Hosts as Gatekeepers for North American Gay and Bisexual Men’s Private Group Sex Parties

ABSTRACT

Gay and bisexual men’s (GBM) group sex parties are considered HIV risk environments due to their association with concurrent sexual partners, condomless anal sex, and polysubstance use. The possibility of group sex party hosts acting as gatekeepers to minimize risks has been suggested, but remains understudied. We analyzed qualitative data from 20 in-depth interviews with North American GBM who recently attended private group sex parties to determine if hosts’ actions constitute harm reduction strategies. Results showed hosts acting as gatekeepers before parties by establishing and disseminating themes and rules, screening applicants, and selecting guests. During parties hosts enforced rules and rejected uninvited guests. By their actions, hosts established a more controlled environment compared to public sex-on-premises bathhouses, and facilitated boundary play, the paradoxical behavior of simultaneously desiring risk and safety, previously noted for GBM circuit parties. Results suggest initiating education programs focusing on private group sex party hosts as gatekeepers.

KEYWORDS:

• Group sex
• substance use
• gay culture
• risk management strategies

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the Momentum Health Study participants, office staff, and community advisory board, as well as our community partner agencies, Health Initiative for Men, YouthCO HIV & Hep C Society, and Positive Living Society of BC.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

Momentum is funded through the National Institute on Drug Abuse [R01DA031055-01A1] and the Canadian Institutes for Health Research [MOP-107544, 143342, and PJT-153139]. NJL was supported by a CANFAR/CTN Postdoctoral Fellowship Award. DMM and NJL are supported by Scholar Awards from the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research [#5209 and #16863]. HLA is supported by a Postdoctoral Fellowship Award from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research [Grant # MFE-152443]. AJR is supported by a Frederick Banting and Charles Best Doctoral Research Award from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research [#379361].