A Pill for Promiscuity: Gay Sex in an Age of Pharmaceuticals

By Jeffrey Escoffier, Andrew Holleran, Steve MacIsaac and 11 more

For a generation of gay men who came of age in the 1980s and 1990s, becoming sexually active meant confronting the dangers of catching and transmitting HIV. In the 21st century, however, the development of viral suppression treatments and preventative pills such as PrEP and nPEP has massively reduced the risk of acquiring HIV. Yet some of the stigma around gay male promiscuity and bareback sex has remained, inhibiting open dialogues about sexual desire, risk, and pleasure. 
 
A Pill for Promiscuity brings together academics, artists, and activists—from different generations, countries, ethnic backgrounds, and HIV statuses—to reflect on how gay sex has changed in a post-PrEP era. Some offer personal perspectives on the value of promiscuity and the sexual communities it fosters, while others critique unequal access to PrEP and the increased role Big Pharma now plays in gay life. With a diverse group of contributors that includes novelist Andrew Holleran, trans scholar Lore/tta LeMaster, cartoonist Steve MacIsaac, and pornographic film director Mister Pam, this book asks provocative questions about how we might reimagine queer sex and sexuality in the 21st century. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rutgers University Press
• Release date: Feb 10, 2023
• ISBN: 9781978824577

Andrew Holleran

Andrew Holleran’s first novel, Dancer from the Dance, was published in 1978. He is also the author of the novels Nights in Aruba and The Beauty of Men; a book of essays, Ground Zero (reissued as Chronicle of a Plague, Revisited); a collection of short stories, In September, the Light Changes; and a novella, Grief.

Book preview

Introduction

Why Promiscuity Matters

ANDREW SPIELDENNER AND JEFFREY ESCOFFIER

Slut. Whore. Trash. Skank. All words to describe people presumed to be promiscuous. Not loving, free-spirited, or connected with the community. The words we have about sexual freedom are value-laden and often negative. Notions of morality undergird this choice of words, as if the pursuit of sex or being sexually open somehow marks a body as amoral, our character somehow less than. Why can’t we just enjoy sex?

Sex is important. At different parts of our lives—for some of us—sex is one way to organize our time. Some of us discovered places where we could get off—certain bars, clubs, streets, parks, bathrooms, and truck stops. We created online spaces and apps for the same purpose. Sex provides for physical, psychic, and spiritual needs. It can be a bridge to connect to another or to ourselves. It can also be the door that closes off other kinds of communication or relationship possibilities. Sex has been central to the gay community across the world as we have fought to decriminalize and depathologize gay