What happens when we age out of the club, but don't age out of wanting to party?

In part two of this conversation on Black queer women and Black trans folks, Jack Gieseking talks with Nikki Lane and Kemi Adeyemi about house parties, queer nightlife vs/& queer afternoonlife, aging, and the many ways Black queer people continue to make space for themselves. House parties have always been central to Black queer space-making. At home, you get to decide who is there, what music plays, and what can and cannot happen. For trans folks in particular, the house can offer an alternative to navigating transphobia in public nightlife. The conversation connects contemporary house parties to a much longer history of Black queer women throwing salons, house parties, and rent parties. They also talk about drinking and the growing desire for sober or alternative spaces.

They dig deep to explore the racialized space-time of queer nightlife—and the remarkable labor of finding one another when the party keeps moving. It is not just the timing of these parties, but their mobility, though sometimes difficult to find, that allowed these parties to flourish. But this is also Black LGBTQ+ people's labor, to stay flexible, constantly track parties, and be mobile enough to get to them.

Because while the spaces may change, and the parties may change, Black queer women and trans people will keep finding a way to them.

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Credits

Producer, Editor, Host, & Creative Director: Jack Gieseking

Co-Producer: Julie Enszer & Sinister Wisdom

Co-Producer & Co-Editor: Cade Waldo

Assistant Editor: Becca Moses & Sophie McClain

Social Media Manager: Audrey Wilkinson

Consulting Producer: Rachel Fagen

Music: Our theme song: "Like Honey" by Kit Orion https://www.kitorion.com/

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