ABSTRACT
Men who have sex with men (MSM), and especially MSM of color, are disproportionately affected by HIV. Previous research shows that MSM have high levels of racial/ethnic homophily (the tendency for people to have sex with others who share the same racial/ethnic identification) in sexual dyads, which may help explain HIV disparities. This study fills a gap in previous research by grounding network data from a cohort study of young MSM in Chicago (RADAR) in the contexts of virtual spaces (VSs) and examining differences in levels of racial/ethnic homophily using multilevel-logistic-regression models. Results show that Grindr differs from other VSs in proportions of racially/ethnically homophilous dyads and by partner racial/ethnic identification. After controlling for general homophily trends, sex partnerships formed on Grindr by Black MSM were significantly less likely to be homophilous than those of White MSM. While racial/ethnic groups differ in likelihood to form homophilous partnerships, this trend varies by VS.
