Gideon Livingstone P. Bendicion, Augil Marie Q. Robles, Moniq Muyargas, Timoteo Balensoy, Bea Izabeaux T. Mendoza, Kiara Angela A. Sarmiento, ML Demaisip Farinas, Aron Harold G. Pamoso, Angelique Pearl Virtue P. Villasanta, Just Lynn D. Panaligan, Joseph Eleut G. Violago, Ver Reyes, Jonathan Fontilla
We characterize the way human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) stigma hinders HIV conversations and testing. Using grounded theory principles, we analyzed in-depth interviews of the experiences of select Philippine key populations (groups with high HIV burden) and their families: 19 men who have sex with men (KPM), 16 transgender women (KPW), and 16 parents of KPM/W. Results show how KPM/W protect the state of being respected by others (management of social standing), a task they engage in by strategically modulating behavior in different life domains, including when considering HIV conversations and testing. Our results specify the management of social standing as an object being threatened by stigma and as a process making KPM/W behavior susceptible to the influence of HIV stigma, even for KPM/W who may not possess the mark of positive serostatus. This raises questions about the theorizing of stigma, which traditionally has focused on the susceptibility of marked but not unmarked individuals. © The Author(s) 2025. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).
King’s College London, London, United Kingdom; University of the Philippines Visayas, Philippines; Cebu Normal University, Philippines; University of San Carlos, Philippines; Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines; Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Marikina, Philippines; Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations, Australia
