In 2004, JL King sat on Oprah’s couch and told the world about his life on the down low. As a married man with children, JL exposed his own double life having sex with multiple men in secret. His disclosure rocked the African American community, sparking both gratitude and backlash for exposing the reality behind the façade of his seemingly perfect family life, and the lives of other men in his community. Today, the author of On the Down Low 2is back talking to a new generation about the stigma on gay and bisexual men that still exists in the African American community and clarifying that being on the down low is not exclusive to the African American community, but found in every race, ethnicity, and religious community.

In JL’s own words: The wives “don’t have a choice in living in this environment with this lifestyle. And a lot of guys who live this life, they really look at their wives/girlfriends as cover girls. I mean I loved my wife, but at the same time my sexual desire to be with another man trumped that love for me to take the risks that I took. And sometimes I was like ‘Oh my god I can’t believe that I’m doing this’, and jeopardizing everything, everything that I love and hold dear to my heart just to be with another man.”

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