The importance of physical gay spaces took on added significance in the context of sexual minority stigma. Carlos, a year-old, openly gay man, and Steven, a year-old, bisexual man who is not out, both described the challenges of having to navigate settings where gay and straight people mix. You have gay people, straight people, all the other bars are closed, so they have the one after, say like Gotham.

It makes it harder. So it just seems like to put it in one place makes it easier because it makes you being there more comfortable I should say. Men also noted the importance of the visibility of gay life in small cities in terms of helping them locate safe spaces to socialize, free from homophobia. For example, Desmond, a year-old resident of New Haven, described how macro-level exposure to issues, such as gay marriage, had conditioned the heterosexual community to be more accepting of a visible gay community, noting,.

The neighborhood knows about [a public gathering space for gay men], but they are not really loud and vicious, you know? Because people are really more open minded now. This study examined the role of technology in the lives of gay and bisexual men in two small cities in Connecticut. Consistent with previous studies conducted across diverse geographies Grov et al.

Virtual technologies offered men safe and affirming spaces for forming and expanding connections and navigating challenges in two small cities where men reported having access to few gay-specific physical spaces, widespread sexual minority stigma, and challenges obtaining anonymity in a community where men tended to know one another. However, technology was not always viewed favorably as some participants described its increased use to meet sexual partners as occurring at the expense of social cohesion, physical gay spaces, and community visibility.

These findings also emphasize the importance of understanding the local contexts that may ultimately shape technology use and the behavior and health of gay and bisexual men in small cities such as Hartford and New Haven. Consistent with prior research among men in larger cities e.

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However, unlike research conducted in large cities, some participants found the virtual technologies to be limiting as these platforms highlighted the small size of the gay community in their city by consistently featuring the same people. To overcome these local challenges, men reported using apps to identify transient partners who were passing through their small cities or while traveling.

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Prior research has described the gay community as being composed of subcommunities often defined by demographics e. Men also feared the mental and physical health consequences of stigma from outside the gay community, leading several men to conceal their sexual orientation as a form of stigma management Knight et al. In fact, 6 out of the 29 men in the current sample were not out about their sexual orientation. Consistent with research conducted with sexual minorities from nonurban areas Gray, ; Knight et al. For some discreet participants, virtual communities provided the necessary anonymity to safely disclose their identity and build trust before meeting men face-to-face.

Participants also noted that the rise of social—sexual networking technologies had influenced the availability of physical gay spaces in small cities. Another qualitative study highlighted the changing nature of gay neighborhoods in Chicago, with some participants noting that gay bars are less frequented since the rise of the Internet Ghaziani, This article extends prior research by highlighting the seemingly rapid destabilization of gay life in two small U. Given that small cities have fewer brick-and-mortar gay spaces and numerically smaller gay communities than gay enclaves, technology may have a unique impact on gay life in small cities.

Specifically, gay spaces and communities in small cities may be less able to sustain themselves in the face of new technologies and, thus, may be subject to a more rapid decline than gay communities in large cities.

Future research is needed to examine the potential causal role of social and sexual networking technologies in the decline of gay community spaces and visibility across diverse U. Finally, the men in this study noted that with the closing of gay bars and the rise of the Internet came a decline in gay community cohesion and access to gay mentors e. Thus, it is possible that the increased integration of gay and bisexual men into heterosexual spaces e. However, should the presence of gay and bisexual people in shared spaces be unknown to the heterosexual majority, then the decreased community visibility described by participants in small cities could push gay and bisexual men back into the periphery, decreasing public awareness and ultimately acceptance Chauncey, Less acceptance by way of decreased visibility could pose a threat to the health of gay and bisexual men in small cities as national studies have reported that LGB people living in U.

Stigma may also interact with community visibility to influence attractions and behavior as a recent study of gay and bisexual men in Europe reported that men living in sparsely populated locales within high-structural stigma countries were the most likely to report bisexual or heterosexual behaviors and attractions, relative to men in other areas Pachankis et al. Additional research is needed to examine the relative visibility of the gay community in small cities in the United States and globally, as well as the potential social and health-related correlates of gay community visibility for both heterosexuals and sexual minority community members as well.

The results of this study should be interpreted in light of several limitations. First, all of the participants were drawn from small cities in Connecticut, a U.

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Additionally, though the study used multiple recruitment strategies to obtain a diversity of perspectives, it is possible that the range of experiences and attitudes toward social—sexual networking technologies described here is not fully comprehensive. Furthermore, this study analyzed qualitative data from a cross-section of gay and bisexual men in two small cities; thus, the potential causal role of technology use in the decline of gay community visibility and cohesion cannot be established.

The findings presented here serve as a starting point for future exploration of the role of technology in shaping the lives of gay and bisexual men in small cities using quantitative and longitudinal designs with more representative sampling. In this way, social—sexual technologies not only served to reconfigure and reinforce but also destabilize communities of gay and bisexual men in small cities.

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Finally, the small city residents in this study highlighted the importance of gay community visibility and dedicated spaces. Declaration of Conflicting Interests: National Center for Biotechnology Information , U. Am J Mens Health. Published online Nov Jaclyn M. Pachankis , PhD, 1 Adam I. Keene , PhD 1. White Hughto. John E. Adam I. Danya E. Author information Article notes Copyright and License information Disclaimer.

This article has been cited by other articles in PMC. Abstract Social—sexual networking technologies have been reported to yield both psychosocial benefits and sexual risks for gay and bisexual men, yet little research has explored how technology interacts with the social—geographical environment to shape the health of gay and bisexual men in the relatively understudied environment of small cities.

Introduction The 21st century has launched the use of social—sexual networking technologies e. Sample Participants were recruited in New Haven and Hartford using a multipronged recruitment strategy that included online advertisements, flyers, direct recruitment, and snowball sampling.

Study Procedures Semistructured interviews were conducted with 29 gay and bisexual men from New Haven and Hartford between May and February Data Analysis The aim of the present analysis was to describe the use of social and sexual networking technologies among gay and bisexual men in two small cities. Results Expanding Connections Through Technology: Opportunities and Obstacles Social—sexual networking technologies were well integrated into the lives of gay and bisexual men in the sample as all participants described using some combination of mobile applications e.

Sean, a year-old White man who lives in Hartford and works in New Haven, described social—sexual networking apps as a cornerstone of gay culture: Kevin, a year-old Black man from Hartford, explained his use of a chat line to meet someone prior to traveling outside of Hartford: Kyle, a mixed-race year-old man, noted his sexual safety concerns with anonymous partners met online: Navigating Local Challenges Through Technology In the context of the relatively small gay communities that existed in these small cities, participants described having limited access to designated gay spaces such as bars, bookstores, and public gathering spaces; this posed challenges to their ability to connect with other men and find environments offering protection from stigma.

For example, Carlos, a year-old Latino man, described the possible consequences of trying to determine if a man is gay in public spaces in the city: Michael, a White year-old, who lived outside of Hartford for 25 years, explained, When I first moved here of course there was a very visible gay community because the only way that you could be in the community was to go to the bars.

For example, Herbert, a year-old Latino man, who grew up in a small city near New Haven, noted, The crowd was amazing. For example, Desmond, a year-old resident of New Haven, described how macro-level exposure to issues, such as gay marriage, had conditioned the heterosexual community to be more accepting of a visible gay community, noting, The neighborhood knows about [a public gathering space for gay men], but they are not really loud and vicious, you know?

Discussion This study examined the role of technology in the lives of gay and bisexual men in two small cities in Connecticut. Footnotes Declaration of Conflicting Interests: References Adams J. The sexual experiences of Latino men who have sex with men who migrated to a gay epicentre in the USA. Gay apps for seeking sex partners in China: Implications for MSM sexual health. AIDS and Behavior , 19 , Where young MSM meet their first sexual partner: The role of the Internet. AIDS and Behavior , 11 , Accounting for race and racism in sex and dating web services for gay and bisexual men. Ethnicities , 16 , Sexual negotiation, HIV-status disclosure, and sexual risk behavior among Latino men who use the Internet to seek sex with other men.

Archives of Sexual Behavior , 35 , Resurgent bacterial sexually transmitted disease among men who have sex with men—King County, Washington, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report , 48 , Retrieved from http: Gay New York: Gender, urban culture, and the making of the gay male world, New York, NY: Basic Books. Out for good: The struggle to build a gay rights movement in America.

Gay tourism: Culture, identity and sex. The interplay between online and offline explorations of identity, relationships, and sex: A mixed-methods study with LGBT youth. Journal of Sex Research , 50 , Investing in Grindr: An exploration of how gay college men utilize gay-oriented social networking sites Doctoral dissertation. Using the Internet in pursuit of public sexual encounters: Is frequency of use associated with risk behavior among MSM? Aging and sexual orientation: A year review of the literature. Research on Aging , 32 , There goes the gayborhood?

Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Out in the country: Just looking for Gay Singles in New Britain trainman Gay Dating in New Haven Amadou. West Haven Gay Chat Christo Meet Gay Men in New Haven kira Other Connecticut Cities: All rights reserved. They are less likely to work in the blue collar fields.

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If you're going by your experience, well, people on gay internet dating sites probably aren't the creme de la creme. It seems like most gays I come across have retail jobs or something middle class. From my experiences, gay clubs are chock full of losers; no one worth dating. Originally Posted by mlassoff. I think it depends on the circles you travel in. Not to be a snob, but I don't now a lot of people who work in retail-- gay or straight.

My social circle consists of teaches, computer professionals, attorneys, a couple of doctors and people who own business of all types I don't hang out in gay clubs either, but when I was younger in Austin, I found a mix of students, professionals, blue collar workers, a few retired people The gay community is diverse. I thin the lower level jobs you associate with people in the clubs is more a result of their youth than anything else I always had the impression that gays, in general, had higher income, more education and more white collar jobs than the population at large.

One persons experience does not make the rule, but my impression seems to gel with the demographic work that has been done. Last edited by nep; at Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick.