Abstract #82  -  Intensive sex partying amongst gay men
Authors:   Presenting Author:   Dr Garrett Prestage - University of New South Wales
Additional Authors:  Dr Michael Hurley,
Aim: To describe the concept of 'intensive sex partying' (ISP) and its role in HIV risk among gay men in Sydney, Australia
Method / Issue: A set of highly intercorrelated behaviours among gay men have been consistently associated with risk of HIV infection. These have included a higher frequency of dance party attendance, more frequent sex, more anal sex, multiple sex partners, more unprotected anal intercourse with casual partners (UAIC) and more frequent drug taking. We sought to describe the particular sexual networks that provide a context for these behaviours.
Results / Comments: ISP is a framework developed to analyse these specific behaviours frequently engaged in by a small minority of gay men in Sydney, Australia. These occurred at a contextual intersection between a sub-group of sexually adventurous gay men and ‘party boys’. The men appear to be involved in both high risk, adventurous sex practices, and a specific form of partying distinguishable from dance partying and ‘clubbing’. Sex partying occurs on multiple sites (domestic spaces; within dance parties; sex parties; sex on premises venues) and appears to be geared to the maximisation of sexual pleasure.
Discussion: ISP describes this coincidence of factors and locates them in relation to the multiple pleasures offered by sex partying. It emphasises the importance of ‘intensity’ in order to understand better the relations between sex, drug use, pleasure, care and risk in some gay men’s lives. An analysis of risk within these particular sexual networks requires an understanding of pleasure that is at least as important for the men in these networks as is risk-minimisation.
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