WHERE LOVE LIVES

Say what you want about dance clubs and the club era. When I came out, I was skeptical and nervous at first to even go into the club. One of my first tricks finally dragged me out. And that was it. I knew then I had found my tribe with the first sounds of the thump thumpa!!!! While I was never really in the closet, no door was strong enough to hold me back, and in....but it was a relief to know there were others. There were some people who never hung out in clubs...but I'm so glad I did and still do if I'm in a city that has the big clubs. Philly still has a huge community of club's thank heavens. It was magical for me...to feel the music, and the mood, soak it in, and let the music take you to a higher plane. The club to me, back then, was a place for all ages, any shape, any gender and sexuality, all incomes and colors. We could come together, and the club vibe and music joined everyone together. The queerness and music joined us. I had the best of times in clubs, and every friend I met in a club or through drag? I'm STILL friends with. Honey Dion once said that dancefloors can unify, unlike governments and religions can't. And I'm with her...they can't. It was like church for me...took me to higher planes where I could soar. Once I got into NYC clubs and met the Lady Bunny and club kids, and one night at the Roxy where we ran into Lady Miss Kier...I knew I was not looking back. If I showed up as me...fine. in drag, fine. In between. Fine...no one cared. I don't know how much different my life or outlook now would be if I was just now coming out? I suspect I wouldn't be as colorful for one thing. I almost feel sorry for the young gay population as they won't experience this as much as my generation. I could hang with the cute boys just as much as the club kids, fems and queens. And once I hit the dance floor I was done, and would remain for most of the night...or up on a box. To this day, dance and house music will always be in my blood. It was during the pandemic I fell into an online show of Glitterbox, and one TeTe Bang was present. It was love at first site.

Popular Slut Club? Any wonder I would love her! And we are both extremely visual. After the online show I followed her on Instagram, and we eventually started to DM. Her story was another with a happy ending due to the dance club and it allowing her to be who she wanted. Dance clubs were always our safe space. But with more and more safe spaces and mixed clubs, which is great that we have much more acceptance, well, most days, and a wider visibility, I can't lie...still give to the big club and that vibe any day! TeTe came out as a lesbian...and she says she never felt like she fit in with the Lesbyterian culture. She found her niche....drag!!!! And why not? She hit the scene even before Victoria Scone came along.

Since then, the eclectic TeTe Bang was recognized as one of Attitude's Magazines queer voices of the future and was among one of the first self-identifying female lesbian drag queens to appear on the gay club scene and she says she will continue to challenge the norm, and on a mission to spread positivity around the world. And don't get me stated on all her vintage store finds and creations.

Tete had asked if I'd seen the documentary Where Love Lives Series. It was released during the pandemic. She thought I may like it. And she was right. The documentary explores music's enduring power to manifest diverse and inclusive community, to accept and embrace, to liberate, even to save lives. It's a film about acceptance and creative expression. I just rewatched it again, and it still give me chills and euphoria just watching it. Dancefloors and the club era enriched my life and gave me life and still do. I almost feel sorry for those that never felt that. I had a friend that despised clubs...but it was because he wouldn't make the effort to talk or the just let loose. And he certainly didn't know how to act with those different from him. He eventually looked down on the club crowd and bar flies...but you know what? When I would have an issue or personal crisis, they were the ones there for me...not the buttoned-up Ralph Lauren gay picnic cloth crowd, who said they were friends. If you used to go out, still do, love colorful people or to get a taste of the club...this film is great. There are also snippets of the legendary Honey Dion, Kathy Sledge and Billy Porter, along with TeTe Bang. I couldn't agree more with what my club sisters and brothers say in this film.