What is it about circuit parties that continues to attract thousands of gay men to these decadent, weekend-long events, like so many moths drawn, uncontrollably, to the dangerous, blue glow of a bug zapper?
According to a landmark new survey examining the sexual and drug-related habits of men attending circuit parties...the first of its kind in the United States...the No. 1 reason gay men attend these events isn't to have sex or even to get high on drugs.
Ninety-eight percent of the 295 gay and bisexual men that participated in the study said their main motivation for going to a circuit party was to "Listen to the music and dance."
Ninety-sevent percent said their primary reason for attending a circuit party was to "be with friends."
"Circuit parties are viewed by many gay men as life-affirming events," explains Gordon Mansergh, the lead author of the study.
Mansergh, a 38-year-old researcher at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Ga, is an openly gay male who has, himself, attended various circuit party events.
"Being in-tune with various anecdotal accounts of gay men's behavior at these events, not just from the gay press, but from articles appearing in The New York Times and The L.A. Times about circuit parties, we started to realize...as early as four years ago...that it was time to take a quantitative look at them," says Mansergh.
Mansergh and his team of researchers conducted a cross-sectional survey among 295 gay and bisexual men from the San Francisco Bay Area who had attended at least one circuit party in the previous year. Study candidates were enrolled in one of two ways: they were approached by health department staff outside of dance clubs, bars, gyms and sex clubs or contact was established via advertisements, flyers or referrals from friends familiar with the study. A detailed questionnaire, which took 60-minutes to complete, was then administered to participants by an interviewer.
The results of the study were published in the June issue of the American Journal of Public Health, the first time the 91-year-old journal has devoted an entire issue to gay and lesbian health issues.
"We wanted to ask about behavior across an entire weekend [ of a circuit party event ] , which is why we didn't administer the questionnaire at an actual event. If we were to catch people in the middle of the weekend, we would only get what they had did up to that point. If we wanted to recruit people after the weekend was completed, we frankly wouldn't have a very captive audience, as people are in a hurry to leave or to catch a plane."
The survey conducted by Mansergh's team revealed the following:
... 63% of participants attended their first circuit party when they were in their 20s or younger. The median number of circuit parties attended in the previous year was three ( range: 1-16 ) , with 40% having traveled to two or more parties outside the San Francisco area.
... Of the men reporting drug overuse, 50% reported that incidents occurred at dance clubs, while a significantly lower number ( 28% ) reported overuse incidents at a circuit party event.
... Among men reporting drug use, the number of different drugs used ranged from 1 to 7, with a median number of 3. Most men had taken ecstasy or ketamine ( or both ) as well as other substances.
... 74% said they consumed a drug at the actual circuit party event, with 84% ingesting drugs on the dance floor and 63% did so in the restroom.
The findings that most surprised the study's researchers was the high number of men reporting the consumption of more than one drug. Particularly alarming was the high usage of gamma hydroxybutyrate ( or gamma butyrolactone ) ketamine and alcohol, all of which were most commonly reported during overuse incidents.
"Twenty-five percent said they have been incapacitated at one of these events. That means that over a one-year period, one out of four guys had passed out, could not take care of themselves or required medical attention. That is pretty high for a one-year period."
Mansergh is confident about the validity of the survey's results, even though they are based on data that is self-reported.
"Everyone that participated was very interested in being a part of this study," he's says, indicating that if anything, subjects would be more likely to under-report rather over-report their behavior.
The quantitative research from this study also points to a link between the men who used the most drugs and the men who were more likely to have unsafe sex.
In reference to sexual activity, the survey found:
... 45% had sex during the weekend at a private home; 22% had sex in hotel rooms; 9% had sex at the actual event itself, most commonly on the dance floor ( 50% ) or in a restroom ( 39% ) .
... 29% of respondents reported multiple sex partners ( oral and anal ) during a circuit party weekend.
... Of those who had multiple partners, 47% reported unprotected anal sex.
... Among those claiming they had a primary partner, 27% had multiple sex
partners ( oral or anal ) during their most recent circuit party event.
... 67% had any oral or anal sex during their most recent circuit party weekend; 28% had unprotected anal sex, while 21% had protected anal sex only.
An interesting component of the survey examines the "visibility" and "use of prevention materials" at the participant's most recent circuit party event:
... 63% said they saw condoms but only 30% reported actually taking them.
... 28% said they read the safer-sex information provided at these events, while significantly more ( 53% ) said they read drug/safe partying information.
"There is apparently more of a demand for party safe information at this point," muses Mansergh. "More people are using multiple drugs than they are having unsafe sex, according to this survey. My hunch is that people have been reading safer-sex information for years and years but that the drug information may be something more and more men haven't seen before."
Reaction to the study has been mixed. Except for a brief story that appeared on PlanetOut, Mansergh says the gay press has been slow to contact him about the specifics of the study.
Nevertheless, news about the survey inspired a parody that has appeared in e-mail in-boxes all across the country. Written by an unknown source and titled "STUDY LINKS CIRCUIT PARTIES TO ANGST, BITTERNESS," the parody begins with the sentence, "A new study released by the American Public Meddling Foundation revealed today that a whopping 84% of researchers polled just can't stand that people are having fun without them."
"I'm not of the school of thought that these parties need to go away," says Mansergh, who freely admits the survey may not be representational of all gay and bisexual men.
"I think what needs to happen, is more research needs to be conducted in other cities around the country so that we can continue to develop ways of reducing risk behavior and promoting safer ways to party."
