Increasg overall rat, and equency, of HIV ttg populatns at risk is a key public health objective and a cril dimensn of HIV preventn efforts. In the UK, men who have sex wh men (MSM) rema one of the muni most at risk of HIV and, wh this, young gay men are a key risk group. Unrstandg HIV ttg practic is important the velopment of terventns to promote ttg among young gay and bisexual men. Qualative terviews were nducted wh thirty young gay and bisexual men (aged 18–29) Stland. Thematic analysis of men’s acunts of their approach to HIV ttg intified three overarchg patterns of ttg: ‘habual’, ‘reactive’ and ‘ ad hoc’. This qualative study, the first to explore patterns of HIV ttg practic among young gay and bisexual men the UK, ntribut novel fdgs around the role of social support and ‘muny’ shapg young men’s approach to HIV ttg. The fdgs suggt that social support n play an important role enuragg and facilatg HIV ttg among young gay men, however, social norms of non-ttg also have the potential to act as a barrier to velopment of a regular route. Men wh habual ttg practic amed HIV ttg as both a personal and ‘muny’ rponsibily, and more effective than ttg rponse to risk events or emergent symptoms. Men who reported reactive ttg practic scribed ttg for HIV primarily rponse to perceived exposure to sexual risk, along wh ‘transnal moments’ such as startg, endg or chang to a relatnship. Among young men who reported ttg on an ad hoc basis, nvenience and disptns to HIV ttg practic, particularly where men lacked social support, acted as a barrier to velopg a route of regular ttg. Our fdgs suggt that terventns which seek to crease rat of HIV ttg and ttg equency among young gay and bisexual men should clu a specific foc on promotg and supportg posive ttg practic wh young men’s iendship groups and wir gay muni.
Contents:
- HIV IS A STORY FIRST WRTEN ON THE BODI OF GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN
- HIV-RELATED STIGMA WH MUNI OF GAY MEN: A LERATURE REVIEW
- GAY AND HIV/AIDS LERATURE SEARCH
- PATTERNS OF HIV TTG PRACTIC AMONG YOUNG GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN LIVG STLAND: A QUALATIVE STUDY
- SCHOLARLY LERATURE HIV-RELATED LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENR STUDI: A BIBLMETRIC ANALYSIS
- SEXUAL HEALTH STUDI GAY AND LBIAN PEOPLE: A CRIL REVIEW OF THE LERATURE
- MEDIA REPRENTATN, PERCEPTN AND STIGMATISATN OF RACE, SEXUALY AND HIV AMONG YOUNG BLACK GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN
HIV IS A STORY FIRST WRTEN ON THE BODI OF GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN
GAY TIMES has clud a prehensive list of remendatns for rears to lve to HIV/AIDS history. * gay hiv literature *
In 1983, trated by their shared experienc of stigma, gay men wh AIDS at the Fifth Annual Gay and Lbian Health Conference brought forth the Denver Prcipl, which talyzed self-empowerment across health movements for s to signifint as the time markers are, the HIV story the Uned Stat likely dat back two or more s before the 1980s. And the goal of this edorial memoratg the first published s of AIDS is to unrsre the cril importance of human rights for sexual mory men and women and as the basis of the HIV AMONG GAY AND BISEXUAL MENRace, class, and sexual orientatn ntue to shape the HIV epimic the Uned Stat and around the world, wh new fectns disproportnately affectg men who have sex wh men Black and Brown muni.
COMMUNITY-LED HIV RESPONSESBuildg on the civil rights, women’s rights, and gay and lbian liberatn movements the Uned Stat, lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, queer (LGBTQ) people, and their alli worked together to tablish HIV service anizatns even as ernments stggled to rpond. Stigma clud discrimatn and rejectn by HIV-negative gay men, stigma related to ageg, chang physil appearance, race/ethnicy and of HIV-related stigma wh gay muniDiscrimatn and rejectn by non-HIV fected gay menSome HIV-negative gay men feel that HIV-posive men threaten gay muni, eher terms of health or general perceptns of gay men (Flowers, Dunn, & Franks, 2000). Furthermore, the study suggted that the attus of non-black gay men, and social works and environments found gay venu n also separate black gay men om their addn to the perceived stigma om external sourc, “ternal stigma” or “self-stigma” is a nfoundg issue among HIV-posive gay men and n be the rult of ongog external stigma.
HIV-RELATED STIGMA WH MUNI OF GAY MEN: A LERATURE REVIEW
* gay hiv literature *
Consequenc and impact of stigma on HIV-posive menMental and emotnal well-begAmong HIV-posive gay men, stigma has a nsirable impact on mental and emotnal well-beg, g signifintly creased levels of anxiety, lonels, prsive symptoms, suicidal iatn and engagement avoidant strategi such as social whdrawal (Courtenay-Quirk et al., 2006; Grov et al., 2010). From self-pleted surveys of major prsive disorr (MDD) sexually active gay men attendg general practic urban Atralia (Mao et al., 2009), appeared that the rate of MDD among the 195 HIV-posive gay men was signifintly higher than that among the 314 HIV-negative gay men (31. Furthermore, a study of HIV-posive MSM New York and San Francis, participants perceived a “rift” based on HIV stat wh their gay muny that was lked to prsn, anxiety and lonels (Wolski, Dey, Parsons, & Gomez, 2002) segregatn based on HIV statStudi of “serosortg” have emerged the lerature, whereby gay men and MSM associate predomately wh others of the same HIV stat (Barber, 1991; Johnson, 1995; Yi, Shidlo, & Koegel, 2004).
Some thors report posive aspects of serosortg for both HIV-negative and HIV-posive gay men, while others have likened to an “AIDS apartheid”1 based on ternal or outwardly perceived stigma (Barber, 1991) studi have suggted that serosortg may rce transmissn among high-risk HIV-negative gay men (Eaton, Kalichman, O'Connell, & Karchner, 2009; Philip, Yu, Donnell, Vtghoff, & Buchbr, 2010; Wilson et al., 2010). It has been suggted that most HIV-negative and HIV-posive men may more accurately be scribed as practisg “serogusg” selectn based on perceived rather than actual HIV stat (Zablotska et al., 2009) whdrawal due to chang physil appearanceA seri of terviews Atralia wh HIV-posive gay men lked the prence of lipodystrophy wh feelgs of isolatn (Persson, 2005).
GAY AND HIV/AIDS LERATURE SEARCH
Gay and lbian sexual health is an unrstudied field characterized by primary foc on HIV/STI and pcy of higher qualy rearch cludg diverse subpopulatns. Mijas M, Grabski B, Blacz M, et al. Sexual Health Studi Gay and Lbian People: A Cril Review of the Lerature. J Sex … * gay hiv literature *
Rejectn relatnshipsIn a study of HIV-posive gay men the UK (Bourne, Dodds, Keogh, Weatherburn, & Hammond, 2009), the greatt ncern, shared by nearly all of the men the study regardls of lol HIV prevalence, was the possibily of rejectn by sexual partners followg disclosure of stat.
PATTERNS OF HIV TTG PRACTIC AMONG YOUNG GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN LIVG STLAND: A QUALATIVE STUDY
In this example of self-stigmatisatn imposed om external perceptns, also known as meta-stereotypg (Kle & Azzi, 2001), the rponnts felt strongly that beg associated wh HIV-posive sexual spac, eher onle or offle, would pound stigma directed towards one qualative study of relatnships between HIV-posive and HIV-negative men Toronto, Canada, many HIV-posive gay men reported rejectn and lack of empathy om HIV-negative iends and/or partners (Maxwell, 1998).
In addn, a survey the UK reported anecdotal evince om gay men who faced rejectn and vlence by potential partners upon disclosure of their HIV stat, while others were surprised that HIV-negative gay men were not more supportive (Weatherburn et al., 2009) behavurHIV-posive gay men may participate high-risk behavurs, such as dg e and unprotected anal terurse (UAI), as a means of pg wh livg wh HIV (Kelly, Bimbi, Izienicki, & Parsons 2009). Men wh HIV participatg high-risk behavurs, cludg UAI, tend to report creased stigma, gay-related strs, self-blame-related pg and substance abe (Kelly et al., 2009; Radcliffe et al., 2010) a review of the soclogy of “barebackg” (UAI), numero theori are proposed for why gay men engage unprotected sex, cludg the fact that many HIV-posive men feel socially alienated om HIV-negative men (Shernoff, 2005). In a seri of terviews on disclosure practic, risk takg and attus about HIV fectn nducted among 150 gay men the USA who had participated UAI, rponnts ced a muny-wi shift towards non-disclosure and UAI sce the advent of effective anti-retroviral therapy (ART) (Sheon & Crosby, 2004).
Acrdg to UNAIDS, crimalisatn of HIV transmissn may rerce HIV-related stigma, spread misrmatn about HIV, hr HIV ttg and unsellg support and, importantly, create a false sense of secury by enuragg HIV-negative men to dulge risky behavurs, believg themselv legally protected om transmissn (UNAIDS, 2008) rearch is required to fully asss the extent, nsequenc and potential untermeasur relatn to HIV-related stigma wh gay muni.
SCHOLARLY LERATURE HIV-RELATED LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENR STUDI: A BIBLMETRIC ANALYSIS
The nsequenc of such missg data negatively affects dividuals livg wh HIV, and may also threaten to further divi muni of gay men and prent a signifint barrier to efforts aimed at addrsg the overall HIV stigma-rctn programm have been intified and shown to be effective small-sle, short-term trials, none have been nducted specifilly among gay men, and many gaps rema, pecially relatn to the size, duratn and impact of the iativ (Brown, Mactyre, & Tjillo, 2003). A more -pth unrstandg of HIV ttg practic among young MSM is ccial velopg strategi to crease uptake and equency of ttg, and to rm the velopment of terventns which seek to change ttg practic among men muni most at risk of qualative study explored young gay and bisexual men’s unrstandgs of HIV risk the ntext of their sexual practice and muny norms of safer sex.
SEXUAL HEALTH STUDI GAY AND LBIAN PEOPLE: A CRIL REVIEW OF THE LERATURE
Ethil approval was obtaed om the Universy of Glasgow College of Social Scienc Ethics Commtee [Applitn number: CSS20120206] cln creria were that the men were aged between the ag of 18 and 29 years and intified as gay, bisexual, or as a man who has sex wh other men. Ined, acunts typilly foced on regular HIV ttg as an tegral part of leadg a rponsible gay sexual life and the men amed their ttg practic wh an ethic of re; a rponsibily for self-re, re of potential sexual partners, and towards men their wir muni enuragg them to tt as part of a regular route. The social support David and his iends received om each other around ttg appeared to allay some of their anxieti about ttg dividually, and rerced their mment to rg for themselv, their close iends, and wir muni of gay is important to note that men who scribed havg habual ttg practic did report stanc of ttg rponse to perceived risk events; for example CAI wh a sual partner of unknown stat, or after partner notifitn of an STI.
Although at an dividual level men this group unrstood HIV as a potential risk associated wh sexual behavurs such as CAI, ntrast to men wh habual ttg practic, the younger men this group (n = 6), those aged 24 or unr, exprsed the view that ls emphasis should be placed on HIV transmissn among muni of gay men:HIV is a risk for everyone...
A number of men emphasised their anxiety that raisg the topic of HIV uld be terpreted by close iends, sexual partners, and wir gay muni, as an ditn that they were at risk of of open and easy munitn around HIV also appeared to translate to fewer opportuni for beg supported, or enuragg others, to accs HIV ttg.
MEDIA REPRENTATN, PERCEPTN AND STIGMATISATN OF RACE, SEXUALY AND HIV AMONG YOUNG BLACK GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN
Quent had recently started volunteerg for a gay men’s chary, and anticipated that this would open up more possibili for supportg, and beg supported, to attend for HIV ttg alternative muny-based wh ad hoc ttg practic who grew up ral areas some distance om the ma urban mercial scen Stland (which are primarily ncentrated wh the ci of Glasgow and Edburgh) often reported gravatg to onle muni and spac when seekg social and sexual nnectns wh other gay men.
Dpe proactively seekg rmatn about accsg ttg onle settgs, this group’s acunts suggt that accs to sexual health servic for gay men may be more problematic - or at least appear more problematic - ral areas, and th a ntributory factor not velopg a pattern of regular ntrast to men wh habual ttg practic who emphasised the posive role that support om iends played enuragg them to accs HIV ttg, some men wh ad hoc approach noted that social norms uld ntribute to not velopg a regular route of ttg. The way which men unr the age of 24 this group sought to distance both themselv, and wir gay muni, om beg lked to HIV risk suggts that HIV stigma, bed wh lack of personal nnectn to people livg wh HIV, pound their anxiety about open munitn around HIV stat and ttg.