We all have lusts, wants,
desires. We shouldn’t
be ashamed”
their sartorial choices are on point: a
vixen with a ginger beard slut-drops
in stiletto heels, a tattooed lass – cur-
rently making it rain on a stripper’s
backside – wears a t-shirt brandishing
the slogan, “Stop censoring sluts”.
I’m thrilled to see there are
significantly more women than men.
Lucia explains, “We want to have a
largely female and femme client base,
because although women are allowed
into some strip clubs, it’s always a bit
gimmicky and you’ve gotta seem as
though you’re doing it as a joke. You
couldn’t just come in on your own in
a business suit and enjoy a dance like
a guy does. That’s what we’re trying
to push for. And couples as well, so if
yoos want to get a dance later, lemme
know.” Suddenly Jeanie’s voice booms
over the loudspeaker: “You are in the
first LGBTQI strip club! What happens
in Harpies stays in Harpies!”
As the night goes on, the
revelry becomes ever more daring
and debauched. I swear the onstage
performers are somehow getting
even more naked, and customers are
tucking tipping dollars into strippers’
undies with increasing confidence, as
alcohol flows and inhibitions loosen.
The mood is steamy, communal and
all kinds of queer.Watching a goddess twerk in
seven-inch platforms, I reflect on how
powerful it is being in an environment
specifically catered to your desire,
especially when that desire is still
fetishised and derided in mainstream
society. It’s 2019, but media outlets
continue to run alarmingly transpho-
bic content, homophobic hate crime is
on the rise and, in May this year, when
a same-sex female couple on a London
bus refused to kiss for the titillation of
a group of men, they were beaten up.It’s still dangerous to be queer. And
straight, cis blokes still view our sexu-
ality as something for them to jeer at,
wank over or demonise.
I never want my lesbianism to be
objectified by men, but equally I never
want to deny that I am a sexual being.
I didn’t go through years of closeted
turmoil because I’m quite fond of
female company. I endured all that
crap because I urgently, undeniably,
irrepressibly, really fucking fancy
women. I love that Harpies doesn’t
shy away from the “sex” part of
“sexuality”. Tonight feels liberating,
because it’s about queer folk
expressing and revelling in their own
sexuality on their own terms. For
once, we’re the ones in control, and
we’re having a goddamn glorious
time. At this revolution, there will not
only be dancing, but stripping, too.
Now, exactly whose are these knickers
I’ve just found?The next Harpies is Saturday 21 September
at Metropolis in Bethnal Green, London.
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