In our latest blog, Beth Meadows discusses her research into LGBTQIA+ communities and alcohol-free nightlife spaces and explores the potential for these spaces as well as the barriers they may face.
LGBTQIA+ communities are more likely to experience alcohol related harm, such as alcohol dependency, and have poorer mental health, than cisgender, heterosexual populations. However, alcohol plays a central role in almost all LGBTQIA+ social and cultural spaces. This is following centuries of systemic oppression, resulting in bars, pubs and clubs becoming havens of community safety. Queer nightlife spaces undeniably enable important pleasure seeking to occur, as well as queer identity making, community building and providing opportunities for sexual and romantic partnerships. After all, arguably the birth of the modern LGBTQIA+ liberation movement began at The Stonewall Inn. And yet a significant absence of alcohol-free nightlife (AFN) spaces, whereby social pleasures could still be accessed outside of the risk alcohol poses, are worthy of concern. The issues surrounding significant LGBTQIA+ alcohol related harms were even debated in Scottish parliament in 2022.
This research topic is also situated within contemporary discourses surrounding enhanced visibility of sobriety and sober curiosity, whereby it appears more people are seeking out alternative means of socialisation to traditional alcogenic options. Moreover, AFN provides opportunities for LGBTQIA+ people to meet and socialise which are not centred around alcohol. These events are becoming increasingly visible, such as Scotland’s own Good Clean Fun and Recovery Connects festival, but have received little research attention. The study therefore aimed to investigate the characterisation and sustainability of AFN, alongside its potential inclusivity for LGBTQIA+ communities, who potentially have a greater need for such spaces.
In terms of methods, I began with a systematic scoping review of the literature on AFN (n=9 papers), in order to see what was known already. It found that AFN offers an alternative to traditional nightlife for some people some of the time, with potentially important health and wellbeing benefits. AFN has both similarities and key differences with alcogenic nightlife, offering a ‘new normal’ to enjoy the social pleasures of nightlife without the risks posed by alcohol. AFN encompassed a range of events, but was commonly presented as ‘conscious clubbing’ which merged new-age spirituality practices with traditional clubbing. Some studies suggested that women were more likely to attend than men and other genders, however this was not conclusive across all the papers. There were key gaps in the literature on other marginalised groups that may actually benefit most from AFN such as Black students. However, there were some barriers to attendance especially for younger people. AFN is situated as an intervention that disrupts and modifies the alcogenic context, through offering a viable alternative to traditional drinking spaces. Rather than focusing on less effective, individual alcohol harm interventions. From this it was highlighted that further research was needed to investigate how a broad range of AFN events are experienced, especially by marginalised groups at risk of alcohol harms such as LGBTQIA+ communities, adversely racialised groups and lower SES communities. Therefore, these research gaps complimented the target participant groups of the study.
I then conducted qualitative interviews with n=7 individuals who organise AFN events in the UK and n=9 focus groups with n=22 LGBTQIA+ adults interested in AFN in Scotland, including non-drinkers and drinkers. The study used an intersectional theoretical framework and purposively included marginalised LGBTQIA+ subcommunities including adversely racialised groups (50%), and participants who self-identified as working class (33%). This meant looking at the ways that being both LGBTQIA+, and adversely racialised and/or working class, created specific lived experiences of additional barriers. This was important due to how underrepresented such groups are within research. It is often the case that LGBTQIA+ communities are considered as a homogenous community (hence my usage of the plural), however this often results in the more dominant groups being included, who generally hold the most social power such as white, gay, middle-class cismen. LGBTQIA+ communities that fall outside of this demographic in Scotland are not hard to reach, but easy to ignore. The qualitative interview and focus group data were then analysed with Thematic Analysis.
Here are just some preliminary findings so far, the recommendations of which are still subject to member checking. Firstly, AFN rewrites the socio-cultural script of alcogenic nightlife by offering a direct alternative, which replicates certain elements while radically changing others. AFN was especially popular among non-drinkers who felt ostracised by LGBTQIA+ drinking cultures. However, AFN struggled to be financially sustainable in competition with Big Alcohol, and was dependent on good faith of venues to host them. AFN organisers cared about curating a space to foster social connectivity, and many enthusiastically employed inclusivity and community safety practices. Separate AFN events that centred certain LGBTQIA+ communities such as QTBPOC (Queer, Trans, Black, People of Colour) where were praised, although allies were welcome if they respected the space. Some adversely racialised and working-class participants experienced unique barriers to inclusivity. More general barriers to attendance included ticket price. Finally, cultivating sexual connections in AFN was desired but seen as challenging, with a lack of knowledge on how to engage in traditional hook-up cultures without alcohol.
AFN represents a potentially important intervention which could disrupt harmful drinking cultures by providing an alternative nightlife offering, both for groups at particular risk of alcohol harm, as well as wider Scottish society. However, AFN currently faces barriers including financial sustainability within a lucrative alcohol industry, as well as navigating inclusion practices among non-homogenous groups.
Conducting a PhD, especially as a member of LGBTQIA+ communities whereby the personal, political and professional realms are blended, has provided me a powerful insight into such a critical issue. This is especially true during a period of relative mobilisation towards alternative, less alcohol centric queer socialisation. I finally want to thank my incredible participants for trusting me with their lived experiences, the PPIE group for helping shape the research, and my supervisors Dr Dave Whiteley, Prof Jamie Frankis and Prof Carol Emslie for helping me along this research journey so far.
SHAAP Blogposts are published with the permission of the authors. The views expressed are solely the authors’ own and do not necessarily represent the views of Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems (SHAAP).
Beth Meadows
Beth (she/her) is a Sociology of Public Health researcher, specialising in experiences of LGBTQIA+ communities. She previously worked on an ESRC funded Equalise Nightlife Project (at Liverpool John Moores University’s Public Health Institute), a qualitative, feminist study exploring gendered experiences of nightlife. She has also held a range of third sector roles in frontline support work, namely with the LGBTQIA+ communities. Beth is a member of the Substance Use research group at Glasgow Caledonian University’s Research Centre for Health, and part of the Queer Minds Scotland network helping organise regular webinars on queer mental health. She is currently in the final year of her PhD entitled ‘Are you being served? Exploring Alcohol-free Nightlife Spaces for LGBTQIA+ Communities’. This qualitative study critically assesses and explores the creation, experience and sustainability of alcohol-free nightlife spaces for LGBTQIA+ communities in Scotland from an intersectional lens.