Fact Check

80 Percent of Black Men in Atlanta are Gay?

A fake news item claimed a study indicated 80 percent of black men in Atlanta were homosexual.

Published Feb. 19, 2016

Claim:
A study found that 80 percent of black men in Georgia were homosexual.

On or around 18 February 2016, the fake news site TMZWorldNews (formerly Celebtricity) published an article claiming a study indicated 80 percent of black men living in Atlanta were "homosexual":

Atlanta, Georgia has been known for it’s population of homesexual African American men for the past few years, but until recently, this popular opinion was simply a stereotype.

... Georgia State University students began a study assessing the sexuality of the male population of the city with surprising results ... ​The study divided the population into categories of black, white, Asian, and oreo, then divided them further into heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, pansexual, and asexual. Upon completion of the study, it was found that 80% of the black men in Atlanta, Georgia are homosexual.

However, due to the large amount of men unwilling to openly admit to being anything other than straight in our society, it is expected that the actual percentage of homosexual black men in Atlanta is much larger.

Before Celebtricity became TMZWorldNews, the site featured a disclaimer billing itself as "the most notorious entertainment website in the world," offering "shocking headlines" and a mixture of "real & satire news" in order to keep its "visitors in a state of disbelief." Needless to say, the claim was an obvious falsehood designed to attract social media-based traffic; its assertion that "oreo [sic]" was one of the race demographics examined during the purported study was one clue it wasn't anything approaching legitimate.

Recent TMZWorldNews hoaxes included a fake news item about a Satanic dungeon purportedly found in a Chuck E. Cheese, while Celebtricity gained viral traction by fabricating a claim Oprah Winfrey was pregnant.

Kim LaCapria is a former writer for Snopes.