75 loads in LA: Situating the 'queer mundane' in viral times

Chris Ashford*, Gareth Longstaff

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

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Abstract

Amidst the HIV and COVID-19 pandemics, this chapter provides an original synthesis of law and culture to explore an aspect of queer desire that we conceptualise as ‘the queer mundane’. We position this as something that addresses how everyday queer encounters with sexual pleasure, desire and regulation connect to the potential of how queer utopian bonds are articulated and lived. Furthermore, it places an emphasis on promiscuous queer encounters with strangers and multiple men in this space of the ‘queer mundane’. It discusses the legal landscape in which one man in Los Angeles, USA, found himself the focus of social media attention, becoming dubbed as ‘that 75 loads guy’ after his videos and stories of a multiple-partner encounter – and the visceral evidence of him ‘taking 75 loads’ of cum – ‘went viral’. Here, we use the ‘75 loads guy’ to situate a socio-legal politics of the ‘queer mundane’ where the ordinariness of the seemingly extraordinary event embraces aspects of queer utopia and its possibilities.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationViral Times
Subtitle of host publicationReflections on the COVID-19 and HIV Pandemics
EditorsJaime García-Iglesias, Maurice Nagington, Peter Aggleton
Place of PublicationLondon
PublisherTaylor & Francis
Pages28-39
Number of pages12
Edition1
ISBN (Electronic)9781040027097, 9781003322788
ISBN (Print)9781032345567
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 30 Apr 2024

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