Homosexuality was decriminalised in 1967, and if we believe the history books, we have lived happily ever after since. Rarely do people talk about the fact that 30,000 LGBTQ+ people were arrested between 1967 and 2003 for acts that, if performed by heterosexuals, would have been legal. In 2013, the final anti-LGBTQ+ law was repealed in the U.K, meaning that for the first time in history, queer people could live without fear of criminal prosecution. But the damage had already been done.
You might wonder why I chose to start this blog with a history lesson in LGBTQ+ rights. Firstly, I wanted to remind people that until 21 years ago you could still be arrested in certain parts of the UK for being LGBTQ+. And I wanted to offer a hypothesis shared by many; that alcohol has such a prominent place in queer culture because, until very recently, we were forced into the shadows. It took courage for LGBTQ+ people to go out alone at night to meet other people like them, never knowing whether they would be arrested or beaten for being who they were. In these shoes, who wouldn’t numb that experience with alcohol?
I came out when I was 16 and shortly after, found myself in the nightlife of London’s Soho. I quickly became enamored with the freedom I felt after feeling trapped and lonely whilst coming to terms with my sexuality. I moved from a world of heteronormative expectations to an environment where anything and everything felt possible.
I was exposed to too much, too early. I lived with a feeling that I didn’t belong; ultimately ashamed of who I was. But drinking felt good, it felt hedonistic, it felt fun. Until it wasn’t anymore.
After a few years of partying, I realised that I drank to escape. I wanted to alter my reality to feel secure in myself and in society. We know that Brits have a particularly problematic relationship with alcohol. My relationship with it felt unhealthy and led me to make choices that if I were sober, I like to think I wouldn’t have made.
