Community in the 21st Century: Issues Arising from a Study of British Lesbians and Gay Men

SUMMARY

Historically, lesbians and gay men (sometimes together; sometimes separately) have created “communities” because their oppressed status has often rendered them invisible from one another. At the height of second-wave feminism, lesbian communities in the UK comprised a wide range of organised social activities and venues, including Women's Centres (although not exclusively lesbian) in most major cities. Likewise, the HIV/AIDS crisis of the 1980s proliferated a range of health-based organisations and groups available (again not exclusively) to gay men. However, with a few notable exceptions, the mainstreaming of lesbian and gay culture, together with the ever-increasing commercialisation of lesbian and gay venues, appear to have resulted in the marginalisation and in many cases disappearance of non-scene venues and organised social activities for lesbians and gay men. Drawing on data from a current (and ongoing) interview-based study with UK lesbians and gay men, this paper highlights the ways in which these changes have affected the lives and lifestyles of lesbians and gay men, resulting in the social exclusion of certain individuals and groups. The implications of these findings for psychotherapy–in particular the need for support based in the LG community–are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Community
• community-based support
• gay
• homosexual
• isolation
• lesbian
• psychotherapy
• social exclusion
• social networks
• social support
• social identity