Same-sex Activity Research Articles

Sexual Violence Against Men in Civil Conflict

Sexual violence against men in conflict settings is neither a rare nor recent phenomenon, yet its absence in academic scholarship and humanitarian initiatives remains glaring. Despite the advances in our understanding of the determinants of wartime sexual violence against women, surprisingly little empirical research exists on sexual violence against men in conflict. Acts of sexual violence are commonly enacted against men in war, yet because they do not fit more narrow definitions of rape, accounts of these experiences are often misclassified as “torture.” Moreover, in many countries experiencing pervasive conflict-related sexual violence, there exist restrictive laws regarding sodomy and homosexuality, reducing the chances that males will report their experiences. Using originally coded data on sexual and gender identity laws and reported incidents of sexual violence in civil conflict, I find that laws that outline the protection of sexual and gender identity expression including the decriminalization of same-sex activity are significantly associated with reports of acts of sexual violence against men. The results speak to the gap in the literature on male sexual violence with tangible consequences for the distribution of humanitarian aid, availability of medical and psychological services for victims, and aims of peacekeeping missions.

Lesbian Community Support for Individual Involvement in Same-sex Activity

Although past studies in Malaysia have explained several factors related to women's involvement in same-sex activity, studies on the role of the lesbian community in Malaysia have been underemphasized despite the presence of some lesbian communities on social media. The existence of this community has given individuals the opportunity to actively engage in same-sex activity. Therefore, the objective of this study was to analyze the support of the lesbian community toward the involvement of individuals in same-sex activity. This study uses a qualitative approach and through the snowball sampling technique, 12 lesbians were contacted from 10 states in Malaysia, namely Johor, Kelantan, Terengganu, Malacca, Sarawak, Negeri Sembilan, Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, Kedah, Selangor, and Pahang. All the study respondents were interviewed, and the results were analysed using version 12 of the Nvivo for Mac. The findings showed that four respondents had provided feedback on the support of the lesbian community and their active involvement in the community through Facebook, WhatsApp groups, and lesbian club.

Intersecting HIV and mpox epidemics: more questions than answers.

Intersecting HIV and mpox epidemics: more questions than answers.

EDUKASI PERILAKU PENCEGAHAN PERILAKU BERISIKO MENGGUNAKAN PENDEKATAN COGNITIVE BEHAVIOUR THERAPY PADA PENDERITA HIV/ AIDS

Patients with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) / AIDS continue to increase from year to year. This increase is influenced by the continued increase in new HIV patients detected. This is in line with the sexual behavior of many HIV/AIDS sufferers who are still unhealthy. The sexual behavior is in the form of anal, oral, and same-sex activities. If this behavior is not controlled properly, it will increase the risk of new HIV/AIDS sufferers. This service focuses on efforts to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS through health promotion activities and cognitive therapy. The method of service is in the form of counseling and discussion through WhatsApp social media. During the activity, participants can follow well, easy to understand and engage in discussion. The results of the knowledge measurement showed that there was an increase in knowledge before (mean = 73) and after (mean = 90).
 
 Keywords: Health education, HIV/ AIDS treatment

When the Law Fails to Protect: Stigma, Violence and Sex Workers’ Multi-Layered Responses in the Kenyan Cities of Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisii and Meru

In Kenya, criminal laws on sex work and same-sex activities, combined with stigma on sex work and homosexuality, shape sex workers’ vulnerability to violence. This paper explores sex workers’ responses to violence at various levels of social and legal organisation. Drawing from a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach including qualitative interviews and focus group data, the paper illustrates a close and mutually reinforcing nexus between criminalisation, sex work stigma and homophobia as well as a resulting climate of impunity for perpetrators. By understanding sex workers as agentic actors, it demonstrates how sex workers respond to, rework and resist this repressive landscape of violence. It argues that sex workers mitigate the risk of experiencing violence by ‘getting by’ and ‘getting ahead’, while sex worker organisations support them to engage in collective resistance. The paper demonstrates a need to reform sex work-related laws and argues that action should extend beyond legal reform to include efforts to mediate the social processes that undercut sex workers’ access to rights and social justice.

Sexual health behavior, health status, and knowledge among queer womxn and trans men in Kenya: An online cross-sectional study.

Little research has been conducted on the sexual health needs and risk behaviors of queer womxn and trans men, making it difficult to identify specific health needs and disparities. This is especially the case in the Global South, where their needs are poorly understood. This study presents findings on demographics, sources of information, sexual (risk) behaviors, and substance use in Kenyan queer womxn and trans men. An online survey among 335 Kenyan queer womxn and trans men was used to collect data on sexual health, risk behavior, health information sources, and substance use. The participants needed to have had at least one self-identified female sexual partner. The sample presented young, highly-educated queer womxn and trans men. A high incidence of childhood sexual trauma found was found. Risk behaviors included sexual activities with partners of multiple genders, violence, and low use of barrier methods. One in three participants had been treated for an STD in the previous year. The incidences of smoking and drinking were high, and a quarter of participants indicated having taken drugs at least once a month or more. The internet was either the first or second most important source of sexual health information for 44.1% of the participants, followed by schools (30.9%). Our findings indicate that queer womxn and trans men are at risk of negative sexual health outcomes due to a lack of appropriate information, risk behavior, substance use, and low uptake of sexual health services. Kenya's Penal Code still criminalizes consensual same-sex activities and may play a role in perpetuating barriers that prohibit them from making healthier choices. Developing tailored programming and policies require local, national, and global stakeholders to engage with the inclusion of queer womxn and trans men's sexual health needs within strategic planning and healthcare delivery.

Decriminalization and medical students attitudes to same sex behaviour

The Supreme Court of India, decriminalized same-sex activities in 2018 but the Indian medical curriculum has not been updated and inclusive of the sexual minorities despite the change. This study explores the attitude of medical students towards same-gender attraction and how it has shaped and reshaped in an ever-changing social environment. Medical students of four reputed Indian medical colleges were asked to self-administer an 18-item questionnaire anonymously. Internal consistency of the questionnaire statements was high. Of 729 initial responses, 84 were omitted for giving incomplete responses and 3 were omitted for not being Indian. A total of 642 responses was included in the analysis. More than 80% of the students believed homosexuality is a sexual orientation whereas only 15% believed it is an acquired behaviour and only 1.9% considered it an illness. However, more than 95%of students agreed that homosexuality is not an illness. Although the overall attitude of Indian medical students has changed since decriminalization, urgent work on the medical curriculum is needed to change some negative attitudes so that patients receive appropriate care.

Sexual mixing patterns among male–female partnerships in Melbourne, Australia.

Individuals who have both opposite- and same-sex partners have the potential to pass sexually transmitted infections (STIs) between high- and low-risk populations. Our aim was to examine assortative sexual mixing in terms of same-sex activity among male-female partnerships. This was a retrospective repeated cross-sectional study of male-female partnerships attending the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre (MSHC) from 2015 to 2019. Sex of sexual partners was collected via computer-assisted self-interview. We calculated the proportion of partnerships where at least one individual reported same-sex partners in the previous 12months and the degree of assortativity by bisexuality. A total of 2112 male-female partnerships (i.e. 4224 individuals) were included, with a median age of 27 years (IQR 23-31). Overall, 89.3% (1885/2112) of male-female partnerships did not report any other same-sex partners; however, in 9.5% (201/2112) of partnerships, same-sex partners were reported by one individual and in 1.2% (26/2112) of partnerships, both individuals reported same-sex partners. Bisexuality appeared to be slightly assortative in male-female partnerships (r =0.163, 95% CI: 0.150-0.176; P <0.001). One in 10 individuals in male-female partnerships had at least one same-sex partner within the previous 12months. Individuals were minorly selective by bisexuality, suggesting the patterns of bisexual mixing in male-female partners are more variable and this may have a significant impact on STI transmission in heterosexual populations.

Pull Factors Motivating Lesbians to become Involved in Same-sex Activity

Pull Factors Motivating Lesbians to become Involved in Same-sex Activity

Forbidden Visibility: Queer Activism, Shari‘a Sphere and Politics of Sexuality in Aceh

This article aims to explain why organized queer activism emerged in Aceh, but could endure only in about six years (from 2008 to 2014). It is argued that this has mainly caused by massive expansion of ‘shari‘a spheres’ since 2001 supported by national and local government and parliament legal-political back up and societal religio-cultural forces on the one hand, and weak nature of the queer movements as counterpublics, characterized with the inadequate resources mobilization, especially in leadership and in getting support from its social movement communities during the crises on the other hand. Shari‘a, which is heteronormative, have been used as discursive and embodied disciplinary power of sexuality for normalizing and excluding the queer (including lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender/LGBT). Their organized visibility triggered the issuance of the Qanun Jinayah in 2014, which includes punishment for same-sex activities. It caused them to dissolve their own queer organizations.

Studying physical and mental health status among hijra, kothi and transgender community in Kolkata, India.

Individuals with diverse sexual orientation and gender identities have historically experienced the major share of stigma, discrimination, and marginalization among all the LGTBIQ+communities in India. Transgender, intersex, or queer individuals are deprived of their basic rights, self-dignity, bodily autonomy, and healthcare leading to significant negative health status. Recent legal reforms such as the decriminalization of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (prohibited same-sex activity) and amendments to the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill may improve their health. In this context, the study has the following objectives: 1) to measure the physical and the mental health status of hijra, kothi, and transgender (HKT) individuals using the Short Form 12 (SF-12) questionnaire; 2) understand the variation in their health status by social determinants; and 3) identify spatial patterns of HKTs general, physical, and mental health. Data was collected using a Bengali version of SF-12 (N=98). We calculated physical (PCS) and mental (MCS) health composite scores and conducted relevant statistical and spatial analysis. Findings revealed that HKT individuals had poor mental health (mean MCS=42.3) compared to their physical health (mean PCS=49.0). ANOVA tests showed statistically significant variation of PCS and MCS among HKTs by their age and income. Participants with both poor and good health conditions were evenly distributed in the study area, with no significant spatial clustering. This study was the first attempt to assess the health-related quality of life among the HKT individuals using SF-12, not previously adapted to gender-diverse communities in India. Results clearly indicate that there is a pressing need to address both physical and mental health among gender-diverse communities by not only improving awareness of their healthcare rights but by also removing social and structural barriers to health programs, increasing targeted health interventions, grassroot level activism, and government advocacy.

The Regulation of “Sodomy” in the Latin East and West

The Regulation of “Sodomy” in the Latin East and West

LGBT Rights and the Constitutional Court: Protecting Rights without Recognizing them?

This chapter explains how the Indonesian Constitutional Court (Mahkamah Konstitusi or MK) protects the rights of the LGBT through the decision number 46/PUU-XVI/2016 (hereinafter the LGBT case), that was decided at the end of 2017. In a 5-4 decision, the Constitutional Court rejected a petition by some conservative Muslim organizations under the banner of Love Family Alliance (Aliansi Cinta Keluarga or AILA), which asked the Constitutional Court to interpret several provisions of the Indonesian Criminal Code including the article 292 that punished adults who committed obscene acts against children, so the article can also criminalize adults that doing the same-sex activities. In this case the Constitutional Court did not make a bold interpretation that stated if the attempt to criminalize LGBT as unconstitutional, they only stating that the legislature rather than the Constitutional Court was the proper institution to expand the scope of criminal law, so the claimant aspiration should be channeled to the drafting process of the new criminal code which at that time is taken by the government and the legislature. However, the absence of such a bold interpretation did not make this decision fail to protect the rights of the LGBT, in fact, throughout a decision that can be categorized as a weak-form review, the Court successfully protect the rights of the LGBT. This happens because there is a recent development in the drafting process of the new criminal code, one of them is an agreement between the government and the legislature to not incorporate the provisions that criminalize LGBT. Since the political institutions in Indonesia do not have a traditions that respect the independence of the Court, combined with a condition when almost 90% of the people in Indonesia still seeing LGBT as a threat to their life, this decision was clearly successful, because, in addition to being able to protect the LGBT community, it also able to maintain the legitimacy of the Constitutional Court in the eyes of the Indonesian public.

Structural violence on the margins of society: LGBT student access to health services

abstract This focus piece examines the findings of a qualitative study on the utilisation of health services among lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students in Durban. In-depth interviews with 12 LGBT-identifying students from the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) shed light on the factors influencing uptake of health services within and outside the university. The interviews show that factors inhibiting use outweighed the factors promoting use of health services among this group. LGBT students are often victims of structural violence, and they find themselves marginalised within the health system. Participants perceived health providers to be morally judgmental and lacking cultural sensitivity to meaningfully engage with same-sex activities and sexual health needs. They also perceived the South African health system to be neglectful and discriminating towards sexual minorities, as their health concerns are mostly addressed and met by foreign-funded health organisations. Social exclusion and non-inclusivity were clearly expressed. Students experienced health services to be heteronormative, saying that sexual and reproductive health resources and information exhibited in most health facilities did not adequately address the health issues confronted by sexual minorities. The consequences of structural violence on mental health and general wellbeing of students manifest through denials of sexual and reproductive health needs and delays in health seeking behaviours in the public health system, putting LGBT students at substantial risk of contracting sexually transmitted infections, and causing them to suffer physical and psychological harm. The findings point to the importance of making health services more inclusive of sexual minorities.

Intersections between Queer, Irish, and Caribbean Migrants to London in Neil Jordan’s “Last Rites”

Intersections between Queer, Irish, and Caribbean Migrants to London in Neil Jordan’s “Last Rites” Paul McElhinny (bio) Nos barques sont ouvertes, pour tous nous les naviguons. — from poétique de la relation by édouard glissant (21) The first story of Neil Jordan’s 1976 Night in Tunisia, “Last Rites,” begins with the image of a feeble man “lying on the floor with open wrists” (8). Initially, the short story appears to project an overtly deterministic negativity often found in popular renderings of queer life. Yet, as one’s reading progresses, taking on the full breadth of experience and emotion explored by Jordan, one comes to realize that different forces are at work. In just ten pages, he immerses the reader in the particularities of an unassuming Irish immigrant in London: his depression, elation, and unavoidable relation to those peopling his existence, both past and present. Therefore, despite the short story’s negative ending (suicide), this paper seeks to foreground the persistence of the intersectional possibilities that it suggests. Máirtín Mac an Ghaill observes that the liminal space occupied by the Irish queer in London leads to a situation where “ethnicity, sexuality and class” function as “crucial points of intersection” and allow for “different forms of power, desire and identity formation” (130). Neil Jordan himself worked as a navvy in London in the midseventies, and while he is not gay, his time in the city likely allowed him to conceptualize issues of race, sexuality, and Irishness in new ways.1 One sees this in how “Last Rites” features a queer Irish protagonist who masturbates “in a homoerotically charged scene” next to Trinidadian immigrant in a neighboring shower [End Page 76] cubicle (Madden 178).2 The text reflects how queer Irish migrants often find themselves at the crossroads of London’s racial, ethnic, and sexual make-up (Mac an Ghaill 130). On the one hand they are racialized and subjugated by their English counterparts; however, due to their skin color, they still enjoy a degree of privilege vis-à-vis Black migrants from Africa or the Caribbean (122). For gay Irishmen, this is compounded by the fact that they would not immediately be thought of as homosexual unless they were publicly engaging in some form of same-sex activity (133). This shows how the Irish queer straddles various interlocking “minority/majority” boundaries relating to race and sexuality within the city (133). In light of such observations, I argue that Jordan’s short story highlights the queer Irish migrant’s travails in navigating global-capitalistic society, as he tries to reconcile his tacit identity vis-à-vis ever-present constructions of race and class. To demonstrate this, I propose to read its main elements and characters— a frail Irishman in a state of arrested development, his eroticized and racialized Caribbean counterpart, their proximity and distance in adjacent shower cubicles, and the green bridge by which they came— at the intersection of three theorists: Kathryn Bond Stockton, Anne-Marie Fortier, and Édouard Glissant. Together, they allow for a synthesis of queer and postcolonial theorizations striving to clarify the place of marginalized others within a supposedly “enlightened” world that has yet to bring forth the progress promised to those on its peripheries. The nameless shower-goer’s trajectory brings together those of the migrant worker and the queer subject, resonating with Stockton’s notion of “growing sideways,” Fortier’s “Queer Diaspora,” and Glissant’s conceptualization of Relation.3 A reading of “Last Rites” engaging with its negative and relational qualities takes on new relevance in light of recent debates in the field of Queer Theory between Lee Edelman and José Esteban Muñoz surrounding futurism. On the one hand, Edelman’s No Future: Queer Theory and the Death Drive offers a critique; in his view, LGBTQ movements invest themselves too heavily in a politics of incremental change in hope that future generations might come to enjoy greater acceptance in heteronormative society.4 He identifies this as a futurist politics derived from a liberal narrative of progress that has consistently excluded— and created new [End Page 77] categorizations to subjugate— queer life.5 Therefore, Edelman asserts that, rather than employ those same liberal discourses to...

The Strange Career of Gross Indecency: Race, Sex, and Law in Colonial Singapore

In 1938, the British enacted Section 377A of the Straits Settlements Penal Code, criminalizing male same-sex acts in Singapore. Although the law was neither the first nor only attempt to regulate same-sex activity, it represented a stark intensification in sexual policing. Yet, the reasons for the introduction of Section 377A remain elusive. New sources, including recently declassified documents, reveal that Section 377A intersected with the colonial state's wider project of social control. In the early 1930s, intensified policing of female prostitution inadvertently magnified the visibility of male prostitution in Singapore, just as homosexuality was emerging as a distinct conceptual category. Meanwhile, scandals about sexual liaisons between European officials and Asians men threatened British legitimacy. This “discovery” of homosexuality led the British to introduce Section 377A. As British troops arrived in Singapore in the late 1930s in response to Japanese expansionism in the Far East, concerns about blackmail, military discipline, and the colonial color line governed the enforcement of Section 377A. Between 1938 and 1941, the British disproportionately used Section 377A to punish Asian male prostitutes whom they thought had seduced European men. Secondarily, the British used the provision to deter European soldiers, sailors, and non-officials from exposing themselves to extortion. Seen in this light, Section 377A served as a response to changing configurations of race, class, and sexuality in colonial Singapore.

A COMPARISON: TRANSLATED HOMOSEXUAL-THEMED NOVELS IN ESTADO NOVO PORTUGAL AND STATE-SOCIALIST HUNGARY

The present article aims to contribute to homosexual history by mapping queer literary translations in Estado Novo Portugal and Socialist Hungary. In view of the legal and censorial dissimilarities in the two countries with regard to same-sex activity, homosexual-themed literature translated from English has been examined in order to detect any possible divergence or convergence in this respect. The analysis also relied on book censorship files stored at the National Archives of the Torre do Tombo as well as the new findings of the Hungarian project English-Language Literature and Censorship, 1945—1989.

Unpublished Post-War Writing and Emergent Gay Cultures

The 1950s and ’60s were pivotal decades in the emergence of modern gay life. New Zealand’s cities expanded rapidly after the end of the war, and the size of homosexual networks grew quickly. There were profound contradictions too. While many men partied, others were imprisoned for same-sex activity. A homemade queer literature accompanied these changes, and four examples illustrate the tensions of the time. The first, an essay called “De Profundis for Today,” was the work of Dunedin businessman Ernie Webber, who wrote it in Mt Eden Prison in 1957. The second piece, an early 1960s novel titled “The Rock Orchid,” is by Bert Pimley, a fellow inmate of Webber at Mt Eden. The third and fourth pieces, short essays by Auckland man Don Goodsell, are very different in their context and tone. The evocatively titled “Did You Ever See a Dream Limping?” and “The Night is Young and We’re So Beautiful” tell not of imprisonment but of the social opportunities of New Zealand’s cities during the 1960s

Straight Identity and Same-Sex Desire: Conservatism, Homophobia, and Straight Culture

This paper uses the 2013–2015 NSFG, a representative US-based dataset of individuals 15–44, to explore predictors of straight identification among all women and men and among subsets with substantial same-sex activity and/or attraction. After controlling for attractions and sexual practices, homophobia predicted straight identification in all groups. Among both groups of women, one femininity attitude and motherhood also predicted straight identification. One attitude reflecting alignment with normative masculinity significantly predicted straight identification among men with substantial same-sex activity and/or attraction. This paper also uses two waves of Add Health, a representative survey of young adults, to examine change to sexual identity over six years. Results show that among individuals who changed sexual identities between waves, heightened religiosity and political conservatism across waves were associated with increased odds of changing to a straight identity for women, but not for men. This suggests but does not prove a directional association between attitudes and identification for some individuals. Latent class analyses also found distinct groups of straight-identified men and women with substantial same-sex activity and/or attraction, indicating that it is a heterogeneous population in terms of attitudes, including homophobia. This suggests that straight identification is due partly to embeddedness in straight culture and enjoyment of straight privilege, not simply homophobia. While impossible to determine causality, the results show that straight identification is strongly related to non-sexual social factors, including religiosity and attitudes about sexuality and gender, in addition to attractions and sexual practices. The results also suggest that homophobia is related to identity formation for women, as well as men, but that there is substantial within-group variation.

Reaching key adolescent populations.

Adolescents and young people who fit within key populations face some of the greatest barriers to HIV care, but are frequently overlooked. We review the recent literature on these young, vulnerable populations including HIV risk factors, barriers to care, and strategies for engagement. Common risk factors include age, risky sexual practices, poor education, and high levels of alcohol and drug abuse. Barriers to care include limited data, criminalization, and high levels of stigma. Strategies to increase engagement include incorporating adolescents into biological and behavioral surveys and the use of social media. Digital innovations for HIV prevention and testing show promise, and pre-exposure prophylaxis may be acceptable. At a policy level, decriminalizing same-sex activity and commercial sex work are priorities. Differentiated models of care including HIV self-testing, after-hour services, community-based delivery, and multimonth dispensing of antiretroviral therapy, should be combined into holistic care. There has been limited success in reaching these key adolescent populations largely because of criminalization and stigma. Accurate, generalizable data are needed to inform the development of innovative strategies for holistic care.