Chasing Utopias: Chemsex as Liberation in Gay Singapore
Rayner Kay Jin Tan, Postdoctoral Fellow, Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore
Friday, 30 April 2021, 5–6pm Singapore time (GMT +8), via Zoom
Sexualized substance use, or ‘chemsex’, in the gay male community has been raised as an issue of concern by the media in Singapore as well as among international public health practitioners. How do we interpret this phenomenon in light of a socio-political backdrop where the criminalization of sex between men, homophobia, and strict drug laws prevail? While one may attribute such deviance solely to individual responsibility and agency, structural elements play an instrumental role in developing preconditions for, and reproducing trauma and neglect that underpin chemsex, as well as privilege it as a form of coping.
Rayner Tan is a postdoctoral fellow at Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore. He is completing his PhD at the same school, and was previously trained in sociology at Singapore Management University. His research revolves around topics at the intersection of health, gender and deviance.
Tan’s seminar is organised in collaboration with the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore.
DISCUSSANT
Travis Kong is Associate Professor in Sociology at the University of Hong Kong. His action-oriented and interdisciplinary research specializes in Chinese homosexuality and masculinity, commercial sex in Hong Kong and China, social impacts of HIV/AIDS, and transnational Chinese sexuality. He mainly teaches gender and sexuality studies, as well as media and cultural studies. More.
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