Drug Use. It’s an open problem within the LGBT community, gay/bi men, and especially the clubbing side of both. Whether it be the ever increasing rise of meth among gay/bi men, it’s the imbalanced effect on queer men of color, or the rise of more creative drugs within the communities, there is a long list of problems. But, it’s the latest problem on that list that was recently addressed by comedian, producer, and YouTuber Michael Henry.
While Henry is no stranger to addressing issues among gay/bi men and club life, his recent short film Adjacent comes to mind, the importance of Henry’s latest video is substantial. In it, we see Henry with actors Michael Fariss and Chris Renfro discussing the rise of GHB in club culture. As the group discuss, GHB is considered a “date rape drug,” and the drug is being coined as G and used by gay men as an extra way to get high while partying.
As Michael Fariss explains, “I was in a a paralyzed-like state, I shook, I had heart palpitations, and I was completely incoherent. My friend said I projectile vomited and fell through a skylight. But before that I was horny as hell.”
But Chris reasons, “So you’re micro-dosing the date rape drug to feel peak buzz?”
Honestly, this is a very important conversation to have about gay/bi men and club culture. It’s scary, it’s real, and it needs to be addressed. Thank you Michael Henry for starting the conversation, which you can watch down below.
Christ, G has been on the party scene since 2000. In fact I remember guys ‘G’ing out was a fairly regular sight at most circuit parties. That seems to have lessened although so has the circuit. Not sure this is anything new.
Parents, friends, brothers and sisters, pay attention to your loved ones…. This G culture is what my brother was involved in and that which so severely compromised his career, health and life. He was so into this he was arrested for trafficking GHB in Nevada…. very serious shit. Although this appears in a gay publication, I urge all to read this article and watch this video and to take heed of a real serious issue among the LBGT community!~
Parents, friends, brothers and sisters, pay attention to your loved ones…. This G culture is what my brother was involved in and that which so severely compromised his career, health and life. He was so into this he was arrested for trafficking GHB in Nevada…. very serious shit. Although this appears in a gay publication, I urge all to read this article!~
If you enjoyed this video, you might also like a more serious approach to discussing the topic of gay men and recreational drugs from my blog article from 2016, here: https://gaytherapyla.com/of-potions-pills-and-powders-the-role-of-alcohol-and-drugs-in-gay-mens-relationships/
I am a licensed psychotherapist in Los Angeles with over 28 years of experience working almost exclusively with gay male individuals and couples, and a speaker on gay men’s issues (and mental health), and have presented numerous seminars on the issue of drugs used recreationally, which is something that goes beyond gay men, and into all peoples, cultures, and time periods in history. It’s a mixed situation; there can be a lot of fun with this, and a lot of serious risks.
While I admire Michael Henry’s work as a comedian, actor, and writer, we have to take videos that are primarily for comedic entertainment and separate that from a serious medical and mental health discussion of drugs. This video does not substitute for actual government public-health sponsored material, or, more specifically, “harm reduction” information. One of the problems in the United States is that it lags behind places like many countries in Europe and elsewhere regarding valuable public health education on harm reduction and drug use, because of Republicans in government who refuse to fund public information campaigns on sex and drugs out of bigoted homophobia and judgementalism, leaving our public without possibly life-saving information, lumping all drugs together as equally dangerous, when they are not (as my article explains).
We can applaud Michael Henry and his colleagues for this fun entertainment, but is not a substitute for the somewhat “dryer” factual information we need. We still, as a gay male community, need to DEMAND our right to receive public health information about drugs that is not misinformed, exaggerated, or misleading due to moralistic judgment. We have a right to accurate and useful information; RISE UP as a community and demand this of our government and public health officials. We deserve nothing less.