Cardiff is my home and has been a regular stomping ground for me as an LGBT+ person. Since turning 18, I've been learning and exploring more about my home city's LGBT+ scene. From clubbing to protests, recent years in Wales' capital has underlined that it is a city with a lot to offer.
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Now, I'm not saying it's perfect by any means, it's all a work in progress. It would be daft of me to try and justify that Cardiff is a homophobic and transphobic free place. But this isn't a piece about the negatives, it's about seeing the light in the cracks that make this city a bustling and forward-thinking place for people like me to thrive. In the last two years, Covid made LGBT+ life a lot less colourful. We were stuck indoors and forced to switch to Zoom drag shows to keep us entertained, we pledged our wallets to local queer businesses and we kept each other in high spirits.
One thing that really made me smile was the resilience and creativity that was spawned in a time where we were so alone and struggling. Take my friend Yan White. Based in Cardiff, Yan had an idea that would become one of the city's most talked about venues - The Queer Emporium. Beaming with progressive LGBT+ potential, Yan created something which could be a home to LGBT+ youngsters and freelancers. It was a hub for local LGBT+ businesses to showcase their wears. Since its opening in June last year, the Emporium has gone on to host alas, comedy nights, drag shows, panels and so much more. Despite only being a year old, it has become one of my favourite spots to fall into for a lush coffee and a great chat.
Another thing which I love about the city is its heaps of bars and clubs to choose from. Now I know some people who've been around longer than me will tell tales of the venues of the past. I'm a bit jealous I wasn't able to get a chance to visit Club X and the rest, but the bars and clubs available now aren't too bad either. My favourite places for a drink and a dance in the city has to be Mary's or Kings. Preferring them over the club nights that seem to play the same mix over and over again until the early hours, these two give enough breathing room so you can have a chat with your mates. Even if I've popped into the venues alone, I always bump into a familiar face. And don't just take my word for it, Mary's was recently voted as the top LGBT+ venue in the UK. You can read more about that here.
One thing I admire about the city is whether faced with grief or adversary, our community fights back and helps each other. In my role as a reporter, I've had the opportunity to learn from various activists and changemakers based in Cardiff and around Wales. I'm in awe of how selfless activists are in Cardiff. Trans Aid Cymru for example, an organisation dedicated to improving the life of trans and non-binary, has supported hundreds of people be it with household bills to putting food on the table. They've held various protests, including the recent one that took place outside of the UK Government building in Central Square, unafraid of the powers that be. They've bolstered my morale and I'm sure they have done the same with countless other LGBT+ people. In times of grief, like the tragic murder of Gary Jenkins, the community came together in a flash to attend a vigil to honour Gary and the countless others that are subject to abuse for simply being who they are.
In Cardiff, we also have vast numbers of councillors and Members of the Senedd who have our best interests in mind. Whilst we're no where near the goal of becoming Europe's most accepting nation, Wales' capital is slowly and surely becoming a forward-thinking city that is tolerant of LGBT+ people.
