Last night at the Center on Halsted, about 50 gay men, galpals and other LGBTQIACFDS & other assorted allies (friendly faces all) showed up for the LifeLube/Project CRYSP forum - "Driving Tips for Sex on the Superhighway" - to graze upon delicious Whole Food nibbles, schmooze and, right, discuss gay sex on the net.
Guest speakers included Stephan Adelson (internet and gay men's health consultant), Beau Gratzer (Howard Brown Health Center) and Brian Mustanski of UIC - all online sexperts.
Moderated by our favorite podcasters Feast of Fools, the conversation ranged from what not to do with your online pics to safety tips when hooking up and the contentious debate around regulation of sex sites, with stops along the way including sexual addiction, internet addiction, telling your online trick you have syphilis, intimacy, masturbation, Second Life and more.
The Feast of Fools podcast of the evening will be available sometime soon (we'll tell ya here), so in the meantime, enjoy some more papsnaps here on our flickr page - courtesy of photogs G. Simone and El Merrell. And check out the Feast of Fools' pics (added July 1) here.
And if you missed it, check out the LifeLube coverage on our previous podcast forum - "Good" sex, "Bad" sex, Just What Do Gay Men Want Anyway?"- which has a link to the Fools' podcast.
Of course, if you were there last night, please comment here, tell us what you thought, and continue the discussion on a subject that is near and dear to all fellow travelers on Route 69 - the sexy superhighway...
Great event! I loved the all of the panelists sitting on the couch just chatting about sex and the internet.
ReplyDeleteGlad masturbation came up. Isn’t that part of the fun of "hooking up" (without actually hooking up)? Yeah to CRYSP, LL, Feast of Fools, and all for putting on another informative and sex positive event!
The evaluation results from the forum last night were generally very positive as with the first forum. Based on the responses as to what topics to cover next, men want to know about relationships, especially being in and maintaining a long term relationship as well as how to be a better lover.
ReplyDeleteFor me personally, the forum was interesting with lots of thoughtful discussion. I found I have a difference of opinion with one of the panelists with respect to the obligations of the web site providers to self police (I believe they have a considerable obligation and are not simply tabula rasas that users fill in as they wish).
Great fun at the beginning with the slides on what kind of picture you should NOT post on a dating site.
Another job well done by the CRYSP team.
Besides home testing kits now available, there will be testing kits for other STDs. It will give potential sex partners the opportunity to test themselves TOGETHER BEFORE sex. It's not that hard to see how such kits can be a part of hookups for potential sex partners interested in taking such a step TOGETHER BEFORE having sex. Marketing the kits will involve skits such as we've not yet seen on Saturday Night Live except for Andy Samberg http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/bios/Andy_Samberg.shtml Don't think about it. It could be enraging.
ReplyDeleteGreat forum last evening, enjoyed the openness and frankness of the discussion.
ReplyDeleteThat's actually my picture you posted up there with my friend Sam (I'm in the orange shorts).
I did a "live blog" post during the event if you want to check it out it's over HERE.
Marc & Fausto are great hosts and do an amazing job of making everyone feel comfortable. I'm looking forward to the next event!
Michael - this is such a cool thing! I had no idea you were live blogging - thank you for covering the forum in such detail. Really happy you and Sam enjoyed the evening and yeah, please join us at Sidetrack in July for the alcohol forum, and we'll be back at the Center in November (on the 18th) - topic hole-istic health!
ReplyDeletereally appreciate stuff like this. thanks!
ReplyDeletewhen is the podcast coming???
ReplyDeletehttp://www.chicagofreepress.com/node/1978
ReplyDeleteForum discusses sex and safety for gay men online
Thu, 06/19/2008 - 16:31
By Matt Simonette
Staff writer
A forum at the Center on Halsted June 12 explored the potential benefits and pitfalls of cruising for sex online.
“Sex on the Superhighway” brought together Stephen Adelson, former general manager of Manhunt.com, Beau Gatzer, of Howard Brown Health Center, and Brian Mustanski, of University of Illinois at Chicago, to discuss how the Internet has changed hooking up. The forum was moderated by Fausto Fernos and Marc Felion of the Feast of Fools.
Adelson described how Manhunt came about after the gay online communities on web giants such as America Online and Gay.com essentially “devoured” themselves. Manhunt was conceived as an alternative community mostly for men seeking sex with men.
Because Manhunt was not advertiser-driven, Adelson said, people had more freedom to explore their sexual lives online.
“People are very creative sexually and very creative individually,” he said, adding that he was “impressed to see people step out of boundaries.”
Adelson said that numerous aspects of gay sexuality, such as particular fetishes or practices, have been made more public and exposed to other gay men and the heterosexual world.
“It’s allowing all men to explore their sexuality. I think that there are new sexual lives emerging,” Adelson said.
Gratzer elaborated on HBHC’s efforts to maintain a presence on sex-seeking sites in order to answer questions site users might have about safe sex.
HBHC, Gratzer explained, started online outreach in 1999, in the heyday of AOL. In recent years, he said, they have built considerable outreach on sex-seeking sites.
Howard Brown staff members make themselves available for questions about safe sex practices. Gratzer added the most common questions they receive concern the connections between HIV transmission and oral sex.
Mounting an effective campaign, Gratzer added, is made difficult by constant underfunding.
“Public health moves like a dinosaur. We don’t have any money. We don’t have any technology,” he said.
Mustanski said the Internet has opened up numerous opportunities for gay youth to be educated about sexuality.
“There’s not a lot of opportunities in conventional settings to talk about gay sexuality,” he said. “Many young people are coming out online before (they do) in real life.”
But the danger of spending too much time online is everpresent.
“Some websites are really difficult to get away from. The investment is really small, but the reward is great,” Mustanski said.
But the lines of communication that the Internet have opened up, according to Mustanski, outweigh its drawbacks.
“I see it as having so many positives and some negatives,” he said.
and another story from the gay press
ReplyDeletehttp://www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=18667
Forum tackles gay sex and the Internet
Extended for the Online Edition
by Amy Wooten
2008-06-18
How is the Internet changing gay sex?
This was just one of many topics tackled during LifeLube.org and Project CRYSP's June 12 forum, “Driving Tips for Sex on the Superhighway.” Held at Center on Halsted, 3656 N. Halsted, and moderated by the Feast of Fools podcast, the forum sought to discuss the dos and don'ts of hooking up online; the responsibility of Web sites such as Manhunt and Adam4Adam when things go wrong; and more.
The panelists were Stephen Adelson, former general manager of Manhunt ( one of many sites used by gay men to meet each other ) and current executive director of Internet Intervention Inc.; Beau Gratzer, director of Howard Brown Health Center's HIV/STD Prevention; and Brian Mustanski, assistant professor of psychiatry at University of Illinois at Chicago.
According to Adelson, Manhunt became successful, in part, because of its timing. AOL ( America Online ) chat rooms and Gay.com started to “burn out” because, as mainstream spaces, they couldn't handle more adult content. Manhunt was also successful because of its lack of advertisers, he said.
“There was a lot more freedom for people to express themselves sexually,” Adelson said.
Adelson firmly believes that when something goes wrong—say, someone using such a site turns up missing after a hook up or contracts syphillis—the Internet is not to blame. Things can go awry if you bring a stranger home to hook up after meeting at the bar, the bathhouse or a Web site.
“I don't think it's how you meet someone; it's what you do when you meet,” Adelson said. “You have to protect yourself no matter how or where you meet.”
So, should sites such as Manhunt be regulated? Adelson disagrees. Most Web sites, he said, have good advice on them already, like meeting someone in public before you meet in private, being honest within your online profile, leaving a screen name or note by your computer when you leave, etc.
People need to be smart consumers, Adelson said, adding that any consequences are far outweighed by the benefits such hook-up sites provide, such as allowing men—straight, bi and gay—to step outside stereotypes and enjoy their sexuality.
Adelson believes that sites such as Manhunt have the potential to also really increase the conversation about HIV/AIDS and other topics. However, he added that consumers need to speak up.
“If we make health as gay men our concern, the Web sites will reflect the same,” he said.
Gratzer's department coordinates the organization's online outreach, which started with the once-popular AOL chat rooms and has since focused on sites like Adam4Adam.
The online outreach program helps to answer Internet users' questions, he said. According to Gratzer, the most popular question involves the relationship between HIV and oral sex, followed by where individuals can get rapid HIV testing.
As for the their presence in chat rooms and popular sex-seeking Web sites, users aren't really paying attention, Gratzer said.
“The biggest problem we have right now online is we can't get people interested,” Gratzer said.
Adelson agreed that the biggest challenge is to motivate people to access resources and information that are already online.
Part of the problem, Gratzer added, is public health. Because of lack of funding and other reasons, “public health works like a dinosaur,” he said. “We are slow to adapt, so its hard to keep up with what's going on.”
According to the panelists, another problem is that Web sites occasionally don't want to cooperate because they don't want their clients to feel pestered. Like Adelson, Gratzer said that it is up to the consumer to advocate for health resources on sex-seeking Web sites. Sites are more likely to listen to their clients, he said.
Despite some setbacks, Mustanski sees these sex-promoting Web sites as opportunities for public health to reach out to even more people.
“We can reach these youth in ways we have never been able to before,” Mustanski said, adding that there are not a lot of opportunities to teach LGBT people in traditional settings, but online, the sky is the limit.
“I see it as something that has so many positives, and only a few negatives,” he added.
During a Q&A segment following the panel discussion, attendees brought up a variety of issues, such as the lack of discussion and resources available about sexual addiction.
Gratzer felt that was a fantastic point that illuminate how little the LGBT community talks about issues. “We don't talk as a community, even about alcohol,” Gratzer said. “The community needs to address these issues head on.”
An upcoming live podcast forum about the LGBT community and alcohol, “Let's Take a Glass Together,” will take place Wed., July 23, at Sidetrack, 3349 N. Halsted. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the discussion begins at 7 p.m. Space is limited, and you have to be 21 or over to attend. RSVP at www.lifelube.org or call 312-334-0939.