In this conversation, I will take the participant on the unexpected journey that will have LGBTQ+ perspectives of their tales of a ‘Friendship with Fuck It”, this will include reading a ballad I wrote when I first started in recovery now 4 years ago. Today in my work with clients, I know both personally and professionally a now not so knew phenomenon called ‘Chemsex’. I first saw it starting to evolve through friends in about 2005 with people having small sex parties at the weekend. These were well organised and ground rules were established with attendees, which is very different from some of the ChemSex parties of today. Then when I worked at an HIV centre in West London, 2009-2013, we saw an increase in the complexity of needs that clients presented on registering at the service. They were often facing co-infection of HIV & Hepatitis C, and dual diagnosis of drug or alcohol issues presenting themselves. Is it time that our LGBTQ+ community has a conversation about consent? As LGBTQ+ folk we have often been policed for our sexual behaviour or how we express ourselves sexually. As a former member of the kink community myself. I was fearful of going to the police to gain support. After facing a recent incident, I have come to realise that the conversation we have around consent within the kink community, is not a wider conversation we are having as an LGBTQ+ community andmy feelings are that as a community, we should have had a better response to the MeToo Campaign. This will lead into beginning the conversation I feel we need to be having.
