This weekend is set to be an exciting one with the long-awaited return of Pride in Liverpool
The LGBTQIA+ community is a vital part of Liverpool's community and today, Saturday, July 30, Pride will be returning to the city following a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic. The main stage will provide a platform for a host of local talent from across the city region and there will also be representation from some local LGBTQ+ venues, bringing OMG, The Lisbon and Superstar Boudoir’s best-loved performers and hosts to the Pride in Liverpool stage.
The free festival will also see members of the LGBTQ+ community and its allies take to the streets to protest against bigotry and hatred, while coming together to celebrate and enjoy a packed programme of entertainment. Disco legends Boney M. featuring Maizie Williams are headlining the event.
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Over the decades, Liverpool's gay nightlife scene has transformed, from a few whistle-stop destinations to a bustling hub for Merseyside's queer community. Over the years we've lost popular venues such as Garlands, Sadie's Bar Royal, Paco's Bar and Jody's - but we still treasure many institutions.
To coincide with Liverpool Pride this weekend, the ECHO spoke to a number of LGBTQIA+ venues at the heart of city-centre. From the history of the popular businesses to celebrating the people who have been at the centre of it all, we hear how the clubs and bars have changed through the years.
Known as one of Liverpool’s longest running bars, The Lisbon is an iconic pub in the city. A landmark building since 1888, the bar is not only one of the city's oldest watering holes, but it’s regarded as one of Liverpool’s first gay bars.
Considered a gay bar since well before the 1970s, The Lisbon is run today by landlady Eileen Lea. The cornerstone of the city’s gay quarter, it has welcomed generations through its doors.
Shaun McKenna, 57, first came out in 1979 at the age of 14 and for over 40 years has been well known on the city scene as Lady Seanne. The iconic queen has been a figure on Liverpool's queer scene for decades, presenting psychic bingo at The Lisbon and featuring in a collection at the Museum of Liverpool.
From nights at now lost nightclubs such as Sadie's Bar Royal, Paco's Bar and Jody's to seeing the impact of HIV and AIDS decades ago, Shaun has seen a lot of change in the city through the years. He told the ECHO: "When I was young and first came out onto the gay scene, you met gay people who were like yourself.
"It was like the old saying birds of a feather flock together, you find one another, which helped save my life to be honest. I got to know the local gays at the time, this was in the early 80s.
"The gay community then was thriving but it was underground and businesses were thriving - it was like Wonderland. When I first went into a gay bar I was like oh my god - I thought I was the only person that was attracted to the same sex.
"When I was in a club that was full of LGBTQ people I was overwhelmed." Shaun first visited to The Lisbon in the early eighties and said it remains a "close-knit" community to this day.
He said: "When I first came here, I must have just been touching 18, and I sat in the corner on my own. There was a girl sitting next to me and at the time there was a drag competition. A group were all dressed in drag to win the £15 competition.
"I said to the girl sitting next to me do you fancy coming to the toilets and swapping clothes with me and I'll join the catwalk. I asked her if she had any makeup and she said yeah and did me up in the toilets and I put her dress on.
"It was very Dynasty, like a shoulder padded red dress with a grey strap with grey stilettos. I walked out and jumped on the end, I didn't know anyone here then and I won the competition.
"I gave her £7.50 - we split it. That gave me my confidence of being Lady Seanne."
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Over the years, The Lisbon has also welcomed a number of famous faces through its doors from RuPaul's Drag Race UK winner The Vivienne to Cilla Black. Shaun said: "It's the oldest bar that's always attracted the LGBTQ community.
"It’s always been known as a home for the LGBTQ, so have other bars, but to me it is the jewel in the crown of Liverpool's gay community. I live in Aigburth this is my local. There's people who live in St Helens, this is their local. There's people who live the other side of the water and this is their local.
"It's always had that and their families come, this is a family community bar which it always has been. Eileen has always done that, given people a platform, especially local artists and she's given me a platform to be who I am."
This weekend at Liverpool Pride, Shaun will be appearing on the main stage which he described as a "great honour." He said: "I don't feel like there’s any other bar like this in Liverpool.
"This is one of the most famous bars for the LGBTQ in Liverpool, even in school you kind of heard about it. We’re here and very proud to be here - long may The Lisbon reign."
Established in the 1990s, G Bar is one of the city's best known and best loved nightclubs. Promoting diversity and equality for over a quarter of a century, it is renowned in Liverpool and beyond for its music and drag entertainment.
Manager Andrew Pankhurst, 38, began working at G Bar at the age of 18 and said "there is no job like it." He told the ECHO: "I've been the manager for 19 years. I started out as a cloakroom attendant and then worked my way up and was asked to be a manager when I was only 20. I've just never really looked back.
"When I first started it was very much about the LGB. It wasn’t as diverse. It was diverse for its time but what I've found really nice about it is that I've worked there progressively.
"I've seen things change, laws change and people have been more free to be who they are. It’s become a lot more diverse over time and I've watched the city become more diverse and in a weird way I've watched it grow."
Andrew described G Bar as one club "with several identities," appealing to different crowds with the different genres of music it offers. He said: "G Bar is the longest running gay nightclub in Liverpool. It’s 27 this year, it’s older than some of our customers which is really strange.
"It’s like an institution now on the gay scene, it’s a safe space and has been like that for years. And it's been there since the first Pride, not every venue has been. In the 90s, Liverpool didn't really have very much to offer in terms of LGBTQIA+ venues. It followed pretty shortly after Garlands.
"Some people will say it's only a nightclub but it's more than that. It’s actually to some people a home from home."
Andrew said his favourite thing about the club is the drag queens and staff who work there and that what he loves the most about it is "the people." He said: "It’s got character to it, it’s got an incredible array of music, there’s something for everyone.
"It’s been a fiver to get in for literally 26 years, excluding events like Pride where we put it up to cover the costs. But generally, G Bar has stayed the same, but in a good way.
"It’s kept its own identity and it's not gone along with the crowd. It just doesn't pretend to be something it’s not, that’s what I like about it."
To celebrate Pride, G Bar will be hosting a street party outside and inviting clubbers back inside on Saturday night, where it is open until 7am. Andrew said: "I'm just proud of the fact that it’s gone through quite a lot, a global recession, a global pandemic and still managed to come out at the other end.
"What I am most proud about is that I've been a massive part of shaping something that has brought a lot of joy to people’s lives. It’s given people this space to get away from everything and express who they are and be who they want to be without feeling they can’t. I've watched things grow and change in a positive and diverse way, not just G Bar but the city too."
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Superstar Boudoir is one of Liverpool's best known LGBTQ+ venues. Situated on Stanley Street, for years the club has welcomed thousands through its doors from Liverpool and beyond.
Bailey Tiara Fletcher, 40, has worked at Superstar Boudoir for around 15 years and performs weekly as a resident DJ under her stage name Miss Tiara. When planning on returning to Liverpool after working in Blackpool, Tiara said she really wanted to work at Superstar Boudoir as it was "the place to be."
Tiara told the ECHO: "I was having a scout round of the venues and I walked in and it was just bright pink and there were all these boss artists impressions of LGBTQ icons like Liza Minnelli and Whitney Houston, all these really cool pictures on the wall and I thought I've got to work here. This is just brilliant.
"It started off as quite a dancey venue with dance DJs and it's always been quite mixed venue. It was LGBTQ and straight people and I think it kind of lent itself more to the straight community for a while and when I came along we kind of changed the music policy a bit to be more fun pub and camp and charts and cheese which made it more of a party bar. We went down the LGBTQ route more and it's developed into this big renowned venue."
Tiara said Superstar Boudoir in certain respects hasn't changed too much in the time she has been there and that it is still a go to venue on people's journey's through the city-centre nightlife. She said: "People ask where do you work and I say Boudoir and people say oh I've been there loads- everyone knows it.
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"It’s always been quite an intimate venue for a good night out. Like any LGBTQ venue, these places are the hub of the community. It’s where people get together and see their friends. The bars and the venues are a big focus for LGBTQ people because that’s where it all happens."
Tiara said some of her favourite memories with the Boudoir team is their annual Pride marches and the dancing that comes along with it. She said this weekend, the team will again be marching and through to the evening most of the resident DJs will have a spot to play.
Tiara said: "It's rewarding, you truly feel like you are part of something and I also feel like you’re almost in a position of responsibility where you have an opportunity to help others. Me as a Trans woman, young Trans people coming into the venue or people questioning their gender or having gender issues, they see someone being visible and out there, living their life and being proud of who they are, they can come and talk to you.
"When you're a DJ at boudoir, you're a DJ, an entertainer and you’re a councillor as well. It’s a lot more than just turning up, having a drink, playing some music and encouraging everyone to have a good time, there’s a big aspect of supporting people and encouraging the idea of community."
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