Roehampton professor awarded research grant into impact of Covid-19 on London’s queer nightlife

Tuesday, May 11, 2021

Professor Mark McCormack to study the problems and solutions facing London’s queer nightlife economy

Image - Roehampton professor awarded research grant into impact of Covid-19 on London’s queer nightlife

Professor of Sociology at the University of Roehampton, Mark McCormack, has been awarded a £15,000 grant to examine the impact of Covid-19 on London’s queer nightlife in collaboration with Professor Fiona Measham, Chair in Criminology at the University of Liverpool.

This research grant has been awarded to Mark McCormack by Queer Arts Consortium (QUAC) thanks to Arts Council England funding. QUAC is a collaboration between Raze Collective, a charity that supports and develops LGBTQI+ performance in the UK, originally established in response to threats and closures facing queer spaces in London, And What? Queer Arts Festival, Fringe! Queer Arts & Film Festival and The Cocoa Butter Club.

The research will assess the impact of Covid-19 on creative practitioners in London’s queer nightlife economy, and the problems that they have faced such as financial (in)security, community engagement and physical and mental wellbeing. The study will also take into account how these impacts differ by age, class, disability, ethnicity, gender identity and sexuality.

Professors McCormack and Measham will also investigate strategies and policies that can support London’s queer nightlife, and the broader queer community in the aftermath of Covid-19. They are experts in sexualities and nightlife respectively, and also volunteer with The Loop, an NGO that provides harm reduction services at nightclubs and festivals.

Commenting on the research grant, Professor Mark McCormack and Professor Fiona Measham said:

"We are delighted to be able to work on this vital project. We know that the lockdowns associated with COVID-19 have had a profound impact on nightlife, particularly in London. We also know that the impacts are experienced disproportionately by some groups, such as the young and people of colour. This study provides an important opportunity to document and understand the impact on creative practitioners of diverse sexualities and how this intersects with factors such as gender, ethnicity, class, disability and age. By learning from queer creative practitioners, we will also be able to make recommendations about how London can support queer nightlife in all its diversity moving forward."