What is it about?
South Asian gay and bisexual men in Western countries exist in a context where they experience both homophobia and racism. This qualitative, community-based research study found that both homophobia and racism increase social isolation, loneliness, sexual disempowerment, and risks for STIs and HIV. The stigma of being a gay or bisexual man in the South Asian community affected not only the men themselves, but their was also significant anxiety about their families also experiencing stigma for having a gay or bisexual man in their South Asian family, an experience we call intersectional stigma by association. The men in our sample also described the sexual health services that would best suit their needs for confidentiality and social support.
Featured Image
Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash
Why is it important?
Despite the rapidly growing numbers of South Asians living in Western countries, little work has examined the experiences of South Asian gay and bisexual men in the Western context. Their intersectional experiences of living as a South Asian gay and bisexual man led to significant social isolation, loneliness, sexual disempowerment, and risks for STIs and HIV. Generic approaches for gay and bisexual men may need to be supplemented with both intersectional support groups and anonymous sexual health services that do not "out" the client as a sexual minority. This work also adds to our theoretical understanding by demonstrating the importance of paying attention to intersectional stigma in this understudied population, including intersectional stigma by association.
Perspectives
This study was created by the Alliance for South Asian AIDS Prevention (ASAAP) as a community-based research study. It provided me with a critical research lens into the experiences of diverse South Asian gay and bisexual men living in Toronto. This study provided me with the opportunity to work with the talented staff of ASAAP to provide validating feedback to South Asian gay and bisexual men about their experiences, to help ASAAP to design future programming, and to educate the academic community about their experiences and to add to our understanding of intersectionality.
Trevor Hart
Ryerson University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: At the intersection of homophobia and racism: Sociocultural context and the sexual health of South Asian Canadian gay and bisexual men., Stigma and Health, March 2021, American Psychological Association (APA),
DOI: 10.1037/sah0000295.
You can read the full text:
Contributors
The following have contributed to this page
