Tara A. McKay

In the last decade, acknowledging and reducing same-sex sexual transmission of HIV has been increasingly prioritized in global health policy debates. This study presents a cross-national examination of the social mechanisms by which global AIDS policy prescriptions concerning same-sex sexual transmission have been integrated into national policies or, alternatively, become sites of tension between states. Quantitative analyses of UN General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS Country Progress Reports highlight the roles of hierarchies and ties among states in the adoption of same-sex sexual transmission as a national AIDS programming priority. Additional qualitative analyses of ethnographic and archival data from Malawi, an African country where same-sex sex remains highly contested, provide a closer examination the social underpinnings of adoption and resistance of global AIDS programming priorities concerning same-sex sexual transmission of HIV.