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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Miguel Munoz-Laboy, DrPH, Department of Sociomedical Sciences, Columbia University, 722 W. 168th St., Room 922, New York, NY 10032, 212-342-0285, mam172@columbia.edu

Background: As the AIDS epidemic continues to disproportionately affect Latino and African-American communities in the United States, greater public health attention has been given to issues of men on the "Down Low" and men who have sex with both men and women (MSMW). However, little is still known about fundamental social and cultural issues related to bisexual behavior and sexual risk. This presentation explores the construct of familism as an analytical point of departure to conceptualize sexual risk, specifically the relationship between familism and the sexual and risk scripts of bisexually-active Latino men. Methods: Data collection involved ethnographic observations and detailed sexual histories of eighteen bisexually-active Latino men in the metropolitan New York City area. Results: The results of this study indicate that elements of familism (familial support, emotional interconnectedness and familial honor) place a series of fundamental barriers to the sexual health of bisexual Latino male youth and adults, creating a social context of vulnerability for contracting and transmitting HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. Conclusions: Future research on Latino male bisexuality must incorporate information on the family context in order to effectively represent and reach these men in future research and intervention efforts.

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize the lack of scientific information on relationships between bisexuality and HIV risk among Latino men,
• Examine the significance of familial support, emotional interconnectedness, and familial honor in the social and sexual lives of a sample of bisexually-active Latino men in New York City,
• Understand that future HIV research and prevention efforts targeted toward bisexually-active Latino men must incorporate elements of the family context in order to become more effective.

Keywords: Bisexual, Latino

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation