In light of the ongoing HIV pandemic, many gay men re-evaluated their sexual and erotic desires and practices.[7] It is suggested by queer theorist Tim Dean that glory holes allow for a physical barrier, which may be an extension of psychological ones where internalized homophobia (a result of many societies' widespread disgust about LGBT practices and people).[7] For some gay men, a glory hole serves to depersonalize their partner altogether as a disembodied object of sexual desire, either sticking through or on the other side of the hole.[7]