Desire, drug use and unsafe sex: a qualitative examination of gay men who attend gay circuit parties

Recently, there has been an increase in research dedicated to the topic of drug/alcohol use and unsafe sex among gay men. Findings of this work suggest that drug/alcohol use is particularly common within gay circuit parties (GCPs). More recently, this work has begun to suggest that further exploration is needed to understand the desires of gay men who use drugs and alcohol and who engage in unsafe sex. Based on the foregoing, an ethnographic study was undertaken with the goal of better understanding the role of desire in the sequence of drugs/alcohol and unsafe sex. This research was guided theoretically by Deleuze and Guattari's work on desire. Using this theoretical orientation, the results revealed that some GCP-goers intentionally use drugs/alcohol to form connections.