Gethin Mullock is manager at The Masquerade Bar. Whilst the bar isn’t, he is one of the newer faces to the Pride Quarter.
What role does The Masquerade Bar play within the LGBT+ community in Liverpool?
I know it’s kind of a cliche thing to say that a gay bar is a safe space but I do think we are. We’re open seven days a week so a lot of people come. We’ve got a good group of regulars who will come in – who always feel like they can come here. There’ll always be someone you know or can talk to. You know, sometimes they come with their friends and sometimes they come alone. We are very lucky as we’ve got a very broad range of customers. So we’ve got all the older generation coming here, but the younger people as well.
Do you notice any differences between the generations?
You get a lot of stories from the older customers of how the scene used to be and how venues like Garlands and Pink influenced them growing up. Then you’ve got the younger crowd who obviously are new to the scene or have come to Liverpool relatively recently, be that for university or whatever. They enjoy the party atmosphere a lot more. All generations of customers get along here, which is a nice thing
and something you might not get everywhere. So I think that makes The Masquerade a special place.
The Cheeky Girls are coming to The Masquerade Bar Street Party as one of Pride in Liverpool’s Fringe events. What can people expect?
It’s gonna be crazy. Last year was the first year that we did the street party with the stage. We’ve been doing our outside bar for years, but last year was the first time we took the step up. This year, obviously we want to keep that energy going and if anything step it up again. The Cheeky Girls were very well known throughout the noughties. Hopefully they will appeal to a wide range of people. Also, we’ve got Jam Sacks making a Madonna tribute, Jody Judy as Kylie (Minogue), as well as our regular drag queens. And we’ve also got our competition winners, who’re going to be onstage. Any queens can take part in the competition – it’s sort of like a Drag Idol. In the grand final, we’ll choose someone to have a 20 minute slot on our stage.
