The Deeper Love Project was founded in April 1997, by Craig Washington. Though there had been an African-American Gay Outreach program at AID Atlanta prior to that time, Deeper Love in it’s most current form began to take shape then. After Craig Washington, the next Coordinators were: Anthony McWilliams, then Malik Williams, then Kevin Bynes, and now Charles Stephens.

The goal of the Deeper Love Project is to empower black gay men to make optimal sexual health choices. We believe through building community, developing cultural awareness, providing sexual health information, and leadership training, we can provide black gay men with the tools to transform their lives and their communities.

We are the heirs of the legacy left by Essex Hemphill, Joseph Beam, and Marlon Riggs. Their articulation of black gay male identity, and vision of community, are where we find our inspiration. Riggs, Hemphill, and Beam, provided the blueprints, we seek to build the structure. Deeper Love has benefited tremendously from the many black gay men that came before us, whose lives and work made our program possible, and we honor them.