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Men who have sex with men (MSM) is a term used to classify men who have sex with men, regardless of whether they self-identify as gay, bisexual, or heterosexual. The term is intended to reference a particular category of people as a risk-group for HIV, and is considered a behavioural category. As this label can only be reliably applied where the sex of individuals is unambiguous, this term should be avoided for transsexuals, transgendered individuals and intersexuals, except in cases where it is clear that they engage in risk behaviors similar, or equivalent to the risk behaviors of unambiguous men having sex with unambiguous men. Since risk factors can and do vary between cultures, the application of this group should also be avoided in cases where this specific risk behavior is no longer a significant category for the contraction of HIV or other STDs. Image File history File links Gnome-globe. ... GAY can mean: Gay, a term referring to homosexual men or women The IATA code for Gaya Airport Category: ... In human sexuality, bisexuality describes a man or woman having a sexual orientation to persons of either or both sexes (a man or woman who sexually likes both sexes; people who are sexually and/or romantically attracted to both males and females). ... Heterosexuality is a sexual orientation characterized by esthetic attraction, romantic love or sexual desire exclusively for members of the opposite sex or gender, contrasted with homosexuality and distinguished from bisexuality and asexuality. ... A transsexual (sometimes transexual) person establishes a permanent identity with the opposite gender to their assigned (usually at birth) sex. ... Transgender (IPA: , from trans (Latin) and gender (English) ) is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies that diverge from the normative gender role (woman or man) commonly, but not always, assigned at birth, as well as the role traditionally held by society. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ...

MSM groups include:

• men who self-identify as homosexual, and are sexually active
• men who self-identify as bisexual, and are sexually active with men
• men who self-identify as heterosexual, but nonetheless have sex with other men, regardless of the percentage of their partners who are male
• transgendered, or transsexual individuals, who engage in behavior similar or equivalent to sex between men
• men who have sex with men, and whose cultural paradigm may not lead to defining oneself as heterosexual or homosexual as most modern/Western cultures tend to, so long as the risk-factors for this category continue to be significant

Since its coinage, the word homosexuality has acquired multiple meanings. ... Heterosexuality is a sexual orientation characterized by esthetic attraction, romantic love or sexual desire exclusively for members of the opposite sex or gender, contrasted with homosexuality and distinguished from bisexuality and asexuality. ... Transgender (IPA: , from trans (Latin) and gender (English) ) is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies that diverge from the normative gender role (woman or man) commonly, but not always, assigned at birth, as well as the role traditionally held by society. ... A transsexual (sometimes transexual) person establishes a permanent identity with the opposite gender to their assigned (usually at birth) sex. ...

MSM as behavioural category

Young and Meyer (2005) note that the term has been in use within the public health discourse since 1990 or earlier,^[1] but that the coining of the initialism by Glick et al. (1994) "signaled the crystallization of a new concept."^[2] They trace the emergence of this behavioural concept to two very distinct academic perspectives. First, it was pursued by epidemiologists seeking behavioural categories that would offer better analytical concepts for the study of disease risk than identity-based categories (such as "gay", "lesbian", or "straight", since a man who self-identifies as gay, or bisexual is not necessarily sexually active with men). Second, its usage could in part be explained by the criticism of sexual identity terms prevalent in the 'social construction' literature, which typically rejected the use of identity-based concepts across different cultural and historical contexts. Public health is concerned with threats to the overall health of a community based on population health analysis. ... Acronyms and initialisms are abbreviations formed from the initial letter or letters of words, such as NATO and XHTML, and are pronounced in a way that is distinct from the full pronunciation of what the letters stand for. ... Behavior (U.S.) or behaviour (U.K.) refers to the actions or reactions of an object or organism, usually in relation to the environment. ... Epidemiology (Greek epi = upon, among; demos = people, district; logos = word, discourse), defined literally, is the study of epidemics in humans. ... Sexual identity is the sex with which a person identifies, or is identified. ... A social construction, social construct or social concept is an institutionalized entity or artifact in a social system invented or constructed by participants in a particular culture or society that exists because people agree to behave as if it exists, or agree to follow certain conventional rules, or behave as...

MSM as a construct

As a risk category, MSM are not limited to small self-identified and visible sub-populations, such as gay men and male sex workers. ‘MSM’ and ‘homosexual’ refer to different social identities. ‘MSM’ refers to the sexual relationships between men, whether or not they identify with same-sex sexual desire. ‘Homosexuality’, however, refers to more than the sexual relationship and may extend to broader relationships with the same sex, i.e. lifestyle, sexuality, etc. A sex worker in Germany A sex worker is a person who earns money by providing sexual services. ...

In their assessment of the knowledge about the sexual networks and behaviours of men who have sex with men in Asia, Dowsett, Grierson and McNally observed that using MSM as a category does not always work. From the material they have reviewed there is not any clearly identifiable group of men who can be labelled MSM in any of the countries that they investigated.^[3]

"The literature reveals that there are no socially or self-defined groups of men that fit into an overarching category of MSM. What the review shows is that there are just men!! Fishermen, students, factory workers, military recruits, truck drivers, and men who sell sex, and so on: all these categories of men are to be found in the studies and programmes reviewed." Whore redirects here. ...

There was no similar traits in all of the MSM population studied other than them being males, and engaging in sex with other men.

Non-exhaustive list of MSM

• Sexually active gay males
• Men on the down-low
• Glory holers
• Sex workers (commercial or not)
• FTM transsexuals, who engage in sex with men
• Males who engage in sex with transgendered individuals, or transsexuals with behaviors similar or equivalent to other MSM
• Transgendered individuals, or transsexuals who engage in sex with men with behaviors similar or equivalent to other MSM

Down-low (DL) is an African-American slang phrase implying secret information, as in Whats the down-low? or Keep it on the down-low, meaning Do not make it known. Down-low, in part because of its slang meaning, is also the name of an American black subculture... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... A sex worker is anyone who earns their living by providing sexual services. ...

Non-exhaustive list of people who are not MSM

• Any woman, including post-operative MTF transsexuals, regardless of any other factors
• Men, including FTM transsexuals, who engage in sex exclusively with women, regardless of any other factors
• Any intersexual person, who does not engage in risk behaviors similar or equivalent to sex between MSM, regardless of self-identity, genital appearance, or social assignment.
• Any transgendered or transsexual individual, who does not engage in risk behaviors similar or equivalent to sex between MSM, regardless of self-identity, genital appearance, or social assignment.
• A man who is raped by another man
• A man who participates in a sexual act with another person; unknowing that their partner may otherwise satisfy some particular individual criteria typically asserted to be exclusive to males (for example: genetically, a woman with Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome; genitalia: a pre-op transsexual; gonads/hormones: transgendered individual)

Androgen insensitivity syndrome (AIS, or Androgen resistance syndrome) is a set of disorders of sexual differentiation that results from mutations of the gene encoding the androgen receptor. ...

MSM and HIV/AIDS

In many developed countries AIDS is more prevalent among MSM than among the general population.^[4] In the United States, MSM accounted for 49 percent of new HIV diagnoses reported in 2005.^[5] In some Western cities, more than one in ten gay men is infected with HIV.^{[citation needed]} One reason for higher prevalence is that engaging in receptive anal intercourse carries a higher risk than other forms of penetrative sex.^[6] Critics charge that political correctness has led to the association of MSM and HIV being downplayed.^[7],[8] 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

See also

• Gay-for-pay
• Terminology of homosexuality
• Women who have sex with women ("WSW")

Gay-for-pay is the slang term accorded to male (and sometimes, but less frequently, female) actors, pornographic stars or prostitutes who identify as heterosexual but perform homosexual acts professionally. ... The terminology of homosexuality has been a contentious issue since the emergence of homosexual social movements in the mid-19th century. ... Women who have sex with women (WSW) is a term used to identify women who have sex with other women, but may or may not self-identify as lesbian or homosexual. ...

References

1. ^ Young, R M & Meyer, I H (2005) The Trouble with "MSM" and "WSW": Erasure of the Sexual-Minority Person in Public Health Discourse American Journal of Public Health July 2005 Vol. 95 No. 7.
2. ^ Glick, M Muzyka, B C Salkin, L M Lurie, D (1994) Necrotizing ulcerative periodonitis: a marker for immune deterioration and a predictor for the diagnosis of AIDS Journal of Periodontology 1994 65 p. 393-397.
3. ^ A review of knowledge about the sexual networks and behaviours of men who have sex with men in Asia. Dowsett, Grierson and McNally.[1]>
4. ^ UNAIDS 2006 report on the global AIDS epidemic, Chapter 05, June 2006
5. ^ CDC HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report: HIV Infection and AIDS in the United States and Dependent Areas, 2005.
6. ^ Stuttaford, Thomas and Suzi Godson, "Blown out of proportion; Agony and ecstasy; Sex advice; Sex", Times (UK) (December 23, 2006), 22.
7. ^ James Chin, “The risks in hiding the HIV/AIDS truth”, Business Day (March 12, 2007), 9.
8. ^ "The people punish Mr Blair", Daily Mail (UK) (May 6, 2005), 14.

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS or Aids) is a collection of symptoms and infections resulting from the specific damage to the immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). ...

Resources

• UNESCO Guidelines on Language and Content in HIV and AIDS-Related Materials. [2]

• Assessment of sexual health needs of males who have sex with males in Laos and Thailand. Naz Foundation International [3]

• Sexual Identity Among Men Who Have Sex with Men in Shanghai. Sun Zhongxin, James Farrer, Kyung-hee Choi. China Perspectives n°64, March - April 2006, page n°2 [4]

• Playing Back the Nation: Waria, Indonesian Transvestites [5]

Shanghai (Chinese: ; pinyin:  ; Wu (Long-short): ZÃ¥nhae; Shanghainese (IPA): ), situated on the banks of the Yangtze River Delta in East China, is the largest city of the Peoples Republic of China and the ninth largest in the world. ...

External links

• J.L. King, Mr. "Down Low", author of On the Down Low: A Journey into the Lives of "Straight" Black Men Who Sleep with Men
• MSM and HIV research and needs assessments from AIDSPortal