The way that public space is structured has significant implications for identity, social interaction, and participation in society. For those experiencing homelessness, with no or limited private space, survival hinges on the accessibility and livability of public space. However, the increasing privatization of public space in the United States has contributed to the implementation of anti-homeless ordinances in cities, restricting sitting, standing, panhandling, and sleeping in public. This study analyzes data from interviews with housed and unhoused community members, text from a local policy document, and ethnographic observations to explore how boundaries between "insiders" and "outsiders" are drawn in public space and mediated through individual discourse. Our findings suggest that boundaries of exclusion are constructed through dominant narratives that portray the unhoused as a threat to safety and economic vitality, thus justifying the need for regulation and punishment through the criminalization of homelessness. Yet, informants also demonstrate resistance to this narrative by discussing how criminalization of homelessness perpetuates dehumanization, violence, and economic inequality. Policy implications for the regulation of public space are discussed.

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) with Truvada has emerged as an increasingly common approach to HIV prevention among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men. This study examined generational differences and similarities in narrative accounts of PrEP among a diverse sample of 89 gay and bisexual men in the U.S. Over 50% of men in the older (52-59 years) and younger (18-25 years) generations endorsed positive views, compared with 32% of men in the middle (34-41 years) generation. Men in the middle cohort expressed the most negative (21%) and ambivalent (47%) views of PrEP. Thematic analysis of men's narratives revealed three central stories about the perceived impact of PrEP: (1) PrEP has a positive impact on public health by preventing HIV transmission (endorsed more frequently by men in the older and younger cohorts); (2) PrEP has a positive effect on gay and bisexual men's sexual culture by decreasing anxiety and making sex more enjoyable (endorsed more frequently by men in the middle and younger cohorts); and (3) PrEP has a negative impact on public health and sexual culture by increasing condomless, multi-partner sex (endorsed more frequently by men in the middle and younger cohorts). Results are discussed in terms of the significance of generation cohort in meanings of sexual health and culture and implications for public health approaches to PrEP promotion among gay and bisexual men.