A Message from our Membership Coordinator

Hey y’all! I am Auryn and I serve on the CPC Board as your Membership Coordinator.
I’m also, well, a giant socially awkward weirdo with a heavy dose of introvert. I moved to Baltimore City just over two years ago from the Howard County ‘burbs and I was quite excited about being closer to more arts and culture such as concert venues, museums, and performance spaces. What I really didn’t bank on was landing at the Club. I had been seeing Club events and info on social media and salivating over the delicious menus and my polycule and I attended a screening of the movie Tank Girl as our first visit.
We enjoyed ourselves thoroughly that night and the rest of my polycule does occasionally come to events. I, however, sought to become more involved with the Club almost immediately. As a person who works at home, I have a tendency to isolate. There’s also not a lot of places that are a super great fit for someone who is over 40 and mostly introverted with sensory and mobility challenges. I needed a low pressure and accessible third space and here was one in quite a reasonable distance from my home.
The Club immediately felt like home, in a way. The “Queer Cheers” comparison isn’t that far off. The Club is a place where I can drop most psychological masking and be as social or quiet as I’m feeling on any given day. I can wear a hoodie and sweats or I can wear a ridiculously thematic and/or slutty outfit. At our crab feasts, I can be having a lively conversation, or hyperfocusing on picking crabs like a bear who dug up some clams on the beach. No one judges either way.
I was honored to be invited to join the Board and the work I do is meaningful to me. I’ve also reconnected with communities that I thought I left behind years ago. Even if I spend the evening mostly just overhearing conversations and having a hot cider and a smoke or three in the yard, I leave the club every time with some of my energy restored, energy to face living in the USA in 2025.
The Club is a place of fierce queer joy and it is reflected in so many ways. For just one example—- every time we sing the loudest, most feral and ridiculous version of “Happy Birthday”, or the regular version if you like, we celebrate a person who has lived and thrived one more year in this bullshit timeline to enjoy some cake, homemade whipped cream, and the unhinged musical stylings of their friends and even some strangers.
I am already planning on renting the club (a big benefit of membership, BTW!) for a rager for my big 5-0 which is in five years, which means I definitely need to do my part in keeping the Club in existence for those five years. We do live, unfortunately, under capitalism and in a precarious economy, and as such, our community has material needs to keep us going.
Your donations are essential to make that lift a bit lighter, especially in the colder months. Keeping the heat and lights on in our historic clubhouse, keeping the wood pile stocked, and squirreling some money away for the inevitable maintenance needs of said clubhouse are just a few of the needs filled by our winter fundraiser.
Please remember CPC in planning your holiday giving, especially with our Secret Santa matching funds (up to $5000) to make your contribution go further during the month of December. Hope to see you at the Club soon!