Update: The Albuquerque Social Club will no longer be permanently closing following fundraising efforts to save the club. “It almost didn’t feel real,” Peralta said. He processed it by speaking with other club members and sharing memories. “I’m hoping there’s a way for us all to stay connected because it really means a lot to a lot of us.” “When you have a place like SOCH to go, you have a chosen family and you get really close to those people,” he said. The members of the SOCH often stepped up to fill that role. Peralta said many gay people do not have a family after coming out. The person who complained in the review is. “And I think for a lot of people, just knowing that you had that safe space meant a lot.” One of the last places you can still smoke indoors which makes it so popular. “If you were having a bad day, or you needed somewhere to go or you didn’t want to go home, it was always a safe space,” he said. Peralta, who performed drag shows at the club for the past 20 years, said for many members, the SOCH was a place you could always count on. “There were people that were there every single day and you could see no matter what. “I could go there in the afternoon by myself and I would find people to talk to and people that would want to be friendly and nice,” said former manager and performer Kyle Peralta.
