Trans women, who use meth and other drugs at high rates, continue to be under-recognized for their participation in chemsex and PnP by the public health establishment. Black queer filmmaker Michael Rice illustrated the rise of PnP culture among gay men of color in his 2017 documentary “ parTyboi.” That’s since changed, with Black and Latino gay men now taking the lead. In early 2000s New York City, for example, that demographic (known as “Chelsea Boys”) used meth in the highest proportions, in terms of race, according to city health data. The historical narration of chemsex and PnP often centers around white cisgender gay men. “Gay sexual liberation has a unique history and flavor that includes bathhouses, Grindr, and a particularly widespread availability of certain drugs that can enhance or medicate the sexual experience.” “It’s intimately and culturally related to the way in which the HIV epidemic has influenced the experience and enjoyment of homo-sex,” Stuart says. the trauma of surviving the AIDS crisis.gay hook-up apps and their body-shaming tendencies.He identifies a few forces that have shaped queer culture around drugs and sex, including: This was explained by David Stuart, the British harm reductionist recognized to be the originator of the term chemsex, in a 2019 journal article.Ĭhemsex is a cultural phenomenon: It’s more than just drugs and sex, and it’s unique to gay men, Stuart says. That’s because their effects all have a common denominator: being sexually disinhibiting. These drugs are referred to as “chems,” instead of simply drugs, by experts. More common in Europe, and less so in North America, is mephedrone, a synthetic cathinone that acts as a stimulant.Īdditionally, cocaine, ketamine, MDMA, and alcohol all can be found in PnP and chemsex scenes.
The central nervous system depressants GHB and GBL, amyl nitrates (“ poppers”), and Viagra are also popular. Smoking tends to be the most popular form of consuming crystal meth in these scenes, though injection is also common, according to a 2019 scientific literature review.īoofing, or squirting drugs up your butt, is another common form. Crystal methamphetamine is a common drug used in PnP and chemsex around the world, from San Francisco, CA, to Delhi, India.