“I Can Be Gay, but I shouldn’t Be a Slut”: A Qualitative Exploration of Latino and South-East Asian Men’s Decision to Disclose Their Open Relationship

Research on sexuality and gender diverse people has focused largely on experiences of people from a single minority group. According to the minority stress theory, people who belong to multiple minority groups may experience accumulated stress from multiple microaggressions and systemic discrimination, which may lead to different experiences of key milestones, such as "coming out." These experiences may be intensified for those who also have non-normative relationship structures, such as open relationships. This qualitative study explored how a sample of five Latino and South-east Asian gay men living in Australia navigated the disclosure of their open relationships. Using thematic analysis of verbatim transcripts, four superordinate themes were identified: concern with others' judgment, self-stigma, open relationship concealment, and social support. Open relationships were revealed to limited audiences, while intimate support for a decision believed outside normative and socially acceptable boundaries was still sought. Disclosure decisions were associated with distal stressors (others' judgments) and proximal stressors (self-stigma), influenced by religious and cultural considerations and the dominance of mononormativity in shaping relational expectations. Findings support the continued utility of minority stress theory and may raise awareness about alternative relationship structures, challenge misconceptions related to them and encourage cultural literacy and cultural competence in clinical psychologists.