"A safe way to explore": Reframing risk on the Internet amidst young gay men's search for identity.

Internet use provides a vital opportunity for sexual minority youth to learn about sexual desires and pursue partnerships otherwise publically stigmatized. Researchers, however, have portrayed the Internet as an inherently risky venue for HIV/STI transmission among young gay men (YGM). We therefore investigated how YGM use the Internet during adolescence and emerging adulthood.

Achieving Safety: Safer Sex, Communication, and Desire among Young Gay Men.

Conceptualizations of safer sex practices among young gay men (YGM) are frequently structured around communication between partners and the subsequent utilization or absence of condoms in a sexual encounter. Drawing on a sample of 34 in-depth interviews with YGM, ages 18 to 24, we explore the ways in which conceptualizations and definitions of safer sex are discussed and enacted. Placing attention on their safer sex practices, we analyze the conversations that do and do not occur among YGM and their partners, including the strategies (e.

Mr. Right and Mr. Right Now: romantic and casual partner-seeking online among young men who have sex with men.

Dating is a normative behavior for youth, yet few studies have examined the relationship between romantic partner-seeking and sexual behavior among young men who have sex with men (YMSM). This omission is most notable across studies examining YMSM's partner-seeking behaviors online. In this study, we examined the relationship between sexual behaviors and online partner-seeking behaviors for casual and romantic partners in a sample of YMSM (N = 431; M = 21.