Waterloo Pub provides 'safe haven' for cross-dress and transgender community

The Waterloo pub, in Grange Road, held the first Pub Pride event on Friday, May 27, which is run by Ask for Clive - a group bidding to work with 1,000 venues across the country to be more inclusive for marginalised communities.

The Waterloo pub

The event was held in association with the Weymouth Gay Group, which works with the LGBTQ+ communities across the surrounding area including Bridport, Dorchester, Portland and further afield.

Steve Mears of The Weymouth Gay Group, said: "Ask for Clive is an event for venues to celebrate their local LGBTQ+ community and welcome Pride Month in their home town.

"The Waterloo is a community pub, and is well known for embracing diversity."

Waterloo pub manager Dawn Axe said: "We held the event on Friday from 2pm until midnight.

"There was a barbecue, karaoke and general party atmosphere promoting 'Ask for Clive'.

"We also held a raffle and raised £310 for MV Freedom, whose volunteers came along to assist in the fun.

"We had several small business owners from Weymouth with stalls

"Everyone had a great time."

A spokesman from the Weymouth Gay Group said: "The Waterloo pub runs 'This is Me' every Tuesday, which is the idea of Mr Mears.

"He wanted to create a safe haven for cross dressers and transgender people to have a drink and a chat in the the newly refurbished Waterloo pub garden."

Weymouth Gay Group will be hosting a stall at Chesil Rocks festival at Langton Herring this month.

The stall will have a special tribute to Alan Turing who was educated in Dorset.

His wartime efforts helped break the Nazi Enigma Code, but he was later subject to conversion therapy and eventually took his own life at a time when society did not accept homosexuality.

Weymouth Gay Group also meet at The Swan, in St Thomas Street, on Thursdays from 7pm onwards.

For more information email weymouthgaygroup@gmail.com