Activists throughout the United States have announced a second summit focused on organizing resistance to the continued moral panic targeting gay men's sex.

Whether dubbed the "New Puritanism," "Sex Panic, " or simply seen as escalating attacks on gay men's sexual cultures, events of the past year have made it clear that increased organizing and activism are in demand. This year's meeting will focus specifically on the formidable challenges facing local activists as they attempt to organize in support of gay men's sexuality during a time when conservative views of sexuality have become entrenched in sectors of America's gay male communities.

Building on the organizing efforts of 1997, known as the National Sex Panic Summit, this year's summit will take place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, during the weekend of November 13-15. These dates were chosen because many of the organizers and activists planning the event will be participating in the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force's Creating Change conference, also in Pittsburgh during that weekend.

In a time when the Supreme Court upholds "decency" standards for public funding of the arts which exclude and marginalize cultural work focused on queer sex, how can gay-identified males continue to assert those diverse ways in which they organize their individualistic sex lives and their relationships?

When journalists, police, and even some gay activists target and victimize "public" or semi-public sex participants, what kinds of oppositional organizing proves most effective?

The new activism sees its work at the upcoming summit as a way to continue the strain of the gay liberation movement which focused on sexual freedom and the creation of new models for gay male relationships and communities.

While such work could occur during much of the 1970s under the auspices of formal gay organizations, during the current era, organizing resistance to the increasing moralism and hostile action against sexual subcultures usually must occur at the grassroots level.

The new activism views its summit as an example of gay liberation work which has now been exiled to the margins of community life during the late 1990s.

The conference is in its early stages of conceptualization and planning. Its organizers expect that workshops will be included such as "Gay Men's Health and Sexual Liberation," "What Gay Men's Sexual Cultures Contribute to Social Change," and "Protecting Public Sex," and that strategies will be shared which have been developed by local organizers.

The conference will revisit a document created at last year's conference, A Declaration of Sexual Rights and refine this important statement and make plans for its use as a public document.