The most prominent space that the queer women of New Orleans have to themselves is GrrlSpot, a pop-up event hosted on the first Saturday of every month at different locations around the city. “There is no specific event at the Center that focuses on queer women at this time,” says a representative from the LGBT Community Center of New Orleans, despite advertising a mission statement that touts combatting misogyny and creating equitable spaces for gender and sexual minorities. Queer women – who face unique, intersectional problems – are forgotten or fetishized while queer men are celebrated. Gay clubs are filled with men, pride parades are overwhelmingly male, and even activism is limited mostly to men. New Orleans, a city known for its prolific gay presence and its extreme party culture, is no different. In the midst of an era of acceptance for the LGBT community, women-exclusive queer spaces are dying out on a drastic scale. There is a clear theme to the New Orleans gay scene: it is distinctly male. Look at any poster for Southern Decadence, and you will find oiled six-packs and well-trimmed beards. On any given Saturday night, three of the biggest gay bars in the city – Oz, Bourbon Pub Parade, and Napoleon’s Itch – have the streets teeming with drag queens and gay men in leather and mesh. Ann streets is the heart of gay life in New Orleans.
