141st APHA Annual Meeting

In This section

283602
Sexuality-based discrimination and sexual minority young men's health in the detroit metro area

Monday, November 4, 2013 : 12:45 PM - 1:00 PM

José Bauermeister, MPH, PhD , Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Andrew Hickok, MPH , Sexuality & Health Lab (SexLab), University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI
Emily Pingel, MPH , Health Behavior and Health Education, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI
Jimena Loveluck, MSW , President/CEO, HIV/AIDS Resource Center, Ypsilanti, MI
William VanHemert , Community Mobilization Project Manager, AIDS Partnership Michigan, Detroit, MI
Wil Bowen , Community Mobilization Project Associate, AIDS Partnership Michigan, Detroit, MI
Anthony O'Rourke-Quintana , Detroit Latin@z, AIDS Partnership Michigan, Detroit, MI
Jorge Soler, MPH , Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI
Discrimination has been linked to negative health outcomes among minority populations. The increasing evidence regarding health disparities among sexual minorities has underscored the importance of addressing sexuality-related discrimination as a public health issue. As part of an academic-community partnership, United for HIV Integration and Policy (UHIP), we conducted a web-based survey of a racially diverse sample of young sexual minority men (ages 18-29) living in the Detroit Metro Area (N = 429; 80% self-identifying as gay; 51% African American, 26% White, 14% Latino, 9% Multiracial) and examined the association between young men's overall health (self-rated health, and number of days in prior month when their physical or mental health was not good) and their experiences of both sexuality-based work discrimination and housing discrimination in the past year, respectively. 15% of participants reported at least one experience of sexuality-based work discrimination in the past year. Four percent of participants reported sexuality-based housing discrimination. In multivariate regression models (p<.05), housing discrimination was negatively associated with self-rated health (b=-.77), after adjusting for race/ethnicity, education, sexual identity, employment status, poverty, and insurance status. Similarly, we found workplace discrimination was associated with a greater number of days when their physical (b=.23) and mental (b=.43) health was not good, respectively. Based on our findings, we discuss the importance of addressing sexuality-related discrimination as a public health problem and propose multilevel intervention strategies to address these discriminatory practices.

Learning Areas:
Diversity and culture
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Program planning
Public health or related laws, regulations, standards, or guidelines
Public health or related public policy
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
Identify how experiences of sexuality-based discrimination influence the well-being of young sexual minority men. Consider how policy and community-level interventions may reduce the enactment of sexuality-related discriminatory practices.

Keywords: Gay Men, Health Disparities

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am Principal Investigator of the UHIP Partnership. MY research focuses on LGBT Disparities and Health.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.