Bisexual practices : patterns, meanings, and implications for HIV/STI prevention among bisexually-active Latino men and their partners

M. Munoz-Laboy, B. Dodge

Recent studies indicate that bisexually active Latino and African-American men are at significantly higher risk for HIV/AIDS than exclusively homosexually active men and exclusively heterosexually active men. This two-year ethnographic study was conducted to examine the sexual practices and factors that shape the sexual negotiations of a sample of bisexually active Latino men in order to contribute to the development of more relevant and effective prevention of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections for this target group. Data collection methods involved ethnographic observations and detailed sexual histories of eighteen bisexually active Latino men in the metropolitan New York City area. For the men in this study, tensions between sexual and gender identities, interconnections of power and sexual activity, importance of the family context, and silences produced within social and sexual environments based on notions of _appropriate_ masculinity and sexuality were identified as the critical factors influencing the processes of negotiating sexual practices and HIV/STI risk. Based on these findings, we believe masculinity could serve as an effective tool with which to build new and innovative HIV/STI prevention efforts for bisexually active Latino men.[Copies are available from: Haworth Document Delivery Center. The Haworth Press, Inc., 10 Alice Street, Binghamton, NY 13904-1580, USA]