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This paper analysis sexual scripts theory in relation to gay men courtship, love relationships, and casual sex. The aim is to understand how gay masculinity is evolving in the 21st Century. Previous research has reinforced the concept that gay men follow heterosexual masculinity and scripts in their relationships with other men. Here, analysing data from the most used gay dating app ‘Grindr’, we try to understand the balance among the different needs gay men in Italy express in their daily lives: from friendship to love, from casual sex to long-term relationships. Indeed, applying the heterosexual cultural script to gay men is problematic because hegemonic masculinity is also reinforced in gay interactions instead of being contested. Gay sexuality means the construction of hybrid relations: intimacy, trust, friendship, reciprocity, and sex merge together in unprecedented ways [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sexual desire represents the most complex and subjective part of the sexual response and erotic fantasies are one of its common manifestation. Over the years, efforts have been made to promote a more positive and informed approach to sexuality and the following study has the general aim of exploring whether and how desire and fantasies have been changed in this process. The study inquires sexual desire, solitary and dyadic, and the erotic fantasies in a group of women with the aim of highlighting any differences between some sexual orientations (heterosexual, bisexual, and homosexual). Methods: participants were recruited by social network (Instagram, Facebook, etc.) and voluntarily agreed to fill in an online selfreport questionnaire. The group is composed by 1094 women (mean age 27.86 ± 9.09 years) with three different sexual orientation, most of them are students and in a relationship. We used three different questionnaires: a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Sexual Desire Inventory-2 (SDI-2; Spector et al., 1996) to investigate levels of solitary and dyadic sexual desire, and the Sexual Desire and Erotic Fantasy Inventory (SDEF) to investigate levels of solitary and dyadic sexual desire and the erotic fantasies. Results: bisexual women report a higher level of solitary sexual desire (SDI-2: F(2,1090)=28.14; SDEF: F(2,1091)=26.93) and dyadic sexual desire (SDI-2: F(2,1090)=9.29). They also report a higher frequency in almost all erotic fantasies presented by SDEF, For example, in BDSM fantasies (Bondage - Domination/Discipline - Submission/Sadism - Masochism) such as "being handcuffed, bound and/or gagged" (F(2,1994)=16.821), "being hit (spanked, slapped etc.)" (F(2,1994)=15.407) and "being dominated/submissive" (F(2,1994)=18.934) bisexual women report a higher frequency, as well as in fantasy "having sexual intercourse with two people" (F(2,1994)=44.180). The results highlight a significative difference between the three groups in the solitary sexual desire with a higher level in bisexual women. In the dyadic sexual desire levels, there is a difference only between bisexual and heterosexual women. From the analysis of the erotic fantasies, it emerged that bisexual women report a higher frequency in almost all the 120 fantasies on the SDEF list. The results show that women's fantasies tend to be more personal, with imaginary partners they are in relationship with or know about. This study can be a valuable springboard for future research in the field of erotic fantasies, where women are even less taken into consideration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Previous studies traditionally took for granted the fact that everyone presents high interest in having a romantic partner (McKinney & Sprecher, 1991). This assumption may be wrong, in particular among gay males. The objective of this study was to create a questionnaire named Love Interest Scale (LIS), which is brief, multidimensional and potentially administrable to individuals of any sexual orientation. Its internal consistency and structural validity are evaluated on a sample composed of gay males. The questionnaire was administered to 177 homosexual men from Italy. An exploratory factor analysis and a confirmatory factor analysis were executed. The CFA was executed both with and without parcelling.The questionnaire is composed of 43 items divided into four factors: «emotional sphere» (12 items); «lack of investment» (14 items); «desire for support» (9 items); «desire for family» (8 items). The analysis showed a clear multifactorial nature of the analysed construct. The «lack of investment» factor is of particular interest, suggesting that some people may be discouraged from pursuing a love relationship because they feel they have few resources to invest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the historicity of a passage from March 1581 in the book "Journal du Voyage en Italie: 1580-1581" by French author and philosopher Michel de Montaigne which the author argues indicates a practice of homosexual marriage consecrated and celebrated in the basilica San Giovanni a Porta Latina in Rome, Italy. The author also presents as corroboration of this assertion records of the trial for sodomy of 11 men arrested at the same basilica in 1578, which the author contents fits Montaigne's description.

The goal of this study was to validate two measures of prejudice against homosexuals as well as people's beliefs on the nature and origins of homosexuality. On assessing prejudice, we considered both the attitudinal and the emotional expressions of prejudice. The attitudinal dimension was measured as rejection of intimacy, while the emotional dimension used positive and negative emotions regarding homosexuals. Participants were 482 Portuguese students of different universities in the Lisbon area. Several confirmatory factorial analyses were performed in order to check the scales structure for this Portuguese population. Results mostly replicated the original structure of the two instruments. Specifically, they have shown that beliefs on the nature of homosexuality were organized in five inter-correlated belief factors: religious, ethical-moral, psychological, biological and socio-psychological beliefs. Regarding the scale of prejudice against homosexuals, results showed a factorial structure with three inter-correlated factors: positive emotions, negative emotions and rejection of intimacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]