Ethnography of Men Who Have Sex With Male-to-Female Transgender Individuals

艾滋病毒/艾滋病研究和干预的目标是高风险的男变女变性人（mtf），但他们的男性伴侣在很大程度上被忽视了。由于艾滋病毒感染率高，男性伴侣感染艾滋病毒的风险也很高。然而，msmtf在HIV/AIDS流行病学中所占的位置仍然未知。除了艾滋病毒风险之外，由于她们与已经被边缘化的中间贩运者有联系，她们还面临耻辱的负面心理健康影响，这反过来又给艾滋病毒预防工作造成了另一个障碍。对男性健康的研究中仍然没有涉及到msmtf，因此，没有公认的标签或语言来描述他们的身份和行为。

HIV/AIDS research and interventions have targeted high risk, male-to-female transgender individuals (MTFs), but their male partners have been largely overlooked. Because of the high rates of HIV infected MTFs, the male partners of MTFs (MSMTFs) are also at high risk of HIV infection. However, the location that MSMTFs occupy in the epidemiology of HIV/AIDS remains unknown. In addition to HIV risk, MSMTFs encounter the negative mental health effects of stigma resulting from their affiliation with MTFs--an already marginalized population--which in turn creates yet another barrier to HIV prevention efforts. MSMTFs remain absent from studies of men's health and, as a result, there are no recognized labels or language available to describe their identities and behavior. The overall goal of this study is to establish a foundation for ongoing research on MSMTFs that will foster their inclusion in HIV/AIDS and public health research agendas. This is an ethnographic study that will describe the behaviors of a sample of MSMTFs, describe the ways MSMTFs construct personal identities, and explore the social geography of HIV risk. This exploration of behaviors, identities and social spaces has the potential to capture the complexities of these types of practices, situate them in a wider cultural construction of masculinity, and inform public health strategies to prevent HIV infection and transmission at individual and institutional levels.