Motivations, meanings and risk in gay men sexual encounters in the Ciudad Autonoma de Buenos Aires in the context of covid-19.

Abstract

We aimed to identify the motivations of gay men on the AMBA to break the governmental policy of Obligatory Preventive Social Isolation (APSO) with the purpose of sexual encounter. We designed a qualitative-exploratory study, where twenty semi-structured interviews were applied to equal number of gay men. The sample was intentional and not representative, the contact was established through the application of GRINDER and TINDER arranging the interviews by telephone or in person. We found that interviewees have broken quarantine mainly motivated by “the fever”, the difficulty of keeping the “abstinence”, and the “desire to have sex”, in the context or a highly personal value of freedom and the familiarity with clandestine behavior. Some took measures to lower the risk of covid-19, by using covered mouths and alcohol-based gel, others mentioned that they are not part of a risk group.