Cardiff certainly has a proud LGBT+ community, but what about outside of Cardiff? The other Friday night I went to Hey Mary – “an alternative, inclusive queer club-night in Cardiff, premiering and showcasing the very best in alternative drag and queer music” – and it occurred to me that there is nowhere to go for an “inclusive, queer” night out outside of Cardiff; I know from living in the Rhondda that there is barely any choice of places to go for a night out if you’re a young person in general, let alone somewhere particularly LGBT+ orientated. Although it’s not as bad nowadays as it has been in the past, the Valleys are not famous for queer inclusivity.
An LGBT+ club night is so few and far between outside of Cardiff that a recent LGBT+ night organised in Merthyr was labelled ‘historic’… and we’re in 2017! The community groups HOPE Not Hate and Visible organised the Merthyr LGBT+ club night to occur during LGBT History Month in February, in a Wales Online article organisers said it was going to be “a night of music, art, performance and disco. Friendly, fun, positive and inclusive for all”. As much as this is a good thing, one LGBT+ night is just a drop in the ocean when the rest of the year the LGBT+ community have to travel for something similar; and who knows whether the other South Wales Valley communities will follow Merthyr’s example.
Obviously the lack of anything LGBT isn’t just about nights out; a cursory search of the internet, mainly Stonewall website’s ‘What’s in my area?’ section, reveals there to be scant LGBT services and community groups outside of Cardiff. The only two listings in the Rhondda area are Rhondda LGBT Network – a voluntary organisation helping improve the lives of LGBT people living in RCT, albeit one with no physical postal address and the website is currently down – and Wales’ first gay-friendly football team, The Cardiff Dragons, who train in Trefforest.
Swansea has Swansea Bay LGBT Forum, again no physical, postal address; Bridgend has ‘ABFABB – A Brighter Future Altogether, Benefiting Bridgend’ – “Supporting LGBT people in and around Bridgend County to build a stronger community. Offer support groups, awareness campaigning and various training. Bespoke support available to trans young people (16-25) who are, or are at risk of, becoming NEETs.” Caerphilly has an LGBT drop in for young people who are questioning their gender and sexuality, with the drop-in’s LGBTQ+ group holding sessions on the last Saturday of the month.
The only transgender support organisations outside of Cardiff are based in Swansea; other than Bi Cymru and Bi Cardiff, the only other exclusively bisexual organisation in South Wales is Bi Swansea.
Pride Cymru is obviously based in Cardiff and as much as it is a good, positive, fun event, it’s been something of a contentious point – when it changed from being called Cardiff Mardi Gras it’s now claiming to be the Pride event for the whole of Wales – up until recent years other parts of Wales have had their own Pride events (Swansea Pride, North Wales Pride), although they haven’t been taking place due to funding.
As LGBT+ matters have only come to the fore in a big way in the last few years, it’s maybe a bit soon to expect an LGBT+ community centre in every region, but gay, lesbian, queer and people who are just different have been around forever. Yet again, in 2017, a gay or trans teen should have somewhere in their hometown to go for anything they need. If you’re unlucky enough to grow up outside Cardiff – and I can only say this from the point of view of growing up in the Rhondda Valley – as it is with politics, jobs, and entertainment – you are largely forgotten.
words CHRIS WILLIAMS