Hiya, I’m Beth, a Queer researcher at GCU. I am very enthusiastic to be conducting ‘Are you being served?’ A Research Study about LGBTQIA+ Alcohol-Free Nightlife! Here is a brief overview of the background and aims below. If anyone reading this would like to get involved in the research i.e. take part in a focus group, please drop me a line at beth.meadows@gcu.ac.uk or @areyoubeing.served on Instagram. More details about that at the end of the blog post.
This research will seek to critically explore and assess the creation, experience and sustainability of alcohol-free nightlife spaces for LGBTQIA+ communities in Scotland. Through enquiry of how alcohol-free nightlife spaces work for different LGBTQIA+ communities, it will consider the many intersections of being LGBTQIA+ i.e. being working class and/or from an adversely racialised group in relation to alcohol-free nightlife. The research will provide recommendations to optimise the success of alcohol-free nightlife spaces to relevant parties such as nightlife industries, public and third sector organisations working in alcohol harm reduction, and/or LGBTQIA+ communities.
So, why research this area? For many decades, bars, pubs and clubs were the safe spaces for LGBTQIA+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual and otherwise gender or sexuality-diverse) communities to socialise as a result of discrimination we faced (and continue to face, particularly trans communities) which made mainstream nightlife too dangerous to attend. In fact, alcohol remains central to the socio-cultural fabric of LGBTQIA+ communities. That being said nightlife spaces are often hubs of identity making, community building, socialisation, Queer hedonism, sexual and relationship opportunities and organising outside the confines of heteronormativity – giving agency to LGBTQIA+ communities to express their identity and relationships freely.
However, LGBTQIA+ communities are more likely to experience alcohol related harms than cisgender, heterosexual populations and there are further alcohol related inequalities within LGBTQIA+ communities such as trans and non-binary people experiencing more alcohol related harms than cisgender people. This is due to an amalgamation of reasons: historical and ongoing discrimination, the prominence of alcohol in LGBTQIA+ spaces as previously outlined, barriers to accessing support services, and targeted industry marketing. LGBTQIA+ community spaces are necessary and an active nightlife provides opportunities for social connectivity. But it may also forge harmful links between drinking and being LGBTQIA+, especially when alcohol is the default, and there are few viable alcohol-free spaces to safely socialise available.
LGBTQIA+ communities deserve safe spaces such as nightlife, but without the risks that alcohol poses. Alcohol-free nightlife may present a part of the solution as a public health intervention on alcohol harms.
Organisations such as Good Clean Fun provide a viable alternative to traditional nightlife by recreating some of its important pleasures without the risks posed by alcohol. Hill et al.’s (2022) work on ‘conscious clubbing’ (researching Morning Gloryville) argues that attending alcohol-free nightlife events can have important health benefits, and create meaningful alternatives to the pressures to consume associated with alcohol-centric environments. Findings like this suggest that alcohol-free nightlife could have a significant public health impact on alcohol harms, especially if made more available. Hopefully, my research will further demonstrate the need for inclusive and sustainable alcohol-free nightlife spaces for a range of LGBTQIA+ communities.
Does this sound like something you would want to be involved with? If so, take part in a focus group. If you are 18+, based in Scotland, LGBTQIA+ (priority will be given to LGBTQIA+ people from working class and/or adversely racialised communities as they are understudied), have attended or have an interest in attending alcohol-free nightlife, I would LOVE to hear from you! You will receive a £25 voucher for your time.
