“My Sexuality…It Creates a Stress”: HIV-Related Communication Among Bisexual Black and Latino Men, New York City

Abstract

Men who have sex with men and women (including bisexual men) comprise 35% of all men who have sex with men (MSM) in the U.S. It is estimated that 121,800 men who have been bisexually active within the past year are living with HIV in the U.S. Communication about HIV may result in risk-reduction behaviors. However, little is known about the nature or context for HIV prevention communication among bisexual men, particularly for blacks and Hispanic/Latinos who are disproportionately at greater HIV risk. Therefore, we explored patterns and contexts of HIV-related communications occurring within personal social networks among bisexual black and Hispanic/Latino men. Using respondent-driven sampling methods, we conducted semi-structured interviews from 2011 to 2012 among 36 participants living in New York City. We examined interview responses from participants for main themes using computer-assisted thematic analyses. The three main themes identified were: (1) communication strategies (e.g., "You can tell a lot from how a person responds just by the tone of their voice"), (2) barriers (e.g., "My sexuality…it creates a stress"), and (3) motivations for these communications (e.g., "I know that's a(n) issue in the black community…if I could help another brother, I will do it"). Our findings can inform HIV prevention efforts such as social messaging campaigns and other risk-reduction interventions designed for bisexual men.

Individual and Social Network Factors Associated with High Self-efficacy of Communicating about Men’s Health Issues with Peers among Black MSM in an Urban Setting

“…In a multisite study, Rosser and colleagues reported lower levels of serodisclosure to secondary sexual partners among BMSM as compared with white MSM [18]. Interventions that promote communication of sexual health among BMSM may reduce HIV transmission and other sexual health disparities [19,20].…”

The Negative Impact of Stigma Perceived by Men Who Have Sex with Men (MSM): An Integrative Review

“…Unfortunately, as presented in the included studies, most societies still stigmatize and often does not provide support, consequently, this stigma negatively influences treatment adherence and can contribute to drug use and abuse (Carey et al, 2018). Also in face with scenario, individuals usually do not communicate HIV status and have discussion on prevention and testing measures, as they fear rejection and being stigmatized (Henny, 2019;Lyons et al, 2019) (Table 1).…”

A Randomized Trial of an Online Risk Reduction Intervention for Young Black MSM

“…Prior research has found that bisexually identified men may be less attached to gay communities (44,45) and therefore may experience less community support. Stigma experienced by bisexual Black men may influence not only the disclosure of their sexuality to friends, female sex partners and health care providers (46)(47)(48) but also their receptivity to prevention messages (49)(50)(51). Notably, among the seven bisexually identified men who complied with HMP, none reported female sex partners in the three months prior to their baseline interview, while 12 of the 29 bisexual non-compliers (41.4%) did report female sex partners.…”