Educational Media Reviews Online

This excellent documentary focuses on several African-American bisexual men living in Cleveland, OH, exploring their relationship to their parents and children, to women, to the HIV/AIDS crisis, to their own sexuality, and to society. These young men, ranging in age from 18 to mid-thirties, share how they think of themselves and explain the various ways they present themselves to society.

Thoroughly empathetic, the filmmaker allows the men to tell the stories of their everyday struggles to navigate being both black and bisexual in the Midwest. In one of the most poignant scenes, Kerwin calls his soldier-father to tell him that he’s been bisexual since he was 16, deeply afraid of his reaction to the news. Antonio, recently released from prison, gets his first HIV test since entering prison. Billy talks about how he would stop sleeping with men, if it meant he’d regain custody of his children. George and Ray, both 18, reveal how they haven’t yet told their young girlfriends of their bisexuality. In sharing their personal stories, these men reveal the different ways they perform their identities in different situations.

While the film addresses the controversial idea that black men on the “downlow” (or the “DL”) are a large factor in the increasing incidence of HIV/AIDS among black women, it does not spend too much time on the topic, as the men interviewed in the documentary forcefully reject that hypothesis. The focus of the film is much more on them as individuals.

The production quality is more than satisfactory, and features a great soundtrack. On the Downlow is highly recommended for classes on gender, sexuality and African American studies.