Bisexual and homosexual behavior and HIV risk among Chinese‐, Filipino‐, and Korean‐American men

Seventy bisexually or homosexually active men primarily of Chinese‐, Filipino‐, and Korean‐American backgrounds participated in extensive interviews focusing on acculturation and sexuality. Impressionistic data showed higher involvement in gay culture than Asian culture, a shift away from the complexity of bisexual lifestyles, and two patterns of exogenous selection of male partners. The findings suggest that Asian‐American men who had sex with men were more likely than comparison groups to comply with safer sex; acculturation to Asian society enhanced this compliance, but identification with Western Protestantism, or traditional Latin homosexual roles, was related to higher risk behavior. The reported behavior of the men who had sex with both men and women did not substantiate fears that bisexuals were a conduit for transmitting the virus from the gay to the heterosexual community. Impressionistic data suggested that a combination of inaccurate information about HIV transmission, unfounded trust of partners, poor assertiveness skills, and guilt may result in sexual risk taking. Suggestions for prevention included providing explicit information in ethnic and mainstream media, emphasizing risks of heterosexual transmission, providing electronic interactive learning situations that allow privacy rather than face‐to‐face interaction, and organizing support groups that affirm the men's dual identity as Asian‐American and gay or bisexual.