Growing up gay in a digital world: A double-edged sword for sexual minority young men in England

•Qualitative study with data from online focus groups and face-to-face interviews.•Accounts of teenage sexuality from nine sexual minority young men in England.•Digital exploration brought opportunities for attraction, validation and connection.•Digital exploration also brought often overwhelming sexual content and interaction.•Scope to develop more supportive and inclusive digital spaces and education. In England over the last two decades, social attitudes towards minority sexuality have improved, but some teenage boys and young men who are attracted to men continue to face homophobia and report poorer health than heterosexual peers. The digital world has integrated previously distinct online interactions together with experiences in person, with consequences for how adolescent sexuality is encountered and explored. The new possibilities of evolving digital interactions need consideration for young gay men. This study applied thematic analysis, using a deductive approach to examine data collected from online focus groups and in-depth interviews with nine sexual minority young men aged between 19 and 21 years old, who all grew up in England. Participants were invited to share retrospective accounts of their teenage years, equating to a period of approximately 2010–2015. Participants described how digital settings provided spaces to explore their sexual attractions. They also provided ways of finding some recognition and validation of new feelings in more open and liberal settings, especially if gay sexuality was not acknowledged or affirmed elsewhere. Less positively, participants critiqued the overwhelming and prescriptive nature of the sexual content they encountered online. They also expressed misgivings about location-based dating apps. Experiences of this small group indicate possible issues with adult-oriented digital spaces and a need to represent minority sexuality in more positive and diverse ways. Sexual minority male youth who still face marginalisation may need targeted support, with additional care to reach out to Black Minority Ethnic, working class, disabled and trans young men.