Introduction

In this chapter, the focus is on how the young men positioned themselves in their family and in their social environment during the time they started to discover that there was something different about them. After a brief discussion of discrimination, stigma, acceptance and tolerance of homosexuality in Thai society, a number of tactics for fitting in to Thai society and dealing with parental expectations are presented, and the ways such tactics are applied are discussed.

During the first interview, when the young men were still living at home, I wanted to know whether they were eager to move out of their homes in order to have a freer life in terms of living their sexuality. In particular, I tried to ask the young men whether they aspired to be part of a gay community after leaving home. This question is not without public health relevance, as I will also briefly discuss: There are important implications of these findings for HIV prevention intervention strategies in Thailand, most of which are ‘community based’.

Acceptance of Homosexuality in Thai Society

Most participants said that homosexuality is not accepted in Thai society. However, actual reports of acts of discrimination were virtually absent from the data that were collected. Only 3 of the 25 young men experienced something that could be called discrimination or enacted stigma. One of these men was Dee, a quiet Muslim man from the southern town of Pattalung. Dee's mother had remarried; his stepfather quite strongly objected to Dee's homosexuality. Dee said he had even considered committing suicide as a result:

Dee's family were Muslims; this may have contributed to his stepfather's negativity about Dee's sexuality.