A double gin and lemonade and the sound of 70’s music is how Valerie Cullen loves to spend her weekends.
While its a combination that can be found in the majority of Liverpool’s bars and nightclubs, the 70-year-old - more affectionately known as Val by those on “the scene” - opts to spend her nights in the city’s LGBTQ+ venues.
The retired secretary, who lives in Wallasey, prefers venues located in the Pride Quarter as she “feels safer, more at ease, and for the most part treated with more respect". Val’s weekend antics wouldn’t be complete without a trip to her favourite bar, The Poste House, found on Cumberland Street, with her son John.
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She told the ECHO : “I’ve been going to the gay scene regularly for five years now. The first place was Lisbon Bar. I felt out of place initially but not for long. Someone would always come up and talk to me. Most of the time it was to tell me that they hadn’t yet come out to their family and they didn’t know how. Others would tell me that they had but their families would never go into gay bars or clubs.
“Compared to now, where I feel very loved amongst John’s friends and part of the LGBTQ+ community, they specifically go out of their way to ask me if I’m coming out for their birthdays or other important events. I feel very respected and loved by many of the community in Liverpool.”
Originally, from Dublin, Val, who moved to the city when she was five-years-old, enjoys being entertained by local drag queens including Brenda La Beau and Lady Sian. However, her favourite memory of going to “gay town” was when she won a year's worth of free entry to Gbar after winning a 70’s themed fancy dress competition using clothes from her wardrobe that she actually used to wear from that decade.
Val had been to the city’s LGBTQ+ venues a handful of times on staff nights out, but it wasn’t until her son, John, came out that she became not only a familiar face but a friend, to many of the city’s community. The grandmother-of-three said: “I knew John was gay for several years before he came out to me. He told his sister before he told me. I remember the day well. He was 21 when he came out to me, I asked him if he was and he nodded his head. My first thoughts were he’ll certainly come across some barriers now, however, we as a family and John’s friends will always be here for him. The sheer relief he felt after coming out showed.
“I knew some gay people growing up and some of their sufferings because they didn’t want their families knowing. I was never sheltered from conversations and I in return was not prepared to shelter my children. Having said that though I know many people did.”
Val explained how she knows of others who would stop watching TV programmes if they showed any “gay or lesbian scenes” but to her, these views are “ignorant”, “not in line with the 21st century”, and certainly “not welcome in Liverpool”.
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