Cody Dyer: Meet Maryland Health and Hip Hop Conference Co-Organizer

Coronado "Cody Lopez" Dyer, Jr., non-medical case manager for transgender youth at the STAR TRACK (Special Teens At-Risk, Together Reaching Access, Care and Knowledge) program at the University of Maryland and the program coordinator for Safe Experiences Xcite Me (S.EX. Me) at Morgan State's counseling center

One in a series on the Health and Hip Hop Conference, sponsored by the Black AIDS Institute and the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. The conference will be held Oct. 24, 2015, at Morgan State University in Baltimore.

Coronado "Cody" Lopez Dyer Jr. knows what it's like to be young, Black, male and same-gender loving and to feel disenfranchised.

Estranged from his family because of his sexual orientation—"same-gender loving with a pinch of pansexuality"—Dyer dropped out of Morgan State University in 2009 because he could no longer pay tuition or take out student loans. To survive, the Waldorf, Md., native couch-surfed and engaged in sex work. Lured one day by a community health center's promise to pay him $50, Lopez got tested for HIV—but did not return to get the results. Workers tracked him down six months later to tell him that he was negative. But the good news didn't last.

Dyer tested positive in 2012 after acquiring the virus from his "second real boyfriend." "We weren't using condoms," he says. Back then, "there weren't nearly the same number of services doing outreach for young Black men like me."

He began treatment immediately, beginning with a regimen of Reyataz, Truvada and Norvir and, eventually, Stribild. His viral load reached undetectable levels within three months.

Today Dyer is a nonmedical case manager for transgender youths through Baltimore's STAR TRACK (Special Teens at-Risk, Together Reaching Access, Care and Knowledge) program and a program coordinator for the SEX Me (Safe Experiences Xcite Me) initiative through Morgan State's counseling center; he even has his own consulting firm.

He is also an organizer of the Health and Hip Hop Conference, a one-day symposium to empower young Black males to take control of their sexual and overall health and encourage others to do the same.

"In Maryland and in Baltimore, in particular, Black male youth ages 12-24 are at the highest risk of seroconverting to HIV," he says, noting that their rate of new infections is rising as others' rates are falling. "Most of the time, when they test positive they're being diagnosed with AIDS."

Indeed, recent statistics show that the state of Maryland ranks second nationally in its rate of new adult and adolescent HIV diagnoses, and metropolitan Baltimore ranks third among cities in new-HIV-infection rate. According to an article published in The Baltimore Sun, among those newly diagnosed with HIV statewide, the proportion of those ages 20-29 nearly doubled—from 16 percent in 2003 to 31 percent in 2012—with the greatest increases in infection rates occurring among Black gay men.

Dyer believes that some of the people who have historically been doing HIV-prevention outreach may not know how to relate to young Black men or make their work exciting enough for youths to pay attention. The conference organizers hope to help Maryland chart a new course by engaging young Black men in dialogue about wellness within the framework of their sexuality. "Part of how we will do that is by incorporating hip-hop culture, dissecting lyrics from popular rap songs like ASAP Rocky's 'Problems' that go against most HIV-prevention messages," he says.

"Baltimore has a lot of great testing initiatives, but some youths' needs aren't being addressed, including homelessness, boredom and not being able to find a job," Dyer continues. "There's also the issue of who community organizations and providers are talking to. When they say 'MSM,' for instance, do they mean gay and bisexual men—or men who identify as hetero but still have sex with men? Reaching every Black male is the focus—not just those who identify with a certain lifestyle."

To address this concern, the conference's planning committee has included the voices of young Black men of all sexual identities. "We are targeting men who have sex—period," he says. "We don't stigmatize it. Who you have sex with is your prerogative and your business."

The conference will also include workshops led by young Black, same-gender-loving male peers as well as experts in sexual health, including Lawrence Brown, Ph.D., an assistant professor of public health at Morgan State; Yolo Akili Robinson, the capacity-building assistance trainer for AIDS United; and Jonathan Paul Lucas, the community project manager of the HIV Prevention Trials Network.

"We want participants to know that there are many ways they can achieve and maintain good health," Dyer says. "Instead of just going to the emergency room, we can engage in preventative care and actually live a better life."

Organizers also want to reduce sexual stigma associated with being same-gender loving. "Black males can meet in the middle and respect each other as men and not worry so much about who we decide to have sex with," he says.

Click here to register for the free Health and Hip Hop Conference.

Tomika Anderson is a freelance writer based in the Washington, D.C., area. Her work has appeared in Essence, POZ, Real Health and Ebony magazines, among others.