Groundbreaking gay Iraq veteran: I’m a chemsex addict
A gay former soldier and author has revealed his struggle with chemsex.
Lance Corporal James Wharton has opened up about his battle with drugs for a new book.
Something for the Weekend: Life in the Chemsex Underworld is set to reveal reality of thousands of Londoners in the city’s gay underworld.
The Iraq veteran previously wrote of his experiences of being an out gay soldier in the British Army.
After returning from the Army, Wharton has revealed that his marriage broke down, leading him to live in a bedroom in north London and turn to drugs and sex for help.
The new book explores “how modern technology allows people to arrange, congregate, furnish themselves with ’chems’ and spend hours, sometimes days, behind closed curtains, with strangers and in states of heightened sexual desire”, a press release for the book says.
“Now is the right time for me, personally, to talk about my own struggles with drugs and chemsex,” Wharton told Attitude magazine.
“But beyond that, I believe we all, as an entire community, need to talk more openly about drug use, and understand what it is that drives people to chem sex.
“More than half of gay men have used drugs in our lifetimes, I think we need to stop and think about that for a second, and have an non-judgemental discussion about why that is.
“Chem sex is not a flash in the pan, it’s now embedded into the fabric of modern day gay culture.
“My book will look at it compassionately, and tell the stories – including my own – of people who have lived it.”
Iain Dale, the book’s publisher, said: “I’m delighted to be publishing James’s new book, especially after the enormous success of his debut, Out in the Army, which Biteback published a couple of years ago.
“Since then, James has become something of an icon among the gay community, and in this brave book he describes the true secret lives of many men in the nation’s capital.
“It’s an important story that needs to be told and will surprise many!”
