Laurie Belgrave: Redefining Queer Storytelling

When Laurie Belgrave talks about storytelling, he's speaking from experience. The founder of The Chateau — South London's legendary queer bar that burned bright in a Camberwell basement from 2018 to 2020 — has spent years creating spaces where authentic voices can flourish.

Since 2021, Belgrave has channelled that community-building energy into TheirStories, his monthly series of LGBTQ+ conversations in The Library Lounge at The Standard, London. What started as a search for quieter, more thoughtful queer spaces has evolved into something unexpected: a platform where drag performers with Down syndrome dance alongside curious children, where veteran HIV activists share stages with newly diagnosed advocates, and where queer elders' wisdom meets the next generation's boldness.

A Goldsmiths graduate who once convinced London venue owners to host underage club nights at 15, Belgrave understands the power of bringing unlikely people together in unlikely places. In a space surrounded by books and filled with accidental encounters, his approach creates moments where the personal becomes universal.

We caught up with Belgrave to discuss the power of queer storytelling, the most important conversations happening in the community right now, and why visibility alone isn't enough anymore.

What's one story from TheirStories that's really stuck with you?

Going back a few years now, I hosted a special event for World AIDS Day, featuring veteran HIV activist Marc Thompson and Luke Kelly, who had been more recently diagnosed with HIV and was entering his journey in a very different time. The conversation between these two people, connected by their experience of living with HIV but in very different eras, was extremely powerful. Listening to our queer elders speak on the experience of the AIDS crisis I always find very emotional. Marc Thompson is a true hero of our times, having been diagnosed at 17 years old in the mid-1980s, living throughout this period when having HIV was seen as a death sentence, and going on to be one of the main campaigners for PrEP being made available for free on the NHS — a drug that has revolutionised HIV prevention and undoubtedly saved lives in the process. He is a pioneer, and to get to hear him tell his story in conversation with Luke was a very special day indeed.

In your opinion, what's the most important conversation happening in the queer community right now?

Year on year we are seeing the rights of our trans siblings eroded, and in April this year, led by a pressure group funded by JK Rowling, the Supreme Court delivered a ruling that could lead to trans women being legally excluded from women's spaces, with potentially huge and dangerous consequences for our trans siblings. We must stand up to actively and loudly fight for our trans community now more than ever. It is quite simple: trans women are women, trans men are men, and the perceived threat of trans people to any part of society is a complete fabrication, created by the right-wing media, government and a small but loud group of so-called feminists. Our trans siblings deserve to live their lives how they wish, and I personally will not stop fighting until they are allowed to do so. This is all of our responsibility now, so it's time to step up and make our voices heard.

What role do you believe storytelling plays in both celebrating and educating others about queer history and culture?

Our stories are so powerful, largely because I think they humanise issues that sometimes can feel other to our own experience. Stories build bridges, they build understanding, they build empathy and they build compassion. In a world where too often we are divided, learning about our experiences across boundaries reminds us that we are unified. That we all experience pain, loss, love, anger and hope. I have been consistently moved and nourished by TheirStories events, and inspired by the resilience, power and beauty of our queer community. I have also always been clear that these events are not closed doors just for LGBTQ+ people, but also for allies who want to educate themselves on the issues affecting our community. We host our discussions in The Library Lounge at The Standard, London, a space open to hotel guests and those just passing through, meaning people often by accident are exposed to our stories and narratives from those with a completely different experience to their own. It is often these moments of unexpected connection through storytelling that can be TheirStories' most powerful.

What's been the most unexpected or powerful moment from one of the TheirStories panels that you've hosted?

The event I hosted with Drag Syndrome in early 2022 still stands out to me: a panel discussion and performance evening with an entire troupe of drag performers with Down syndrome. I remember there was a family having dinner in Isla during the event, with young children. It's already quite unusual in the context of a hotel to have guests having dinner whilst steps away a drag performer with Down syndrome dances to Madonna's "Vogue", but it's also very encapsulating of The Standard's energy. The children were clearly interested by what was going on in The Library Lounge, and as the event progressed they came closer and closer. By the end of the event the kids were dancing onstage with the kings and queens, in scenes of absolute unbridled joy. These interactions foster discussion, and in a time when the right wing is telling us that drag queens and kings pose a threat to our children, and also in a time when support for disabled communities is being rolled back, it was extremely powerful to witness this moment of connection and elation. Drag Syndrome remain some of the most important performers in our community, and every time I work with them, pure magic happens.

I also can't help but mention last year's TheirStories special with Chadd Curry & Family. Chadd personifies the word icon in the truest sense. To hear them tell the story of their life, so openly recounting their struggles with addiction and being so vulnerable, supported by their chosen family Josh Woolford and Parma Ham, was very moving. Then they performed and just WOW. It blew us all away. This performance in a transformed Library Lounge was nothing short of life-changing. The whole Standard team — Louie, Riya, Tara, Nick — pulled out all the stops to deliver a technical show that we didn't think was possible in the space, and allowed Chadd to give everything to the audience. I'll never forget it, and will be proud of that moment forever. It reaffirmed for me the transformational power of this space we create together, both for performers and our audiences alike.

Pride Month is all about visibility — how can we ensure that every queer voice has a platform, not just during June, but all year long?

There has been a lot of discussion about the need for visibility, but quite simply it's not enough anymore. Visibility doesn't put food on the table for our communities, pay for vital healthcare, medication, rent, council tax, or protect our siblings when travelling alone late at night — the list goes on. The days of rainbows on corporate logos and Pride brunches are behind us now. What the community needs is action and active solidarity. This doesn't just mean attending a march or protest; in fact one of the most powerful ways we can support the community now is by employing them, booking them, paying their fee, creating workplace opportunities, uplifting their voices, donating and sharing fundraisers — all year round. Authentically supporting queer and especially trans voices to have seats at the table and to create their own futures.

How do you balance celebrating the milestones of queer history while also acknowledging the challenges we still face today?

This really crystallises the core purpose of TheirStories. I always say, ‘TheirStories values our history, contextualising our existence with the stories of the queer people who came before us’, and I really mean it. The purpose of these events and platform is to create space away from the dancefloor, to foster the meaningful connection of multiple generations of queer people. And in doing so, we learn from each other in order to inform and shape our shared futures together. We look back in order to allow us to look forward — it's as simple as that.

In what ways has being involved with TheirStories changed your perspective on the intersectionality within the queer community?

I have learned so much from TheirStories guests, both on the stage and also in the more personal time I've been able to spend with guests. Many, including Lakuti and Tama Sumo, Planningtorock and Chadd Curry, have become great friends. Despite being part of the queer community, these are people with greatly different life experiences to mine, many of whom have multiple layers of identity that make up who they are and which have presented barriers during their lives. As a middle-class white cis gay man, I'm constantly aware of the privilege that I hold, and also as the curator of the series, the privilege I have in deciding whose stories are told. With this in mind, I seek to platform the voices of queer people of colour, our trans community, working-class queers, those with experience of addiction and those with disabilities, and I hope that TheirStories can be a conduit to greater understanding across a wide cross-section of the community. We want to tell the untold stories, and it is these stories, often from the most marginalised in our community, where I find TheirStories is most at home.

If you could bring any queer figure — past or present — to a TheirStories panel, who would it be and what would you want to discuss with them?

My dream TheirStories guest is Beverly Glenn-Copeland. An African American trans man now in his 80s, who gained notoriety when his little-known album Keyboard Fantasies from 1987 was unearthed by a Japanese music fan, leading to reissues, a stunning documentary and global critical acclaim. It's truly inspirational, as a trans story but also as a musical story. Glenn is a gifted musician who happens to be an African American trans man who had been quietly living his life into old age, up until the rediscovery of his music. His existence is resistance, and he speaks with such wisdom — words that have so much power and relevance, both for the past and for our present too. It is stories like his that build bridges and help to change perceptions in our society, at a time when we so badly need to find common understanding and deeper compassion for one another. With a recent dementia diagnosis, Glenn's story is entering an equally important new chapter, and it is warming to see him at this stage of life receive the praise that he truly deserves, both as an artist and human.

Laurie will be hosting TheirStories Pride Special: Queer Voices in Football on July 2. Spaces are limited, grab your tickets via DICE HERE.   
 

Photos: Top: Laurie Belgrave by Tim Boddy. Above (R): Laurie Belgrave by @no.one.studio.london