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How is the internet affecting us? Recently we held a public form (with LifeLube) on the topic on how online communites, podcasts, forums, blogs and videos are changing not only the way we see ourselves, but how the general public thinks about queer folks.

Let’s face it. There’s a whole lot of crazy on the internet, and what seemed far out a decade ago is kind of boring by today’s standards. Your sex life is probably not as weird as you thought it once was. That’s progress.

On today’s show we’re revising the topic of the impact of the internet with Dr. Brian Mustanski, an Assistant Professor at the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Brian developed one of the first online studies of gay lesbian and bisexual people and is now working on “Keep it Up” an online HIV infection prevention program for young men. The majority of his work focuses on the development of “sexual minority” people and how the Internet affects us.

Listen as we talk about internet addiction, the risks of online dating and hookups and what science has taught us about human sexuality in the past year.

Misconceptions surrounding what turns us on, the mind body disconnect, how pheromones turn us on, why gay couples are happier than their hetero counterparts and the fluidity of female sexual orientation.

People debate if bisexuality is a temporary stage of denial, a transition on the way to being gay or a third type of sexual orientation. A study followed non-heterosexual women over 10 years and found, 2/3 of women changed the identity labels they had claimed at the beginning of the study, and 1/3 changed labels 2 or more times. The study conducted by L.M. Diamond suggests a fluidity to female sexual orientation, but that bisexual identity does appear to be distinct from identifying as a lesbian.

According to a study by Savic and Lindstrom, some parts of the brain are organized more around sexual orientation to men or women than they are organized around sex itself. Interesting patterns of brain activation to same-sex pheromones in gay men (“i.e. the nose knows.”). Sexual orientation may be wired into the brain before birth.

A disturbing fact is that the US underestimated prevalence of HIV by as much as 40% and up to 53% among MSM. This means there have probably been about 10,000 more MSM infected with HIV each year than previously thought.

Same-sex couples in domestic partnerships are more likely to stay together. Compared with heterosexual married participants, male and female same-sex couples reported greater relationship quality, compatibility, and intimacy and lower levels of conflict. Gay couples are better!

And finally, internet sex seeking doesn’t lead to HIV risk behaviors. I’m missing the link here, but we’ll find it!

Don’t miss our Meet & Greet in San Francisco!Click here to donate to our travel fund.

• Meet & Greet in San Francisco
Meet Fausto Fernós, Marc Felion and Peaches Christ unmasked!
Thursday, August 21, 2008 • 7-10pm
Pilsner Inn
225 Church Street, San Francisco, CA

See you there!
Check out today’s sponsor:

Gay, Sexy, Healthy- Lifelube.org
Your “big tent” guide to gay men’s health,
from sex and drugs to Faeries and Bears
Your friendly concierge for all that’s gay, sexy and healthy.

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