Rethink: Big Alcohol Loves the 2SLGBTQ+ Community and it’s Killing Us

The Pride COMMUNITY & BIG ALCOHOL

By Amy C. Willis

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Happy Pride Month, y’all! 

If you’re someone who enjoys Pride festivities, perhaps you’ve noticed how ubiquitous alcohol sponsorships have become over the years or perhaps you haven’t noticed at all thanks to normative alcohol culture. Where I live in Toronto, Canada, Pride Toronto has no less than six alcohol sponsorships including the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (a government entity) and five alcohol brands. Even the Pride Run + Remembrance Run, touted as a family-friendly event (they have a kids run) where participants can often be seen in fabulous costumes and drag, has a beer sponsor. Because of the insidiousness of Big Alcohol, capitalism and normative alcohol culture, it’s become entirely normal and expected that alcohol would have a prominent presence at celebrations like Pride; no one bats an eye that a company selling a product linked to seven different types of cancer would also be sponsoring a wellness event like a run. 

While the incongruence of alcohol’s presence at wellness events is challenging enough to choke down, what really gets me hot under the collar is the fact that alcohol is being blatantly and aggressively promoted and sold to the 2SLGBTQ+ community, a community that is known to be more vulnerable to addiction and mental health issues due to societal stigma, discrimination and oppression. An estimated 20-30% of the 2SLGBTQ+ community report using substances in problematic or addictive ways compared to 9% of the general population. In addition to issues with substance use, folks within this community experience higher rates of depression, anxiety, self-harm, phobias and think about or attempt suicide far more frequently; we also have double the rate of PTSD compared to straight folks. What’s even more concerning is that in response to a recent Ontario-based survey, 77% of trans respondents reported having seriously considered suicide and 45% of trans respondents had attempted suicide. 

There are multiple, intersecting reasons why addiction and mental health issues disproportionately impact the 2SLGBTQ+ community including: discrimination and oppression based on sexual and/or gender identity (in housing, employment opportunities, etc.); hate crimes and violence; rejection from friends and family members leading to disconnection and loss of support systems; as well as shame and internalized homo/transphobia. It goes without saying that when there are additional points of identity at play - race, class, ability and so on - the discrimination, oppression and resulting mental health distress is further amplified for those involved. Knowing what we know about how addiction and mental health issues run rampant in the 2SLGBTQ+ community, why on earth are we continuing to welcome Big Alcohol into our spaces, making the aforementioned conditions significantly worse for many?

It’s no coincidence that more alcohol brands are flocking to Pride events under the guise of championing the community; it is a strategic move by marketers and Big Alcohol to position themselves as diverse and in support of the 2SLGBTQ+ community because that gives them a direct line to a community of people who struggle with addiction. The most money is made from the heaviest drinkers and from those who are often most vulnerable to addiction; this is why alcohol brands have made themselves a staple at Pride events because they know our community will consume more, resulting in more money being made off our backs, from our suffering. Big Alcohol unabashedly uses tactics like queerwashing in an attempt to convince our community that they are true allies. Examples of this include Smirnoff’s Pride bottle and tagline “Mix with Pride'' or Muskoka Brewery’s “Born This Way” IPA (not to mention their problematic partnership with Get REAL, an organization dedicated to reducing stigma and bullying for the 2SLGBTQ+ community, while also promoting the consumption of alcohol to the same community). The takeaway here is that Big Alcohol is in our community to make money off of us, not because they love, support or celebrate us and to think otherwise is a fallacy. 

Big Alcohol is big business. In Canada, Big Alcohol is a billion dollar industry that’s been steadily growing year over year. Globally, alcohol is a trillion dollar industry. Money is seductive and alluring, especially to not-for-profit organizations doing incredible work on bootstrap budgets. When an alcohol brand approaches an organization, offering hundreds or thousands of dollars to sponsor the organization or event, organizations likely think of all the ways that money can be spent to support their communities. Funding for essential programs and services is vital. What seems to be a secondary consideration (if a consideration at all) is the harm when alcohol companies have unfettered access to a community of folks already more vulnerable to developing addictions and mental health issues, worsened by alcohol consumption. This predatory relationship between alcohol companies and the 2SLGBTQ+ community feels akin to tobacco companies sponsoring lung cancer fundraisers. It’s problematic, manipulative and not in service to our community thriving. Alcohol is a direct contributor to higher rates of addiction and the deteriorating mental health conditions for those within 2SLGBTQ+ community. 

Even within supposed “safe spaces” like Pride events or organizations that work in service of our community, it is clear that the presence of Big Alcohol creates harm. We need to be asking more of our community organizers and demanding that safe spaces be safe, from all forms of harm, including the significant harms caused by Big Alcohol and those who welcome the alcohol industry into our community.

As a proud sober queer person, both my sobriety and my queerness are - among other things - political and forms of radical resistance against heteronormativity, normative alcohol culture and the destruction of the queer community and it’s members. It wasn’t until I got sober nearly five years ago that I began to see and truly understand the inner workings and intersections of normative alcohol culture, Big Alcohol, and capitalism and how they wreak havoc on the 2SLGBTQ+ community and other marginalized communities. We have been targeted and manipulated for financial gain, largely to our detriment and it must stop. Through my sobriety, I have gained more insight and clarity than I ever could have imagined and for that, I am deeply grateful. My invitation to you this Pride Month is to get curious about your relationship to alcohol. If you feel called to rethink drinking, I support you and invite you to visit my Instagram channel or website as I have a slew of resources that might be helpful for you. Regardless of whether you continue to drink or not, curiosity is something you can practice. Explore why you drink, how it actually makes you feel, how it propels you forward or maybe, holds you back. Simply notice. I bet you’ll be surprised by what you learn. 

For the queer folks reading this article: I see you. I celebrate you. I honour you. You are a vital part of our community and I’m so glad you’re here. Our community needs you and our community thrives because you’re in it. Happiest of Prides to you, love.

About the Author: Amy C. Willis

Amy C. Willis (she/her) is a Sobriety & Mindset Coach who supports women in reclaiming their power and freedom through sobriety. Amy comes to this work after struggling with alcohol addiction for 15+ years and losing her dad to his alcohol addiction. Amy is a dual-certificated coach and is also a certified meditation teacher and a certified EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques)/Tapping Practitioner, which are modalities she brings to her work with her clients. The foundations of Amy’s coaching practice are radical honesty, mindset transformation, habit change and resilience building.

Prior to coaching, Amy worked in HIV prevention research at various academic and global institutions and earned a Master’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from York University. In addition to coaching, consulting, speaking and writing, Amy loves to travel, read, build community, move her body and meditate. When Amy’s not working, she’s hanging out with friends, spending time outdoors or cross-stitching. Amy works with clients globally both in 1-on-1 and group coaching programs and calls Toronto, Canada home.