I have always hated the institutionalised and official idea of ‘community’. Communities just happen; according to the needs of that community. Here are just some of the gay social networking sites available in the UK. There are a lot more of them and they address some of the needs of that community. They range from the overtly sexual, to sedate dating sites with real-world events and meetings.

• The Circle. - Introduction service with female and male personal adverts. Predominantly lesbian oriented site.
• Closed Loop UK - A group for married gay and bisexual men seeking same sex contact outside of marriage with a single outside partner.
• Gay Dating Agency - Online dating community for gay men, with message boards, profiles and blogs.
• Gaydar - Personals and profiles for meeting people through messages, chat and webcam.
• Gaydate - Ireland based online meeting place for gay, lesbian, bisexual, or the curious. Free profiles; messages and chat are fee based services.
• Guys4Men - Free Gay Personals. Password protected, so the claims cannot be verified, but the site aims at 2-way profile matching with automatic e-mail notification of new matches.
• Jake - Social and professional network community for gay men. Regular offline events are organised for Jake members.
• Kagoul.com - Online community for gay men, with message boards, profiles and blogs.
• My Gay Prom - Five gay teenagers import from the USA the concept of a gay prom to take place in London. Part of a new Channel 4 series.
• Out Everywhere - Membership-only social community with online profiles, chat and messages. Regular offline social events are arranged. Paid membership required.
• Planet Sappho - Subscription based online dating for lesbian, bi-sexual and bi-curious women of all ages.
• Saphos - Dating and friendship agency for Lesbian women in the UK. Lesbian owned and managed.
• Significant Others - London based dating agency for professional gay men. Founded in 1992, gay owned and managed.
• UK gay dating site - Profile site for meeting single gay men. Paid subscription needed to send messages.
• Urban Connections - Events for gay men in London looking for love or friendship.
• Manjam– You figure it out!