Harlem Gets LOUD With DBQ Magazine Panel and Party

On February 26, DBQ Magazine and HIV Stops With Me brought a capacity crowd to Harlem's National Black Theatre for the panel discussion and party "LOUD: The State of Gay Sex, Love and HIV."

"The flashbulbs were popping as photographers took pictures of the Loud 100 of DBQ Magazine [David Bridgeforth Quarterly], the spokesmodels and the crowd," said organizer Sheldon DeSouza of the campaign HIV Stops With Me, which is funded by the New York State Department of Health.

As VIPs walked the two red carpet step and repeat lines, representatives from the HIV Stops With Me campaign and DBQ Magazine -- among them about a 20 honorees from their LOUD 100 tribute list -- mugged for photos and chatted with attendees, many of them from community-based AIDS service organizations from the Harlem area.

The evening featured a panel discussion about how HIV impacts love, relationships and dating in communities of color. Filmmaker Patrick Ian Polk was in attendance, and he discussed his experiences. The panelists also discussed transgender issues.

"I was very interested to hear from clergy members in the audience commenting about acts of violence toward the transgender community," said DeSouza. "A lot of the conversation happened around the transgender community and being HIV-positive, and finding a new identity in the LGBTQ spectrum. It was very eye-opening."

Among the panelists was transgender man Devon King, who shared his viewpoint of the trans masculine experience.

"There were a lot of transwomen on the panel, but he was the only transman," said DeSouza. "He shared a lot of things that opened people's eyes. I never considered how different the trans-male experience is from the a transwoman's experience."

Vocalist Michael Whittaker opened the panel discussion by singing a romantic ballad, putting participants in the mind frame to discuss gay love and sex. And David Bridgeforth closed the panel with a message to the honorees that people should be honored while they were alive, and around to share it with the world. The Solidarity Soiree followed.

"People were so engrossed by the conversations we had in the panel discussion, that it spilled into the after party," said DeSouza. "There were a lot of conversations, a lot of exchanging of business cards. People came and met other people they didn't know that night, and connections were made."

The party marked the NYC launch of the HIV Stops With Me campaign, and the beginning of a larger roster of events across the country. They will be hosting similar events in each of the new cities that the campaign has now expanded into: Syracuse, Rochester, Long Island, Hudson Valley, Binghamton, Buffalo and Albany.

"Look for the HIV Stops With Me campaign in DBQ Magazine's health section every month, and also look to our spokesmodels, who are available to make appearances and speaking engagements," said DeSouza. "We want everyone to be able to connect with HIV-positive people in their community."

For more information, visit DBQMAG.com or hivstopswithme.org