Bareback sex, queer legal theory, and evolving socio-legal contexts

This article seeks to explore bareback sex in the context of an evolving socio-legal landscape. The emergence of homonormativity and the intrinsic focus upon marriage and an agenda of domesticity have cemented the ‘good gay’ at the heart of contemporary society. For the ‘bad queer’, bareback as identity and bareback as act can be negotiated as points of difference, but the law continues to struggle with such difference. Instead, we increasingly see doctrinal law along with the force of law seeking to erase bareback sex, notably in the context of pornography. This piece argues for the radical power of bareback sex as a liberation-inspired concept, one that serves as point of resistance to law.