After permanently closing its original location in May of this year, Headroom Lounge, an LGBTQ+ nightclub, has announced its reopening. Founder Joseph Cameron said that a new location has been secured in Jersey City, however, details of the location are said to be released soon. Here’s what we know so far:
The History
In 2019, Joseph assisted with marketing for the immensely popular “What’s the Tea” drag brunch at the now-closed Talde. He began working with Eddie Baez of JC Pride as a volunteer a few years back, donating upwards of $10,000 in services in 2019. He now serves as a co-producer at JC Pride, working closely with the Hudson County Chamber of Commerce.
Last year, Joseph wanted to curate live events. He did just that and after the success of it at a local venue, the owner wanted to speak with him about other opportunities. “He approached me afterward and said, ‘I want to do something in the LGBTQ space, I don’t really know anything beyond that. Is this something that you’d be interested in?’” Needless to say, Joseph seized the moment and opened one of the only LGBTQ+ spaces in the state.
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“Opportunities for our community are very few and very far between,” Joseph said. “It literally took a pandemic for us to get a place that is owned and operated by our community, there aren’t many of them.”
In 2019, Joseph was part of the marketing team for the very popular ‘What’s the Tea Drag Brunch’ shows that debuted at the now-closed Talde in Jersey City. The brunch event was founded by Zac Denham, Marti Gould Cummings, and Michelle DeSantis.
The space began as Headroom and was mainly a private event space. Headroom LGBTQ+ Lounge officially opened on November 28, 2020.
Closing
Joseph had taken to Headroom’s Instagram account to announce the closure via a video stating, “One of the company partners wanted to violate the agreement to allocate all entertainment funds to the entertainers and entertainment coordinator. Following further discussion, the decision was made to close the lounge for the foreseeable future.”
Since then, the lounge has been operating via pop-ups at different local nightclubs in the area, most recently at Society Lounge in Lyndhurst, Asbury Park, and NYC.
Reopening
Just this week, Joseph took to Headroom’s Instagram for a major announcement once more: he has secured a permanent location for the lounge in downtown Jersey City just a few months after losing the original.
“The owner of the space actually reached out to me after seeing how well Headroom Lounge did and we’ve been in the process of negotiating for the last couple of months so we are right at the finish line with our negotiations and everything is going really well,” Joseph told his followers. “Everyone will really really really love the space, it’s amazing.”
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He says that he will be announcing the location of the new space soon.
In the meantime, while the new home of Headroom Lounge awaits, Joseph is hosting an event at Grove Bistro in Jersey City at 116 Newark Avenue on November 5th.
Visit the Headroom’s Instagram account at @headroomlounge to stay in the know with events and updates.
