But even though the idea of MSM may serve a useful research purpose, aggregating all these men based on one behavior may have its downfalls. MSMs are not a homogenous group and thus do not have the same set of risk factors. Men with female partners have very different characteristics than self-identifying gay men. Gary Dowsett, a researcher at Latrobe University, speaking at the 2006 International AIDS Conference, criticized the MSM label and our culturally constructed ideas of sexual identity. Dowsett contends that the clustering of MSM tends to aggregate diverse same-sex desires, and by doing this we lose the richness in cultural patents that can teach us a lot about prevention.
Globally, it is estimated that less than one in twenty MSMs have access to the HIV prevention they need. Regardless of how people are categorized for research or identification purposes, one thing is clear: to prevent new HIV infections, culturally appropriate prevention resources must be made available. Only when the stigma, discrimination, criminalization, and denial of same-sex relationships ends can this truly happen.
PREVIOUS PAGE
