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HIV Prevention Among Cisgender Men Who have Sex with Transgender Women

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Abstract

Cisgender men who have sex with transgender women face elevated risk for HIV, yet are understudied in prevention research. We conducted in-depth interviews with 19 men who have sex with transgender women in Baltimore, Maryland and Atlanta, Georgia to explore perspectives on HIV prevention. Participants used several strategies to reduce HIV risk: condoms, frequent HIV testing, communication about HIV status with partners, and limiting the types of sex acts performed. While condom use was inconsistent, it was preferred over pre-exposure prophylaxis, in part due to medical distrust. HIV self-testing was generally viewed unfavorably. Although most participants were referred to the study by their transgender women partners, they recommended reaching other men who have sex with transgender women in bars, nightclubs, online, and through social media. HIV prevention interventions should be inclusive of the needs and experiences of men who have sex with transgender women.

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Data Availability

Data used for analysis are in Table 2.

Code Availability

Qualitative codebook is available upon request.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Monica Stevens who inspired this research study and contributed to our thinking about the relationships between transgender women and men who have sex with transgender women. We appreciate Darius Scott who supported data coding and Bennet Gosiker who assured the accuracy of the transcripts.

Funding

The study was funded by the National Institutes of Mental Health (R25MH067127).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Social Medicine, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, 333 S. Columbia Street, CB #7240, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA

    Tonia Poteat

  2. Department of Health Behavior, Gillings School of Public Health, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Tonia Poteat & Mannat Malik

  3. Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Tonia Poteat, Erin Cooney, Mannat Malik, Arjee Restar & Jordan White

  4. Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Derek T. Dangerfield II

  5. Us Helping Us, People into Living, Inc., Washington DC, USA

    Derek T. Dangerfield II

  6. Bachelors of Social Work Department, Morgan State University, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Jordan White

Authors
  1. Tonia Poteat
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Contributions

TP conceived of and designed the study, collected data, contributed to analysis, and wrote the initial draft of the paper. EC collected data and contributed to analysis. MM contributed to analysis and editing. AR contributed to analysis and editing. DTD contributed to analysis and editing. JW collected data, contributed to analysis and editing.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tonia Poteat.

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Conflict of interest

TP, MM, and JW have received research funding support to their institution from ViiV Healthcare. AR and EC declare no conflicts of interest.

Ethical Approval

This study was approved by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Institutional Review Board.

Informed Consent

All participants provided verbal informed consent.

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Poteat, T., Cooney, E., Malik, M. et al. HIV Prevention Among Cisgender Men Who have Sex with Transgender Women. AIDS Behav 25, 2325–2335 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-021-03194-z

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