The Oprah Winfrey Show
Life on the Down Low

Author J.L. King's life on the 'down low'
Previous
1 of 8
Next
J.L. King was a happily married father of two but was keeping a dark secret…living on the "down low"—seemingly living a "straight" lifestyle with a wife and family, but secretly sleeping with men. J.L. says that he married his high school sweetheart and knew when he first met her that she would be the mother of his children. He says they were on the fast track to success, active in their church and, by all accounts, "the perfect couple." But J.L. had an overwhelming desire to be with men. "The desire overrode everything I knew," J.L. says. "It created this whole secret life and made me make up stories and try to cover-up my tracks. [It was] a life that destroyed my family."

One day, J.L.'s wife followed him and discovered his secret, and his life, as well as his family's, changed forever.