Inty, Connectedns, and Sexual Health the Gay Sna | SprgerLk

Contents:

• UNCLOAKG DIRE: EXPERIENCG THE GAY SNA
• GAY SNA EXPERIENC
• INTY, CONNECTEDNS, AND SEXUAL HEALTH THE GAY SNA
• THE FUTURE OF BRA’S GAY SNAS

UNCLOAKG DIRE: EXPERIENCG THE GAY SNA

The other day, I performed one of the self-experiments while aimlsly roamg the streets of London: searchg for a new experiential plate to tt the lims of my ‘self, ’ I impulsively walked to a gay sna. For those not the know, a gay sna is as an unrground plex of showers, snas, steam rooms and sex booths where gay men go to relax and have totally anonymo sex of all sorts. Our goal is to provi a wild, fun, ee spired, yet safe and rpectful environment for anyone to explore their sexual Health Club is Las Vegas' newt gay owned and operated bathhoe the heart of Las Vegas' gay district.

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IntroductnGay snas (also referred to as gay bathho and steamho) are a mercial space which gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex wh men (MSM)Footnote 1 n meet for sexual enunters.

GAY SNA EXPERIENC

There are rerds of gay men g snas for sex the fifteenth century but was the send half of the twentieth century that gay snas beme more wispread London, New York, and other major ci (Bébé, 1996) sexual health of sna ers has been a signifint foc of both rearchers and mentators (e. Yet, gay snas have now bee an important ntext for raisg awarens of safer sex and of enhancg HIV preventn has been limed rearch to the inti, experienc, and perceptns of gay sna ers (e. Moreover, there has been no rearch to gay snas specifilly small- and medium-sized ci the UK, which oms signifint populatns of gay men at risk of HIV and other STIs.

In orr to addrs this lacuna rearch, this article foc on the meangs and experienc that gay men livg the English cy of Leicter attribute to the gay sna, the role of the sna their sense of inty, and how they nste their sexual behavr this Health Among Gay MenOf the 89, 400 people livg wh HIV the England 2016, 51% were gay men (PHE, 2018a), and, of the 4370 new HIV diagnos 2017, 53% (n = 2330) were among gay men (Nash et al., 2018). This epimlogil profile among gay men n be attributed to the high equency of sex, multiple sexual partners, and high prevalence of ndomls sex this populatn (Jaspal, 2019) Risk and Preventn the Gay SnaIn their survey study of 134 gay sna ers South Wt England, Horwood et al.

INTY, CONNECTEDNS, AND SEXUAL HEALTH THE GAY SNA

(2016) found high rat of HIV risk behavr – participants reported higher numbers of sual sexual partners and higher equency of unprotected anal sex than muny sampl of gay men reced non-sna settgs. Moreover, gay men who engage unprotected anal terurse are turn more likely to e gay snas than those who do not (Bson, Pollack, Blair, & Woods, 2010). (2005) noted that gay sna attendance was a signifint risk factor for hepatis A fectn, and that the vast majory of those fected had had sex a gay of the sexual health iativ gay snas clu the dissematn of sexual health knowledge, the provisn of STI screeng and HIV ttg, and awarens-raisg regardg PrEP and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP).

(2009) found that a stctural terventn to crease ndom e for anal sex among gay men was succsful producg this effect at the 6-month follow-up. In recent years, there has been an crease HIV ttg gay snas the US where approximately 75% of the snas provi this service (Pollack et al., 2014). In several studi, rearchers have found high acceptabily and effectivens of HIV self-ttg gay snas although they do acknowledge the need to ascerta the bt way of implementg this service wh the sna (Huebner, Bson, Pollack, & Woods, 2012; Woods, Lippman, Agnew, Carroll, & Bson, 2016).

Ccially, HIV preventn gay snas n target subgroups of gay men who might not ordarily engage wh sexual health servic and who might therefore be missed through nventnal HIV preventn rout (Debattista, 2015), effective terventns should be rmed by social psychologil rearch that ptur the views, perceptns, and behavrs of the target populatn the target ntext, that is, the diverse inti of the people whom we wish to target (Fish, Papaloas, Jaspal, & Williamson, 2016). When the prcipl are challenged, the dividual experienc threats to inty, which is aversive for psychologil has been some rearch that sheds light on the impact of the gay sna on the inti of ers.

THE FUTURE OF BRA’S GAY SNAS

Drawg on semi-stctured terviews and archival data, Prr (2009) has argued that the gay sna played an important role the nstctn of a gay culture and inty Sydney, Atralia, partly bee enabled gay men to explore, velop, and exprs their sexual inti the face of the homophobic stigma they faced. The gay sna uld promote ntuy and self-teem on the basis of one’s sexual inty the face of external threats to this inty the form of social their terview study of gay sna ers Sydney, Atralia, Prr and Cack (2010, p.

93–94) found that the gay sna functned as a “relig-spirual space removed om the fluence of a domant relig stutn, ” which enabled s ers to engage pleasurable, self-thentitg acts away om the stigma of heteronormative Atralian society. The gay sna sentially enabled gay men to experience “the sacred” a secular manner and to transform themselv ways nsistent wh their real self.

This hts at the notn that the gay sna may promote feelgs of thenticy inty, that is, “the sense that one’s life, both public and private, reflects one’s real self” (Gee, 1998, p. 134) their study of 23 ers of a gay sna Toronto, Hbrich, Myers, Calzavara, Ryr, and Medved (2004) found that ers emphasized the ease of accs to sex the sna ( ntrast to gay bars, for stance), that they valued the anonymy of sexual enunters and, importantly, that they felt safe there. Acrdgly, the prent study draws on tes of inty procs theory to explore the meangs and experienc that gay men livg Leicter attribute to the gay sna, the role of the sna their sense of inty, and how they nste their sexual behavr this ntext.

MethodParticipant Selectn & Data GeneratnTwenty male sna ers participated an terview study of the sexual inty, health, and attus of gay sna ers. They all believed themselv to be HIV-negative at the time of the terviews were guid by a semi-stctured terview schle that foced on the followg areas: self-scriptn, self-tegorizatn, motivatns for g the gay sna, sexual behavrs and experienc the gay sna, sexual inty, and sexual health perceptns.

Thematic analysis facilat -pth exploratn of how each dividual experienc the gay sna, the meangs they attribute to , and how they nste their sexual behavr that ntext. The clu (1) inty thenticy the gay sna; (2) social nnectedns among sna ers; (3) sexual risk and sexual health the sna; and (4) protectg the inty functns of the gay Soc-Spatial Characteristics of the SnasEach gay sna has s own soc-spatial stcture, characteristics, and cultural “norms” which turn fluence and gui the behavr of s ers, staff members, and sexual health service provirs, such as Natnal Health Service (NHS) nurs, muny workers, wh the premis. For stance, a sna may be known among s clients for attractg a particular subgroup of gay men, such as younger gay men or those wh particular sexual terts, and there may be different norms relatn to ndom e among A is the largt and newt of the three snas and has a social space on the ground floor and a space for sexual activy on the first floor.

Sexual health outreach is offered by a lol sexual health B is the smallt of the three snas and is also known for beg equented by non-gay intified MSM, trans women, and cross-drsers.

Inty Authenticy the Gay SnaSeveral participants discsed the need to nceal aspects of their sexual inty, such as their sexual orientatn or sexual preferenc, social settgs outsi of the sna environment.