Researchers have argued that sexual minorities may have more permissive social norms for the use of alcohol because bars were a place that the community often relied upon for interaction, due to a lack of comfort and safety in heterosexual establishments (Hefferman, 1998). In support of the hypothesis that stigma-related stress may contribute to higher social norms for drinking via engagement in a “bar culture,” one study found that discrimination experiences were associated with the use of bars as a primary social setting (McKirnan & Peterson, 1988), which in turn led to greater alcohol-related problems among sexual minority men (McKirnan & Peterson, 1989).
