Sex Panic!

Sex Panic! was a New York-based activist organization and newsletter associated with 1990s debates over gay male sexuality, HIV prevention, and sexual freedom. It opposed treating gay men's sexual culture itself as the cause of AIDS-related public-health problems.

The name referred to the broader idea of a moral or political sex panic, in which authorities use public-health fears to justify repression. The organization turned that phrase into a deliberately confrontational form of political self-identification.

Associated figures included Allan Bérubé, Douglas Crimp, Kendall Thomas, Michael Warner, and Greg Gonsalves. Their work connected queer activism with AIDS education, civil liberties, and criticism of medicalized stigma.

Sex Panic! argued for sex-positive, practical HIV prevention rather than campaigns based on shame or condemnation. Its debates took place during the 1990s, when New York activists were challenging official approaches to gay men's health.