MSMs who identify as heterosexual are not unique to any part of the world. In the U.S., they are sometimes referred to as being on the “down-low.” In Indonesia, self-identified heterosexual men may have sex with a waria, or transgender. Though sodomy is illegal in India, a man having sex with a hijrat, or enuch, is not. In the Philippines, a lalake is someone who identifies as heterosexual but has sex with men for pleasure, often because it is difficult to find a female partner.
The reasons why a man may identify as heterosexual while having sex with other men are as numerous as the places where they occur: cultural stigma of homosexuality, the criminalization of homosexuality, obligation or contractual sex, transactional sex, situational sexual encounters, livelihood, institutions (prisons), and so on. A recent article in the Times of India profiles a truck driver, who, because of the lack of female companionship during his long drives, had sex with his truck cleaner. The driver was married with two kids and neither considered himself homosexual nor did he know that having unprotected sex put him at risk for HIV.
The denial in many cultures that MSMs exist results in the pressure for men to have female partners, thus putting women at risk. During heterosexual sex, women are at greater risk of contracting HIV from men than men are from women. And in many cultures, women do not have the social capital to demand their partners use protection.
To be sure, men having sex with men is not the problem—unprotected sex with an HIV+ person combined with multiple partners is. Women partake in this set of risk factors just as men do. But the stigma associated with same sex relationships, coupled with lack of prevention resources, puts certain groups at higher risk than others. According to UNAIDS, sex between men accounts for roughly 5 to 10 percent of global HIV infections; however, in some countries, it is the main mode of transmission, while in others, it accounts for a small proportion.
PREVIOUS PAGE
