LGBTQIA+ Social Clubs
Moose Historical Fencing
Kasey, He/Him. Founder.
“I discovered longsword fencing because I wanted to fight with swords, but I fell in love with it and Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA) for the community and friendships I made. My first instructors and club embraced that I was gay, which was welcome to me in a world where other sports had for many years seemed foreign and out of reach. It's a huge honor to start and run a HEMA club here in Maine. When I'm fighting or sparring-- I feel so full, alive, and honestly... I just have a lot of fun doing it. I want Moose Historical Fencing to be a space where everyone can have that, and where anyone can train safely and grow as fighters and as people."
Powerfolx
Queer Muay Thai of Maine. Class every third Sunday of the month.
Ellis, He/Him. Founder.
“Throughout my life I have found the most peace when I am moving. It’s when I ask my body to reach for a goal, master a new skill, or perfect an old technique that I truly feel at home in my skin. It’s how I meditate, where I find joy and how I release. And I'm always more excited to experience that in community, with people who are finding that joy as well.
With PowerFolx, I wanted to create a space where others would feel not just comfortable, but embraced and celebrated, while exploring movement…no matter their history, their ability, whether being physical is something that comes naturally, or something that they’ve struggled with. But also, somewhat selfishly, I wanted to create a community for myself. I wanted to introduce fellow queers to Muay Thai, in the hopes that they would find it as empowering, cathartic and enriching as I do.
PowerFolx is still young (we just turned 1! Woohoo!), but we’ve already got a great group of fighters who are getting to enjoy the improved physical and mental health that comes from practicing a martial art. And we’ve definitely got lots of goals for evolving and improving the program in the future. If you want to see if you’re the kind of weird that likes punching and kicking stuff with your friends, then come check us out!”
Guerilla Queer Bar
Tanner, He/Him. Organizer.
“I moved to Portland near a decade ago from my childhood home of Vermont. I spent my 20s in Portland and I’ve seen the city change so much, but the one constant for me was our Queer community. The LGBTQ+ community here is why I stayed; I owe my friendships, my careers, my successes, and my happiness to the Queer network that we have in Maine!
In my free time I organize Portland’s “GQB” Guerrilla Queer Bar. GQB is Portlands largest LGBTQ+ event series. One Friday each month we gather at a local bar venue and “take it over” and make it into a Queer space for the evening.
Providing a space for our community to gather and grow together is what I want to give back to the Portland Queer community; a community that has given me so much to me.
Find our events at @gqb.portland.maine
Hope to see you there!”
Sapphic Saturday
Sapphic Saturday is an LGBTQ meet up based in Portland, ME.
Yūki, She/Her. Organizer.
“Coming out during a pandemic isn’t easy. But there comes a point when the world seems like such a dark and scary place that you realize is so much more painful to lie to yourself and others than to just be who you are and let things fall were they may. I’m proud of the family that has come out to support me and I hope when COVID is over to find a community in Maine I can be a part of.”
Queers On Quads
Coco, She/They, on the left. Founder.
“I began Queers on Quads because I knew I wasn’t the only one who loves park roller skating and celebrating my queerness, and I wanted more of those things! We started getting together in June 2022, and we have been carving out space for ourselves at the skate parks and on the streets, looking cute, and happily blasting music the whole way. Come skate with us!”
Queercovery
Queercovery creates opportunities for Queer people struggling with addiction to find support, access resources, and build community as they navigate their recovery. We are dedicated to confronting and dismantling barriers to both our individual and our collective healing. We nurture peer-led spaces— both physical and virtual— to discuss our addictions and support each other on our journeys.
L/A It’s Happening Queer
Alex, They/Them. Co-founder.
“I have always been in-between as a person, whether that is ethnicity, race, or gender. Not 50% this and 50% that but 100% a third, unique thing; the insider with an outside perspective. I was really lucky to grow up in Los Angeles where in-between-ness isn’t too uncommon and I could really explore my identity. It’s a real privilege that I was able to have a community that gave me the experience to look at the world as a gradient not a binary.
I’ve been in Maine for over a decade but I am new-ish to Lewiston. I joke that I just moved here to say that I moved from one LA to another. When I came to Lewiston, I thought about the issues and identities that are important to me and which ones would make the most sense to engage with. There are so many wonderful queer people in the area but there is a lack of spaces for us to gather and build community. I ended up taking on running an existing social event called Second Saturday and with some friends we’ve built L-A It’s Happening Queer @itshappeningqueer to organize that event and others. I’ve also helped organize Pride in Lewiston for the past couple of years and this year will be my biggest yet. We are going to have a whole week of events from June 1st to June 8th. I am really looking forward to it. If you find yourself in Lewiston, get in touch: I wouldn’t mind showing you the city I love.”
Zoë. Organizer of L/A It’s Happening Queer
Zoë and Jae are both from away—Minnesota and New Jersey, respectively. They met in Maine (as farm apprentices!) and were friends at first sight. They always knew they wanted to live together, and yet somehow they never imagined it would be as a soon-to-be-married couple.
They’re grateful to have landed in Lewiston, where they’ve found a wonderful group of friends who are queering what it means to be a community. “Everyone always says it’s so hard to find friends in your thirties,” says Zoë, “but that hasn’t been the case for us.” Says Jae, “Attending queer social events connected us to people who share our lifestyle and values, and we feel at home here because of that.” The two explain that their community isn’t “queer” because it consists exclusively of queer people; it doesn’t. What makes it queer in their eyes is that Jae, Zoë, and their friends share time, space, and self in ways that joyfully embrace communalism and mutual flourishing. They support one another and cultivate happiness together even in the darkest of times. It’s the sort of community that Jae and Zoë want for everyone.