“I loved being a part of bringing together so many people”
BY ELEANOR MASON, IMAGE BY HAUS OF DENCH
Two years ago I had never been to a club night just for lesbians. I was newly single and all my friends were either in relationships or men, so I was running low on people to take with me. I’d been targeted by a lot of those “put yourself out there” social media posts, and after reading too many articles about showing up to queer nights alone, I went for it and bought a ticket to the celebrated Butch, Please! Since I’d never been before and because I knew there was a drag king performing who I didn’t want to miss, I showed up 20 minutes after the opening time on my ticket.
Obviously, the room was mostly empty. I’m ultimately glad I made this deeply cringe mistake, but I didn’t know that while I was buying a large wine and trying to casually scroll on my phone, wondering how many hours I could keep this up. At the other end of the bar was Amanda, also on her own. She was there for the first time too, not knowing if the time on the ticket was the start of the performance or an indicator of doors opening (DOORS, IT WAS DOORS). After a few awkward minutes standing there, we eventually got talking and became friends.
Five years before that I was at another queer club night, this time in York helping to run the event as part of Haus of Dench. I was working with drag queens Kate Butch and Crudi Dench, who would perform amazing lip-syncs in a now-closed bierkeller venue. I loved being a part of bringing together so many people, but nights out aren’t the only place to find community. One example of an incredible sober space is the London LGBTQ+ Centre, which offers a full schedule of events, talks and workshops. After attending a yoga class I was struck with how welcoming the team was and I immediately wanted to get involved. As a result, I started running in-person comedy writing workshops there.
Last week I kicked off my short film project, a comedy mockumentary set in a community centre. Amanda is using her experience as a successful documentary filmmaker to advise on fundraising. Kate Butch and Crudi Dench will be playing the main characters. The London LGBTQ+ Centre has agreed to let us film at their venue. I met the people helping me make this film in physical queer spaces, and it made me realise that the importance of these venues stretches far beyond the events they facilitate. They gave me the opportunity to meet and share with like-minded people. According to the Greater London Authority, more than half of London’s LGBTQIA venues closed between 2006 and 2022. This is slowly but surely changing, with new venues like La Camionera, The Rising SE1 and The Arzner opening, and we need to continue this momentum to allow queer people to lift each other up. Whether it’s through a club night, football team, or even a cat cafe (we won’t beat the allegations), finding community is not only about being yourself in terms of your sexuality but being yourself in every aspect of your life.
Eleanor is crowdfunding for her short film, a queer mockumentary set in a community centre. Find out more about the project here: crowdfunder.co.uk/p/slag-offers-lgbtq-comedy-short-film
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