Abstract
To examine the impact of migration and acculturation of Turkish men who have sex with men (MSM) to Germany, using data from the European MSM Internet Survey (EMIS-2010), on measures of acculturation including circumcision status, internalized homonegativity (IH), HIV/STI knowledge, sexual orientation, outness, HIV-testing, and sexual behaviors. We compared four groups of MSM: MSM born and residing in Germany who had completed the questionnaire in German (n = 38,915), MSM born and residing in Germany, with a father or mother born in Turkey (n = 97), MSM residing in Germany who were born in Turkey or whose parents were born in Turkey (n = 262), and MSM who were born and residing in Turkey and who completed the questionnaire in Turkish (n = 1,717). Data showed that there were significant dose–response curves between level of migration and several outcome variables. As exposure to Germany increased, MSM had lower IH, higher HIV/STI knowledge, increased outness, and were less likely to be circumcised. There were similar significant findings with regard to sexual HIV risk behavior (condomless anal intercourse with partners of unknown (or sero-discordant) HIV status). Data were consistent with acculturation over generations in immigrant groups in MSM migrating from Turkey to Germany. Integration includes both cultural aspects (circumcision) and integration into a more homopositive gay environment (IH, outness, increased HIV/STI knowledge), and sexual HIV risk behavior. Migration and associated acculturation may constitute a risk change for HIV/STI and mental health issues associated with IH and outness.
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Acknowledgements
The authors want to say thank you to the more than 200 websites who placed the EMIS banner, and particularly to those who have sent around individual messages to their users: PlanetRomeo, Manhunt, Qruiser, Qguys, and Gaydar. We also thank all NGOs who promoted our survey. Without this help, EMIS’s success would not have been possible. EMIS-2010 Associated Partners: DE: GIZ, Robert Koch Institute; ES: Centre de Estudis Epidemiològics sobre les ITS i SIDA de Catalunya (CEEISCat); IT: Regional Centre for Health Promotion Veneto; NL: University College Maastricht; UK: Sigma Research. EMIS-2010 Collaborating Partners relevant for this analysis: DE: Berlin Social Science Research Center (WZB), Deutsche AIDS-Hilfe; Federal Centre for Health Education (BZgA); TR: Turkish Public Health Association, KAOS-GL, Istanbul LGBTT, Siyah Pembe Ucgen Izmir; EU: ILGA-Europe, Aids Action Europe, European AIDS Treatment Group, PlanetRomeo, Manhunt & Manhunt Cares
Funding
EMIS-2010 was funded by a grant of the European Commission under the EU Health Programme 2008–2013. Further funding was received from CEEISCat (Centre d’Estudis Epidemiològics sobre les ITS/HIV/SIDA de Catalunya), Spain; Department of Health for England; Maastricht University (The Netherlands); Regione del Veneto (Italy); and Robert Koch Institute (Germany). Further funding for the participation of men in Germany was provided by Bundeszentrale für gesundheitliche Aufklärung (BZgA), Germany.
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AJS: coordinated the study and the EMIS-2010 network, performed the statistical analyses, and wrote the manuscript. MR: conceptualized the analysis and the Internalized Homonegativity scale and contributed to the manuscript. RCB: contributed to the manuscript and supervised the implementation of IH into the EMIS questionnaire.
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The study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the University of Portsmouth, UK (REC application number 08/09:21).
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Schmidt, A.J., Ross, M.W., Berg, R.C. et al. Impact of Migration and Acculturation on Turkish Men Who Have Sex with Men in Germany: Results from the 2010 European MSM Internet Survey. Arch Sex Behav 52, 283–290 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-022-02468-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-022-02468-4