The scholarly sub: Research reports on healthy sexuality

Vancouver: City of bottoms, sex parties and bareback sex?

Is Vancouver a city of bottoms with too few tops? Just what are the do’s and don’ts of private sex parties? In the era of biomedical innovation, are condoms truly just a relic of the past?

Versatility unveiled: Labels and desires

You’re sitting at a bar on Davie Street, and you open the Grindr grid to find the night’s hottest hook-up. Only to find yourself struggling to find someone with a compatible sex position! In a city filled with scenic landscapes, waterfront views and a rich queer history, you can’t help but wonder: Is versatility truly a myth? Are vers and vers-bottom just code for bottom only? If so, then why do we still choose a label that holds no value? Is the label just a mask covering our true intentions?

A 2019 study takes a look at anal sex versatility in Vancouver with a group of queer men (including trans men). Your versatility is key health data linked to HIV/STI transmission, and it’s an important part of your self-identity that can change over time.

Through the study period, 644 queer men participated in a total of 7,036 sexual events. Of these sexual events, 2,984 events were receptive, 2,773 events were insertive, and 1,279 sexual events were completely versatile (both insertive and receptive within the same encounter). The numbers don’t lie! More than 50 per cent of this study’s sample engaged in receptive anal sex.

The study found that there is a strong correspondence between preferred anal sex roles and actual behaviours — people really take the sex roles they say they prefer. But anal sex roles are not fixed. There’s much more variation than previously thought! You could go from being a vers-top in Prada to a sub-bottom in Dolce & Gabbana. At the end of the day, the label doesn’t define you — you do.

Sex Party RSVP: The hostess sets the mostest

Vancouver might be “no-fun“ city to some, but perhaps you’re just not living it right. There’s an underground scene filled with pulsating beats, hypnotic tunes and exclusive sex parties fulfilling your deepest and darkest sexual desires. If you’re wondering, “Where was my invite? Lost in the mail?“ then rest assured. Keep looking.

Group sex parties are not a novel concept, nor are they specific to queer communities. You might think they only happen in movies and that only James Bond would stumble upon a secret sex party while running away from a group of armed vigilantes. But hey, for queer people, sex parties are part of the culture, embedded within the circuit party scene. Surveys show that up to 25 per cent of queer men met their recent sexual partners at a sex party.

A 2021 study peeps into the private group sex party scene from a group of Canadian queer men living in urban areas. It looks at how sex party hosts help minimize HIV and STI transmission and supply appropriate harm reduction supplies. Here’s what hosts and participants say about private sex parties that are more than a threesome, not commercially funded and not in a public sex venue.

Hosts performed three main roles (and no, inviting you was not one of them). Selecting a party theme was the first role. This allowed guests to understand what specific sexual behaviours and or substances would be featured. One Vancouver man says,

“The [host] will say he’s looking for tops … or the [host] will say it’s a jack-off party.“

Party rules and STI screening was the second role. Hosts in the study emphasized rules about safer-sex parties or condomless parties. One Vancouver man says, “If you don’t sort of follow them [the rules], you just don’t get invited back.“

The last role was to be a good host, enforce party rules and provide harm-reduction materials. One Vancouver host says, “Probably make sure that we have drugs available … have lube there; condoms available if people want to use them.“

Sex party hosts initiate and maintain risk management strategies. Now that could be the future of queer sex education.

Gloves Off: Navigating pleasure and protection

They say “No Glove – No Love“, but here in Vancouver, the gloves are coming off! Alongside fossils, video rental stores and Cher’s discography, it seems as if condoms are becoming a sign of the distant past. In British Columbia, rates of HIV transmission have declined, but queer men are still one of the biggest groups affected by HIV.

Smart strategies like Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) help to prevent transmission of HIV. PrEP is available at no cost for queer men in B.C. using their Care Card. So what does this do to the way HIV-negative men in Vancouver think about condoms and how they use them?

A 2019 study asked 19 queer men (including trans men) about condoms, HIV-prevention strategies, and how these strategies have shifted their thinking about sexual safety and well-being. Overall, participants expressed a range of perspectives on condom use from total rejection to a stamp of approval. Some participants said that condoms inhibited physical pleasure, and others said that eroticism was better without a condom.

One study participant said, “It’s hard to get used to … wear[ing] condoms when … the physical pleasure is so much more with not having a condom.“ While another said, “I would have a condom … the stress of not knowing whether I’ve contracted something.“

HIV is still a concern, but today a variety of tools and strategies can help prevent HIV. While many people associate decreased condom use with more intimacy and pleasure, many participants believed that PrEP was a safe and effective solution to HIV-prevention. One noted that “Condoms are … like public transit. It’s something you want everyone else to take …“

Condoms are great at helping prevent STIs and HIV, while PrEP only helps to prevent HIV. It’s important to know what’s best for our bodies, and what we can do to best protect ourselves and our contacts. Expanding options for sexual health strategies and tools in B.C.’s queer communities lets our communities continue to live long, healthy and safe lives — whether we’re backpacking on our next Vancouver hike, or barebacking watching the sunset in Stanley Park.

Kartik Arora (he/him) has been working in queer men’s health and research for four years. Kartik is a team lead at HIM, and a graduate student at the University of British Columbia.

To learn more about sexual health services in B.C., visit Health Initiative for Men (HIM) at checkhimout.ca. For any questions about this article, contact Kartik at kartik@checkhimout.ca