Lost Spaces: Memories from Gay Bars, Lesbian Clubs, and LGBTQ+ Parties

This week we are heading back to Bristol to meet Sharifa Whitney James, a Queer, Black activist, footballer, model and facilitator. Originally from Wiltshire, Sharifa moved to Bristol to take a spot at a football academy when she was just a teenager about 15 years ago. And Bristol was the city where she first went out on a queer scene, visiting clubs like Flamingos, Vibes and Bent. But, those spac...

This week it's my very first three-way interview, which I was absolutely shitting myself about beforehand, but which turned out good (well, you'll see!).  Nana and Rose are the hosts of the Two Twos podcast, which they describe as 'two black lesbians living in London speaking their unapologetic truth whilst creating a safe space for people like themselves and bridging the gap between LGBT+ pe...

Inspired by the American direct action group of the same name, Queer Nation was a club night that started in London in 1990 and quickly built a reputation as an attitude free, affordable and welcoming night that played the best in soulful house. And my guest this week is the activist, health promoter, and mentor Marc Thompson, who tells me why the night is so dear to his heart.  As well as be...

If you listened to my interview with artist John Lee Bird about his days working at Crash you might remember a few mentions of his flatmate, who was... shall we say... exposed to some salubrious shenanigans whilst hanging out with John. Well, I've been nagging for a while, and finally got John's flatmate, Ros, on the show to share some of her story! We started talking about different venues and ni...

This week we are headed back in time to the early 80s and small(ish) town England, with the writer David Ledain, author of This Forbidden Fruit, Having Gay Sex and his most well-known work Gay Dad, a non-fiction book that compiles the stories of gay men who married women and started families. We talk about his experiences of dipping his toe in gay life at Granny's Nightspot in Portsmouth and The B...

This week we are catching up with Chris Hubley, a musician, artist and art historian who is also known by his drag alter-ego Crystal Mighty. We talk about a LOT of things this episode - language and how it evolves, strange, intense platonic relationships, and DIY culture... which were all the subjects that branched off of our original reason for meeting, which was F.A.G. Club, an event night held...

This week we are talking to Bernie Hodges, a voice artist, actor, and co-host of the 'What, That Old Queen?' podcast. Moving to Bristol in the early 90s with a few mates when he was just 21 years old he quickly built a life for himself, but struggled to find his tribe and that sense of belonging that comes with that. But, that all changed when he started to go to Horseplay, a club night that bille...

I am so freaking excited that the guest for this week's episode is Ultra Nate, the dance music superstar best known for the 90s classic 'Free'.  A native of Baltimore, Maryland, Ultra fell in to club culture in her first year of university. From here she met the production group the Basement Boys, started writing songs with them and... well, the rest is history... Ultra and I discuss the Balt...

This week is our first visit to Wales, and we're going to the second largest city, Swansea (which has a population of around 250,000) to find out about the lost bar Champers. I caught up with Craig Law, Host of the #InTheMix show on Gaydio, the world's biggest LGBT radio station to find out why the bar has a special place in his heart. Craig gives me advice on what to do when your friend pulls and...

If you were queer in London in the naughties then you would no doubt have spent an evening or two at Popstarz, the alternative institution that is most well known for being held at Scala in King's Cross. I caught up with the host of the filthy, filthy Probably True podcast, Scott Flashheart, to talk all about his first days in London, nights out at Popstarz, vodka coughs, and the lost art of eye-b...

Mrs. Kasha Davis came to international fame after appearing in Season 7 of Ru Paul's Drag Race. Before Drag Race, she was one of the main drag performers at Muthers, a bar in Rochester, New York. We caught up to talk about angry white poodles, the Ethel Merman disco album, and some of her memories from her early days in drag. This episode includes shout outs to many drag legends - Ambrosia Salad,...

For a while in the early 2010s XES Lounge was THE place to be on a Monday night, where drag queens Frostie Flakes and Bob the Drag Queen (who, at the time was going by the name Kitten Withawhip) hosted their show 'Sisters?', winning crowds over with their ramshackle charm. In the crowd every week was Honey La Bronx, vegan drag queen, LGBTQ rights activist, host of the Big Fat Vegan Radio podcast a...

And we're off to the northern English city of Sheffield, home of the world's oldest football club (who knew?), and the town responsible for legendary bands such as Pulp, Moloko, and The Human League. The lost space we are finding out about in this episode is The Cossack, a tiny pub in the city centre that was open for around 30 years from the early 70s to the early naughties. I caught up with drag...

Remember the days when you'd put on your fanciest/glitter-iest/sluttiest outfit and then.... catch public transport to the club? Big Dipper, rapper and podcaster extraordinaire,  sure does. Before moving to his current home in LA he lived for a few years in New York City, where he cut his teeth performing at Westgay, a queer night hosted by the influential Frankie Sharp at a bar called Westwa...

It is frequently listed as the most progressive country in Europe for LGBTQIA+ rights, but what is life really like for queer people in Malta? What’s it like spending all your savings on drag? How could your parents not realise you're gay when your they world's biggest Mariah Carey fan? I found the answer to these questions (and more!) when I caught up with drag queen, stand-up comedian and writer...

Will Warren is the co-host of Track by Track, a podcast that reviews, track by track (see what they did there?), brilliant pop albums from the past. And, we're talking unashamedly pop - think Girls Aloud, Pet Shop Boys and Kylie Minogue. But long before he was reviewing albums online he was drinking a ridiculous amount of alcohol at Flamingos, a bar in Bristol, England that billed itself as THE So...

Rory Boyle is the host of Queer Ear, a podcast that shines a light and spills the tea on unexplored queer issues Before he moved to London to study he had a gap year in his home town of Dublin where he got to explore his sexuality safely and dance all night (on the podium, no less) at cult club night WAR at Andrew's Lane Theatre. We caught up to discuss the weird etiquette with bathroom attendants...

This week we are doing something a little different and visiting a lost website. Launching in 1997, long before the likes of Grindr and Scruff, Gay.com was a chat, personals, and social networking website catering mostly to gay and bisexual men. which operated up until 2017. I caught up with Chicago based drag queen, co-host and creator of hit youtube show IMHO Darby Lynn Cartwright to discuss wha...

Have you ever been clubbing on your own? Is it thrilling, exciting, or... terrifying? If you've had experience standing awkwardly against the wall, unsuccessfully striking up a conversation with a stranger, or loitering at the end of the evening in the hopes of to wangling yourself an invite to an after party, then you'll love hearing all about singer-songwriter Venn Smyth's adventures at East Lon...

Holestar is an entertainer, DJ and bio-queen. and, she'll hate me saying this, but, after knocking around for nigh on 17 years is a true veteran of the London drag scene. We caught up to reminisce about Too2Much, which was a theatre bar and club in Soho, London, open between 2004 and 2006 before changing its name to Soho Revue Bar.  We discuss the T-word, army life, and the joys or packing yo...

Casey Mecija is a multi-disciplinary artist, academic and musician, who used to be the lead singer for indie-pop band Ohbijou, and now records as a solo artist. We caught up to talk about The Beaver, an alternative queer space in the heart of Queen West, Toronto, that closed in 2020 primarily because of restrictions in place due to coronavirus. Find out more about Casey by visiting her website - h...

Spin was a multi-level, 9,000 square-foot, super club in what was then called Chicago's Boystown district. Opening in the 90s it quickly established itself as the place to go for cheap drinks, house music, and wet t-shirt competitions before closing in 2014.  I caught up with Alexis P Bevels to find out about her first days in drag, serving drinks on roller skates, and being one of the foundi...

Melissa Ferrick is an American singer-songwriter whose career exploded when, in 1991, she was a last minute replacement support act for a Morrissey tour. Since then she has released an impressive number of albums, and has even had one of her songs, 'Drive', named as a 'lesbian anthem' (and, trust me, that song is FILTHY). We caught up to talk about Manray, a bar in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which...

Danny Ramadan is a Syrian-Canadian award-winning novelist, public speaker, and LGBTQ-refugee activist who was born in Damascus, Syria. And it was in Damascus where his flat became a safe space for other queer Syrians. We caught up to talk about the flat, his experiences coming out, sexual citizenship, and the ethics of having sex with your clone. Follow Danny on twitter or instagram - @dannyseesit

Town Danceboutique was the largest gay danceclub in Washington, D.C., open between 2007-2018. And it was really one of those mega-clubs that you don't see much of anymore - split levels, multiple rooms, outside areas, video installations, LED lights, and a proper stage. I met up with singer/songwriter Tom Goss, who lived in D.C. for ten years after leaving the seminary, and first happened upon the...