Lesbians just don't party that much… huh, really?

Stiff-hipped on the cat couch? Shortly before International Women's Day, once again a call for solidarity: Save OYA here, rescue Silver Future there… And sure enough, the Instagram comment sections fill up reliably with takes like: These places didn’t empty out by accident, their political stance scared off the fun crowd, and, you know, lesbians just don't party that much… huh, really? True, the dancefloors haven’t exactly been overflowing at the once-legendary L-Tunes, probably not helped by

the venue itself. Sirene, the last of Berlin’s many L-bars, got gentrified out of existence a full decade ago. Then came the pandemic - felt like a decade, passed like a breeze - and it seemed to rob the fun-loving city lesbian of her groove for good. Suddenly she’s sitting stiff-hipped on the cat couch, applying for a room in the new RuT retirement home. Or so the story goes. More lesbian happenings, local bars Those who lived through the lesbian 1980s can keep their valid narrative. But Berlin

looks different for anyone born after ’75. For starters, they also call themselves FLINTA+, lesbians*, and queer women these days. They don’t live under a rock or feed off nostalgic legends: They’re out on Tuesdays at Olfe , Wednesdays at Tipsy Bear , Thursdays at Stück , and kick off the weekend from Curly before getting wild at Slit in Lab or various Drag King shows. The end of a lesbian cultural era isn’t the end of lesbian culture. Today’s lesbians like to wander. When they’ve earned their

weekend release after a hard week, it might not happen in their old local bar like it’s still 1987 - it happens at pop-ups all over the city. Queer women do their own thing The scene is alive as ever. Every night of the week, women meet up to flirt, to stir, to feel connected. New formats like those by Kottilesben pop up like wildfire, sometimes crowdfunded, sometimes brand-sponsored. Other crews, like the Butch Barflys, started reclaiming bars even before the pandemic, turning gay bars into

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