Dr Ruby Grant  (Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society at La Trobe University) will be presenting her research exploring the gendered meanings of alcohol consumption among lesbian, bisexual, and queer women for our November VSURF seminar hosted at La Trobe city campus. This will be followed by an end-of-year celebration with some drinks nearby, so do try and join us in-person if you can. The event is also offered online for those who can’t make it in-person, please find the details below.

Presenter:         Ruby Grant

Title:                    ‘All the dykes I know drink beer’: Sexuality and gender performance through alcohol consumption among lesbian, bisexual, and queer women in Australia.

When:                 8^th November, 4pm

Location:           La Trobe University city campus

       360 Collins St, Melbourne VIC 3000

                               Level 2, Seminar Room  2.11 (take the lift located in lobby)

Zoom:               https://latrobe.zoom.us/j/89025187712

Overview: Lesbian, bisexual, and queer (LBQ) women consume alcohol at a higher rate than heterosexual women, yet the use of alcohol and its gendered meanings in this population remain under-explored. Informed by critical alcohol and other drugs scholarship and drawing on semi-structured interviews with 60 LBQ cis and trans women and non-binary people, this presentation will explore the relationships between gender, sexuality and alcohol consumption for LBQ women. While minority stress is often cited as a key factor in explaining LBQ women’s high rates of alcohol consumption, our findings suggest a more complex relationship between drinking, gender and sexuality. Drinking is gendered for LBQ women, enabling both performance of and resistance to gendered norms. Additionally, alcohol emerged as a tool for navigating gendered vulnerability in public spaces, with some participants shaping their alcohol intake to their environment. Our findings highlight the need for approaches to LBQ women’s health that recognise alcohol as a social tool that can facilitate confidence, pleasure, and community connection. Rather than focusing solely on risk and vulnerability, policies and health promotion efforts should consider the diverse ways in which LBQ women use alcohol to navigate their identities and social environments.

Bio: Dr Ruby Grant (she/her) is a research fellow at the Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society at La Trobe University. She specialises in LGBTQ+ health and community wellbeing, focusing on substance use, mental health, and gender affirmation. Ruby is the project lead for the QSOX (Queer Women’s Substance Use Over Time) Study, a longitudinal qualitative study of LBQ women’s alcohol and nicotine use. 

On behalf of the VSURF organising committee

Michael Curtis (Burnet Institute / NDRI, Curtin University)

Monica Barratt (RMIT University / UNSW Sydney)

Gabriel Caluzzi (CAPR, La Trobe University)

Tristan Duncan (Turning Point/ Monash University)

Nyssa Fergusson (La Trobe University/ University of Melbourne)
Gemma Nourse (ARCSHS, La Trobe University)