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This paper discusses the interaction between alcohol use and love relationships among a sample of male homosexuals. Alcohol use is ubiquitous in the gay world, affecting couples as well as single men. Love relationships appear to reduce bar attendance, but do not necessarily affect alcohol consumption. Drinking may be encouraged through participation in a closed circle of coupled associates, through adoption of an "elegant" lifestyle, by involvement with an older, more sophisticated lover or with a partner who is a bartender. In addition, stresses and strains in a relationship, often the result of unclear role definitions and consequent power and equality issues, may increase drinking. Reductions in alcohol use were often the result of feeling secure in the relationship. Drinking, which is often encouraged, or at least not discouraged in the gay subculture, may lead to the dissolution of a couple.

This proposed book is an anthology of both original and reprinted articles on sexuality from a sociological perspective. The readings in this collection focus on the diverse and multi-layered meanings of sexuality, sexual behaviors and sexual identities. The essays in this book will explore sexuality as a social process. As a whole, the book takes the perspective that what each of us understands to be sexual is constructed through everyday social processes and interaction, situated in particular spaces and moments, identified through our social-sexual presentations, and symbolized through language, objects and practices. The book is organized around these four distinct but interrelated processes, and augmented by personal narratives around relevant issues. The purpose of this book is to broaden students' perspectives on sexuality by providing