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Queer night celebrating ‘all forms of music’ coming to city
An LGBTQ+ social celebrating all types of music is returning to Liverpool.
Shaun Ponsonby, the brains behind Queer This, said he wanted to host an event which showed the city region’s community and its allies “there are multiple ways to be queer”.
He explained that “as a rich community queerness comes in many forms and all forms should be celebrated”. With this in mind, Queer This aims to play all types of music genres including those which aren’t stereotypically associated with the community.
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Shaun, who is from Bootle, told the ECHO: “Think about those late nights after the clubs when everyone’s chill back at someone’s flat, and you’ve got the last bottles of wine that were left in that dodgy all night off license round the corner, and you’re just kinda hanging – except at Queer This, there’s a DJ and you can keep dancing if you want.
“And if you don’t, you can just enjoy the music and chat away. That’s the vibe, but obviously a bit earlier in the night. No matter how old you are, or your musical preferences, you will hear something you love or something that you’ve never heard anywhere and you’ll be shazaming every 20 minutes.”
The 34-year-old created the event after feeling other venues didn’t cater for music lovers of all genres – outside the stereotypical pop. Shaun wanted to offer the LGBTQ+ community a chance to indulge in the likes of Afrobeat, hip hop, R&B, reggae and indie.
The personal assistant at a community health company said: “We have Pride Quarter but most of them stick to what they know, which I do love because classics are classics for a reason.
“We have Sonic Yootha, which really kicked off this new queer scene in Liverpool and inspired us all. They’re still the big one, and it’s a proper club night. The dancefloor is full. We have Eat Me come up after that, which is like the badly behaved punky-drag daughter.
“We used to have Beers For Queers, which ended during lockdown – and that was more in line with what I want to do here. It’s more chilled out, and more music focused. Yootha fills the dancefloor, Eat Me puts on a show, whereas we’re the social. Dancing is encouraged, but not strictly enforced.”
Queer This is being held on Saturday, July 1 in a soon-to-be-open new bar and event space, Rusty’s, which will be connected to The Tapestry on Kempston Street. The event will start at 7pm and is free to attend.
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Shaun explained the importance of having safe spaces for the community – especially now in the midst of rising homophobia and transphobia.
He added: “We’re under attack right now. They’re coming for us. Look at what’s happening in Uganda. Look at the appalling anti-trans hate rhetoric.
“Look at them banning drag shows in Florida. Look at the bizarre, hateful comments under any article about Sam Smith. We’re going backwards, and I for one can feel it in the air. We need spaces where we can feel like we won’t be judged or even attacked.”
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