It may be hard to image, but there was a time when Soho and Vxhall weren't the centre of gay nightlife London. Way back the 1970s and
Contents:
- LGBT+ HISTORY MONTH, FEB 2021: GAY LIFE LONDON THE 1970S
- GAY LONDON 1970S THE MARKHAM ARMS KGS ROAD CHELSEA 1970 GAY SCENE
- GAY MEN LONDON, OM PERSECUTN TO PRI
- THIS IS WHAT BRA’S GAY LIBERATN FRONT MOVEMENT LOOKED LIKE THE 1970S
- LOST GAY BARS OF EARL’S COURT, LONDON
- NIGHTCLUBBG: GAY CLUBBG ’70S LONDON
- PROUD: THE FIRST GAY PRI LONDON
- GAY SEX THE '70S
- LONDON'S LANDMARK BUILDG DOTTED WH STRIP CLUBS, GAY VENU TO TURN TO MOSQUE
LGBT+ HISTORY MONTH, FEB 2021: GAY LIFE LONDON THE 1970S
Lookg through our llectn for signs of the long stggle for gay rights. * gay london 1970s *
Imag of early Gay Pri ralli, ntroversial actor and sger Dive, and the Porchter Hall Drag Ball go on display Victoria this Febary, markg LGBT+ History Month.
Many of the photos were ptured by Robert Workman, an employee of Gay News; Workman rerd the earlit Gay Pri ralli 1972 until the 1980s, as well as the openg of the Gay's the Word bookshop 1972, and the Porchter Hall Drag Ball, which ran om 1969 to the 1990s. The Instute holds many archiv and llectns, rangg om London History, Labour and Socialist History, and s LGBTQ+ archiv enpass LGBTQ+ history, polics and culture, wh archiv om Stonewall, Swchboard, GMFA (The Gay Men's Health Chary) and Outrage!, and material relatg to the Terrence Higgs Tst, as well as to Achill Heel and QX magaz.
GAY LONDON 1970S THE MARKHAM ARMS KGS ROAD CHELSEA 1970 GAY SCENE
Ben Gazur’s whistle-stop tour of the history of gay men London tak om 14th-century persecutn to morn Pri events. * gay london 1970s *
It is also the ctodian of the Lbian and Gay Newsmedia Archive (LAGNA), which clus over 300, 000 prs cuttgs om the straight prs regardg LGBTQ+ history om the 1890s to today, pl the UK Leather and Fetish Archiv. Spac for queer people to e together, love and have sex have always been around, but the first documented spac for queer teractn London, pecially of gay men, are the 18th-century Molly Ho. Generally functng as taverns, public ho or even private clubs, the plac were a popular way for gay men to meet tim of legal and social persecutn.
GAY MEN LONDON, OM PERSECUTN TO PRI
* gay london 1970s *
It me as a given that the plac were often raid, and rerds om the Old Bailey reveal equent stanc of gay men beg blackmailed for money.
The varied om clubs such as the Unn Jack Club Waterloo for members and veterans of the Brish Armed Servic, which gaed a reputatn as a refuge where homosexual servicemen uld socialise durg and after World War II; to cisg grounds such as Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park, Hampstead Heath and Clapham Common; to drag balls such as those of Jean Frerick’s Porchter Hall; to private hom. After the crimalisatn of homosexualy 1967, clubs were now legal, although was often only whe gay men who enjoyed greater acceptance the gog-out scene.
Frher our memory, and some s still active today, the big gay clubs of the 1990s are for many people the prime exampl of queer nightlife our cy.
THIS IS WHAT BRA’S GAY LIBERATN FRONT MOVEMENT LOOKED LIKE THE 1970S
How London’s gay scene travelled om the unrground to Heaven a few short years" name="scriptn * gay london 1970s *
It was the first club to have a 24-hour dance licence the UK, and hosted several dance nights, such as the gay club Tra, which was the first legal after-hours club Bra.
Yet Soho hadn’t been ‘gay central’ the late 1970s and early 80s, when Earl’s Court and Wt Brompton were most equented by the queer public. The relotn of queer nightlife to Soho ow much to Wtmster Council’s ntroversial ‘cleang up’ of Soho the 1980s and 1990s, which saw sex-workers siled favour of tablishments that tered to an creasgly accepted clientele of affluent gay men.
LOST GAY BARS OF EARL’S COURT, LONDON
This documentary explor the birth of the gay pri movement New York after the Stonewall rts of 1969 and the sexual eedom that rulted. It touch on many aspects of gay culture the 1970s, cludg mic, dgs and art, followed by the vastatg impact that the onset of AIDS had on the homosexual muny. Told through several terviews and archival material, pats a picture of solidary and posivy while explorg the sexualy of a relatively new movement. * gay london 1970s *
Bee of s ample space and central lotn, soon beme the centre for queer nightlife the pal, takg up an important role makg gay clubs more mastream. (Monday and Saturday) and also Propaganda (Thursday) were n at 'Bbys Nightclub' (London) by gay club promoter and DJ Col Peters (Peter Dbeney), whose brother Jamie ntued as promoter for a perd followg the passg of Col. I’ve no ia what happened to my Gay Pri 75 badge or the Campaign for Homosexual Equaly one that I’m sportg the set picture; that’s om 1976.
NIGHTCLUBBG: GAY CLUBBG ’70S LONDON
Geni Pictur has optned Emmett Monterey’s memoir about growg up gay and disabled 1980s London for TV adaptatn. * gay london 1970s *
In my two years wh Oliver, I was the first nvenor of the Southwark/Lambeth group of the Campaign for Homosexual Equaly (CHE) – his ia, not me – and I thk the rd badge is om the CHE Natnal Council where was was officially regnised.
The mutual iend who troduced me to Oliver had been volved the more radil Gay Liberatn Front (GLF) and he viewed CHE as ‘moronic’. As two nocents, we thought the South/Lambeth group should have some suable tee-shirts for Gay Pri march and lol muny events.
In the 1970s and 1980s was one of the ma gay areas of London, but most or all of the bs aimed at gay men have disappeared, as Soho and Vxhall tablished themselv as the foc of gay nightlife. The first public nightclub aimed at a gay clientele, The Copabana, opened Earls Court Road the late 1970s, but was re-themed as a general venue the late 1990s. The Boltons, near the Coleherne, was "one of the seedier gay venu, wh dgs and prostut helpg to create a pretty prsg atmosphere.
PROUD: THE FIRST GAY PRI LONDON
In the 1970s Harold Haywood and others were volved the Earls Court Project, aimed at helpg gay young people the area [2]. The 18th century book Pla Reasons for the Growth of Sodomy England attributed a supposed crease homosexualy to men's drs. The thor claimed gay men wanted to drs like women: "they would appear as soft as possible to each other, any Thg of Manls beg diametrilly oppose to such unnatural Practic.
GAY SEX THE '70S
It was not until the 1960s that gay men's flamboyant drs styl fluenced mastream fashn, makg more lourful and adventuro.
LONDON'S LANDMARK BUILDG DOTTED WH STRIP CLUBS, GAY VENU TO TURN TO MOSQUE
More evince of historil homosexualy our llectns om a grimmer source: rerds of the prosecutns, and sometim executns, of men who had sex wh men. This right-hand figure this prt is Samuel Drybutter, a bookseller Wtmster Hall, who was a public figure 18th century London, famo for his flamboyant drs and supposed homosexualy. Gay Pri events are now mon ci across the world, public celebratns of equal rights for people of all orientatns and sexuali.
But they began as tensely polil events, challeng to a world where homosexual activi were first Gay Pri march took place London on 1 July 1972, spired by the 1969 Stonewall Rts New York. The were triggered by police harassment at the Stonewall Inn, a bar terg to New York's gay, lbian, transgenr and crossdrsg muny. The leaflet om Gay Pri Week 1978 mentns creasg attacks on gay people over the past year, cludg the attack on the Royal Vxhall Tavern by the Natnal Front.