Introduction HIV-positive gay men continue to experience stigma related to sexual orientation and HIV status. Although resilience toward such stressors can be achieved, limited Australian research exists that examines how resilience is strengthened toward these dual stigmas. Methods A total of 20 men from Melbourne, Australia, participated in semi-structured interviews between March and October 2019 to explore ways in which they manage such stigmas. Results Reflexive thematic analysis identified two primary themes: (1) “intrapersonal control,” which relates to individual mind set and lifestyle changes that participants utilized to strengthen resilience; (2) “systemic change,” which includes participants’ needs for better public health messaging. Findings show resilience was enhanced when proactive approaches to sexual orientation, HIV health appraisal, lifestyle changes, and social support were made. Further, outdated HIV awareness campaigns and a lack of current messaging regarding HIV transmission in the wider community were identified as inhibiting resilience development and promoting stigma among gay men. Conclusion The results from this study show ways that Australian gay men strengthen their resilience through both intrapersonal (e.g., self-awareness, reappraisal, and self-efficacy) and external resources (e.g., education and public awareness) and how health care providers and social policy makers could better support the men to achieve this. Social-Policy Implications Findings suggest that targeted public health responses are required to compliment the advances made in biomedicine and viral suppression.

Aim: Since the early 1980s, sexual risk behaviors have become a severe public health concern in preventing the prevalence of HIV infection, especially among minority young adults. In the United States, minority young adults have higher than expected HIV infection than other racial groups. The spread of HIV infection among this vulnerable population has created a need to identify risk and protective factors, disease, and evidence-based prevention strategies to reduce disease transmission. The Comprehensive, Integrated HIV Prevention Program (CIHPP), is based on a derivative of the ecological epistemology framework that views risk factors as a multilevel concentric, including the individual, family, community, and societal levels. The framework asserts that any meaningful prevention strategy should examine these different levels and the effects on the population of interest. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of CIHPP in increasing sexual risk practice and reducing risky sexual behavior among minority young adults.