Community Not a Commodity: Examining the relationship between LGBT+ Pride and alcohol

In this blog we share the work of Alcohol Focus Scotland, who have been exploring the impact of alcohol marketing on the LGBT+ community. Their latest report, ‘Community Not a Commodity’, brings together insights from conversations with LGBT+ people about their experiences of alcohol, the spaces where they socialise, and how they feel about alcohol marketing.

Alcohol and the LGBT+ community

Nightlife has historically been central to the LGBT+ scene. When being LGBT+ was criminalised, LBGT+ people could not be publicly visible and were forced underground to meet discretely in spaces at night where they could be themselves. This meant that clubs and bars were often the only places LGBT+ people could meet safely, with the consumption of drugs and alcohol often providing an escape and coping mechanism from the issues of discrimination and isolation that LGBT+ people face. This culture of socialising through nightlife has carried through to the present day, where a majority of LGBT+ social spaces are still centred around alcohol.

Although these spaces provide a place for LGBT+ people to find joy, socialise and explore their identity, it has also created a social norm of excessive drinking, compounded by the general norms of drinking culture in Scotland, where LGBT+ people are reported to consume alcohol more excessively than their heterosexual peers. This can be seen cross-generationally, with ‘sexual minority’ identifying adolescents more likely to use cigarettes and other substances such as alcohol and cannabis than their heterosexual adolescents peers, as well as higher substance and alcohol use reported in older LGBT+ adults. This excessive alcohol consumption has been linked to greater participation in sexually risky behaviours, and mental health issues.

David Barbour, Senior Coordinator (Communications) at Alcohol Focus Scotland shares his personal experience with alcohol as a member of the LGBT+ community:

“The LGBT+ community has a complicated relationship with alcohol, with which I am altogether too intimately familiar. Alcohol and its associated issues came close to destroying my life over a relatively short drinking career between ages 17 and 29. This covered a period before, during and after I came out as gay, began exploring my sexuality and community on the commercial gay scene and struggled, as so many LGBT+ people still do (myself included), with coming to terms with my sexuality and trying to navigate life in a world that didn’t feel like it had been built with people like us in mind.”

The role of alcohol marketing

The increased acceptance of LGBT+ identities in general society over the past few decades has meant that many businesses have aimed to display support for LGBT+ people by increasing representation in advertisements and marketing. The alcohol industry joined this trend, adapting their products to include rainbow flags, increasing LGBT+ representation in advertising and marketing campaigns, and attending, funding or sponsoring Pride events, charities and community groups.

However, in Alcohol Focus Scotland’s recent report, ‘Community Not a Commodity: The LGBT+ Community’s Views on Alcohol Marketing’, 18 participants from the community expressed feeling that this representation and inclusion can have more of a harmful effect than an empowering one. Despite a small sample of participants, these findings echo those from other research looking at alcohol marketing in the LGBT+ community, including a scoping review from Glasgow Caledonian University and research from the Institute for Alcohol Studies, which draws upon international sources of evidence.

Some participants in the report found the industry’s use of symbols representative of the struggle for human rights, like the Stonewall riots, to be inappropriate and offensive. Additionally, participants felt that alcohol marketing within the community reinforced the notion that alcohol is central to LGBT+ culture, creating an unrealistic image of LGBT+ life as always partying and getting drunk. This contributed to pressure and exclusion for those who either chose not to drink, or who are in recovery. Participants expressed particular discomfort with alcohol industry presence and sponsorship at Pride events, and a frustration at the lack of sober LGBT+ social spaces.

With Pride organisers across the UK under financial pressures due to reduced funding, organisers often have to rely on corporate sponsors, such as alcohol companies, to support Pride events. However, with the disproportionate use of alcohol, and related harms, in the LGBT+ community, as shared in this blog, alcohol marketing and sponsorships should be approached with caution.

Reconsidering the relationship

Due to alcohol consumption being a major concern, for health and wellbeing in Scotland, from November 2022 to March 2023, the Scottish Government held a consultation, on restricting alcohol advertising and promotions in certain settings such as sporting events and music festivals. This received 2,993 responses from a mix of individuals and organisations.

There was clear support for the proposals among public health, third sector, local authorities and academic organisations. However, respondents with links to the alcohol industry thought the proposals to restrict alcohol marketing would not achieve the intended outcomes of reducing alcohol consumption and alcohol harm, and/or were disproportionate to the scale of the problem.

The proposed plans for changes to policies on alcohol marketing have since been paused. However, whether or not changes to regulations on alcohol marketing are implemented, starting a conversation about reconsidering the relationship between alcohol companies and the LGBT+ community would be beneficial to ensure that a group already vulnerable to increased alcohol consumption are not exploited.

Glasgow Pride

As touched on through our previous blogs on LGBT+ equality and intersectionality within the LGBT+ community, it is clear that individuals from the LGBT+ community face a number of inequalities relating to health and wellbeing, that are exacerbated by discrimination and exclusion, specifically for those with intersecting marginalised identities. As researchers, healthcare workers and practitioners, service providers and those working within the commercial sector, we have a role in examining how our work could mitigate or exacerbate issues within this community. The example of the relationship between the alcohol industry and the LGBT+ community, as explored in this blog, highlights how unintentional harms may be produced if those working with the community do not do so in an informed way.

Glasgow’s official Pride March takes place on 19^th of July, beginning at Kelvingrove Park and proceeding to Barrowland Park. This is a chance for the LGBT+ community and its supporters to come together for the cause of LGBT+ equality. However, this support must not end here, we must keep LGBT+ rights on the agenda and listen to a diverse range of LGBT+ voices to gain a deeper understanding of the needs of this population.

This blog was adapted, with permission, from a previous blog written by David Barbour for the Institute for Alcohol Studies.