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There was, predictably, next to nobody there. But the music pounded through thecavernousspaceandthe bartender served up the appropriate amount of snark with my soda and it felt like home.
And as I nursed my drink and gazed at the lights flashing over the empty dance floor, a song started and five people cheered and raced for the dance floor, and I knew them. Even though I had never met them before.
There we were — my friends Lulu, Neon, Dorky, Twiggyandme—frozenin
time on the winter prairie, a whole province away and decades later. It wasn’t us, butitwastotallyus,spin- ning on an empty dance floor as if the whole world was watching.
The entire story was being written all over again.
Queer bars are not merely for dating. They are refuge. A place to strategize. Social- ize. Celebrate. Mourn. Be inspired. Grow up. Meet the person who will change you forever.
Today I have long-distance calls with my Sister Queen: CanadianexpatChristopher
Peterson, who has performed indraginKeyWest,Florida, for over 20 years. He tells me that for one entire season, all the Queer tour- ists disappeared from his audience because of Gov- ernor Ron DeSantis’s anti- gay agenda and accompany- ing travel advisories. I tell him about our own DeSantis — and the anti- trans bill. And we share stories of protests over drag queens in libraries. We both shake our heads at the anti-drag laws emerging all over North America — laws that
could have halted both our careers in their tracks. I mention the news stories warning of increased terrorist activity focused on disrupting Pride Cele- brations. We both thank the stars that we aren’t young and just beginning our journeys.
Anyone who thinks Queer people don’t need a place to emerge and be nurtured hasn’t been paying atten- tion to the broken world around us.
Being in the same room. With your people. It still matters.ED.
(CLOCKWISE) FLASHBACK LULU AND GLORIA; DORY AND LULU; HALLOWEEN GLORIA, TWIGGY AND DORKY; TALLULAH AND GLORIA; LULU AND GLORIA
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