Pioneering Black Gay HIV Researcher Dr. John L. Peterson Dies
CNP mourns the recent and sudden passing of pioneering researcher Dr. John L. Peterson, a leading figure in early HIV research, and mentor to many in Atlanta’s Black gay and healthcare communities. CNP Executive Director Charles Stephens cites Peterson as an early influence on his decades-long career in advocacy and organizing on behalf of Black gay men dating back to his time as an undergraduate student at Georgia State University, where Peterson was a member of the Psychology department faculty.
“I worked as a recruiter for a research study that he designed and led, focused on young Black gay and bisexual men in Atlanta. This was, I suppose, the beginning of my work with our community. There are so many of us that can point to Dr. Peterson's influence. He will be missed,” says Stephens.
“I worked as a recruiter for a research study that he designed and led, focused on young Black gay and bisexual men in Atlanta. This was, I suppose, the beginning of my work with our community. There are so many of us that can point to Dr. Peterson’s influence. He will be missed.”
Besides Stephens, Rev. Duncan E.Teague, a longtime community activist and Founder of Abundant LUUV Unitarian Universalist Church, is one of many prominent figures in Atlanta’s Black LGBTQ+ community whose career trajectory was fast-tracked after crossing paths with Peterson.
“My professional career improved for the rest of my life because I was hired by Dr. John L. Peterson to be a research coordinator for his Georgia State University studies involving Black gay and bisexual men and members of the transgender community,” says Teague.
“During that time because of the mentorship he offered to me and many, I was able to embrace my artistry and the reality of my call to ministry. I am indebted to Dr. Peterson and grateful for our many multifaceted friendships and professional relationships. Dr. Peterson helped me recognize and step into my place in my life and to do so with more confidence and skill.”
“My professional career improved for the rest of my life because I was hired by Dr. John L. Peterson to be a research coordinator for his Georgia State University studies involving Black gay and bisexual men and members of the transgender community.”
Dr. David Malebranche, a mentee of Peterson, and a leading infectious disease specialist in his own right, shared his thoughts with The Reckoning on Peterson’s passing and his long list of professional accomplishments.
“John Lamont Peterson was a trailblazer in every sense of the word. He was an unapologetic Black gay man who spearheaded behavioral and psychological research on HIV that was centered squarely on Black gay communities since the 1980s before retiring in 2016,” says Malebranche.
“He was one of the few Black gay men pioneering this kind of research before it was considered "cool," before the NIH and CDC recognized we deserved funding, and before the pharmaceutical companies decided our narratives were worth featuring. To many of us, he was the "godfather" of HIV behavioral research. He obtained his Ph.D. at 24 years of age, was the author of hundreds of published manuscripts, and was the first Black gay man to achieve the rank of full professor at Georgia State University's Department of Psychology. He took me under his wing as his mentee in 2001, and the vast majority of my professional accomplishments and success can be attributed to his attentive guidance and nurturing. The love John Peterson poured into me over the past 20 years, I can never fully repay him for, but I will strive to live up to the example he set and pass on his lessons to younger generations of Black queer people for as long as I am on this earth. John was my mentor, colleague, uncle, father, and friend. I will miss his stories, his smile, his laugh, his brilliance, his friendship, and our yearly birthday dinner celebrations. I love you, my friend. Rest well. You have earned your place among the ancestors.”
“He was one of the few Black gay men pioneering this kind of research before it was considered ‘cool,’ before the NIH and CDC recognized we deserved funding, and before the pharmaceutical companies decided our narratives were worth featuring.”
Peterson’s influence was also deeply felt by community activist and writer Craig Washington in his remembrance of a life well lived on often treacherous terrain that he says Peterson made endurable for future generations of Black gay men.
“If you do HIV/STI prevention work with Black gay men, one or more principles you now follow were first substantiated by Dr. Peterson, those he worked with and/or mentored,” says Washington.
“If you are a Black gay man (or however else you may or may not identify) you should know that Dr. Peterson helped enable your survival and the survival of your tribe. Dr. Peterson helped mold other illustrious Black men (Dr. David Malebranche, Gregorio Millet) who themselves have made history. He was one of the first researchers to focus primarily on HIV transmission among Black gay men. He did not limit his inquiry to rates of condomless anal sex or numbers of sexual partners. John sought to uncover the real reasons driving stark HIV health disparities between Black and white gay and bisexual men. Through scores of studies and thousands of interviews, John and his colleagues asked the questions about Black gay men's realities that white counterparts had neither the interest nor competence to consider. His evaluative work on HIV risk reduction highlighted the value of cultural affirmation as a component of Black gay men's interventions.
“If you are a Black gay man (or however else you may or may not identify) you should know that Dr. Peterson helped enable your survival and the survival of your tribe.”
The bittersweet poetry of his passing adds even more meaning to the loss. Two weeks before the 40th anniversary of that first notice of what we would come to know as AIDS, this titan who endured the worst of it and remained HIV negative has succumbed. Less than one month before Black gay men launch a remembrance of Second Sunday, an event at which he might have shared precious narratives, he is no longer with us. As before in life, and now in death, John has very few peers, and virtually none within the area of HIV prevention research for Black gay men. As we mark 40 (known) years of AIDS, we mark John’s singular role in the struggle. We must hold him in our highest esteem, for he has certainly earned no less than the superlative. By the force of his unshakable faith in Black gay men and his good works, the most enduring manifestation of that faith, he ascends. He holds a reserved place in the upper room of our history and our unlimited imagination of possibilities.”
