title: Rural men, sexual identity and community.
abstract: The relationship between rurality and men's sexuality remain relatively unexplored. This study addresses the knowledge gap in the research literature by focusing on men who have sex with men in rural areas across Ontario, Canada. Employing a constructivist grounded theory methodology, interviews were conducted with 32 men across 28 geographic locales consisting of populations of less than 10,000 people. Men identified as gay, bisexual, queer/bisexual, or refused labels. These self-selected identifiers were then explored to determine how participants conceptualized and organized their sexual identities in relation to context. Participants held divergent management strategies that resulted in two general identity grouping: "natives" and "transplanters."
authors.affiliation: Social Service Worker Program, Georgian College, Orillia, Ontario, Canada. MJKennedy@georgianc.on.ca
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kennedy
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003710:Demography; D018451:Homosexuality, Male / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012424:Rural Population; D012650:Self Disclosure; D012725:Sexual Behavior