cues about a man’s sexuality based upon his performance as artist, then I submit that she isn’t sophisticated/mature enough to date anyone. This IS NOT the secrecy and warning signs attendant in a down low relationship. He is an artist. He takes roles and makes music. He hasn’t marketed himself as anything more than someone who has the ability to inhabit roles. That’s his job — any good artist’s job — is to create the fantasy and draw you in. His entire persona is created by a team of people. He is no more a reflection of what he sings or the roles that he takes, than Beyonce is Sasha Fierce. Is he precluded from singing about romantic liasions because he’s gay? If he has a good voice, what’s the problem? Disclaimer: I haven’t listened to this guy’s music but unless he’s singing ” I’m a straight man, I only love and have sex only with women, I wrote these songs because they are my life” he’s “marketing” himself in the same manner as Luther, Freddie, and every other entertainer flying under the radar.

I could care less if some blogs claim that this guy was “outed” – that doesn’t make it so. The goal of a blog is to get page views – sensationalism and sound bites rule the day. Not necessarily the entire story. For all we know, the people that matter, his family and close friends are well aware of his sexuality. He doesn’t have a responsibility to loudly proclaim that he is gay (in his music or otherwise) anymore than a heterosexual does. And let’s be clear – there is a reason why entertainers don’t reveal that they are homosexual — they’re selling a fantasy/product that you need to believe in for the time the artist is blaring on your iPod or performing on the screen. Our society is geared to be Judeo Christian and hetero. There’s very little room for anything else.

There are no blinders here. Having lived in Atlanta and now in DC – where there is an even more serious DL problem than in Atlanta and the AIDS rate is higher than that in W. Africa – I am acutely aware of the DL problem and it’s devastating consequences and that’s why I think the author of the piece missed a real opportunity to inform her readers about what true DL behavior looks like and dispel myths. Point of fact, this guy is not a fair or accurate representation of the men who engage in this type behavior.

Yea, it sucks, that such a fine, handsome, chocolate guy is not available to eligible women, or even black women. I think he likes latinos, j/k….But, i saw this movie on life time called “America”. This foster child, male, was sexually abused. I want to know what percentage of black males in foster care are sexually abused? The ratio of black males in foster care compared to the ratio of black males not in foster care? And that to the percentage of black males who are gay/bisexual compared to ones who are straight? My point is I think a lot of african american males are being sexually abused and its really messing with our race.

What was the reason for using Mr. Carter as a jumping off point for a story on DL behavior? You admit in the piece that there is nothing that suggests that he engages in this type of behavior. You state that you don’teven know if he also has an intimate relationship w/ a woman but that he references women in his music. Being gay does not disqualify a man from understanding a woman’s needs and wants. Luther and Freddie Jackson never had a problem and Mark Cherry seems to have it down to a “T.”

My problem is that you conflated being a black gay man w/ DL behavior. Seems to do more damage.