The gays are reportedly entering a slutty golden age—but is it true?

According to a buzzy article from The Cut, there’s never been a better time to be gay and f*cking. It’s a case that’s pretty easily made. As author and self-described “graying otter” Steven Phillips-Horst explains, thanks to the confluence of easy PrEP and Doxy access, hangover-free party drugs, and Sniffies’ hole-forward platform, the pursuit of gay sex not only easier than ever, but less risky than ever before.

But the real question here is: which gay community is he talking about?

The article centers on the perhaps unique experience of gay millennials, who grew up “steeped in Madonna, Will & Grace, and AIDS” and now get to experience something closer to the idealized free love, d*cks-out bathhouse era of the ’70s.

We get quotes from people in presumably well-paid media and media-adjacent professions, and you get the feeling that they’re all going to the same circuit parties. Most of the men discussed are in or approaching middle age. The few mentions of zoomers in the article refer to them as less interested in sex and drugs, and the even fewer mentions of trans people leave much to be desired.

How about we take this to the next level?

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Which makes sense, because the lived experiences of these communities don’t support this thesis. It may well be a golden age of sex, drugs, and cocoa puffs for some—but not everyone can afford to join the fun. And those who do seem to act like the only way to discuss HIV and STI risk is through the lens of avoidance.

Too commonly, in articles like this, there’s plenty of discussion around HIV prevention, but no mention of people who are already living with HIV. There is one fleeting reference to the increasingly conservative, anti-gay political climate, and it’s taken for granted that with enough G and enough hole, it’s easy enough to forget we’re living in a time that’s political horrible to be gay and trans.

Some of us, however, can’t forget it. While it might be easier than ever for cis men to get casual T injections “delivered to your door by Hims,” trans people in need of gender-affirming care are faced daily with the threat of having it taken away.

For trans people, HRT access—especially if you get it through Medicare—is under threat and subject to gatekeeping. In the wake of the Minnesota tragedy, we’re already seeing bad faith arguments about trans people being more likely to enact violence.

The broader gay community is facing another looming threat. As Phillips-Horst states, PrEP is now available in twice-yearly injections, which is big news. But it’s also possible that soon enough, thanks to the Medicare cuts that also harm trans access to care, no one will be able to afford it.

It may be a golden age of casual sex for some queer people, but it’s also a new dark age for many others. Yes, we’ve moved away from the sex phobia and trauma of the AIDS crisis, but we’ve also moved away from that era’s groundbreaking activism—and that’s not something to be celebrated.

The few dark notes sounded in the piece concern capitalism’s easy and happy co-opting of gay identity, which is definitely scary in its own way. But it’s not the main problem here. In an earlier era, gay sex and gay activism went hand in hand. Now, it feels like sex has become a distraction from the fact that any day now, we could wake up to the loss of our hard-won rights.

Here’s the breakdown…

Best sentence: “It’s no longer gay culture that has captured the Zeitgeist but gay sex.”

Biggest Carrie Bradshaw moment: “As I looked around me at all the septum’ed zoomers, I wondered, Are any of them real c*mdumps, or are they just wearing a hat?”

Cringiest moment: “And it’s not just gay male DINKS with six-figure salaries benefiting. The dolls, twinks, and other folks of roommate experience living in the GoFundMe corridor also get to revel in this libidinal largesse.”

Okay so why weren’t any of these people interviewed? Let’s hear from a doll who’s depending on GoFundMe for her gender-affirming care! What about a transmasc whose experience of Sniffies is less than ideal? What about one of the septum-wearing zoomers who has bigger problems than avoiding a hangover on Zoom the next day?

Most tone-deaf moment: Referring to HIV transmission as “infection.” We don’t do that anymore.

Best comment: Many readers had great points to make about what this article does and doesn’t cover, but this commenter won the day. “G does not mix with alcohol at all,” they wrote. “You can suffocate in your sleep because your brain no longer tells your body to breathe… A couple years ago, Brock Coylar wrote a piece about gay life for NYMag and passingly referred to the drug by its more known designation as a date rape drug. It’s interesting how the writing about it has shifted.”

Interesting, to say the very least.

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