This weekend, hundreds of LGBTQ+ Cincinnatians will gather at DSGN CLLCTV in Northside to celebrate one of this century’s biggest queer icons with a night of music, art, lights and all-out dancing.
The fifth annual SOPHIE NIGHT, hosted by local queer celebrities DJ Boywife and Manuka Honey Stix-Chimera, has grown to become Cincinnati’s biggest gay event of the winter. It honors the life of SOPHIE, the Grammy-nominated transgender music producer who wrote and produced some of the biggest songs of the past decade before her tragic death.
“A lot of people in the queer community, especially trans people, tell us how they look forward to it every year. They’ll say ‘this is the night for us, this is the queer night of the year in Cincinnati,’ and I’d agree with them,” Boywife said. “What can I say? It’s like gay fuckin’ Christmas.”
While not quite a rave—more of a “diet rave,” he says—the event is in a beloved DIY warehouse space and will feature lasers, fog, live drag and burlesque performances, a giant mural of SOPHIE and plenty of great music. Basically, it’ll feature everything you’d expect from “the biggest dance party of the season.”
“Last year, we had DJ’s, we had pole performers, we had drag queens, we had pop-up entertainment all throughout the night,” he said. “The DJ’s this year are GRAV3YARD, KENNFAYE, GENDRFVVK, JFFRI, and me, alongside Manuka performing. The entire lineup is queer artists, so it’s a really good give and take. You guys are all gay and dancing, we’re all gay and performing. We’re all in the right place.”
SOPHIE NIGHT started five years ago, long before DJ Boywife’s name became the Batsignal for Cincinnati’s queer community to get on the floor and dance. His plan to host his very first event happened right after SOPHIE’s tragic death in 2021, when she fell from a rooftop in Greece.
In her time as a musician, SOPHIE blended harsh noise with bubblegum pop in a way that shot her to the upper echelon of the music industry. She wrote and produced songs for the biggest names in music across all genres, from Charli XCX to Kendrick Lamar, while still being an early, loud and unabashed advocate for the transgender community.
“That first event in 2021 was a tribute to her, because she’s always been a big thing for me. When I found her music in high school, it made me realize there’s more than just what’s on the radio. She gave me a whole new perspective on everything,” Boywife said. “She’s, like, the OG of everyone in music right now. I just think the least we could do to honor her is to gather up all the gay people and dance around for four hours.”
When he began hosting the event every year, Cincinnati had plenty of queer spaces. But over the past half-decade, the number has slowly dwindled.
It’s surprising, considering the Supreme Court case that legalized gay marriage in the U.S. listed gay Cincinnatian Jim Obergefell as its plaintiff, but it’s an undeniable fact that the Queen City is slowly becoming less queer.
“These spaces disappear, but the people don’t. We still have queer people who have shit they’re dealing with in their daily life that want a place to just be around each other. Why don’t we make one for them, even just for one night?,” he said.
In the spirit of celebrating a trans icon, all proceeds from the event will go to the Cincy Trans Resource Collective. It’s a move that felt “necessary, due to the policies of the current administration.” Boywife cited a recent law in Kansas that invalidates the IDs of transgender people, making it illegal for them to drive.
“It just seems like this country is punishing people for something about themselves that they should be celebrating, and I cannot let that slide,” he said. “I cannot let these 21-year-old kids feel like monsters or that they are alone or they don’t have a place to go. It’s the least we could do to give them a space to meet and see and talk to other people just like them.”
While the reason for the event is to honor a fallen icon and raise money for transgender causes, the point of the whole thing is still to dance the night away and meet new people that you wouldn’t have encountered otherwise—a counterpoint to the “isolating” club culture of Cincinnati.
“I know when I play this Lady Gaga song, you’re going to sing along, the person next to you is going to sing along, you’re going to look at each other and do the “Abracadabra” dance, and then you become best friends,” Boywife said. “That’s how I think at all my shows, because I care to make that happen, and I care about making a safe space. Come as you are, respect each other, and have the best night of your life.”
The fifth annual SOPHIE NIGHT is this Saturday at DSGN CLLCTV at 10 p.m. Tickets are $10 at the door, but transgender people get in free.