ABSTRACT
This chapter explores views on LGBT communities in relation to their impact on health, wellbeing and 'quality of life'. It examines the impact of community 'membership' on some people's physical health and, for larger numbers of people, the beneficial impacts on mental health and emotional wellbeing. The chapter demonstrates how forms of community can offer support, information and/or friendship, which in turn can aid affirmation and identity validation and foster self-confidence and self-esteem. It also explores how participants viewed some LGBT people as 'dangerous', particularly in relation to alcohol and/or drug consumption and 'unsafe' sex. The chapter argues that community can be understood and experienced in positive terms, and also conceptualised and experienced negatively or contradictorily, illustrating the inherent complexities within discussions of community. These tensions and contradictions are explored with focus on physical and mental health; seeking support; friendships, confidence and self-esteem; alcohol, drugs and sex on the scene; and paradoxical spaces.
