'Risk' and sexual coercion among gay and bisexual men in Aotearoa/New Zealand-key informant accounts

Are Queer Men Queering Consent? A Scoping Review of Sexual Consent Literature Among Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and Queer Men

Objectives

To review the literature on Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and Queer (GBTQ) men and sexual consent.

Methods

Eight electronic databases were searched in June 2022, yielding 1924 articles; 30 were included for review after screening.

Results

We found a growing body of literature focused on GBTQ men, with an increasingly intersectional lens. Most studies adopted a nuanced definition of sexual consent. Many discussed the unique sexual scripts developed by GBTQ men to communicate consent, especially in sex venues, and how unfamiliarity with these scripts creates vulnerability for newly "out" men. A common theme was the impact of heteromasculine norms on sexual encounters between GBTQ men.

Conclusions

The reviewed literature problematizes binary definitions of consent and miscommunication theories of assault. It both celebrates and problematizes GBTQ sexual cultures. We encourage future research to adopt more explicitly anti-carceral approaches to studying sexual consent and violence.

Views about HIV/STI and health promotion among gay and bisexual Chinese and South Asian men living in Auckland, New Zealand

Ethnic minority gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM) are considered to have a high risk for HIV infection. The aim of this study was to identify some of the ways Chinese and South Asian MSM talk about and understand issues related to HIV/STI and health promotion, as well as highlighting some of this group's health promoting behaviours. A qualitative study using face-to-face interviews with 44 Chinese and South Asian MSM living in Auckland, New Zealand, was undertaken. Following data analysis, four major themes were identified: the importance of condoms, condom use, HIV/STI practices, and HIV health promotion. The results showed that the men interviewed had a good understanding of the benefits of using condoms for anal sex. They also reported strong recall of the local HIV health promotion campaigns which seek to influence men's behaviours through promotion of a single, unequivocal message to always use a condom for anal sex. The men however did not always report consistent condom use, and a range of reasons why this happened were identified. Among the men who discussed testing practices, regular testing was much more likely to have occurred in men who have lived in New Zealand for more than 5 years. These results suggest that future health promotion initiatives should be tailored to ensure the needs of Chinese and South Asian MSM are appropriately addressed when promoting condom use for anal sex.

When Sex and Power Collide: An Argument for Critical Sexuality Studies

Attentive to the collision of sex and power, we add momentum to the ongoing development of the subfield of critical sexuality studies. We argue that this body of work is defined by its critical orientation toward the study of sexuality, along with a clear allegiance to critical modalities of thought, particularly feminist thought. Critical sexuality studies takes its cues from several other critical moments in related fields, including critical psychology, critical race theory, critical public health, and critical youth studies. Across these varied critical stances is a shared investment in examining how power and privilege operate, understanding the role of historical and epistemological violence in research, and generating new models and paradigms to guide empirical and theoretical research. With this guiding framework, we propose three central characteristics of critical sexuality studies: (a) conceptual analysis, with particular attention to how we define key terms and conceptually organize our research (e.g., attraction, sexually active, consent, agency, embodiment, sexual subjectivity); (b) attention to the material qualities of abject bodies, particularly bodies that are ignored, overlooked, or pushed out of bounds (e.g., viscous bodies, fat bodies, bodies in pain); and (c) heteronormativity and heterosexual privilege, particularly how assumptions about heterosexuality and heteronormativity circulate in sexuality research. Through these three critical practices, we argue that critical sexuality studies showcases how sex and power collide and recognizes (and tries to subvert) the various power imbalances that are deployed and replicated in sex research.

Gay Men Talking About Health

Defining and describing health has traditionally been the role of medical experts. Although a rich literature has recently established the importance of lay accounts of health, one important gap relates to gay men’s accounts of health. Data from 11 focus groups involving 45 gay men were thematically analyzed to investigate gay men’s views of health. Two contrasting positions on a possible relationship between sexuality and health—there is no link or there is a definite link—were identified. In addition, five key ways gay men talked about health were identified: health is the absence of disease, is functional ability, is fitness and exercise, is psychological, and is multifaceted. Although there are similarities in the ways gay and other men talk about health, important differences exist, which suggest that issues of sexuality need to be considered by health policy and service planners so that responsive health services can be provided.

Sex and Diabetes: A Thematic Analysis of Gay and Bisexual Men’s Accounts

Around 50 per cent of men with diabetes experience erectile dysfunction. Much of the literature focuses on quality of life measures with heterosexual men in monogamous relationships. This study explores gay and bisexual men’s experiences of sex and diabetes. Thirteen interviews were analysed and three themes identified: erectile problems; other ‘physical’ problems; and disclosing diabetes to sexual partners. Findings highlight a range of sexual problems experienced by non-heterosexual men and the significance of the cultural and relational context in which they are situated. The personalized care promised by the UK government should acknowledge the diversity of sexual practices which might be affected by diabetes.

Unsafe, Unwanted

Individual and focus group interviews with a total of 40 gay and bisexual men, as well as with 23 community and/or professional key informants, highlighted that sexual coercion is an important, yet under-recognized, barrier to the practice of safer sex among men who have sex with men. In this article we discuss how the dynamics of sexual coercion, including subtle forms, can operate to compromise men’s ability to practise safer sex, leading men to have sex that is both unsafe and unwanted.