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THEKIRBYINSTITUTE
MEDIARELEASE
Study reveals complexity of gay men’s relationships
Sydney, Australia (10 November 2015) – Results of a national survey of gay men’s
relationships suggest that their partnerships are highly varied and far more complex than just
whether they are monogamous or not.
Released today by the Kirby Institute at UNSW, the study examined how gay and bisexual
men think about and conduct both romantic and sexual relationships. “In contrast to earlier research that lacked detailed questions about types of partnerships,
our study found that only a minority of gay and bisexual men's regular partners can be
appropriately categorised as someone with whom they are actually in a relationship,” said
Professor Garrett Prestage, chief investigator of the study.
Of the 4215 men who participated in the study, almost 70 percent reported having a regular
partner, but this included 26 percent with two or more regular partners. Despite the majority
having at least one regular partner, only half of them described themselves as being ‘in a
relationship’ with any of those partners. A quarter indicated that they had a monogamous
arrangement.
Whether the men were monogamous or not did not appear to be determined by how long
they had been together. Also, those who considered themselves to be in a relationship
tended to have been together longer, with nearly a quarter of men in relationships having
been together more than ten years.
Age may be a factor in determining partnership style: Younger men were somewhat less
likely to consider themselves in a relationship with their primary regular partner although
they were more likely to have just one regular partner and to consider themselves
monogamous. They also had more short-term partnerships.
“The diversity of partnerships observed through this study indicates the complexity of gay
and bisexual men’s sexual behaviour,” said Professor Prestage. “What this means from a
public health perspective is that service-providers need to be aware that many men are
meeting their intimacy and sexual needs from a range of different types of partners.
Clinicians and health promotion professionals engaging with gay and bisexual men about
their ‘relationships’ need to be aware of the different meanings that terms such as ‘partner’,
‘regular partner’, ‘boyfriend’, ‘ sex buddy’, ‘casual partner’, and ‘in a relationship’ carry.”
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The Monopoly Study was a collaboration between the Kirby Institute and the Australian
Research Centre in Sex Health and Society. Funding was provided by National Health and
Medical Research Council.
Read the full report here:
https://kirby.unsw.edu.au/sites/default/files/hiv/attachment/Monopoly%20Report%20%28FIN
AL%29.pdf
Media contact:
Laurie Legere, the Kirby Institute
llegere@kirby.unsw.edu.au
+61 413 476 647
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