By Matt Simonette

Staff writer

Community members and activists gathered at the Center on Halsted April 17 for a discussion on how gay male sexuality is represented in both medical circles and popular culture and by gay men themselves.

“Good Sex? Bad Sex? Just What Do Gay Men Want Anyway?” explored an inherent conundrum in talking about gay men’s wellbeing: How does a community call attention to its struggle and oppression without at the same time perpetuating images of itself as being inherently sick or flawed?

Panelists included David Halperin, of the University of Michigan, who authored the book “What Do Gay Men Want? An Essay on Sex, Risk, and Subjectivity”; Michelle Morales, of Northwestern University; Gary Harper, of DePaul University; and Jim Pickett, of Lifelube and Project CRYSP. Fausto Fernos and Marc Felion, of the Feast of Fools podcast, moderated.

Morales opened by saying, “Research is making us sick.” She explained that research that has focused on drug and alcohol abuse and risky sexual behaviors among gay men stands to further stigmatize them.

While acknowledging that such real and significant problems exist within the community, Morales said, “Research constructs the idea that we are not well as a community.”

She said that the gay community has put value in such research because “to prove that we suffer (at the hands of) homophobia, we have to reproduce these problems” in scientific literature.

Pickett added that researchers need to balance the facts so that progress can be made without “stigmatizing ourselves and others.”

Halperin said that such research is based on the premise that “gay men are irrational and self-destructive. It is the role of psychologists to find this out and the role of activists to do something about it.”

Few cultural discourses surrounding gay men are honest examinations of gay sexuality, according to Harper.

“In terms of our sexuality, we need to be better about talking about sex. …Unfortunately, growing up in a predominantly heterosexual society, all the sex we see on TV is straight,” Harper said.

As the community’s ideas about safe sex change, Halperin said, the need for open discussion has become imperative.

“What we’re facing is a lot of people moving beyond the old condom code—use a condom every time—and (trying to) find new ways to protect themselves. Obviously this involves a lot of potential risk (and) must lead to a collective discussion about what risks to take,” Halperin said.

Harper said that different age, ethnic and socio-economic groups perceive risk differently. Referring to the increasing numbers of young men aged 13-19 who are being infected, he suggested, “They’re not always using (condoms) in the context of a relationship. They’re really in love and think that this person has their best interests at heart,” Harper said.

Harper continued that “we live in a sex-phobic society” and that information needs to be more openly available.

“The challenge is to find media outlets in which these communal discussions can take place,” he said.