Gay African-American Men Engage in Risky Behavior to Gain Societal Acceptance: Study

Societal and family pressures drive young African American homosexual men to indulge in dangerous sexual activities, finds a study.

Non-gender conformists and alternative sexual preferences are a taboo in many cultures and societies. As a result, many are forced to exhibit stereotypical behavior to blend in and safeguard their social standing. A recent research by the John Hopkins Children's Center found that 'compensatory mechanism' like having unprotected sex with multiple partners increases the risk of HIV infections in young gay and bisexual men from African American communities.

For the study, experts interviewed 35 young gay and bisexual men aged between 18 and 24 who had not come out about their sexual identity owing to conservative family values and anti-gay attitudes of their peers. The participants admitted to suffering emotional distress and isolation. The hostility, social stigma and need to be loved by family and friends made them resort to risky sexual behavior. The subjects reported engaging in unprotected sex to prove their love and trust to their partners and lovers. Many confessed to having created a hyper-masculine image by fighting, drinking, taking drugs and indulging in other reckless behavior. This was done in order to 'prove one's manhood', the authors believe.

"The findings of our study reveal a clear clash between internal sexual identity and external expectations at a critical developmental stage age," said Errol Fields, study author and adolescent medicine expert at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center, in a news release.

"This clash creates loneliness and low self-esteem and appears to drive these boys and men to risky behaviors, sexual and otherwise."

It was observed the surveyed participants suffered chronic anxiety and feared being exposed to family and society. This attitude about self-image and fear of losing important relations like family and friends was more prevalent in minority communities.

"It's a true catch-22 for these youngsters," Fields says. "On one hand, they are dealing with the chronic anxiety of hiding their homosexuality, but on the other they face the prospect of becoming social pariahs if they come out as gay or bisexual."

According to the 2010 data by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Preventions, gay and bisexual men aged between 13 and 24 from African American community accounted for 72 percent of HIV cases. This figure was twice the number of HIV infected gay or homosexual men from Hispanic community.  

The study findings emphasize on the need for the development of public health policies to address cultural conflicting. The authors urge health professionals and doctors to counsel gay African-American patients about handling social pressures, discrimination and healthy sexual habits to reduce the incidence of HIV infection.

More information is available online in the American Journal of Public Health.