ROC Rochester

In case you haven’t noticed the ads beaming the slogan “I AM GAY” from billboards and city buses, they’re the work of the We Are Part Of You campaign to promote awareness of the African American male gay population.

A joint project of the New York State Black Gay Network and JRI Health, the ads are sponsored locally by AIDS Rochester and The Mocha Center and are specifically aimed to target the African American community. As CNBC/BET commentator, Daily Voice editor, and former White House aide to President Clinton Keith Boykin explains on his blog¹, the ads depict black males in three different social settings and communicate the message that gay males have long constitued a vital part of black community and are essentially always at your side, whether it be in church, athletics, or your family. We Are Part Of You seeks to send a clear message to stop the dehumanization of black gay men from within their own communities. The campaign also seeks to mobilize resources in the ongoing fight against the HIV epidemic, which continues to infect black and Latino men locally at a disproportionally higher rate than the rate for whites.²