COMPARING GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN ON SEXUAL-BEHAVIOR, CONDOM USE, AND PSYCHOSOCIAL VARIABLES RELATED TO HIV AIDS/

Interviews were conducted with 750 men, recruited from a variety of so urces in Chicago, who reported sex with men in the past 3 years. Behav ioral criteria were used to establish groups of gay and bisexual men. We predicted that gay men, compared to bisexual men, would report more male sexual partners, more experience with receptive sex, and more to lerant attitudes toward homosexuality. The only reliable difference be tween the gay and bisexual men with respect to number of partners was that gay men were more likely to have had a steady male partner or lov er. Gay men were more likely than bisexual men to have engaged in rece ptive sex, including unprotected receptive anal sex. Bisexual men were more self-homophobic and saw other people as less accepting of same-s ex activity. There were no differences between gay and bisexual men in other psychosocial variables. Interventions designed to reduce the tr ansmission of HIV/AIDS need to consider differences in gay and bisexua l men's sexual behavior and attitudes toward homosexual behavior.