Table III.

Semi-structured Interview Quotes on Perceived Intervention Acceptability

Theme	Quote
Positive Attitudes about Intervention (Overall, and Related to Content and Structure)	“Because they make you see things, and suddenly, you get to notice, and you realize all the times you have been discriminated before and one may think they have never been discriminated but truth is you have. And then sometimes you think you have not been discriminated against, but deep down is being discriminated against.” (50-year old gay Latinx man; undocumented) “I still practice it today even after the sessions. I’ll write down what it was that happened, what was I doing, and how I responded, and who was I with. For instance, not too long ago, I was attacked by a homeless man. He spat on me and insulted me. [Before I participated,] I would have fallen into his provocations, but I did not. I did not get physical with him because, if I did, I would end up in prison. I was looking out for my best interests, so I just walked away… But I walked away being free.” (60 year-old gay Latinx man; U.S. citizen) “All the topics/talks were centered around discrimination. But for me, in each session, I learned something new every day, week after week. Each week, there was something new that was taught, and it was important for me … It was a beautiful experience, you get to know more, and then you realize that you are not the only one… and you learn from other people’s discrimination experiences. But you may go through similar situations in the future, then you know how to deal with the situations.” (48 year-old gay Latinx man; permanent resident)
Positive Attitudes about Facilitators	“[They] are great facilitators. They are very comprehensive, very good at explaining. I have a really good impression of both of them.” (70 year-old gay Latinx man; U.S. citizen) “In my opinion, I think they are great people. I think they are very capable and qualified to speak on the topics that were discussed. They have experience, and so they can help you more… The best thing they knew how to do is to direct the group, how to establish trust with everyone, and then how to interact with all of us in the group.” (33 year-old gay Latinx man; expired visa) “They led the group very well—a group of 8 people, 8 different perspectives. Even though we shared [some identities], we, all of us, had different thoughts … Yes, they were able to manage all that and they treated us well. They answered the questions well. They knew to make the workshops, the seminar, very pleasant.” (52 year-old gay Latinx man; U.S. citizen)
Suggestions for Improvement	Longer Sessions: “[I suggest] for the time of the sessions to be longer. Because there is much more to talk about but time does not allow it, because there is not sufficient time.” (55 year-old gay Latinx man; temporary visa) More Sessions: “For me, everything went very well! I would like there to be more sessions, and more groups. For me, that would be best, because it is such a beautiful communication. [I would want] to know more about our medications, to know so much more about HIV.” (52 year-old gay Latinx man; permanent resident) Additional Content: “[I would have liked the groups to focus] more on immigration. There are some of my fellow participants who do not have proper documents—they are immigrants—and immigration services would help.” (53 year-old gay Latinx man; suspended deportation)
Concerns	Diversity of Latinx Experiences: “I went only once and decided that I didn’t feel comfortable with the conversation they had… because one [other participant who] was White, they were ‘more worthy,’ and talked about, as a child, attending a private Catholic school in Mexico. He said that he got in trouble and that the nun said, ‘You should be thankful that you are White because if you were Brown I would have given you a worse punishment! ‘ And, as I consider myself Brown, I said, for me, where do I stand in this? … but I felt bad that day, and I didn’t feel like coming back. And then you [and other staff] called me to see if I wanted to come back. I felt the urge but not the courage to come back, as I imagined that the discussion could be the same as the last week’s.” (55 year-old bisexual Latinx man; permanent resident) Material Too Intense: “It brought me bad memories, or it made me re-live past moments in my life. Childhood memories, that I thought I had forgotten about—and referencing now to my current life—made me feel really uncomfortable. I had to talk to my therapist, because it was too much for me to take, what had happened to me [in childhood].” (58 year-old bisexual Latinx man; permanent resident) Other group members’ Disrespectful or Inconsistent Participation, or Failure to Maintain Confidentiality: “I was not willing to attend the presentations anymore because I felt uncomfortable. Of the people who surrounded me, at that moment, some of the people—two or three of them—they usually talked about [the group content] outside the room where these meetings were held. So, it makes me uncomfortable to say anything that should be private and that should be kept in confidence.” (78 year-old gay Latinx man; U.S. citizen) “The only bad thing I found to be [frustrating] was the poor participation from fellow members. That took away a bit of my attention and peace because I expected everyone to show up every week… I know that, on your behalf, an excellent job was done and that this is out of the control for the study team. And, from them, they did not give it the time—maybe it was because of work, or for whatever reason they did not sacrifice—like some of us did. And I found that bad… because this minimizes their credibility.” (53 year-old heterosexual Latinx man; permanent resident) “I did not feel as if I could trust [the other group members]. Because I noticed that when [one participant] talked, there was someone making fun of him, or saying comments and whispering, and so, for that reason I did not feel as if I could trust [the group].” (33 year-old gay Latinx man; expired visa)