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Abstract
Gay spaces in particular cities have been the focus of studies of sexualities in leisure studies and geographies. However, with the British cultural development toward increasing acceptance of particular gay (and lesbian) lives, lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) leisurescapes can no longer be confined to gay space/times or discussed solely in terms of exclusion. Conversely, the view that all other spaces are heterosexualised and therefore dangerous also needs critical reconsideration. Drawing on data from the ‘Count Me In Too’ project, a Brighton & Hove based participatory action research project, we find that LGBT people socialise beyond the ‘gay ghetto’, and whilst certain ‘straight’ leisure spaces are still hostile, generic social space is not necessarily unwelcoming to some LGBT people. We contend that space can be simultaneously gay and straight, yet gender and sexual identities, mediated through other social differences, continue to be important in understanding LGBT experiences. However, LGBT socialising (and to a larger extent leisure activity) does not occur predominantly in commercial leisure spaces (whether these be understood as gay or straight). Understanding the breadth of LGBT socialising and the transgression of gay/straight divides enables an engagement with everyday space that does not presume it is heterosexual waiting to be ‘queered’.
Notes
1. We use ‘gay’ throughout this paper to point to the hegemonic versions of ‘gay spaces’ that are often purported to exist as opposites to ‘straight’ space. We use ‘straight’ as a positioning that recognises dominant modes of heterosexuality and hegemonic forms of gendering (i.e. within man–male/woman–female dichotomies). Thus, ‘straight’ is not simply referring to heterosexuality but to heteronormativity. In this context then gay and straight are not mutually inclusive, as ‘gay’ can also be gender normative. We have no desire to set up further dichotomies (e.g. straight/queer). Where heterosexuality is used, it is referring specifically to sexuality and often refers to other people’s work.
2. Definitions of what constitutes gay and lesbian leisure spaces vary; however, most commentators focus on ‘the scene’ as the key arena in which gay (and lesbian) socialising occurs, mainly focusing on bars, clubs and at times shops and community groups.
3. Indeed a search of this journal reveals that only one book review mentions the acronym LGBT. Whilst this paper is unique in addressing LGBT lives in Brighton & Hove, choosing to focus across the spectrum of LGBT and using the term LGBT at times as a collective identity is contentious. Some queer contestations of gender, sex and sexuality has highlighted the instability of the categories ‘lesbian’, ‘gay’, ‘bisexual’ and ‘trans’. The viability of their use and how these categories create, homogenise and regulate that which they name has been questioned. Yet, not only does working across LGBT offer insights into gay/straight socialising spaces, within the community groups in Brighton & Hove LGBT as a collective category has important political, social and personal significance, and there is a resistance to isolating any aspect of this grouping (see Browne & Lim, in press).
4. There are various understandings, and critiques of homonormativity, some of these are discussed ahead in the text (see also Brown, Citation2009; Duggan, Citation2002; Puar, Citation2007).
5. Socialising refers to the act of meeting others for social/leisure purposes. As we shall argue socialising can be important for belonging, inclusion and support networks, as well as having political and economic implications in the form of ‘communities’, neighbourhood formations and commercial scenes (see Lauria & Knopp, Citation1985; Rothenburg, Citation1995).
6. This term refers to normative genders such that sexed bodies align with gender identities in normative ways, usually penis–masculinity–male, vagina–femininity–female.
7. Imaginings of place (in)form practices, senses and discourses which play a significant role in the constitution of place identities. A full discussion of the breadth of literature associated with geographical imaginings is beyond the scope of this paper, suffice to note that it is used here to explore the ‘gay’ conceptualisations of Brighton & Hove.
8. He also notes (Gorman‐Murray, Citation2008), similar to contentions regarding straight space, that heterosexual family homes are not necessarily abusive, alienating and lacking in acceptance of LGBT children.
9. Similarly, with the recent economic ‘downturn’ anecdotal evidence suggests a move away from commercial scenes and a change in drinking consumption with more people drinking at home instead of or before ‘going out’.
10. Notwithstanding the key aspects of class that can limit such access (see Taylor, Citation2007, for a discussion of this in relation to lesbian women).
