Sexual identity and its contribution to MSM risk behavior in Bangaluru (Bangalore), India: the results of a two-stage cluster sampling survey.
In India, there are categories of MSM (hijras, kothis, double-deckers, panthis and bisexuals), which are generally associated with different HIV-risk behaviors. Our objective was to quantify differences across MSM identities (n = 357) and assess the extent they conform to typecasts that prevail in policy-orientated discourse. More feminine kothis (26%) and hijras (13%) mostly reported receptive sex, and masculine panthis (15%) and bisexuals (23%) insertive anal sex. However, behavior did not always conform to expectation, with 25% and 16% of the sample reporting both insertive and receptive anal intercourse with known and unknown noncommercial partners, respectively (p < 0.000). Although behavior often complied with stereotyped role and identity, male-with-male sexual practices were fluid. Reification of these categories in an intervention context may hinder our understanding of the differential HIV risk among MSM.
Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Imperial College, St Mary Hospital, London, UK. a.phillips05@imperial.ac.uk
A E
AE
Phillips
M C
MC
Boily
C M
CM
Lowndes
G P
GP
Garnett
K
K
Gurav
B M
BM
Ramesh
J
J
Anthony
R
R
Watts
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Moses
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Alary
D000328:Adult; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D005783:Gender Identity; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000517:prevention & control; D006306:Health Surveys; D018451:Homosexuality, Male / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D008297:Male; D012309:Risk-Taking; D011477:Sex Work / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013239:Stereotyped Behavior