Beyond Pride, Keene businesses build LGBTQ+ community year-round

Pride celebrations can put LGBTQ+ visibility front and center for a week or a month. But for some Keene businesses and arts spaces, creating a welcoming community is intended to be an everyday practice. At Brewbakers Cafe and Madame Sherri's, that approach takes different forms. One is a daytime coffee shop and community space connected to an arts nonprofit. The other is a restaurant and cabaret built around live entertainment and queer performers. Together, they illustrate how spaces around Keene are working to give LGBTQ+ residents opportunities to gather, perform and simply feel welcome long after the Pride flags and organized festivities come down. At Brewbakers Cafe, co-owner Eliza Murphy said inclusivity begins less with individual events than with the culture staff and leadership create every day. "The values we all hold — to be kind, welcoming, and affirming — apply across the board to everyone," Murphy said. "That comes from a really genuine place in both our leadership here at Brewbakers and in our large and diverse staff." Brewbakers, located at 48 Emerald St., describes itself as a downtown café, organic coffee roastery and community space. The same building is also home to Nova Arts, a nonprofit arts initiative focused in part on emerging artists and underrepresented voices. For Murphy, becoming a gathering place for LGBTQ+ people didn't come from setting out to create a designated space for one group. She hopes it grew naturally from people's experiences inside the café. "I hope that our LGBTQ+ community members have just experienced consistently solid and affirming interactions here and that's why it's grown into a place where the LGBTQ+ community gathers," Murphy said. "We're about treating one another with respect and humanity and take seriously the idea that a community's diversity is its strength." Arts programming adds another layer to that effort. Nova Arts states its mission includes presenting arts and culture while creating community collaborations with social impact. Its venue policies state homophobia, transphobia and other forms of discrimination are not tolerated. "At Nova … we are guided in part by the idea that it's important to see oneself or one's experience reflected in the arts and on stage," Murphy said. "That's a powerful thing for anyone." A few blocks away, Madame Sherri's has approached LGBTQ+ visibility from another angle. The restaurant and cabaret at 82 Main St. advertises live music, comedy and burlesque alongside its food and drink offerings. But Patrick Brown said an inclusive venue centered around queer artists was part of the idea before Madame Sherri's ever opened its doors. "We had always had a goal to open a more permanent space of our own," Brown said. "In late 2023, we were at the bar that was then Hennessy's — now Madame Sherri's — and casually mentioned the space would work quite well for our vision. Days later, Hennessy's closed. We decided to take a leap and start this new venture." "The whole concept was built around being an inclusive space and featuring queer artists," he continued. "Madame Sherri's from the start has been an inclusive space welcoming to all." That concept has allowed Madame Sherri's to offer both local performers looking for a place to develop and nationally known entertainers passing through Keene. "We offer a space for new performers to become more comfortable on stage with our Sashay to the Stage open stage events," Brown said. "We have a weekly Karaoke night that's free. We also bring in legendary performers from around the world. We've hosted Coco Peru, Sherry Vine, Varla Jean Merman, RuPaul's Drag Race stars." Brown said the business also tries to avoid being viewed as a place meant only for one segment of the community. While queer artists and inclusive programming are central to its identity, he said Madame Sherri's works to introduce the venue to people who may initially know it simply as somewhere to have dinner. "We try to have a variety of programming that appeals to different audiences," Brown said. "We are constantly doing outreach to bring people in. We have delicious food and we market to the community that Madame Sherri's is a restaurant. We are open to all ages until 9 p.m. We offer our food on DoorDash." That has sometimes created an unconventional introduction to the venue. "A number of people that would've never thought of coming in have found us on DoorDash and have fallen in love with our food and end up coming in and falling in love with our restaurant, cabaret, etc.," Brown said. For both Madame Sherri's and Brewbakers, that everyday accessibility is an important part of what community beyond Pride can look like. A Pride celebration can provide concentrated visibility and an opportunity for LGBTQ+ people and their allies to gather publicly. But businesses and cultural organizations can offer something different: places residents know will still be there on an ordinary Tuesday for dinner or a cup of coffee.