“He’s Still with These Girls”: How Men Who Identify as Gay and Men Who Identify as Straight Negotiate Sexual Agreements and Implications for Women’s HIV Risk

Whitney E. Williams, Emory University
Rob Stephenson, Emory University

Concurrent partnerships and inconsistent condom use between men who have sex with men (MSM) and their male partners who also have sex with women (MSMW) may put women at increased HIV risk. Our longitudinal qualitative study examined how negotiated sexual agreements between MSM and MSMW may influence women’s HIV risk. Baseline in-depth interviews explored participants’ relationship histories with timelines. Participants tracked sexual experiences in web-based quantitative relationship diaries; data were extracted and discussed during debrief interviews. Verbatim transcripts were analyzed as life-stories and thematically coded. Results indicate that sexual agreements around exclusivity influence perceptions of HIV risk between MSM and MSMW partners. Participants described negotiated, exclusive triads that included the participant, a woman, and their mutual MSMW partner; however, the women were not consulted in negotiations. HIV research has focused on either MSM or heterosexuals and failed to examine the bridges between the epidemics. Our research explores this important gap.