The Night We Invaded Nottingham......Again!

     Yesterday was Nottingham Invasion day. Now, unlike last time when I joined up with the group at gone midnight, this time I had the day off so could start the night at the right time. Yesterday though, I suffered from a constant headache all day. That made me very lethargic and I really couldn't be bothered with the hassle of getting ready then driving over to Nottingham. It was my mum who actually persuaded me to go in the end, so after a couple of aspirin I got ready and went out.

     The drive to Nottingham isn't too bad from my house. It's literally just two roads split by a roundabout so you can't really go wrong. Despite that it's still a good 45 minute journey on a normal day. I made a point of trying to get a street parking space this time to avoid car parking charges. Luckily, just as I arrived, a car pulled out of the spot closest to the New Forresters. Time was getting on at this point, already getting towards 9ish. The night officially kicked off at 8 but I didn't mind being an hour late. I think that it's quite nice to arrive when the events in full swing. One of the reasons I actually wanted to go last night was that a lady called Sue had come up from London. She's always made nice comments on my posts on the forums and we actually met briefly at Sparkle a couple of years ago. It was also nice to catch up with people I see as genuine friends such as Samantha, Maddy and Gayna. I think that everyone will get different things from these events. For some it's a chance to unleash their feminine side while for others it's an opportunity to push the boundaries. For me, it's a chance to meet up with friends and support the transgender community.



     After the New Forresters we moved onto a new venue. This was a straight club called The Oceania. Samantha had contacted them before and they were genuinely in support of the invasion. We got in at a discounted rate and I'm pretty sure that the takings went up somewhat. Me and Gayna were the first ones in and as we walked into the main room it reminded me so much of that scene from The Inbetweeners movie. The boys are coerced into going in this club. As they walk down the stairs they discuss with each other how busy it's going to be only to be met with an empty room filled with loud music. That's exactly what it was like when myself and Gayna walked in. It soon filled up though although I think that 40 odd t-girls had something to do with that. I quite liked the Oceania. I think that it's good to go to these straight venues as it gets us out there and that's the most important thing. It was while at Oceania that the most surreal scene of the night occurred. In the corner near the bar stood one of those boxing machines you see at the seaside. Basically, a punch bag hangs down and the object of the game is to hit it as hard as you can. I've sat and watched many a time as men fight to prove their strength against each other. This time though it was the turn of Maddy and a girl called Tanya Thomas. It was just really surreal watching Maddy punch this bag as hard as she could then having to repair a broken nail.

Me and Samantha in Oceania

     At around midnight we moved onto a gay venue, NG1 Club. Unfortunately I just missed the free entrance cut off time so had to pay £5 to get in. Once in though I had a lovely chat with Gayna. She said some lovely things about how proud she was that I've done what I've done. It actually brought a tear to my eye. Why is it that when people say wonderful things about you, the first instinct is to burst into tears! Damn hormones lol. While in NG1 a guy came over and began chatting to Tanya Thomas. He was a bit random and so Tanya escaped, something I wished I'd done. He was harmless enough, just a bit odd. I think he actually thought I was a genuine female because he seemed confused as to why I was on a trans night out. In the end I excaped citing a need for the toilet as the reason. Tip for the future, if a strange guy asks me if I'm straight say no, I'm a lesbian or that I have a boyfriend. Either would work fine.

     At around 1am I had to get home because I had work this morning. I said a few quick goodbyes and walked to my car. All in all it was a very good night out and I'm extremely confident that this event has legs. It has a core group of girls (I'm one) who'll attend every time and who'll keep it going and that's important. It's also important that the trans community becomes more accessible to the public and the only way we can do that is by going to normal venues and not restricting ourselves to a certain place because it's 'safe'. We've had 2 Nottingham Invasions and I think we're already making ourselves known which is great. 55 girls attended this time coming from as far away as London and County Durham so we nearly doubled the count of the 1st invasion. Here's to the next invasion in February. 110 attendees?