Responses from the Lesbian & Gay Psychology Section to Crossley’s Making sense of ‘barebacking’. Authors

The aim of the present paper is to summarise key responses to Crossley’s (2004) article, ‘Making sense of barebacking: gay men’s narratives, unsafe sex and the ‘resistance habitus’ (BJSP, 43, 225-244) from members of the British Psychological Society’s (BPS) Lesbian & Gay Psychology Section. These responses are assembled into four main themes: (1) Terminology, including descriptions of sexual behaviour in ways that are inaccurate and pejorative, (2) Representations that endorse culturally dominant stereotypes of gay men as hedonistic, promiscuous, morally irresponsible and interested in sex rather than relationships, (3) Methodology, particularly the use of autobiographical and fictional accounts as reliable sources of data about HIV risk, (4) Ethics, especially the infringement of the dignity of participants in research. We welcome attempts to address the continuing problems of HIV/AIDS but recommend that authors and editors enter into dialogue with colleagues who are members of sexual minority communities as part of the research process.