Lucien Jack wants to remind people “there is a human being” underneath the glitz and glamLucien Jack claims he experienced homophobia in Liverpool city centreA man has claimed he was called “a nonce” among other homophobic slurs as he finished his shift in Liverpool city centre. Lucien Jack, originally from North Hampshire, said within minutes of leaving nightclub Dysco on Saturday night, he was targeted on Stanley Street.The 37-year-old, who now lives in the city’s business district, said he was vlogging, as he does every week, for his YouTube channel when the incident happened on May 9. At the time, Lucien was dressed as his drag persona, Teena, and was promoting two events he his hosting this week.When the ECHO met with Lucien, he said he wanted to be photographed and interviewed as himself, as opposed to Teena. He said this was to highlight that “there is a human being” underneath the glitz and glam of a drag persona.He told the ECHO: “Every week I do a vlog called Teena Talks, and I always try to create different content – whether I’m touring or at home. Because I had shows coming up, I decided to go around Liverpool to promote them.“I have a drag character, and her personality can be quite confrontational in a playful way. The joke is always on me, and I never set out to make anyone feel uncomfortable, it’s part of the act and part of the fun. I perform across Liverpool in lots of different venues – bars, private events, and restaurants. This time, I just had finished on Stanley Street and left the venue.Lucien was dressed as their drag persona when they were targeted in the city centre “Within seconds of leaving, and starting filming in the Pride Quarter, someone shouted ‘yuck’ at me and pointed. It immediately felt like this wasn’t going to be an easy start. Someone called me a nonce and someone else shouted transphobic slurs.“I’m in the Pride Quarter, where I perform regularly, so I should feel safe there. But quite quickly, things escalated. I heard derogatory comments, including slurs and being called offensive names. It was relentless, and it made me feel quite unsafe in that moment.“I have dyspraxia and I am neurodivergent so I tend to be able to focus on what is happening in front of me. I didn’t even realise everything that was being shouted at me until I watched the footage back later while editing.“A man also came up to me and asked, ‘Are you a man?’ in a confrontational way. That moment made me feel scared. It all happened very quickly, with more comments from people around him.”Lucien said the homophobia had “nothing to do” with the venues on Stanley Street, nor did he report the incident as he said it is something he has become used to as a drag queen.Lucien said he is determined not to be deterred by the incidentHe added: “You are always going to get prejudice. I can go home and take my drag off but there are others out there who can’t. There are trans people who will be perceived in a certain light by these people. It’s quite scary how people feel they can be openly rude.”Lucien also claimed this was only part of the abuse he received that day in drag. He said earlier on, while still promoting his shows, teenagers kept “making noises” at him.He added: “It wasn’t the main issue of the day, but it made for a difficult start. I can deal with things like that – it’s just kids. But I was more conscious that I was being filmed, and I was concerned about the person filming me at the time.”Despite what happened, Lucien said he is still going ahead with his events. The first being Queerovision on Friday, May 15 at Navy Bar 2.0 and a Eurovision viewing party on Saturday, May 16 at Hot Water Comedy Club.He said: “I’ve lived here for a year and it’s such a welcoming city. I love it, but it does show the current times we are in and where we are headed. People should be able to live their lives how they want to without the relentless attacks.”If, for any reason, you do not wish to report a hate crime to the police, the independent charity Stop Hate UK runs a 24/7 confidential helpline for all victims of hate crime on 0800 138 1625 or www.stophateuk.org. You can also download the Stop Hate UK reporting app on Google Play or the Apple App Store. You can also report hate crime via:
Moments after leaving the club, people were calling me a nonce
