Homophobia and Racism Experienced by Latino Men Who Have Sex with Men in the United States: Correlates of Exposure and Associations with HIV Risk Behaviors

Abstract

Using cross-sectional data collected from 1081 Latino men who have sex with men (MSM) recruited with respondent-driven sampling (RDS) techniques from Los Angeles and New York, we examined the extent to which Latino MSM reported exposure to social discrimination (i.e., experienced both homophobia and racism, homophobia only, racism only, or neither homophobia nor racism). More than 40% of respondents experienced both homophobia and racism in the past 12 months. Los Angeles participants, those with lower income, and those who reported being HIV-positive were more likely to report experiencing both types of social discrimination. Adjusting for potential confounders, men exposed to both homophobia and racism were more likely than men exposed to neither form of discrimination to report unprotected receptive anal intercourse with a casual sex partner (AOR = 1.92, 95% CI, 1.18-3.24) and binge drinking (AOR = 1.42, 95% CI, 1.02-1.98). Our findings suggest the presence of a syndemic of adverse social experiences and call for more intervention research to address both homophobia and racism experienced among Latino MSM in the United States.