LGBT community ‘intimidated’ by alcohol services

Researchers at the Glasgow Caledonian University have called for greater diversity training among health professionals after a study found that members of the LGBT community felt “intimidated” by existing alcohol health services.

Funded by Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems (SHAAP), the study considered the impact of alcohol within the LGTB community and its role in constructing identity. A major finding of the study was that members of the LGBT community felt intimidated by the “hetero-centric” nature of current alcohol services, which were not perceived as a welcoming space for LGBT people.

“I think if you were an LGBT person walking into an alcohol service it would feel like there were a lot of heterosexual men and I think that can be quite an intimidating environment, both for heterosexual women and also for LGBT people”, said one respondent. “A lot of our services, having been in and about services myself as a worker, have a particularly macho feel to them and particularly so for addiction services.”

Respondents reported feeling “rendered invisible” by alcohol service providers because “it’s a very heterocentric world”, said one. Self-help groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous were not perceived to be “safe spaces” for LGBT people, thought to be aimed at “white, straight men”.

The lack of awareness of the LGBT community within alcohol services was of particular concern given that previous studies have suggested that alcohol misuse is generally higher among the lesbian, gay and bisexual populations.

“There were perceived to be a range of barriers for LGBT people who needed to access alcohol services”, the study surmised. “These includes service providers assuming all patients were hetereosexual, and the perception that alcohol services and peer support groups would not provide a safe or welcoming space for LGBT people because they were ‘macho’ or ‘intimidating.”

The study was based on the responses of 33 participants, aged 18 to 52 years, during seven focus groups. 11 respondents identified as lesbian, 15 as gay, three as bisexual, one as heterosexual and three as ‘other’, ‘queer’ or ‘pansexual’. 15 respondents identified as male, 14 as female, and four as transgender or ‘gender fluid’.

Eric Carlin, SHAAP director, said: “LGBT people are as susceptible to getting into problems with alcohol as anyone else. However, this study shows that many LGBT people still feel stigmatised and support services can feel intimidating. Hopefully, this report will provide useful insights to reduce barriers to LGBT people accessing support.”

Respondents suggested that improvements to services could be made by offering better diversity training to service providers, introducing a separate provision of addiction services for women and LGBT people, and more LGBT services for those aged over 25 years. Researchers concluded that future work should also focus on how alcohol companies market their products to the LGBT community.

“As the alcohol industry is well aware, drinking alcohol is an important part of identity construction”, the report noted. “For LGBT people, as for those who identify as heterosexual, choice of drink, volume of alcohol consumed and drinking vessel demonstrate ‘who you are’ to (potential) friends and partners.”