Editor’s Letter April 2024
Megan Wallace, Editorial Director
In 2024, making a magazine issue all about ‘drugs’ seems paradoxical, because surely we’re all sober, right? Well, more people than ever seem to be swearing off the drink. According to statistics, around a third of 18 to 24 year olds don’t consume alcohol at all and, anecdotally, most folks can opt for a Lucky Saint over a traditional lager without prompting a single raised eyebrow.
However, while attitudes to booze are changing, pills, powders and potions remain a shadowy, omnipresent feature in the party scene – and you don’t have to search too far to find stories describing an unchecked rise in GHB use among ravers of all backgrounds. It’s in this contested, contradictory moment that we’re launching our April issue, a collection of stories which explore the queer community’s relationship to substances – whether it be recreational drugs or diet pills – and sobriety.
Helming the issue, queer pop star Fletcher opens up about her new album In Search of the Antidote in a revealing interview published alongside intimate images lensed by her ex-girlfriend, YouTuber Shannon Beveridge. In the interview, Fletcher looks at how her life has changed following her Lyme disease diagnosis and her new era of boundaries, healing and self-love.
Heading up our features, journalist Vic Parsons writes a story exploring the rise of hormone micro-dosing, a way for trans and non-binary individuals to explore greater autonomy in their gender journey. As well as interviewing members of the trans and non-binary community about their experiences, Parsons consults a charity on some of the dangers of DIY hormone microdosing and how to go about it more safely.
Recognising the concerning reality that party drugs are getting stronger – fentanyl is infamously on the rise and crystal meth prices are dropping – Isaac Muk turns to the world of nightlife. With input from a variety of experts, Muk asks what harm reduction in clubs and bars can look like – whether it's welfare volunteers like Manchester's Village Angels helping vulnerable party-goers get home, queer-informed security like Safe Only, or on-site drug testing.
Beth Ashley then explores the ozempic boom and delves into how the diet drug is impacting the queer, particularly MLM, community. She speaks to a doctor about some of the under-researched side effects of the drug: from its unpredictable interactions to its unexpected ramifications on users' sex lives. She also looks at the realities of ozempic use in a cost-of-living crisis, where the expensive drug is being replaced by less glamorous and more dangerous alternatives like speed.
Features Editor Zoya Raza-Sheikh explores how voluntary celibacy has become the latest sobriety frontier for queer, Gen-Z. In this piece, individuals discuss how the stigma around virginity has faded for their generation and open up about a variety of reasons why they are embracing celibacy – whether it's to take time to reassess their own ingrained assumptions about dating, focus on their gender journey, or prioritise their mental health.
In our final piece, Sophie Wilkinson delves into analysis of UK government data suggesting that up to 1,000 people have died of possible chemsex-related harms in the past decade. However, despite this burgeoning crisis, she discovers that chemsex ambulance callouts are being treated as a criminal justice issue rather than a public health one – with sources speaking to GAY TIMES relating incidents where the police have turned up to the scene instead of the ambulance that was called. She speaks to a paramedic, drug recovery coordinator and campaigners about the concerning trend.
Whatever your opinion on recreational drugs, it’s imperative that those who choose to take them do so in the safest way possible. We hope that this issue, and its range of considered insights, can help as all to stop denying that drugs exist and to start thinking, not only about the ways they inform our lives, but how we can begin to mitigate their negative effects.