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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing |
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:
Keywords: Bisexual, Latino
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Any relevant financial relationships? No
The 134th Annual Meeting & Exposition (November 4-8, 2006) of APHA