HIV Risk Behaviors in the U.S. Transgender Population: Prevalence and Predictors in a Large Internet Sample

• Published in: Journal of homosexuality Vol. 61; no. 11; pp. 1558 - 1588
• Main Authors: Feldman, Jamie, Romine, Rebecca Swinburne, Bockting, Walter O.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Routledge 02.11.2014; Taylor & Francis LLC
• Subjects: Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome; Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Conformity; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Gender; Gender Identity; Health risk assessment; Health Surveys; HIV; HIV Infections - epidemiology; HIV Infections - psychology; HIV Infections - transmission; Homosexuality; Human immunodeficiency virus; Humans; Internet; Male; Males; Middle Aged; Population; Risk; Risk Factors; Sex; Sexual Behavior; Sexual orientation; Sexual Preferences; Sexuality; Socioeconomic Factors; Transgender persons; Transgender Persons - psychology; Transgender Persons - statistics & numerical data; Transsexuality; U.S.A; United States; unprotected sex; Unsafe Sex; Young Adult; United States; gender identity; HIV; United States; sexual orientation; Internet; transgender; unprotected sex
• ISSN: 0091-8369; 1540-3602
• DOI: 10.1080/00918369.2014.944048

To study the influence of gender on HIV risk, a sample of the U.S. transgender population (N = 1,229) was recruited via the Internet. HIV risk and prevalence were lower than reported in prior studies of localized, urban samples but higher than the overall U.S. population. Findings suggest that gender nonconformity alone does not itself result in markedly higher HIV risk. Sex with nontransgender men emerged as the strongest independent predictor of unsafe sex for both male-to-female (MtF) and female-to-male (FtM) participants. These sexual relationships constitute a process that may either affirm or problematize gender identity and sexual orientation, with different emphases for MtFs and FtMs, respectively.