Department of Anthropology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA.
Cult Health Sex. 2010 Nov;12(8):955-71. doi: 10.1080/13691058.2010.516370.
Men who have sex with men remain largely absent from the health statistics of many Eastern European countries. This relative dearth compared to other parts of the world may be attributed to the generally hidden nature of this population. The tendency to employ Western sexual identity labels, rather than locally meaningful categories of identity, may also make it difficult to identify men who have sex with other men. In a pilot study of HIV risk in Tbilisi (Georgia), we used a suite of qualitative techniques - focus groups, individual semi-structured interviews and pile-sort exercises - to probe the opinions, knowledge and experiences of 65 Georgian men. We identified locally meaningful men-who-have-sex-with-men types, demonstrating a complex intersectionality of sexual preference, socio-economic status, behaviour and geography. Positioning within these types appeared to impact a man's exposure to the social stigma of homosexuality; the sexual, physical and mental health risks that he faced; and his access to treatment and counselling. Our results suggest the use of imported identity categories limits researchers' ability to identify men who have sex with other men in Georgia and that further research aimed at elucidating locally meaningful categories is needed - research likely to lead to more-effective group interventions and facilitate a better understanding of holistic individual health needs.
男男性行为者在许多东欧国家的健康统计数据中仍然大量缺失。与世界其他地区相比，这种相对缺乏的情况可能归因于该人群的普遍隐蔽性。倾向于使用西方的性身份标签，而不是具有本地意义的身份类别，也可能使识别男男性行为者变得困难。在第比利斯（格鲁吉亚）的一项 HIV 风险试点研究中，我们使用了一系列定性技术——焦点小组、个人半结构化访谈和堆积分类练习——来探究 65 名格鲁吉亚男性的意见、知识和经验。我们确定了具有本地意义的男男性行为者类型，展示了性偏好、社会经济地位、行为和地理位置的复杂交集。在这些类型中的定位似乎影响了一个人对同性恋社会耻辱感的暴露程度；他面临的性、身体和心理健康风险；以及他获得治疗和咨询的机会。我们的研究结果表明，使用进口的身份类别限制了研究人员在格鲁吉亚识别男男性行为者的能力，需要进一步研究旨在阐明具有本地意义的类别——这项研究可能会导致更有效的群体干预，并促进对整体个人健康需求的更好理解。
