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Risk Behaviors and Psychosocial Stressors in the New York City House Ball Community: A Comparison of Men and Transgender Women Who Have Sex with Men

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Abstract

The New York City House Ball community consists of social networks of racial/ethnic minority gay, lesbian or bisexual men and women, and transgender persons. HIV seroprevalence and interview data were obtained from a sample of community members to identify statistical differences in HIV prevalence, risk behavior, and psychosocial stressors between men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender women. Of 301 MSM and 60 transgender women, 20% were HIV-infected and 73% were unaware of their infection, but rates did not differ by gender. Risk behavior and stressors were common in both groups, but transgender women were more likely to report exchange sex, stigmatization, and stressful life events. High rates of risk behavior and HIV in this special community warrant relevant HIV testing and prevention services. Transgender women in the community may be at even greater risk for HIV infection due to behaviors compounded by substantial psychosocial stressors.

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Acknowledgments

The community-based participatory research processes used in this project included members of the House Ball community working collaboratively with investigators and administrators from the following organizations: New York State AIDS Institute, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, Gay Men’s Health Crisis, People of Color in Crisis, and Gay Men of African Descent. This collaborative research was fostered primarily through a companion project, the Technology Exchange and Capacity-Building of Community Health (TEACH) initiative. The TEACH initiative was comprised of 9 partner organizations: AIDS Center of Queens County, Callen-Lorde Community Health Center, Gay Men of African Descent, Gay Men’s Health Crisis, Harlem United, Hetrick Martin Institute, Hispanic AIDS Forum, Minority Task Force on AIDS, and People of Color in Crisis. Individual participants of the TEACH initiative included the organizations’ executive directors, prevention program mangers and 31 community-based interns. A majority of the TEACH interns worked as field staff for the study and were core members of, or socially connected to, the NYC House Ball community.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE, M/S E-46, Atlanta, GA, 30333, USA

    Travis Sanchez & Teresa Finlayson

  2. New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, HIV Epidemiology Program, New York, NY, USA

    Christopher Murrill

  3. Gay Men’s Health Crisis, New York, NY, USA

    Vincent Guilin

  4. Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    Laura Dean

Authors
  1. Travis Sanchez
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  2. Teresa Finlayson
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  3. Christopher Murrill
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  4. Vincent Guilin
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  5. Laura Dean
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Travis Sanchez.

Additional information

The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The House Ball Survey was carried out using funds from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U62/CCU2606208-11-2). Training for study staff in community-based participatory research methods was provided by the TEACH initiative which was funded by the New York State AIDS Institute (contract # 5U62PS223471).

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Sanchez, T., Finlayson, T., Murrill, C. et al. Risk Behaviors and Psychosocial Stressors in the New York City House Ball Community: A Comparison of Men and Transgender Women Who Have Sex with Men. AIDS Behav 14, 351–358 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-009-9610-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-009-9610-6

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