No Boys Allowed: the sapphics are taking over Seattle's nightclubs

Apr 11 2022, 2:25 pm

With over 45 thousand followers on TikTok and Instagram, Sapphic Seattle is definitely taking the city by storm.

What is Sapphic Seattle, you ask?

Well, it’s a female-run group that creates 21+ parties and club nights exclusively for queer women and sapphics.

Started by 24-year-old Hannah Balducci (she/her) and joined by Varsha Nandula, 24 (she/her), Eve Matson, 23 (she/they), and Siobhan Fox, 24 (she/her), the group wanted to create additional opportunities and spaces for the sapphic community in Seattle. By rotating through different venues, they allow sapphic individuals in Seattle to make their own lesbian bar for a night.

According to Balducci, “the sapphic community is a wildly underserved demographic in nightlife. In the United States, there are only 21 lesbian bars, in addition to Seattle’s beloved lesbian bar, The Wildrose.”

She explained that although sapphic is a word typically used to describe lesbians, they allow their patrons to determine for themselves whether or not they’re part of the sapphic community and if these events are for them.

The only rule of the events is that couples cannot use the space for “unicorn hunting,” which is when a heterosexual couple searches for a bisexual woman to be the third in a three-polyamorous relationship.

 

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The current challenge for the group is meeting demand. Their April 10th event sold out 650 tickets in seconds. The event before that? A little over 700 folks were in attendance.

“We want everyone to have an opportunity to come to our events to meet people,” said Balducci. “It’s tricky when there are thousands of people who want tickets and only hundreds that can fit into a club at once.”

@sapphicseattle What city should we go to next?šŸŒˆšŸ‘©ā€ā¤ļøā€šŸ’‹ā€šŸ‘© #sapphic #lesbian #nblw #wlw #queer #bi ā™¬ Coming In Hot – Andy Mineo & Lecrae

Unlike most club events, where females are typically bombarded by male energy, Sapphic Seattle removes the heightened sexual energy in the club.

To establish a culture of consent and respect in the space, attendees receive the option of two wristbands when they arrive: pink if they’re looking to flirt with others and yellow if they’re there to just make friends in the community.

“This has been remarkably successful in helping people feel comfortable in the space.”

 

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Although it may seem like they’re all over your newsfeeds now, Sapphic Seattle events didn’t always start out with numbers in the hundreds. Their origin story is actually rather unorthodox.

100 Tinder matches were invited to a WLW (women who love women) house party. News travelled, and more and more people wanted to join in — thus creating Sapphic Seattle as it is now.

Updates on the latest events can be followed through their TikTok and Instagram pages @sapphicseattle. If there are any small businesses in the area that would like to collaborate with the group, feel free to reach out through social media.

Alyssa TherrienAlyssa Therrien

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