Revived: the 1930s London gay members' club raid by police | Herage | The Guardian

Contents:

• REVIVED: THE 1930S LONDON GAY MEMBERS' CLUB RAID BY POLICE
• THE GAY CARAVAN AND MOTORHOME CLUB
• MISS HARDY AND ‘THE MA GAY’ CARAVAN

REVIVED: THE 1930S LONDON GAY MEMBERS' CLUB RAID BY POLICE

We are a mpg and ravan club for gay, lbian, bisexual and transgenred people. The Gay Caravan & Motorhome Club is the longt nng UK based club for the gay muny; who jt happen to share a mon tert and own eher a Caravan, Tent or Motorhome. Image source, Getty ImagImage ptn, The borr between Nogal, Mexi and Nogal, ArizonaTwo years ago, a "rabow ravan" of gay men and trans women om Central Ameri and Mexi arrived the US to seek refuge.

Six gay men and 11 transgenr women stand together sgle file, clutchg their papers. One of the gay men, wearg a checked shirt and smart black troers wh bleached blond hair gelled firmly to place, tak an anx glance at a guard standg behd them.

Among the group is Joselyn, a trans woman om Niragua, and Jerson, a gay man his twenti om Honduras. He had a circle of gay iends, but had to meet them safe ho.

THE GAY CARAVAN AND MOTORHOME CLUB

"I thought I will never, ever tell anyone I am gay aga. Many young men are voluntarily reced, and for gay men this procs n be even more terrifyg.

"Gay men may be abed for not beg 'real men', or the lears uld say they don't want them their terrory bee they are not plyg wh the tradnal l of society. But first he had to fd safe plac to stay on the journey, and this was pecially tough other untri where homophobia was also rife. There were 16 members, pl another gay man who joed at the last mute, havg seen the group paradg through the streets.

MISS HARDY AND ‘THE MA GAY’ CARAVAN

The six gay men were sent to Otero County Procsg Center, about an hour and a half north of El Paso, Texas, while the 11 trans women were sent to Cibola County Correctnal Center, an hour wt of Albuquerque New Mexi. Treatment was also tough for the gay men, who were spl up aga and sometim woken the middle of the night to be moved. " Of the 17 members of the Rabow Caravan, four of the gay men and one trans woman self-ported, bee they felt the ndns tentn were so miserable and hopels.

Another gay man om the ravan was jt about to start this procs when he me to ntact wh a lawyer who sisted his se was strong.

The 21-year-old remas trmatised by the experienc his home untry and more gay ravan members were later granted asylum after a long perd of tentn; the rt of the trans women were eventually released on parole. New York Cy and beyond, 2019In a kchen an un-gentrified part of Brooklyn, a group of gay men are sgg Lat mic while okg lunch together on a humid summer day. Among them is was one of the three gay ravan members to be granted asylum, somewhat to his own surprise.

To some, the Caravan Club was a fun place offerg iendship and “all-night gaiety”; to others was “absolutely a sk of iquy … only equented by sexual perverts, lbians and sodom” the police, was a place so dangero that required regular surveillance and a raid, which rulted more than 100, more than 80 years after s enforced closure, the Natnal Tst and the Natnal Archiv have llaborated to recreate the Caravan Club, a lbian and gay iendly members’ club that billed self as “London’s greatt bohemian renzvo said to be the most unnventnal place town” Watson, creative director of the Natnal Tst London, said the project would help provi “a timely remr of the importance of siled cultur to our natnal herage” Caravan Club was one of many mostly temporary venu at a time when beg openly gay was perilo, often rultg prosecutn and sketch plan of the Caravan Club. Police appear to have been statned the Shaftbury Theatre oppose, watchg the gs and gogs om uned was not until Augt 1934 that the raid me, wh placloth officers easily enterg by pretendg to be of the club, one of many mostly temporary venu that existed when beg openly gay was perilo.