Under The Double Stigmas: HIV-positive Gay Males' Experiences Of HIV Infection Disclosure

Compared with other HIV-positive people,gay males feel more profound stress as they bear the double stigmas of HIV and gay.They fear to disclose their identity as they are more difficult to get support from the social network.In this research,I have conducted 14 in-depth interviews with HIV-positive gay males found by purposive sampling.In this process,I employed ground theory to analyze and interpreter the subjective experiences of HIV-positive gay males' disclosure.This research found that those people they disclose their identity to are those who they feel important,include: parents,friends,partners and those who they had sex with etc.The disclosure to their parents is the most difficult issue for my participants.They use various strategies to make it happen,for example,they will tell their parents step-by-step giving them more time in the process,or they will ask the staff in the hospital to tell them.They want to tell their parents their HIV status as they really want to get the acceptance and care from them,however,they often do not tell them their sexual orientation;or some time they came out to their parents,they do not accept the fact and still ask them to get married.They have a dilemma when they want to disclose their identity to their sexual partners,especially when they are HIV-negative.If the disclose to a guy who accepted it(a successful disclosure),this will encourage his willingness to tell others.In contrast,if a guy treated him badly after the disclosure(a disclosure failure),he will less willing to tell others.The disclosure is a significant strategy in gay men's stigma management.Therefore,the suggestion for social workers is that they should empower HIV-positive people via different level: personal,interpersonal,and social,encouraging them to build up their capability to live with HIV healthily.Finally,I suggest that social workers,especially those who deals with AIDS issues,should be more familiar with gay male culture,challenging the unequal social construction,and helping the gay community to reduce their stigmas.