Director Michael White wasn\u2019t surprised but he was and is saddened that one part in particular\u2014a segment about\u00a0 the \u201caccidental overdose\u201d of Gemmel Moore who died of a meth overdose at Ed Buck\u2019s home. Buck is supposedly a\u00a0 powerful LA political donor\u2014whose home was witness to another Black gay man\u2019s overdose last week<\/a>\u2014a death that echoes Moore\u2019s death in virtually every way.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>Towleroad <\/em><\/strong>spoke to White about the film and Buck in particular.<\/strong><\/p>\n Do you believe Ed Buck to be a serial killer of sorts as journalist Jasmyne Cannick\u00a0 has suggested<\/a>? <\/strong><\/p>\n I am hesitant to solidify that Ed Buck is a serial killer, but he definitely appears to have the framework of\u00a0 the making of one. Psychologically, I believe him to be a sadistic man<\/a> who receives pleasure from the pain of others and in this case \u2014 the pain of disadvantaged young gay<\/a> Black men<\/a>.<\/p>\n Why do you think he targets Black men<\/a>? <\/strong><\/p>\n I believe Ed Buck has a slew of fetishes that leads him to use gay<\/a> black men<\/a> as an outlet for fulfillment. I think it\u2019s an obsession, a super-humanization of black men<\/a> overall that stems from slavery, believing that blacks are physically and sexually superior while whites are intellectually and emotionally dominant. Many clients\/victims of Buck reported the constant use of the N-word during their visit, removal of their own clothes to wear items Buck lays out for them [ white long johns] and lastly to financially reward his guest by having victims or himself shoot large amounts of meth into their bodies to see the amount their bodies could withstand before passing out or overdosing\u2026 it\u2019s sick, it is almost reminiscent of 19th<\/sup> century New Orleans serial killer Madame LaLaurie. He targets those young black men<\/a> that are socially disadvantage or in need of help with promises of financial reward or shelter in order to fulfill his slave play fetishes and meth induced like experiments.<\/p>\n How pervasive is the meth epidemic among Black gay<\/a> men<\/a>? <\/strong><\/p>\n The meth epidemic in the Black and brown community is extremely widespread and growing every day. I started to see the rise of this foe in 2012-2013 when online dating apps \u00a0and \u00a0literature<\/p>\n began to change or look different. I started noticing phrases and terms like party n play \u201cPNP,\u201d Tina[meth] or the use of emojis such as clouds and diamonds growing and becoming more prolific in day-to-day online conversations and profiles. With little information or research on this matter I was able to pull data from the New York Times<\/em> that stated substance abuse counselors in New York City noticed a shift in clients seeking help with meth addiction, at one-point majority of clients were white gay<\/a> men<\/a> but now most are Black gay<\/a> men<\/a>. When did this happen? How did this happen? In my research for the party boi<\/em> documentary I interviewed 102 individuals online, in bars, and via hook-up apps. 85 percent of these Black men<\/a> informed me they were introduced to meth via their boyfriend or sex<\/a> partner the other 15 percent through experimentation or were maliciously drugged from someone they hooked up with. The odd thing about the 85 percent who were introduced to crystal meth from their lover or boyfriend \u2014 and also informed me that their partner participated in sex<\/a> work\/escorting.<\/p>\n I believe that prostitution segued and exposed meth on a large scale into the Black queer community which in return elevated the HIV infection rate then lastly many turned to meth as a coping mechanism for HIV infection, addiction, homelessness and depression.<\/p>\n How did you get personally interested in this topic? <\/strong><\/p>\n I became involved with the subject of crystal meth from personal experiences, having lost friends and family members to the addiction of this drug. I became increasingly irritated that it started trending in my community, so I felt it was my duty as an artist to create a body of work detailing the narrative that crystal meth is destroying LGBTQ people of color. I created the film party boi, black diamonds in ice<\/em> castles as an answer to that need to create a space to speak about meth, addiction and depression. parTy boi<\/em>, was curated to warn millennials of the dangers of meth as well as garnering an understanding of how it infiltrated our neighborhoods historically.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The story of Gemmel Moore became an impactful presence in the documentary. I wanted to humanize Gemmel because the media had made him to be a one-dimensional headline when in reality there were layers of complexities to his situation. I had the opportunity to interview and personally speak to his mother Latisha Nixon who fights everyday against the injustices of her son not only for being a Black man<\/a> but someone of the LGBTQ community and I stand beside her along with political activist Jasmyne Cannick and many more seeking justice for Gemmel and informing the world about the ever growing epidemic of meth and calling out predators like Ed Buck taking advantage of the disadvantaged.<\/p>\n The Buck stops here.<\/p>\n