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ABC and "The View" Refuse to Correct Dangerous HIV/AIDS Myths

A disappointing update to problem at "The View". You'll recall on the June 22, 2010 broadcast of ABC's The View," host Sherri Shepherd and guest host D.L. Hughley perpetuated dangerous myths about HIV/AIDS and black gay/bisexual men. Hughley and Shepherd claimed black men "on the down low" were fueling the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the black community. As reported many times on R20, the Centers for Disease Control has debunked this dangerous HIV/AIDS myth. Watch the video AFTER THE JUMP ...

Last week, GLAAD, the Black AIDS Institute and the National Black Justice Coalition published a full-page advertisement in Variety calling on The View and ABC to apologize and public correct the record. ABC has finally publicly responded. The network will not correct Hughley and Shepherd's damaging misinformation ... because this was their "interpretation" of the facts.

“On June 22, during a discussion about blood donation and the transmission of HIV/AIDS, a guest moderator on the show expressed his interpretation of data about one way the virus can be transmitted. The topic of HIV/AIDS has been raised many times over the show’s 13 years, with many voices and opinions contributing to a conversation that we expect to continue as long as The View is on the air.”

ABC's response is hypocritical, says GLAAD's. "Just because you're a commentator does not mean you entitled to your own facts," GLAAD's Senior Director of Media Programs Rashad Robinson tells Rod 2.0. "Barbara Walters and Whoopi Golberg hammered Glenn Beck on this point when he misstated an incident that happened on an Amtrak train. And Barbara [Walters] told Glenn Beck, 'You can be a commentator but you still have to have the facts'. What does Barbara Walters have to say about this now?"

That's a good question. Watch the original clip and Barbara Walters and Whoopi Goldberg slamming Glenn Beck over "facts" AFTER THE JUMP ...

430P on SIGNORILE: "The View" on "Down Low" Black Men and HIV

At 4:30ET, I'll be on The Michelangelo Signorile Show on Sirius XM to discuss the recent comments on The View made by D.L. Hughley and Sherri Shepherd and ABC's refusal to apologize.

Get a free 7-day pass and listen online any time at Sirius OUTQ109. If you have an iPhone or Blackberry, go to the app store and download Sirius XM for a free 7-day trial.

TAKE ACTION: Contact "The View" Over Dangerous HIV/AIDS Myths

On the June 22, 2010 broadcast of ABC's The View," host Sherri Shepherd and guest host D.L. Hughley perpetuated dangerous myths about HIV/AIDS and black gay/bisexual men.

GLAAD has issued an action alert after reaching out to The View and the show refused to apologize. Go HERE to find out how to emailand its producers, and please consider signing a petition demanding an apology.

Two personal friends of Shepherd, who has previously denied evolution and says she believes the Earth could be flat, have contacted Rod 2.0 and criticized our calling attention to the matter. Shepherd's friends have taken to Twitter and applauded her for "doing something right" and are labeling viewers seeking accurate HIV information as "haters."

BACKGROUND
While discussing the FDA ban on blood donations from gay and bisexual men, the comedian guest Hughley claimed black gay, bisexual and so-called "down low" men were fueling the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the black community. Said Hughley: "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."

Shepherd added: "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... with men."

And here's the clip ...

CDC: NO LINK BETWEEN "DOWN LOW" AND HIV
1) As reported many times on R20, the Centers for Disease Control has debunked this dangerous HIV/AIDS myth. On "Men on the Down Low" the CDC  reports: "The phenomenon of men on the down low has gained much attention in recent years; however, there are no data to confirm or refute publicized accounts of HIV risk behavior associated with these men."  (http://bit.ly/17eHXq)

2) Gregorio Millett,  Senior Policy Adviser in the White House Office of National AIDS Policy, co-authored a study on black gay/bisexual men and HIV. In a February 2010 interview with Black AIDS Weekly, Millett says: "I tried to shed light  through research [on] the "down low" and its relationship to HIV infection among African Americans. My colleagues and I were among the first to scientifically prove with quantitative data that identifying as "down low" was not associated with greater sexual-risk behaviors with male or female partners; nor was it associated with a greater likelihood of HIV infection." (http://bit.ly/cNCtRl)

3) That study was co-authored by Emory University's Dr. David Malebranche and  is called "Focusing 'Down Low": Bisexual Black men, HIV Risk and Heterosexual Transmission." The study concludes there is "no"  linkage between bisexual black men and HIV and concludes: "The contribution of high-risk heterosexual black men to the rising HIV caseload among black women has been largely ignored." (http://snipr.com/xvixc)

4) In a 2008 CDC-sponsored study reported at Indiana University's Archives for Sexual Behavior, Malebranche writes: "With little evidence to support it, the idea that such a small population (HIV-positive bisexually active black men) is causing all or the majority of infections among heterosexual black women is a fallacy at best." (http://bit.ly/9hy8Bc)

5) Dr. Kevin Fenton, director of the Centers for Disease Control's National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention, discussed his research with NNPA News in October 2009. Fenton said the CDC "has looked to see what proportion of [HIV] infections is coming from male partners who are bisexual and found there are actually relatively few." Read the full interview ... (http://bit.ly/dbm3yv)

TAKE ACTION
Call on "The View" to issue an on-air apology and correct Sherri Shepherd and D.L. Hughley's HIV misinformation. This program reaches millions of viewers and ABC must ensure that its platforms are not used to perpetuate dangerous falsehoods that put our community in harm's way. Use GLAAD's tools to contact The View's producers and sign a petition.

Please link this post or GLAAD's call to action in your Facebook, Twitter or other social networks. 

Also:

Contact Executive Producer Bill Geddie:
ABC "The View"
(212) 456-0910
bill.geddie@abc.com

Contact Corporate Communications VP Julie Hoover:  
ABC Television Network
(212) 456-6641 julie.t.hoover@abc.com

Contact  the emails above or @TheViewTV and ask for an apology. Email or tweet the shortened CDC "bit" links to the emails above and @TheViewTV. Ask all your timeline to RT. Tell @TheViewTV that @SherriEShepherd and DL Hughley @FNYKAT are not qualified to discuss medical facts.

Contact @SherriEShepherd and tell her that you are a not "hater" and would like her to provide accurate HIV information. Demand an apology and tweet the shorten links above.

Please contact DL Hughley @FNYKAT and ask him to provide accurate HIV information, too. Demand an apology and tweets the shortened links above.

Also: If you see any prominent black gay men on Twitter or Facebook defending Shepherd, please email R20 with those names or links immediately. We'll be taking care of them soon.

WATCH: Shepherd & Hughley Claim "Down Low" Black Men Spread HIV

The View took up the subject of the Food and Drug Administration ban on blood donations from gay and bisexual men. Co-hosting the show: The gay-obsessive D.L. Hughley, who used the opportunity to ignore the Centers for Disease Control's findings and discuss his favorite topic.

"When you look at the prevalence of HIV in the African-American community it's primarily young women," Hughley erroneously stated, ignoring the long-term and recent CDC data. "And they are getting it from men who are on the 'down low'."

Shepherd, who does not believe in evolution and believes the Earth is flat, then added: "The 'down low' is African-American men have sex with men and then have sex with their girlfriends. Or their wives. They're husbands as well. It's very prevalent in the African American community. Very!":

Is it really Sherri? Much much so than say, heterosexuality?

Ironically the discussion on black gay/bisexual men and HIV was saved by ... Elizabeth Hasselbeck, who asked, "Is it that much more difficulty to come out in the black community? Why" And former CNN reporter Thomas Roberts also reminded everyone that HIV/AIDS is often spread through heterosexuality.

After Elton recapped the segment and notes: "At least Hasselbeck bothered to ask why black men are more likely to be on the down low. Sherri and D.L. were quick to say that gay men were heavily stigmatized in the African-American community. They totally missed the irony that they were doing the stigmatizing right themselves."

Shepherd remains popular among many black gay men in the entertainment industry and on Twitter. SMH. Watch Hughley and Shepherd spread HIV/AIDS myths to millions of viewers AFTER THE JUMP ...

CNN Cancels D.L. Hughley's Unfunny, Homophobic Late Show

This just in. CNN thankfully decides to put its viewing audience out of its collective misery and cancels D.L. Hughley's late night "interview" show. For "budgetary constraints", reports Broadcasting & Cable.

D.L. Hughley Breaks the News debuted last fall to less than stellar reviews. The show averaged 751,000 viewers (284,000 in the 25-54 demo) for its 18 episode run. It peaked in its second week with 1.5 million viewers.

According to a CNN statement, Hughley, who lives in Los Angeles, wanted to move the show there so that he could be closer to his family. But budgetary constraints precluded a move. Hughley will continue at CNN as "contributor" based in Los Angeles.

"We are eager to continue our relationship with D.L., who is a tremendous talent and a valued colleague," said the network in a statement.

D.L. Hughley Breaks the News, just like its host, was spectacularly unfunny. The interview segments were awkward and forced. Hughley's provincialism and g-fab homophobia was never far from the surface.

Remember when Hughley insisted, "I'm not particularly homophobic"? That was during the interview with Dan Savage—the race-obsessed sex columnist who continues to blame blacks for the passage of Proposition 8. Hughley ranted that gays were not "the next civil rights movement" and the situations were not at all comparable—as if there were no black gays who had to sit on the back of buses or who were lynched or denied voting rights. The president disagrees. Happy trails Darryl Lynn.

Hughley's Late Night Show to End Run [B&C]