[Esme nha Maire]

Surprisingly, given that the city I live in is Britain's second largest, IMO the lesbian scene here sucks, at least in terms of provision. There is one - count them - one - small lesbian-centric bar, and a couple of other places where lesbians are often to be found at times. But even in the lesbian-centric bar it seems entirely random as to whether you'll find wall-to-wall women (yaay!) or mostly gay guys and their often straight female friends.

I was lucky enough that my first two visits to the scene, lesbian women were out in strength, and I had great nights out. The last couple of times, though,were deeply frustrating. Here I am, libido ticking over nicely, and I'm in the lesbian-centric bar. Damn. Gay guys and their female straight-looking friends.. Check the pool room - two lasses that cant understand my English well. Check the yard - plenty of women there, but clearly already in their own social groups. Suddenly an influx of women into the bar - yaay! DAMN! It's a hen party - complete with inflatable male doll. Sigh... The other two venues - one was mostly full of gay guys and drag queens, the other had me scratching my head to label the clientele, but dykey it certainly was not.

Now, I don;t mind a smattering of hetty women mixing with us, I really don't, so long as they behave sensibly and politely (If you're female and enter a lesbian bar,you may get hit on by women. Decline politely!), but I'd really rather not have guys about at all. Is it too much to ask to have ONE evening per week at one venue that's women-only?

Grrrr.

As for personal visibility,I've never in adult life been too bothered about what others think of my sexuality, I had bigger problems to worry about.