You Can’t Stop the Queer South is Them’s series spotlighting LGBTQ+ voices of resistance and resilience in the American South, created with guest editor adrienne maree brown. In the time since producing these stories, Hurricane Helene has devastated areas across North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, and Virginia, with nearly 200 dead, a million without power, and countless homes destroyed or displaced. We ask readers to support on-the-ground relief efforts however possible. See our Hurricane Helene relief resource guide to learn how you can help.
It looks like a typical Sunday night at Atlanta sex store Tokyo Valentino from outside its wooden façade, save for a couple of security guards monitoring the parking lot. No one is inside but the cashier, who tells me I can find the main event of the night through an inconspicuous side door into a three-story club. The first two floors of the hidden venue feel like an arcade, equipped with neon and retro games. The top floor, however, is where you’ll find the dancers of Hush Night, Atlanta’s premiere trans strip night, washed in red lights as they perform to trap music on the main stage.
A strip night exclusively for trans women is one of those ideas that sounds so obviously needed that it’s shocking it’s not happening in every major metropolis. The lack of trans-specific spaces in the Atlanta strip club market is what compelled the night’s owner and organizer Lenox to create Hush Night in 2016. “This is something towards the trans experience and the people who are attracted to the trans experience,” he tells Them.
Working with input from veteran trans performers like Bella B., Hush Night was born. In the eight years since its inception, Hush has grown into an every Thursday and Sunday affair, showcasing trans women working their magic over a loyal crowd. Performers travel from all corners of the country to dance on its hallowed stages, with peak nights like its yearly Halloween costume contest bringing in crowds of over 300 people. What makes Hush Night special compared to other clubs that employ trans performers is the solid sisterhood established between the dancers and just how protected its dancers are.
“Everybody has been so sweet. We hype each other up,” Moet, a long-term Hush Night dancer, tells Them. “We could be anywhere in the world tonight but we’re here at Hush Nights, under great supervision.”
Damien Bryant for Them
While Hush Night is well-known among trans performers and was featured in the award-winning 2023 documentary Kokomo City, the night is exactly what its name implies: discreet. Its Instagram page — which features eye-catching posters of the performers posed like bombshells to promote various events — is private, which Lenox says is done in part to evade Meta’s strict community guidelines and in part to keep its community of loyal customers vetted. Initially, I didn’t understand the meaning of the event’s name “Hush.” Why quiet the night? What good is there in keeping the circle so small? However, as I spoke to the dancers, they all emphasized what a gift discretion could be.
“I feel like this is a safe space,” Moet tells Them.
Privacy provides safety for the dancers, allowing them to be themselves in a space specifically designated to celebrate them. It also provides a safe space for the patrons of Hush Night, many of them men who feel uncomfortable expressing their attraction to trans women. As a man who identifies as trans-attracted himself, Lenox wanted to create a space where dancers feel safe and men can explore their desires at a comfortable distance. And who doesn’t love stumbling upon the sexy side of queer utopia? The night brings in couples, LGBTQ+ people, and straight men and women, all of whom can enjoy the dancers and engage as much as or as little as they’d like. Whether you prefer the sidelines or want to support the girls up close and personal, everyone can create their own experience.
“We got all shapes, flavors, sizes, colors, everything,” Moet says. A quick look around the room confirms that a wide variety of trans women come together to make Hush the iconic event that it is: a rainbow of bodies ready to move, unafraid to dance with all the talent and skill Atlanta strip clubs are known for. If you know the reputation of the Dirty South at all, you know we don’t play about our twerking and shaking abilities. The dancing talent, as expected from Hotlanta, is a must-see. “We dance,” Moet laughs. “We be in here, sweatin’.”
Damien Bryant for Them
