Getting Involved: Exploring Latino GBT Volunteerism and Activism in AIDS and LGBT Organizations

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the community involvement (e.g., volunteerism, activism) of Latino gay and bisexual men and transgender persons (GBT) in two areas: AIDS/GLBT and other general causes. Drawing from volunteering and identity theories, we explore: Who is likely to get involved? What factors affect variation in the levels of involvement? Where do Latino GBT participate and what do they do? Data come from a cross-sectional sample (N=643) of Latino GBT in Chicago and San Francisco. We find high levels of involvement, but primarily focused on AIDS/GLBT. Involvement appears to be driven by income, early involvement, role modeling, and childhood stigmatization of gender nonconformity...

...Forty percent of the total sample have ever been involved specifically in HIV/AIDS areas (See Table 1), while 30% have been involved in GLBT issues, and 23% (n= 146 of 643) have been involved in both causes. Yet, as noted earlier, in actuality, it is difficult to distinguish between the two, as many GLBT organizations in both cities undertake HIV/AIDS activities and vice versa. Hence, we grouped these two categories together (n= 309; 48% of the sample) for the purpose of analyzing the correlates of community involvement. This leaves 29% (n= 188) of the total sample as the group (exclusively) involved in areas other than AIDS/GLBT causes.

Seventy percent (n= 216; 34% of the overall sample) of those who have participated in AIDS or GLBT organizations were involved in the previous 12 months. The Gay Pride Parade is the most popular organization in which Latino GBT get involved in both cities (46% in Chicago and 31% in San Francisco). However, in Chicago, involvement generally takes place in AIDS-related organizations (e.g., CALOR, which serves HIV-positive Latinos) and the AIDS Walk. In San Francisco, there is greater involvement in gay organizations (e.g., AGUILAS-El Ambiente, Hermanos de Luna y Sol). Notably, almost all the reported organizations, except for Gay Pride Parade and the AIDS Walk, are run by, and devoted to, Latinos, according to the authors’ observations....

Full article at: http://goo.gl/aSI7dq

By: Jesus Ramirez-Valles, Lisa M. Kuhns, Raquel Vázquez, and Gregory D. Benjamin

University of Illinois at Chicago;

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