Black men who have sex with men living in states with HIV criminalization laws report high stigma, 23 U.S. cities, 2017

Objectives: To examine the association between HIV laws, perceived community stigma, and behaviors and to compare differences between and within Black and White men who have sex with men (MSM).

Design/methods: National HIV Behavioral Surveillance conducted interviews and HIV testing with MSM in 23 U.S. cities in 2017 using venue-based sampling methods. We used weighted cross-sectional data to compare MSM living in states with versus without HIV laws using Rao-Scott chi-square tests. We modeled the association between stigma and state HIV laws within racial groups to obtain adjusted prevalence ratios (aPR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).

Results: Among 7392 MSM, 56% lived in a state with HIV laws. In law states, Black MSM were more likely than White MSM to report their community would discriminate against persons with HIV (PWH) (59 versus 34%), not support the rights of PWH (20 versus 9%), not be friends with PWH (19 versus 10%), believe PWH 'got what they deserved' (27 versus 16%), and be intolerant of MSM (14 versus 5%). Adjusted for confounders, Black MSM in HIV law states were more likely to think their community would discriminate against PWH (aPR, 1.14; 95% CI, 1.02-1.29; P = 0.02) and be intolerant toward MSM (aPR, 2.02; 95% CI, 1.43-2.86; P < 0.001) than Black MSM in states without such laws.

Conclusions: HIV laws were related to higher stigma, but only for Black MSM. Future research regarding HIV-related laws should account for racial/ethnic disparities. Modernizing laws can delegitimize stigma and promote focusing on effective HIV prevention strategies.