Sociology

Drawing on in-depth interviews with 15 openly bisexual male youth from sixth forms across the UK, this article documents positive experiences of bisexual male youth in school: participants had positive coming out experiences and did not encounter significant discrimination or harassment because of their sexual identity. Participants attribute this to the inclusive environments of their schools and local cultures. Examining the narratives of two participants who had negative experiences, this article also highlights continued issues for bisexual youth in schools. It thus advances our understanding of contemporary bisexual lives in educational institutions, and contributes to debates about whether sixth forms are more inclusive spaces than secondary schools for bisexuals.

This article draws on in-depth interviews with 35 openly gay male undergraduates from four universities in England to develop an understanding of the changing nature of language related to homosexuality. In addition to finding a diminution in the prevalence of homophobic language, we demonstrate that participants maintain complex and nuanced understandings of phrases that do not use homo-phobic pejoratives, such as 'that's so gay'. The majority of participants rejected the notion that these phrases are inherently homophobic, instead arguing that the intent with which they are said and the context in which they are used are vital in understanding their meaning and effect. We conceptualize an intent-context-effect matrix to understand the interdependency of these variables. Highlighting the situated nature of this matrix, we also demonstrate the importance of the existence of shared norms between those saying and hearing the phrase when interpreting such language.

This article draws on qualitative interviews with 40 gay male undergraduates at four universities across England to explore the dynamics of participants' friendship networks in the context of decreased homophobia. Describing their schools and universities as gay-friendly spaces, most participants developed close friendships with both straight and sexual minority peers in spontaneous ways, away from institutional venues such as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender student societies. Building on Bourdieu's conceptualization of the symbolic economy of class, I introduce a new concept to understand how having a visible gay identity can act as a form of privilege in inclusive, post-gay social fields: gay capital. Through shared knowledge of gay cultures, belonging to gay social networks, and having one's gay identity recognized as a form of prestige, gay capital supplements cultural, social, and symbolic forms of capital. These findings trouble traditional generalizations of gay youth as victimized due to their sexual minority status. However, finding that participants' experiences differed across the four research settings , this article also develops an intersectional analysis by highlighting that access to gay capital is limited by other forms of class, gender, and sexual hierarchy.

The experiences of people living with HIV have been transformed over recent years. Advances in medical science have made the virus a manageable chronic condition, while eliminating the risk of onward transmission for those with access to treatment, something referred to as TasP (treatment as prevention) or U¼U (undetectable equals untransmissible). More recently, the availability of PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis), alongside PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis), through the NHS has created the conditions for condomless sexual encounters to take place without the fear of HIV transmission associated with previous decades. Despite this, the criminal law has continued to frame HIV in terms of personal responsibility and bodily autonomy within the dominant narratives of danger, disease, and outdated science. Doctrinal law has failed to keep pace with social and scientific change. Therefore, in this article, we provide a re-examination of the criminal issues relating to HIV transmission within this new landscape, arguing that it necessitates a shift in attitude, policy and doctrine. We specifically argue that HIV transmission does not meet the appropriate harm threshold to constitute GBH and that if criminal law is ultimately about preventing or regulating harm, the ongoing crim-inalisation of HIV transmission is counter to that aim.

This paper draws on an autoethnographic 'digital diary' which the author began after testing positive for HIV in July 2016, until May 2021, to critically assess (mis)representations of both the AIDS and COVID-19 pandemics in the media. Drawing on insights from art, literature, queer theory and social anthropology, the paper focuses on dominant moral and political discourses to show how narratives of blame, shame and guilt about viral transmission contribute to the stigmatisation of 'at risk' groups. Concepts of biopower and normative judgement are used to reflect on discourses which construct those who 'test positive' for HIV or SARS-CoV-2 as 'reckless', 'risky' or 'irresponsible' subjects. The paper also analyses notes on recent media appearances made by the author to discuss their participation in the PARTNER study, which showed that HIV antiretroviral therapy eliminates the possibility of HIV transmission, including reports in The Guardian, on BBC News, on Sky News, on Channel 5 News, and in the Metro. As the former had reported that the 'Covid-19 crisis raises hopes of end to UK transmission of HIV', portrayals of the two pandemics are compared to explore tensions between public health and individual responsibility as normative priorities.

Introduction: The term incidental sex work refers to forms of casual, occasional, unsolicited commercial sex, arranged between gay, bisexual, and queer men on social media platforms such as Grindr. This paper explores the limits of labelling sexual identities, and how definitions of "sex" and "work" have become increasingly unstable in the digital age.
Methods: This study used mixed methods, with the primary mode of data collection being qualitative interviews with young gay, bisexual, and queer men conducted between May 2015 and April 2016. The interviews incorporated a nine-point sexuality scale and photo-elicitation procedures to prompt further discussions. Through the participant recruitment process, the study also generated an informal survey of 1473 Grindr users aged 18 to 28, finding that 14.6% had been paid for sex, most of whom (8.2%) had done so "incidentally."
Results: The 50 interview participants discussed being paid for sex 358 times. This paper focuses on their narratives of labelling, identity politics, sexual normativity, and social stigma. All participants distanced themselves from labels such as "prostitute," "rent boy," or "sex worker" given that their behaviours were not seen as "regular" or "professional" enough, alongside seeking to avoid association with stigmatising stereotypes of sex work. These results are compared with the participants' experiences of coming out as gay, bisexual, and queer.
Discussion: These narratives are interpreted using queer theory to understand those whose behaviours and identities do not conform to normative (legal, medical, social) discourses of sex work. The implications of this hidden population for campaigners, policymakers, and healthcare practitioners are discussed, contributing to ongoing debates around harm reduction and social policy.

Introduction: This special section of Sexuality Research and Social Policy, edited by Belinda Brooks-Gordon, Max Morris and Teela Sanders, has its origins in a colloquium sponsored by the University of Cambridge Socio-Legal Group in 2020. The goal was to promote the exchange of ideas between a variety of disciplinary research fields and applied perspectives on harm reduction and the decriminalization of sex work. The colloquium took place during the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic in February 2020. Methods: We explore the impact of Covid-19 on understandings of sex work, outline the basic underpinning legal philosophical question, explore the intersectional politics of decriminalization, summarize contemporary international health and human rights campaigns, explore contemporary public opinion trends on the issue, and illustrate the universal principles. Finally, we summarize the special section papers (N=12). Results: The Covid pandemic provided a lens through which to analyse the changes that have occurred in sex work and sex work research in the past decade and it also exacerbated intersecting inequalities, accelerated many social shifts already in motion whilst changing the course of others. In combination the papers in this special issue examine sex work policy and research across 12 countries in four continents to provide and important space for international and cross-cultural comparison. Conclusions: We present the timely contributions of diverse authors and comment on the significance of their research projects which support a decriminalization policy agenda for the benefit of academics, policymakers and practitioners to improve public health strategies and international responses. Policy Implications: The research here amplifies the focus on harm reduction and strengthens the case for public policy that decriminalizes commercial sex between consenting adults as the best strategy to reduce harm.

Over the past year, COVID-19 and the restrictions imposed in its wake have meant that a range of research methodologies involving social contact could no longer be pursued. Whilst this time has been challenging, this article aims to showcase how it nonetheless presents opportunities for methodological innovation that can be carried forward into the future. Drawing upon an autoethnographic dissertation that sought to conceptualize the researcher's lived experience in Scotland's lockdown as an assemblage that was situated within, and intersected with, the wider "lockdown cultural assemblage," it proceeds chronologically from how the research began to inductively drawn findings on shifts to lived experience produced by the lockdown across five interrelated dimensions to lived experience: embodiment, spatiality, temporality, a changing vocabulary of sociality, and narratological environment and broader context. In recounting this journey, it demonstrates how assemblage theory can both benefit from, as well as transform, autoethnography as its primary methodological strategy.

Old enough to have sex but too young to access contraceptives: the Philippine law on sexual consent which sets the age at twelve years old is incongruent with the reproductive health law that restricts adolescents’ access to contraceptives without parental consent. The study aims to demonstrate that policies related to children, sexual consent, and sexual and reproductive health are shaped by various discourses that are informed by dominant and alternative images of children and sex. The study critically examines discourses used by change advocates and proponents of the status quo on Philippine policies related to children and sex. It aims to determine the factors which shape existing policies as well as new policy proposals towards a deeper understanding of policy change in morality policies. The research is relevant considering recent evidence that shows high incidence of sexual violence against children and adolescent pregnancies in the Philippines as well as regressive norms that affect the lived experiences of children. The policy discourse analysis framework was used to determine problem representations and assumptions of policy actors. The study intends to put forward implications on understanding policy change in morality policies related to children and sex. Overall, the research aims to contribute to the existing literature on governing children, representations of children in policy-making, morality policies, and children and sex.

Filipino children confront a perplexing situation regarding their sexual activity: old enough to have sex yet too young to access contraceptives. The Anti-Rape Law of 1997 states that the age to determine statutory rape is below 12 years old. Meanwhile, the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Law prohibits minors from accessing contraceptives without parental consent. The harmonization of the law on age of sexual consent with other related to sex and sexual health of young people is critical in protecting them from abuse, recognizing their sexuality and curbing the rise of teenage pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. This research report is an output of a research project conducted by the Philippine Legislators' Committee on Population and Development in partnership with Consuelo Zobel Alger Foundation Lead researcher and writer ANNE JANELLE RABE Reviewers DR. BERNADETTE MADRID ATTY. KLARISE ESTORNINOS-CAJUCOM ATTY. WRYL SANCHEZ MARC JOSEPH ALEJO ATTY. ALLAN CHESTER NADATE Publication design KRISTINE MEG ROXAS About Consuelo Zobel Alger Foundation We are a U.S.-based private foundation that works for the prevention and treatment of abuse, neglect, and exploitation of children, women, and their families in Hawai'i and the Philippines. We are named after Doña Consuelo Zobel Alger, Founder and Benefactress, whose generosity and genuine love for children paved the way for us to renew hope to those who have lost it and give hope to those who never had it." The views, opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this document are strictly those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the views of Consuelo Zobel Alger Foundation. The Foundation does not take responsibility for any errors or omissions in, or for the correctness of, the information contained in this document.