Asking and Telling: Communication About HIV Status Among Latino HIV-Positive Gay Men

Communication about HIV status—that is, asking about a sex partner's status as well as disclosing one's own status—was examined in a sample of 129 Latino HIV-positive gay men interviewed as part of a larger study conducted in New York, Miami, and Los Angeles. Asking and telling were strongly related to each other; however, participants were more likely to disclose their positive serostatus to sex partners than to solicit information about their partners' serostatus. Region of birth was associated with both asking and telling. Participants with bilingual friendship networks reported more communication with partners. Higher levels of social isolation were related to lower levels of communication, and perceived negative consequences—beliefs that disclosure would result in negative consequences or rejection—were related to less telling. Contrary to expectations, reported experiences of gay discrimination were positively associated with communication of serostatus.