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ABSTRACT
This study provides an understanding of the significance of the use of the Internet to find sexual partners, its impact on sexual life, and how it is linked to unprotected sex among gay and bisexual men. A grounded approach was used to analyze interviews with 31 men (aged 19 to 46 years) from Madrid, Barcelona, and Bilbao/San Sebastián, Spain. The results reveal that the Internet is impacting the form and style of life of many men, and particularly their experience of sexuality. Many men regard their sexual experiences with casual partners met through the Internet as unsatisfactory or frustrating. The men provided several reasons behind the search for sexual partners via the Internet: Some interviewees sought to channel needs other than the sexual (company, affection, stable partner). Trust and assumptions built into the virtual interaction become a key to understanding why some men have unprotected sex with partners met on the Internet.
Acknowledgments
The authors thank the organizations Colectivo de Lesbianas, Gays, Transexuales y Bisexuales de Madrid-COGAM (Madrid) and Gehitu (San Sebastián) for their collaboration in carrying out this study, Isidro García and Sergio Ibáñez, who conducted the interviews in Madrid and San Sebastián/Bilbao, respectively, Tony Keirle and Colin Campbell for reviewing and correcting the translation of this article, and, especially, all those men who participated in this study. This study was carried out with the support of the Secretaría del Plan Nacional sobre el Sida of the Ministry of Health and Consumer Affairs (Grant SCO/765/2006).
Notes
Saturation occurs when, after having gathered information from a number of informants, the researcher has the feeling of not picking up any new information and that all has been mentioned by the previous informants.
Bilbao and San Sebastián are considered a single setting of study because both cities have a close connection due to their geographical proximity and the flow of visitors between two cities. For example, many gay men from San Sebastián visit Bilbao to contact and meet other men of this city.
Catalonia and Basque Country are bilingual regions.
Gilhooly & Green refer to the fact that the coder reliability should be at least 85% to be considered valid.
The 11 family codes were: sexual identity, Internet use, sexual partners, sexual risk practices, drugs use, condom use, barebacking, awareness of prevention, HIV-positive men, steady partner, and HIV testing.