Editing Circuit party (section)

==Overview and media perception==
While open to anyone, the parties are generally viewed as social events primarily for physically fit and masculine-identified white gay men.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1998-02-23-9802230106-story.html|title=OUT ON THE CIRCUIT|first=Patrick T.|last=Reardon|website=chicagotribune.com|date=23 February 1998 |access-date=Jan 6, 2021|archive-date=2022-06-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220616102838/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1998-02-23-9802230106-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Circuit parties charge admission, with some being run for-profit and others benefiting charities, generally those that benefit the [[LGBTQ]] communities or HIV/health related programs. Circuit parties can be expensive and lavish affairs with elaborate lighting, music, productions, decor, and are held in venues that can accommodate large crowds.<ref name="auto"/>

Circuit parties are known to attract a broad range of ages, from young gay men in their early 20s to those in their 40s, 50s and even 60s, and both single gay men and couples in long-term relationships. The parties are described by attendees as very important social events, analogous to a major holiday for some in the gay community. They can be described as a "celebration" of gay life and gay sexuality, an expression of freedom, and as a statement of the power and strength of the gay community.<ref>Lewis LA & Ross MW (1995): ''A Select Body: The gay dance party subculture and the HIV/AIDS pandemic'' New York: Cassel.</ref>

Circuit parties are often perceived by outsiders as highly superficial; moreover those who attend them are often the target of broad and negative judgments by others in the gay community, usually because of the high amount of promiscuous sex and drug use that is often perceived to be associated with the events. A small body of empirical research from different research groups does, indeed, point to a high prevalence of drug use among people who attend circuit events during the course of the events and raises questions about an association between drug use and risky sex practices among gay and bisexual men<ref name="Race">Race K (2009): ''Pleasure Consuming Medicine: The queer politics of drugs'' Durham: Duke University Press.</ref><ref>Mattison, A.M., Ross, M.W., Wolfson, T., & Franklin, D. (2001). Circuit party attendance, club drug use, and unsafe sex in gay men. Journal of Substance Abuse, 13(1-2), 119-126.</ref><ref>
Lee, S.J., Galanter, M., Dermatis, H., & McDowell, D. (2003). Circuit Parties and Patterns of Drug Use in a Subset of Gay Men. Journal of Addictive Diseases, 22(4), 47-60.</ref><ref>Westhaver, R. 2006. "Flaunting and Empowerment: Thinking about Circuit Parties, the Body, and Power." Journal of Contemporary Ethnography 35(6):611-644.</ref><ref>Wethaver, R. 2005. "'Coming out of your skin': Circuit Parties, Pleasure, and the Subject." Sexualities 8(3):367-394.</ref> Circuit parties frequently host celebrity performers or headliners, usually gay icons.

Men who frequent circuit parties and embody stereotypes affiliated with the typical attendee are often referred to as "circuit queens."  The term can be used in a derogatory or humorous manner depending on the context.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2020/03/thousands-circuit-queens-cut-loose-winter-party-last-week-someone-coronavirus-now/|title=Thousands of circuit queens cut loose at Winter Party last week. Someone has coronavirus now.|first=Alex|last=Bollinger|date=Mar 16, 2020|website=LGBTQ Nation|access-date=Jan 6, 2021|archive-date=December 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201229112251/https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2020/03/thousands-circuit-queens-cut-loose-winter-party-last-week-someone-coronavirus-now/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cocktailsandcocktalk.com/2018/04/gay-men-aspire-circuit-queens/|title=Why Every Gay Man Should Aspire to be a Circuit Queen|date=15 April 2018|access-date=Jan 6, 2021|archive-date=2 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201202213929/https://www.cocktailsandcocktalk.com/2018/04/gay-men-aspire-circuit-queens/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.queerty.com/circuit-queen-brawl-captured-video-not-cute-look-20180828|title=Circuit queen brawl captured on video. It's not a cute look.|first=David|last=Grant|date=Aug 28, 2018|website=Queerty|access-date=Jan 6, 2021|archive-date=December 5, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201205031256/https://www.queerty.com/circuit-queen-brawl-captured-video-not-cute-look-20180828|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2021/01/circuit-queens-vow-revenge-outed-attending-potential-superspreader-party-mexico/|title=Circuit queens vow revenge after being "outed" for attending potential superspreader party in Mexico|first=Bil|last=Browning|date=Jan 4, 2021|website=LGBTQ Nation|access-date=Jan 6, 2021|archive-date=January 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210106000003/https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2021/01/circuit-queens-vow-revenge-outed-attending-potential-superspreader-party-mexico/|url-status=live}}</ref>