Chemsex: Addicted

Independent.

The only people addicted to chemsex are the journalists who can't stop writing about it.

Chemsex: The Horror Story

Still working on a response to Paul Flynn's Observer feature, the latest instalment in the media's moral panic du jour.

But it's hard to get past that headline for one thing.

I know journalists rarely write their own, but really; 'addicted'?!!

A media scare word - crazed, out of control, they can't stop themselves - it is meaningless here.

And 'IT'S A HORROR STORY'!!???

Great set up, I wonder what we can expect?

A balanced dispassionate piece?

Then there's what appears to be a visual homage to a series of arrest mugshots - guilty men?

FFS.

More later, check my Twitter 4 teh LOLZ! 

Oooh that looks really scary!!!

Update: Oh, I dunno... Paul's one of the best gay journalists around, but I think he's misunderstood that many people have criticisms not so much of the documentary, Chemsex, but of the media's current hysterical obsession with this subject.

Just once I'd like to read an article about chemsex that didn't buy into that whole 'all gay men are just victims and our pleasures can only be signs of pathology and the wages of sin are death and the chemsex scene is secretly some weird suicide cult coz internalised homophobia' gay mis lit narrative.

Maybe Chemsex: A Horror Story would have been a more honest title for the film?

It does after all come from Tom Abell, the film's distributor, and thus Chemsex's main pusher.

David Stuart, we learn, 'provides Chemsex's voice of reason' [don't laugh], but why is he here as always treated like some charismatic cult leader, the eternally unchallenged leader of London's anti-chemsex cabal, and the beloved guru of the many journalists who are addicted to writing about it?

Fittingly, David, the Mother Teresa of Soho, takes centre-stage in the 'icons of Chemsex' photomontage ilustrating the piece.

Paul Flynn concludes by rightly bemoaning cuts in funding for groups like 56 Dean Street ('The film arrives amid a £200m health cut. Of the many people I hope get to see Chemsex, perhaps Jeremy Hunt will be among the first'), but fails to see this might be a reason David Stuart is hyping the chemsex 'endemic'. *

Night.
x

* Similarly Flynn foregrounds the article with; 'This is the first film to explore a gay subculture that’s recently found notoriety in the mainstream media after the NHS and the British Medical Journal identified it as a health priority,'

He does not mention that the co-author of the short BMJ report and its main spokesbot was Paul Willis, who works at Antidote, another London LGBT drugs service. linked to 56 Dean Street. And yes, one D. Stuart used to work there.

The statistics the BMJ report cited were usually obediently regurgitated without question in the fulsome media coverage, and often further mangled.

Chemsex: Lives Ruined Etc

Chemsex, a documentary by William Fairman and Max Gogarty, examines the burgeoning popularity of chemically-enhanced sexual encounters among young gay men. Following self-confessed ‘slammers’ and the health workers who are trying to encourage safe sex, Chemsex examines how addictive pleasures can feed self-destruction and despair. Chemsex, which played at the London film festival last month, will be released in the UK on Friday 4 December 

Guardian online - present a 'clip from documentary about the fight to save lives ruined by drug and sex dependence' [sic].

*******

[Scary music] We see David Stuart, the Mother Teresa Of Dean Street, walking round his palatial gay men's drugs clinic talking about 'hordes of gay men self-medicating their way through complicated sexual identity and experience [sic] with really harmful drugs.'

'Average number of sexual partners? Sometimes as many as...'

Have to stop him there, as you can't estimate an average by saying 'sometimes as many as'.

Cut to Simon, he's just got back home after having chemsex; 'Had a good time', says the poor wretched and dejected soul.

He tells us his tragic life story; 'school and family were pretty much fine, I had no complaints and was pretty fortunate with that. I'd never experienced misery, depresson, anxiety; I don't know whyfore I do this to myself...'

He says he also had some GHB earlier; 'So it was good.'

Which might answer his own question.

Fin.

Why won't he admit to his 'self-destruction and despair'!!??

False memory syndrome!!

PS The Guardian should perhaps have mentioned that Chemsex director, Max Gogarty, is this guy; Hate mail hell of a gap-year blogger: Cyber-bullies who attacked young author are accused of class hatred. 

When Max Gogarty, a 19-year-old gap-year student, landed a coveted blogging spot on which to chronicle his two-month backpacking adventure around India and Thailand, he could have never predicted how his moment of triumph would backfire so spectacularly.

But within 24 hours of his first posting on the guardian.co.uk travel pages, the teenager was swamped by a tidal wave of internet hate mail as he became a victim of the phenomenon of 'going viral'. As the north London teenager was touching down in Mumbai, hundreds of comments - many vitriolic - were appearing not only on his blog, but on scores of message boards and social networking forums, including Facebook and high-profile gossip sites such as Holy Moly.

The astonishing reaction was provoked when surfers spotted that he had the same surname as Paul Gogarty, a travel writer who occasionally contributes to the Guardian. Readers presumed he was a privileged public school boy whose father had secured him the blog spot and whose gap-year travels were being funded by the newspaper... 

Poor thing.

NB Chemsex is a Vice film. Their last gay-themed documentary was Searching For Spitman; 'Why are young men on London's council estates performing deviant acts on a person they call "Spitman"? This is a journey through the depths of West London. A story of what some of the young men on these estates will do for money...'

So, obviously they're not interested in sensationalism about some 'seedy' hidden world. 

PS The directors of Chemsex, Gogarty and William Fairman, are both straight. Perhaps making this documentary was like a cinematic gap year for young Max, rich boy's tourism, and a venture into a wild, exotic other?

Chemsex: Addicted To The Craze!

One of Britain’s leading medical experts on “chemsex” – the use of illegal drugs during sex – has called for a broader NHS response to the phenomenon after a survey found high levels of risky behaviour among HIV-positive users in London.

David Stuart, who runs a chemsex support service at Europe’s busiest sexual health clinic, 56 Dean Street in London, said the response to the trend should not be “skewed by stigma, shame and moral judgments” as in the Aids epidemic in the 1980s...
The Guardian.

With respect, it's hard to think of anyone but David 'Chicken Licken' Stuart more likely to resort to “stigma, shame and moral judgments” about chemsex.

PS 'Two of the men became addicted to the craze...' LOL!

This has to be one of the most lunatic episodes of media hysteria of recent times.

Well, at least since their 'Putin = Hitler' and 'VIP Paedophile Ring' fantasies.

I give up.

Chemsex: The Trailer

Chemsex: the name given to the rising phenomenon which refers to the use of drugs in a sexual context. Often referring to group sex that can last for days, the allure of chemsex has lead to many young men being trapped in a vicious circle of sex, addiction and dependence.

This powerful and potent film tells the stories of gay men whose lives have been affected by the crisis; from self-confessed ‘slammers’ to sexual health workers, from those who deny there’s a problem to those who ‘got out alive’. Offering unprecedented access, Chemsex is a brave and unflinching journey into the dark underworld of modern, urban gay life.
 
“VICE has always endeavoured to explore underreported [LOL!!!] and complex issues that involve incredible characters and human stories. After vice.com first reported in 2013 on the unprecedented rise in intravenous drug use in London’s gay party scene, we felt that story needed to be explored further,” said Al Brown, Head of Video at VICE...

Attitude online - I bet they'll do a special CHEMSEX! issue soon.

Seen the two (2) plays, read all the hysterical articles, now watch the movie!

It's the subject 'no-one's talking about' that everyone's talking about!

Warning: Contains David Stuart and doubtless the rest of London's Chemsex Hysterics Anonymous cabal.

Chemsex: Exterminate! Exterminate!

So looking ahead, what’s the future for chemsex within our communities?

Easy. We’ll eradicate it. Quicker than it started. We’ll do it through kindness, tolerance, and dialogue. We’ll do it by reflecting on what it means to be an awesome, great gay man, and by being productive, fearless contributors to a robust gay community. How many gay men does it take to screw in this lightbulb? Every single damned one of us, together. I have faith. See ya later chemsex, you’re licked. 

The quite astonishing conclusion to an article in FS by David Stuart.

David runs the 'chemsex clinics' at 56 Dean Street.


Surely the first drugs worker/campaigner who wants to 'eradicate' drug use since Nancy 'Just say no' Reagan?

Here's a role play video where David advises a chemsexer he'd be happier if he went for nice romantic meals instead.

PS Thanks to How Upsetting.

David Stuart will be talking at this next month, The Rise Of Chemsex.

Joining Matthew [Todd] in an explosive discussion will be William Fairman and Max Gogarty directors of the new feature length documentary ‘CHEMSEX’; David Stuart, Substance Use Lead at 56 Dean Street and Pat Cash organiser of the popular ‘Let’s Talk About Gay Sex and Drugs’ events...

Forgive me, but don't all the panellists agree that 'Chemsex = sad/bad/mad/wrong'?

If so, I can't see the 'discussion' being that 'explosive'.

What's that phrase? 'A herd of independent minds...'

Theatre News: The Clinic

Two boys go on a date through Grindr. One is trying to reduce his use of mephedrone and G, the other is struggling with his recent HIV diagnosis.

When their date goes wrong, their paths spiral in different directions. Symptoms of modern gay London are encountered from slamming to intimacy problems, and the mental health effects of growing up LGBT in a straight man's world.

But avenues of support exist in both boys' shared sexual health advisor, and a remarkable trans woman who runs the beauty clinic in Vauxhall. And at the play's heart lies a very contemporary gay love story.

Written by Patrick Cash, The Clinic is informed by many hours of interviews and unprecedented access to NHS sexual health clinic 56 Dean Street in Soho. It is directed by Luke Davies (LAMDA), produced by Lead Substance Use Advisor at 56 Dean Street David Stuart and features a cast of legendary gay scene figures and incendiary new queer talent.

The Clinic is at King’s Head Theatre, 115 Upper Street, Islington, N1 1QN, Monday 24th to Saturday 29th August.

Hilariously the play features Fagburn's old chum, Stewart Who?, playing a character based on his nemesis, David Stuart.

Here's an Attitude online interview with the cast.

Full disclosure; The Clinic is written by Patrick Cash, who once wrote a very nice article about Fagburn. 

I am sure he will deftly critique the media's current moral panic and hysteria about chemsex...

David Stuart writes on the joy of chemsex in the new FS magazine.

BBC Radio 4: Chemsex

Being a modern multi-media kinda guy I've been livetweeting during this Radio 4 shock doc. >>>

Might not calm down enough from hearing about the FULL ABJECT HORROR OF THIS SORDID GAY DRUGS DEATH CULT for a bit, but will try and write something like a proper review soon. x

Quick review: Not as ALL THESE GAY DRUG SLUTS ARE GONNA DIE as I'd feared. Much of it sounded like an ad for the chemsex scene. Clearly the work of David 'Chicken Licken' Stuart. I know of one contributor who spoke against his self-serving narco-hysteria narrative who was left on the cutting room floor. The conclusion - 'Why don't they go on dinner dates?' - was too funny for words.

PS Mobeen Azhar summarizes his programme in an article for Attitude online.

An interview with GT appears to have been written by a school matron trying to out vanilla him; 'So it’s a lonely and sad lifestyle?' etc etc

There's also a 10 minute report on the Victoria Derbyshire Programme on iPlayer (1.20 in).

You also might find this of interest; Sigma Research's The Chemsex Study: Drug Use In Sexual Settings Among Gay and Bisexual Men In Lambeth, Sothwark & Lewisham.

It's a serious and thorough piece of research, and not more of the dodgy and sensationalist narco-hysteria about gay men and drugs that the straight and gay media like to fixate on.

Fagburn: Professional Troll

Describing itself as a ‘a blog about gay men and the media, politics and your actual gay culture’, the writer’s ostensible aim is to single-handedly shear away the stereotyping fluff that surrounds the reporting of gay men in various outlets, with targets ranging from The Sun to The Guardian. Some of it is incisively brilliant – certain gay publications themselves often come under repeated fire for sometimes appearing to cover nothing more than Dan Osborne’s abs –, but a lot of it reads like a bitter queen sitting in an armchair in Brighton, spitting cocoa apoplectically at their antiquated laptop’s screen and spraying the venom of chocolate hobnob crumbs over their keyboard as they furiously jab out their entries one-fingered. All of it purports to give the reader ‘truth’, and this is when it gets dangerous: for of course, all that Fagburn really gives his readers is his own swivel-eyed opinion of the world. Fagburn is, ultimately, a professional troll...

Fagburn: When The Trolls Come To Town, Patrick Cash, QX magazine. 

LOL!

It's funny cause it's true - except it's usually me spitting tea and ginger nuts, tbh.

This is from last month, but I've only just seen it.

Unlike some other bitter queens I could mention, I don't obsessively Google myself.

Fagburn apologises unreservedly for questioning something you published about gay men and drugs.
He promises not to do it again, and will now concentrate on trying to be 'incisively brilliant'.

K?

x

A gay troll, pictured recently.

For the record, I've often said I think QX does a lot of excellent and important stuff. I'll go further, if you compare it to certain other free gay mags, it's stunningly good. But I'll carry on contesting its lapses into nebulous fact-free drugs hysteria. x

Drugs: The Problem With Pleasure

A third of gay or bisexual men took illegal drugs in the last year, according to official figures published today.

Drug use by gay or bisexual men was three times higher than for straight men and was higher in the majority of individual drugs consumed including cocaine, ecstasy, amphetamines and cannabis.

Illegal drug use by gay or bisexual women was four times higher at almost 23 per cent than among heterosexual women, figures from the Crime Survey of England and Wales said.

“Gay or bisexual adults were more likely to have taken any illicit drug in the last year than heterosexual adults. In particular, gay or bisexual men were the group most likely to have taken any illicit drug in the last year, with higher levels of illicit drug use than gay or bisexual women and heterosexual men”, the crime survey said.

The 2013/14 figures estimate a third of gay men and almost 23 per cent of gay women took an illegal drug in the past year compared with 11.1 per cent of heterosexual men...

The Times.

Here's the relevant section in the crime survey.

For reasons that should be obvious, if there are two pretty everyday behaviours that it's hard to get reliable data on it's people's drug use and sexuality.

What's interesting here is that similar figures keep being reported; gay men are three times as likely as the general population to use recreational drugs - figures of around 30% to 10% also regularly surface.  

What Fagburn finds fascinating is why this is so often problematicised; the 'logic' presumably being that drugs are bad, and people only take them if they're mad or sad.

Of course, they used to say the same thing about buggery...

But why not accentuate the positive and frame it as; 'Yay! Gay men are having three times as much fun'.

PS Here's a textbook 'My Gay Drugs Hell' article from EQ View today. In what way does this tell us anything about the vast majority of gay men's experiences of drugs? Why are no other accounts permissible? Here's a report from London Friend on the above survey's findings - apparently it's 'a dismal picture'. Why? The current issue of Attitude has a feature about 'slamming' - as ever the source for this supposed 'epidemic' is our old friend David Stuart. I could go on...

GHB: The Gay Community Speaks

GHB for alcohol withdrawal? A message from the gay commmunity; let's not introduce GHB to a new population of addicts http://t.co/TikrF2cU3k
— David Stuart (@davidastuart) June 23, 2014

Thanks for speaking on behalf of the entire gay community, David!
x

PS Let's be honest about the risks and the pleasures for drug users, Adam Winstock, The Observer.

Chemsex: Eh?

I think if my little sister was having sex with dozens of men a month, and using drugs most of those times, I’d say yeah; little sis, you have a chemsex problem.

But for gay men, casual sex and drugs are such a normal part of our social vocabulary and lifestyle, preaching sobriety and monogamy is something that can get you chastised by fellow activists and hounded by trolls on social media.

So does that make me a prude? Does it make me misogynistic? Does it make me the betrayer of all the freedoms gay men have fought for, for decades?

David Stuart, fs magazine. 

But gay men aren't little girls, David.

Oh, hang on you say that a bit later on. 

'But gay men are not little girls, nor is it my grandiose self-appointed job to dictate how we live our lives.'

Could have fooled me, Dave.
x

Chemsex: Ask A Silly Question

Yes, it has.
Mainly by David Stuart, who has a vested interest in talking this up as a 'problem'.
See also his narco-hysteria about gay men and crystal meth, GHB etc etc...
Thanks for asking.

This comes after the Pink News interview above. Guess the sources!

PS If you want to be taken seriously, David - and not be seen as just a rampant and vain self-publicist - why do you send out some photo of yourself giving us all a teasing Grindr-esque glimpse of your manly muscled tits?

Just a thought.

Update: The Guardian have run a shockingly bad story on this nonsense. Fagburn asked this journalist, Denis Campbell, if he had evidence to back this - sadly after filing this story, and claiming to be a Health Correspondent - he has now disappeared.

STI: A Perfect Storm

When The Independent meets David Stuart it is a perfect storm of hysterical nonsense.
Another "crisis"?!!
This man is the gay Chicken Licken.
Or is it David Icke?