Status passages: the experience of HIV-positive gay men

Data obtained in in-depth interviews with 25 HIV-positive gay men are used to expand upon the literature on status passages, specifically the processes involved in accommodating to HIV and the associated socially stigmatized identity. Experiences reported by respondents suggested that Persons living with HIV and AIDS (PHAs) may experience several status transitions as part of their HIV career, each with its own corresponding turning points and benchmarks. For the men interviewed, the processes involved in accommodating to HIV in many ways parallelled that of adapting to other stigmatized statuses, especially those related to chronic illness. Receiving an HIV-positive diagnosis can force an individual into an involuntary, irreversible and undesirable status passage. It can also lead to numerous role exits, besides that of HIV negative. Part of the status transitions experienced by the PHAs in this study involved accommodating to illness and alterations in identity. In an effort to reconstruct identity, most of the men interviewed tended to seek out similar others for information, support and affirmation. Efforts to become part of the PHA community were explained as an attempt to end personal isolation and fight the stigma associated with AIDS.