Having too many people itching to talk about their activism is a good problem to have. For the organizers of the third annual European Chemsex Forum, that seemed to be the case.
“We’re not as worried about proving it’s happening,” said Bryan Teixeira, the event’s chair, during the wrap-up for the first full day of the conference, held in Paris from November 14-16. Addressing issues around sexualized drug use within queer and trans communities, it convened over 200 activists, service providers and directly-impacted people from across Europe and Central Asia. The hosting hotel bustled with attendees speaking English, French or Russian as they picked up safer consumption kits, condoms and pamphlets from organizations’ tables.
“Some people are curious about some products. Some might try it. Some might return to it or not. Some people retain a curiosity for it. Some can choose when they use it. It’s only [without] the freedom to choose when, where and with whom … to do chemsex, it becomes a problem.”
One attendee had questioned Teixeira about whether the theme for the November 15 session—”Evidence and Data”—was accurate, given that the program seemed to be everything but that, featuring plenaries on the role of pleasure and quality of life in chemsex, and workshops on drug checking and Amsterdam’s STI prevention efforts.
The only workshop that overtly fit the theme was on chemsex research in Eastern Europe and Central Asia—a region that continues to be understudied. “It’s like being in a darkroom in a gay bar,” said one Russian harm reduction activist. “You know something’s going on but you can’t see clearly. That’s what chemsex is like for us in the region.”
But the general de-centering of epidemiology and quantitative research isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Teixeira said that sharing data was critical for past Forums, but that the tide has turned. “Now we’re talking about what are we going to do.” Read more via Filter