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Sexualities and Intoxication: “To Be Intoxicated Is to Still Be Me, Just a Little Blurry”—Drugs, Enhancement and Transformation in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Cultures

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Cultures of Intoxication

Abstract

Despite evidence that drug use is higher among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) populations, research that explores the gendered and sexual dynamics of LGBTQ substance use is limited. Responding to this opening in the literature, and drawing on 32 qualitative interviews from an Australian study, we consider how LGBTQ consumers pursue particular drug effects to change their experience of gender and/or sexuality. Our analysis suggests that for many consumers, drug use and the experience of intoxication enhances sexual pleasure. In the context of gender variance, intoxication can facilitate free gender expression and, in some cases, palliate bodily discomfort. Acknowledging the generative effects of drug use for gender and sexual transformation, we conclude by commenting on the implications of our analysis for LGBTQ health policy and practice.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Cisgender refers to a person whose gender conforms to the sex they were assigned at birth. For example, a cis man is a man who identifies as male and was assigned a male sex at birth. Transgender describes a person who identifies with a gender that does not align with the sex they were assigned at birth, for example, a trans woman is a woman who was assigned a male sex at birth but identifies as female. Genderqueer is sometimes used as an umbrella term for gender non-conforming or non-binaryidentities (e.g. agender, bigender and genderfluid). It describes a person who does not identify with the male/female binary and whose gender expression does not fit into a static identity category.

  2. 2.

    ‘Homoromantic’ refers to being attracted to someone of the same sex in a romantic but not necessarily sexual way.

  3. 3.

    ‘Bottoming’ refers to being the receptive partner during anal sex.

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Acknowledgements

The research reported in this chapter was funded by an Australian Research Council Discovery Grant (DP170101373), awarded to Kane Race, Toby Lea and Kiran Pienaar. It also benefited from the support of the Gender and Cultural Studies Program, Faculty of Arts, University of Sydney; the Faculty of Arts, Monash University and the University of New South Wales. The interviews were conducted by Dean Murphy, Kiran Pienaar and David Vakalis. The study benefited from the expertise of an advisory panel and the assistance of Australian LGBTIQ organisations. The authors thank the editor for comments on earlier drafts of this chapter. They also thank the participants for generously sharing their stories and insights—without them this research would not be possible.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, Faculty of Arts, School of Social Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia

    Kiran Pienaar

  2. Department of Gender and Cultural Studies, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Dean Murphy & Kane Race

  3. German Institute for Addiction and Prevention Research (DISuP), Catholic University of Applied Sciences, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

    Toby Lea

  4. Centre for Social Research in Health, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Toby Lea

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  1. Kiran Pienaar
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Correspondence to Kiran Pienaar .

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  1. Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealand

    Fiona Hutton

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Pienaar, K., Murphy, D., Race, K., Lea, T. (2020). Sexualities and Intoxication: “To Be Intoxicated Is to Still Be Me, Just a Little Blurry”—Drugs, Enhancement and Transformation in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Cultures. In: Hutton, F. (eds) Cultures of Intoxication. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35284-4_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35284-4_7

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