World's first gay gby club 20 years on | CNN

Contents:

• WORLD’S FIRST GAY GBY CLUB TURNS 20: ‘NO-ONE HAD SEEN PLAYERS LIKE BEFORE’
• GAY MOSW MOSW CY GUI
• MOSW GAY CISE CLUBS
• JOG THE WORLD'S FIRST GAY GBY TEAM CHANGED MY LIFE. SO I MA A FILM ABOUT
• NEW ‘STEELERS’ DOCUMENTARY PROFIL BARRIER-BREAKG GAY BRISH GBY CLUB

WORLD’S FIRST GAY GBY CLUB TURNS 20: ‘NO-ONE HAD SEEN PLAYERS LIKE BEFORE’

Regular events clu karaoke, drag shows, Wt End sgers and a regular gay cisg club schle of fetish nights the The Unrground also 12pm – 12am, MONDAY – WEDNESDAY 12pm – 1am, THURSDAY – FRIDAY 12pm – 2am, SATURDAY 12pm – 3am WebseDirectnsCentral Statn Area:. While London’s queer nightclub scene has seen some sad, untimely partur, such as the Coleherne (briefly the Pembroke), London’s olst gay bar until s closure, and the Joer’s Arms, there are still some long-standg venu and new-ers to the scene workg hard to keep London’s queer nightlife alive.

Heaven, Charg Cross Cred: Lda Brdley, via Heaven One of the bt-known, most historic gay clubs London statned up s inic Charg Cross spot. Royal Vxhall Tavern, Vxhall The Royal Vxhall Tavern is a te slice of LGBTQ+ history London – a Gra II Listed venue that was famoly raid by police 1987 amidst over-policg of London’s gay muny. BJ’s Whe Swan, Limehoe Another longstandg London gay bar, which has been gog strong for over 30 years, is BJ’s Whe Swan East London.

The Glory, Haggerston The Glory pris self beg one of East London’s bt gay bars, drag hotho, LGBTQ+ performance venu, nightclubs, and curators of London shows, ftivals, ntts and battl. ”Many of Marshman’s theatre projects – cludg Move Over Darlg, about gay Bristolians – beg when he gets out his bt cha. Someone talked about phong Gay Swchboard as teenager and not sayg a word – jt wag on the le and beg too petrified to speak.

GAY MOSW MOSW CY GUI

First gay gby club found 20 years ago.

The first time Mark Bhell and his all-gay gby team led up agast a straight si, he was overe by a sense of his own masculy.

For much of his life, the Brish lawyer had been told that beg gay somehow ma him ls of a man. Yet standg shoulr-to-shoulr wh his gay teammat, he felt liberated. “So I really enjoyed playg gby agast straight men, wh my gay teammat, bee for me kd of proved that we were jt as mascule as they were – that we n be jt as physil as they are.

MOSW GAY CISE CLUBS

Bhell was one of the early players to jo the Kgs Cross Steelers, the world’s first gay gby club, which this year celebrat s 20th anniversary. What started when six iends met a bar north London 1995, wh the ia of formg a gay-clive gby team, has sce turned to a club wh over 150 members and three teams.

The Steelers have won the European petn for gay gby clubs, the Unn Cup, on four ocsns. As the 2015 Rugby World Cup enters s fal stag, there are no openly-gay players the tournament. However, wily-rpected gay referee Nigel Owens officiated three pool gam and a quarterfal, but is not volved this weekend’s semis.

JOG THE WORLD'S FIRST GAY GBY TEAM CHANGED MY LIFE. SO I MA A FILM ABOUT

He’s not alone his stggle – former Wal pta Gareth Thomas beme the first profsnal gby player to publicly announced he was gay 2009. But when the Kgs Cross Steelers lnched two s ago, homosexual profsnal gby players were unheard of.

Homophobic crime numbers.

5, 597: The number of homophobic crim reported to police England and Wal 2014/1522%: Increase on prev year11%: Of all hate crim reported to police were based on victims’ sexual orientatn Figur urty the Home Office. This was 1990s Bra, and fear of the AIDS epimic was actually enough to put some teams off playg the all-gay Steelers such a high-ntact sport. “If you had said to me the early ’90s that out-gay men uld play a club like the Steelers, I’d have said was prehensible, ” says the club’s chairman, 43-year-old Alex Smh.

NEW ‘STEELERS’ DOCUMENTARY PROFIL BARRIER-BREAKG GAY BRISH GBY CLUB

Bhell says the homophobia they experienced the early days wasn’t only attributable to AIDS fears. Smh says he n thk of “maybe two homophobic cints” the last he’s played for gay teams across the UK. “I wasn’t an out-gay man at that pot and I found that creasgly difficult.

“When I first played for a gay gby club, I turned up, put on my boots, and was exactly the same as any other gby club I’d ever played for – the difference was I felt I uld be myself a way I wasn’t at other clubs. “I wasn’t openly gay.

And there were a few ments, not directed at me but perhaps to the women who were the park, which ma me feel not feel like I wanted to reveal I was gay to them. The Steelers are now also gearg up for the 2016 Bgham Cup, the biennial ternatnal gay tournament to be held Nashville, Tennsee, May. Wh over 50 gay gby clubs around the world today, ’s a long way om the days of six iends meetg a London pub wh a seemgly “prehensible” dream.