Guardian article – Closing time for gay pubs
This week I wrote a feature for the Guardian’s Society section about the number of LGBT venues closing in London and beyond. It’s a pretty shocking tally. More than a dozen pubs and bars have shut down in the capital in the past couple of years – about a quarter of the total – with problems also facing the Manchester and Brighton scenes. The piece also includes a case study of the campaign to save and evolve the Joiners Arms.
There are lots of interesting points made in the comments section below the line, and the article was quoted and referred to in another piece in today’s Guardian, a lament for the death of bohemian London.
The online headline makes it a story about soaring property prices, which do indeed play a significant role in these changes, especially in London. But there are other things at work as well, made clearer in the print headline, including the idea that the gay bar as we’ve known it since the 70s is perhaps nearing the end of its time as the natural default site of queer community.
That doesn’t change the facts that physical spaces of LGBT socialising – of one kind or another – are absolutely crucial to the psychological and political health of the community, and that they’re closing down at a much faster rate than they’re opening up. That’s deeply concerning.
The feature opens like this:
Historically, the gay scene has been a moveable feast. Pubs, bars and clubs spring up in one area, thrive for a while and then fade away, only to pop up somewhere else. But the past couple of years have been notably hard for lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) venues in the UK. In the capital alone, more than a dozen spaces have closed, from Vauxhall superclub Area in south London, to local pubs north of the river Thames, to lesbian institution Candy Bar in Soho and Madame Jojo’s, home to many queer nights. The future of four or five more hangs in the balance, and outside London, cities such as Brighton and Manchester are also suffering…
You can read the whole article here.
