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Introduction <p>Meth use for social-sexual purposes within bisexual, gay, queer, trans male (BGQTM) communities is a stigmatized issue due in great part to the illicitness of the drug. This in turn creates a subcultural environment consisting of those with experience of the substance and those outside it resulting in a divide.</p> Methods <p>This small study explores the use of meth for social-sexual purposes within these communities through 15 semi-structured qualitative interviews conducted in 2021-22 with meth users, sexual space staff, artists, activists, educators, harm reduction workers, and healthcare providers. Through critical discourse analysis and sonically driven creative methods and production, five themes emerged including (1) Shame, Stigma, and Isolation; (2) Meth Use Disadvantages and Advantages; (3) Emerging Harm Reduction/Models; (4) Alternative/Productive Perspectives/Approaches; (5) Systemic Implications. </p> Results <p>The interviews revealed that for users and their supporters, meth use holds a deep meaning-making experience.</p> Conclusions <p>An understanding of such experiences is severely curtailed by the illicit status of the drug and the penalizing structural systemic responses to it, driving users underground.</p> Policy Implications <p>This in turn serves to restrict much needed dialogue that can contribute to a shift in policy from the current punitive/carceral approach to the development of a more comprehensive model that is premised on targeted psycho-social support, care- and needs-based policies, and well-funded community programming.</p>

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Dialogue Over Stigmatization: Meth Use Meaning Making in BGQTM Communities

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年5月12日

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  • Nick J. Mulé,
  • Andrew Zealley,
  • Robert Teixeira

摘要

Introduction

Meth use for social-sexual purposes within bisexual, gay, queer, trans male (BGQTM) communities is a stigmatized issue due in great part to the illicitness of the drug. This in turn creates a subcultural environment consisting of those with experience of the substance and those outside it resulting in a divide.

Methods

This small study explores the use of meth for social-sexual purposes within these communities through 15 semi-structured qualitative interviews conducted in 2021-22 with meth users, sexual space staff, artists, activists, educators, harm reduction workers, and healthcare providers. Through critical discourse analysis and sonically driven creative methods and production, five themes emerged including (1) Shame, Stigma, and Isolation; (2) Meth Use Disadvantages and Advantages; (3) Emerging Harm Reduction/Models; (4) Alternative/Productive Perspectives/Approaches; (5) Systemic Implications.

Results

The interviews revealed that for users and their supporters, meth use holds a deep meaning-making experience.

Conclusions

An understanding of such experiences is severely curtailed by the illicit status of the drug and the penalizing structural systemic responses to it, driving users underground.

Policy Implications

This in turn serves to restrict much needed dialogue that can contribute to a shift in policy from the current punitive/carceral approach to the development of a more comprehensive model that is premised on targeted psycho-social support, care- and needs-based policies, and well-funded community programming.