Belfast’s Queer Club Culture: To Gatekeep Or Not?

By Sorcha Keeve

I reckon it is safe to say we have all been victim to a cheeky Kremlin Tuesday. Cheap entry with a flash of your student ID, countless double vodkas lining your stomach; we’ve all been caught by the bright flash of the iconic club photographer’s lens, only to wake up the following morning swearing to never drink again. There is something undoubtedly favourable about clubbing in the Union Street quarter – not just for Club 280. The Maverick, Boombox and Union Street, especially with their glittering drag queens, always ensure a quality night out and £2 remaining in your Revolut.

Belfast’s queer culture primarily comes to the forefront through their LGBTQ+ clubs and bars. It’s where we celebrate Pride, comfortably wear what we want, and dance to our music beneath the plentiful disco balls. They are spaces to safely love our partners and find community in one another, even if it’s just smiling at that one gay guy who said your makeup slayed in the sweaty toilets a year ago. The faces are familiar, the love is always real. The shots are also expensive, but you still order five tequila rose regardless and dunk them like a champ.

However, there is a very real issue of these spaces being overrun with heterosexuals. Kremlin back in its day used to be incredibly strict with who they would let in, ensuring that it would solemnly remain a queer club. Today, I would say it populates more straight people than queer – I have truly never seen more straight couples necking on anywhere else. Boombox on the other hand, is notoriously firm with turning people away at the door, often giving fierce warnings to be respectful before entering. I even recall being reminded in the queue that this is a queer space and to respect it, as I stood holding hands with my girlfriend with my extremely stereotypically lesbian haircut. I still wonder if I mistakenly passed as a man who can do flicky eyeliner exceptionally.

So, should we gatekeep these queer spaces? Go back to policing people on their sexuality at the door? To be honest, I really don’t think so. For example, I know that many women who are straight prefer to go to the gay clubs as they understandably feel safer as opposed to the likes of Thompson’s, which has a strong reputation for spiking. People who want to support their queer friends also need to be considered- why should they be excluded from the clubs that allow their mates to feel the most themselves? Even for people questioning their identity or who are closeted; they deserve the opportunity to be included in a space that celebrates everything queer.

Another obvious aspect of this issue is that there is no real way to distinguish if someone is queer or not. It is downright discriminatory to look someone up and down and decide if they fit your ideals of what a queer person should look like, you would think by now that we have all collectively concluded that it is not up to us to decide who someone else is. I can’t really see how a 55 year old bald bouncer is going to distinguish if the 6’4 man in front of him – shakily holding his ID – is bisexual or not.

All that being said, I can understand why it is frustrating. It is our culture, our space to be inexplicably ourselves, free of judgement and fear. When queer people are significantly outnumbered in a space meant for them, it is going to feel unfair and I feel that. Another issue to me is the men in gay clubs who have tried to chat up my girlfriend, right in front of me, despite the fact that I am so obviously present as a partner. It makes me wish we could implement what a lot of clubs in England have – a primary school sort of “time out” in queer clubs where straight men are kept for misbehaving until they’ve learnt their lesson. I reckon we could do with a bit of that, but I’ll let you know.

The overall takeaway is that while queer culture in these clubs belongs to us, there is no fair system to say who should and shouldn’t be allowed in. The biggest thing is intention and respect, if you are straight and just want a little boogie to some Chappell Roan, who am I to deny you of that? If you treat the space as a queer environment and fully embrace it with kindness and respect, you will have no issues.

Keep your mates in check, actively educate yourself and no matter what you do, please do not drink poppers. I promise you will regret it more than having six Four Lokos as your pre-drinks.