Take Two translates the day’s headlines for Southern California, making sense of the news and cultural events that affect our lives. Produced by Southern California Public Radio and broadcast from October 2012 – June 2021. Hosted by A Martinez.
A local nonprofit is hoping to spark conversation with a new billboard towering over the busy intersection of Santa Monica Boulevard and La Brea Avenue, the gateway to West Hollywood.
In bold white letters against an all-black background, it offers a startling L.A. county statistic: "One in three black gay men are infected with HIV."
Then, in even bigger letters, it asks: "IS HE YOUR SON?"
While HIV infection rates have stabilized or improved for most demographic groups, for young black men who have sex with men, they are getting worse, reports KPCC's Adrian Florido.
"They’re living at home. They’re living with HIV. And no one even knows it. No one is even having that conversation," says Jeffrey King, the man responsible for the billboard.
King directs In the Meantime Men, a nonprofit that works with young black gays in an effort to lower their high rate of infection.
Read the full story: Billboard confronts parents of black gays with HIV