In a 2005 study of 5 large US cities, 46% of African American/black MSM were HIV-positive, compared to 21% of white MSM. In fact, since 2001, MSM across all racial and ethnic groups have been the only transmission group with significant increases in HIV diagnosis, and the majority of all new AIDS cases among all MSM are diagnosed in racial/ethnic-minority men ( Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2001a, 2008a). A community forum was held to develop recommendations and move these themes to action.Īlthough gay communities in the United States (US) are credited with making major reductions in, and sustaining relatively low levels of, sexual behavior that put them at risk for HIV during the 1980s and into the early 1990s, HIV and sexually transmitted disease (STD) incidence has been increasing among men who have sex with men (MSM) in the US since the mid-1990s ( Nanin, et al., 2009 Naughton & Rhodes, 2009 Wolitski, Valdiserri, Denning, & Levine, 2001). Twelve themes related to HIV risk emerged, including low HIV and STD knowledge particularly among Latino MSM and MSM who use the Internet for sexual networking stereotyping of African American MSM as sexually “dominant” and Latino MSM as less likely to be HIV infected and the eroticization of “barebacking.” Twelve intervention approaches also were identified, including developing culturally congruent programming using community-identified assets harnessing social media used by informal networks of MSM and promoting protection within the context of intimate relationships. Participants self-identified as African American/Black (n=28), Hispanic/Latino (n=33), white (n=21), and bi-racial/ethnic (n=6).
An academic-community partnership conducted nine focus groups with 88 MSM. This study was designed to explore sexual risk among MSM using community-based participatory research (CBPR). Men who have sex with men (MSM) continue to be disproportionately impacted by HIV and sexually transmitted diseases (STD).