LGBT Trail - Liverpool's Safe Queer Spaces
As an LGBTQIA+ person in Liverpool, can you think of the spaces and places that you feel safe and welcomed? Can you list areas that you feel are created for queer people, or used by queer people? Well our wonderful LGBT officer Kay interviewed 14 queer icons in and around Liverpool and found exactly that Spaces and places most LGBT+ people feel they belong.
So, here is the list of places people mentioned. And as is our way here at Comics Youth, of course we are going to be delving deeper into the list and analysing the culture that is often unspoken of within the LGBT+ community and corporate/business world:
If you recognise the place names in this list, you will realise that the majority are clubs, pubs or night life spaces to socially drink and party. Not only is this especially isolating for queer youth who are below the age of 18, but it is also still isolating for people who can access these spaces!
Throughout history, clubs and nightlife have been secret hideaways and gatherings for queer people to find other fellow LGBTQIA+ people, from one of the first ‘gay’ clubs in Liverpool ‘The Stork’, being demolished in 1975 to the mass of ‘gay’ venues now centred on Stanley Street, the theme of secret, safe spaces for LGBTQIA+ people is still felt to this day.
If you ever go to any of these places, you will actually find a number of them are based in the basements of clubs or on quieter streets of Liverpool. Not only does this make it more apparent that the culture amongst queer people in Liverpool has not shifted as much as we’d all have hoped, but it also makes a lot of queer spaces inaccessible to people who are not entirely able-bodied and can not go up and down sets of stairs.
However, it brings up the question of what makes a space a ‘queer safe space’. Do they have to be designed by queer people for queer people? Or can LGBTQIA+ people claim a space as their own thanks to allies and obvious community inclusion? An example of spaces that seem to have a big population of queer customers are Lovelocks, The Egg Cafe, The Bagel Ray, The Blue Coat and Bold Street Coffee.
I mean, we guess any form of plants, leaves and good wholesome food will almost always attract the gays, but there is something deeper than that! Companies who create safe spaces away from alcohol and social pressures are vital to our community. To sit in a space that publicly supports your rights as a human before anything else, and which you know will have your back is so important.
For these places that would never have been created for the single reason of supporting, feeding and connecting with our LGBT+ community, we have definitely given them a rightful place in our hearts, right under ‘Places We Feel Safe To Exist, Authentically’.
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Sometimes, it is nice to have a space that is for everyone, not just a dark nightclub in a basement where our funky Nan’s, Grandad’s and grandparents secretly paved the way for us. While it is important to have isolated, queer only spaces, it is also just as vital for us to feel safe outside of entirely dedicated spaces.
We are plenty of other things as well as queer, we also love books and plants and food and interactions with all types of humans! So shoutout to the allies and the corporate gangs who publicly support us everyday, not just to sell merch at pride... Yeah! We see you!
Just to twist the tale a little more, do we cling to these non-queer specific spaces because we want to move away from labelled spaces? Or because our labelled spaces revolve around clubbing and dancing so we have to create almost ‘DIY’ queer safe spaces within unsuspecting places?
On our list, you will find plenty of ‘DIY’, make-your-own queer events such as Sonic Yootha, Beers For Queers and Eat Me And Preach. These iconic events are created to be as accessible as possible, inclusive to all of the community and not full of people who make most LGBT+ spaces slightly awkward like the straight friend who does not quite grasp what is offensive yet.
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We support people trying, but please try outside of our spaces first. After all, these are for us to have a break from explaining our existence and they are too sacred and essential for us to have them co-opted by people who don’t identify as LGBTQIA+.
No matter how you feel safe and where you feel safe, safety should not be a privilege only a few people experience. You deserve to exist in every phase, every outfit, every label and every variety of YOU. The LGBT+ experience is extremely fluid and can be hard to navigate, so make sure you find safe spaces where you live. Even if that space is your bedroom, our Comics Youth HQ or a book store like News From Nowhere or Waterstones. You are so loved, remember that!
Here’s to all our LGBTQIA+ family finding the spaces they love and places that support them no matter what. Let’s dance, sing, read, eat, and connect all again once the outside world is opened up again. In the meantime though, here is our virtual safe space, you are welcome here.
