SEXUAL-BEHAVIOR, CONDOM USE, DISCLOSURE OF SEXUALITY, AND STABILITY OF SEXUAL ORIENTATION IN BISEXUAL MEN

Little is known regarding the social and sexual behavior of bisexual m en, a population of increasing importance given their risk for HIV tra nsmission. In this exploratory study, we described a sample of 105 sel f-identified bisexual men recruited through a newspaper ad and intervi ewed in person. Our objectives were to (a) describe their social chara cteristics and reported sexual behavior with males and females; (b) as sess rates of disclosure of sexuality to others, including female sexu al partners; (c) examine behavioral versus self-labeling definitions o f bisexuality, vis-a-vis involvement in the gay community, mental heal th, and HIV-risk behavior; and (d) test the stability of sexual orient ation during one year in a subsample of respondents. HIV-risk behavior was generally low. Most respondents had not disclosed their same-sex attraction to their social networks, including female sexual partners. Behaviorally bisexual men had higher psychological well-being and low er HIV risk than did men who self-identified as bisexual but did not m eet a behavioral criterion. Among respondents recontacted one year aft er the original interview, 40% had changed toward a more homosexual se lf-identity. We present these data for heuristic purposes in the hope that other researchers will pursue issues that are raised, and we caut ion against generalizing from this limited sample to larger population s.