Society at large tends to marginalize homosexuality even though men who have sex with men have always existed within it. Despite the marginalisation of homasexual individuals and groups, there is a growing recognition of the need to protect their rights and freedom. This book is a significant contribution in the endeavour to understand this segment of society and its concerns. Employing a blend of qualitative and quantitative methods, Sherry Joseph analyses the extensive data collected through formal networks of such people in Kolkata, and places them in a socio-ecological perspective. He shows how the lives of men who have sex with men are very stressful in their efforts to fit into an environment that is predominantly hamophabic, heterosexist, heterocentrist, and where heterosexuality is the prescribed norm. The book argues that understanding the stress that men who sex with men experience and their coping strategies will assist sympathetic groups and professionals to work with this community. It maintains that helping professions like social work can help-through various interventions and by adopting individual, group and community approaches-this population and create a better and more tolerant environment for them. This empirically sound book-which provides an in-depth analysis of the sexual orientation, sexual identities, stress and coping strategies of men who have sex with men-will be of interest to those in the fields of social work, gay and lesbian studies, and public health, as well as NGOs and activists.
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