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In this article we examine some socio-political implications of the processes of construction of the gay community in Madrid in relation to community level interventions to prevent the spread of HIV. To that end, we partially present the outcomes of an ethnographical research on the diversity of practices and representations - and therefore subjectivities - that can be found among men who have sex with men (MSM) who visit commercial venues for sexual encounters in the gay scene in Madrid, Spain. First, the ways of thinking, acting and feeling about those venues of three types of patrons (the "well-adjusted", the "periphericals" and the "marginals") are described. We conclude by drawing some implications for community interventions that can be derived from the heterogeneity of practices and representations to be found among patrons of those venues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]