The gay clubs are it
An analysis of straight women's motivations for frequenting gay bars
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2394216 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Kailey P Peckford (0000-0002-6560-3123, University of British Columbia, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 28 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 1608-1633 |
| Publication date | 2025-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Sexualities (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1363-4607 • E-ISSN: 1461-7382 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/13634607241276580 |
| PMID | 40475223 |
| OpenAlex | W4401854728 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 68 |
The question of whether straight individuals belong in gay bars has long been a topic of debate. But why do straight cisgender women go to gay bars in the first place? Through qualitative semi-structured interviews, I analyze women's motivations for frequenting gay bars in Canada and the United States. My findings show that straight cisgender women go to gay bars to pursue safety and joy-and that these motivations are complicated by reflections on belonging in a space that was not made for them. Decisions to frequent gay bars were positioned as a better alternative to straight bars which were described as dangerous or boring. More generally, this study offers new insights about group boundaries and safety in nightlife spaces
Nightlife · Political science · Sociology · Computer Science · Gender Studies · Homelessness and Social Issues · Law · LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy · Psychology · Sexuality, Behavior, and Technology
There Goes the Gayborhood?
Boystown
Learning to Do Qualitative Data Analysis
Imagining Queer Methods
“It Happens All the Time”
Geographies of Sexualities
From hooking up to staying in? Women negotiating appropriate sexuality in nightlife with age
Media
Media Representations of Bullying Toward Queer Youth
Clubbing Masculinities and Crime
Me Getting Plastered and Her Provoking My Eyes”
Cultural Archipelagos
Performative Progressiveness
Queer Pop–Ups
Minority stressors and connectedness among urban gay, bisexual, and queer men
Nightclubbing and the Search for Identity
Consuming Alcohol in Bars, Pubs and Clubs
Gender Please, Without the Gender Police
When Women Do Not Want It
Stories Matter
Expanding Qualitative Research Interviewing Strategies
Dulling it down a bit’
Doing gender, doing safety? Young adults’ production of safety on a night out
Straight subjectivities in homonormative spaces
Safe rebellious places
The Elephant in the Room
Matter out of place
Classy and Never Trashy’
The Night They Took Over”
In the Name of Safety
Kissing is not a universal right
Born this Way–or Not? The Relationship Between Essentialism and Sexual Minorities’ LGBTQ+ Identification and Belonging
Can School Diversity Policies Reduce Belonging and Achievement Gaps Between Minority and Majority Youth? Multiculturalism, Colorblindness, and Assimilationism Assessed
Teenage queerness
Safe Space
Style and the value of gay nightlife
Status Distinctions in Interaction
Queer-Friendly Neighbourhoods
Questionably Queer
TellingTruths
Post-Gay Collective Identity Construction
The Girl Hunt
The Changing Mix of Gay Bar Subtypes after Covid-19 Restrictions in the United States, 2017 to 2023
Are Gay Bars Closing? Using Business Listings to Infer Rates of Gay Bar Closure in the United States, 1977-2019
Moving a Mountain
No girls allowed
How many cases do I need
De-dyking Queer Space(s)
Post-gay, Political, and Pieced Together
Black Placemaking
Coding In-depth Semistructured Interviews
Reducing the Joy Deficit in Sociology
Adolescent friendship, cross-sexuality ties, and attitudes toward sexual minorities
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |