Why Is Iced Coffee So Gay? | GQ

gay coffee london

London's first daytime gay venue will close s doors at the end of this month after servg the muny for over 25 years.

Contents:

\NQUEER-FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOODS\NAS A METROPOLIS OF ART, BS, AND SIGN, LONDON IS A CY STEEPED QUEER HISTORY. FAMO PATRONS LIKE DAVID BOWIE PHED SEXUAL BOUNDARI, EMBRACG QUEER PEOPLE TO SOCIETY, MARCHG AND PROTTG FOR WHAT MAK LONDON ONE OF THE MOST EXCG AND CLIVE STATNS FOR LGBTQ+ PEOPLE THE WORLD.\NCENTRAL OR “WT END”- SOHO – OLD COMPTON STREET. \NNO TRIP TO LONDON WOULD EVER BE PLETE WHOUT VISG THE HUB OF LONDON’S QUEER LIFE THAT IS SOHO. SCE THE DAWN OF QUEER CULTURE,AS EARLY AS THE 17TH CENTURY—OM PUBS TO CLUBS, RTRANTS TO THEATRE PRODUCTNS—SOHO HAS BEEN FIRMLY THE BEATG HEART OF LONDON’S LGBTQ+ MUNY. EVERYDAY, OLD COMPTON STREET AND THE SURROUNDG AREA BUZZ WH TOURISTS AND QUEER FOLK ALIKE, WH NEON LIGHTS GLOWG MORNG TO NIGHT. HAPPY HOUR IS EVERY HOUR SOHO, SO YOU’LL NEVER MISS A BEAT!\NEAST LONDON \NEAST LONDON PLAYS HOST TO SOME OF LONDON’S MOST ECLECTIC LGBTQ+ VENU. WHERE GR AND GLAMOUR LLI TO CREATE LONDON’S ALTERNATIVE QUEER SCENE, THE EAST END STREETS BARE THE SOULS OF THE UNRGROUND CREATIVE FOLK, WHOSE BOUNDLS TALENT AND STYLE BRG TOGETHER A DIVERSE MIX OF MIC, FASHN, AND DIS DANCG BCHERY.\NSOUTH LONDON \NTHE AREA HAS A QUEER HISTORY AS FAR BACK AS SOHO, WH THE AREA FAMO FOR S BARET AND DRAG ACTS, DATG BACK BEFORE THE 1950S! SOUTH LONDON IS A VIBRANT SCENE OF OLD AND NEW, WHERE RELICS MEET REGENERATN, WH VXHALL, CLAPHAM, KENNGTON, AND PECKHAM AMONGST THE MOST POPULAR AREAS OF THIS GAYBOURHOOD. FROM WAREHOE CLUBS TO MALE AND FEMALE ONLY GYMS, THE SOUTH LONDON LIFTYLE BOASTS AN IRISCENT SPECTM OF PEOPLE AND PLAC TO DISVER.\N","MARKER":{"NAME":"","IMAGE":{},"SCRIPTN":"","NTENT":[]},"ID":398027881},{"TYPE":"SLISHOW","IMAG":[{"RETAHEIGHT":1600,"MOBILESRC":","SRC":","MOBILEWIDTH":288,"SQUARELARGEHEIGHT":640,"WIDTH":928,"PTN":"EAST LONDON, A QUTSENTIAL QUEER NEIGHBORHOOD. ","HEIGHT":1200,"SQUARELARGEWIDTH":640,"SQUAREHUGE":","RETASRC":","MOBILEHEIGHT":373,"ALT":"","SQUARESMALL":","RETAWIDTH":1237,"SQUAREHUGEHEIGHT":960,"SQUARESMALLHEIGHT":320,"SQUAREMEDIUM":","SQUAREMEDIUMWIDTH":480,"SQUAREMEDIUMHEIGHT":480,"ID":20646,"SQUARESMALLWIDTH":320,"SQUARELARGE":","SQUAREHUGEWIDTH":960}],"ID":518372375},{"TYPE":"PARAGRAPH","NTENT":"BT HOTELS\NW HOTEL \NLOTED AMONGST THE GLZ AND GLAMOUR OF LONDON’S WT END, AND ONLY A SASHAY AWAY OM SOHO, THE W HOTEL IS A SLEEK AND CHIC STATN. WH THE RECENT LNCH OF S FUNKY BAR AND LOUNGE, THE PERCEPTN, LIKE THE RT OF THE HOTEL, PTUR THE THE KSCHY/MPY SOUL OF LONDON WH EXPERIENC LIKE “WHAT’S THE TEA?” A LECTABLE DRAG AFTERNOON TEA, OR “QUEER ME OUT,” A GENR FLUID FASHN EXTRAVAGANZA. WHETHER YOU’RE CHECKED OR STOPPG BY, THE W LONDON IS FELY ONE TO CHECK OUT.\NTHE CURTA\NCURTA ROAD, EAST LONDON IS A MERA-READY HOTEL AND MEMBERS CLUB LOTED A SHORT WALK OM OLD STREET STATN. WHETHER BE AN OVERNIGHT VIS OR A WEEKEND AWAY, THE ROOFTOP POOL AND RTRANT ARE FEATUR WORTH FEASTG OVER—THE BNCH IS PECIALLY FABULO. BELOW THE NCE OF THE CHICLY SIGNED ROOMS IS HOED A SLEEK SCREENG AND DIS ROOM, NOTABLY PREMIERG EXCLIVE QUEER IENDLY EVENTS AND FILMS, SUCH AS RU PL’S DRAG RACE VIEWG PARTI AND SECRET LIVE PERFORMANC OM QUEER ARTISTS. IT’S A VIQP (VERY IMPORTANT QUEER PERSON) VENUE WORTH VISG.\NACE HOTEL, SHOREDCH\NOF THE CREATIVE AND ECLECTIC, GLOBALLY-KNOWN CHA OF ACE HOTELS, THE SHOREDCH LOTN DO EVERYTHG TO ENPASS THE BRAND’S NOTABLE HIPNS WH A DASH OF EAST LONDON REALNS. DAY OR NIGHT THIS HOTEL LOBBY BUZZ WH CREATIVE ACTIVY. WH AN IMPRSIVE ROOFTOP AND EQUALLY FABULO RTRANT, ’S NO WONR THIS SOULFUL SE PLAYS HOMAGE TO S NEIGHBOURHOOD BY HOSTG AN ARRAY OF ENGAGG QUEER EVENTS. THE HOTEL PROUDLY ADVOT AS A TSTED LGBTQ+ STATN, WELG QUEERS AND ALLI ALIKE TO ENJOY LIVE PERFORMANC OM DRAG ARTISTS AND MICIANS, TO DANCG THE NIGHT AWAY AT ONE OF THEIR MANY QUEER NIGHTS HELD THEIR NIGHTCLUB, MIRANDA.\N","MARKER":{"NAME":"","IMAGE":{},"SCRIPTN":"","NTENT":[]},"ID":84927780},{"TYPE":"SLISHOW","IMAG":[{"RETAHEIGHT":1600,"MOBILESRC":","SRC":","MOBILEWIDTH":266,"SQUARELARGEHEIGHT":640,"WIDTH":856,"PTN":"GAY'S THE WORD BOOKSTORE. ","HEIGHT":1200,"SQUARELARGEWIDTH":640,"SQUAREHUGE":","RETASRC":","MOBILEHEIGHT":373,"ALT":"","SQUARESMALL":","RETAWIDTH":1141,"SQUAREHUGEHEIGHT":960,"SQUARESMALLHEIGHT":320,"SQUAREMEDIUM":","SQUAREMEDIUMWIDTH":480,"SQUAREMEDIUMHEIGHT":480,"ID":20653,"SQUARESMALLWIDTH":320,"SQUARELARGE":","SQUAREHUGEWIDTH":960},{"RETAHEIGHT":1600,"MOBILESRC":","SRC":","MOBILEWIDTH":280,"SQUARELARGEHEIGHT":640,"WIDTH":900,"PTN":"GAY'S THE WORD BOOKSTORE. ","HEIGHT":1200,"SQUARELARGEWIDTH":640,"SQUAREHUGE":","RETASRC":","MOBILEHEIGHT":373,"ALT":"","SQUARESMALL":","RETAWIDTH":1200,"SQUAREHUGEHEIGHT":960,"SQUARESMALLHEIGHT":320,"SQUAREMEDIUM":","SQUAREMEDIUMWIDTH":480,"SQUAREMEDIUMHEIGHT":480,"ID":20652,"SQUARESMALLWIDTH":320,"SQUARELARGE":","SQUAREHUGEWIDTH":960}],"ID":572290743},{"TYPE":"PARAGRAPH","NTENT":"QUEER-OWNED BS \NQUEER SALONS\NEXPLORG YOUR INTY N OFTEN MEAN EXPERIMENTG WH PERSONAL STYLE, LIKE EXPRSG YOUR NER SELF WH A HAIRDO TO MATCH. OPEN BARBERS (HOXTON), TUTTII FTII (DEPTFORD) AND BLA (SOHO) ARE ALL HAIR SALONS THAT PRI THEMSELV ON AN OPEN AND UNIQUE EXPERIENCE FOR PEOPLE OF ALL GENRS AND SEXUALI. WHAT I LOVE ABOUT EACH SALON IS THE RE AND ATTENTN WELG EVERYBODY TO THEIR SPACE, WH AFFORDABLE PRIC THAT REFLECT THEIR LOVE OF MUNY. I ONLY WISH PLAC LIKE THIS EXISTED WHEN I WAS GROWG UP AND EXPERIMENTG WH MY INTY. WHETHER ’S A CKTAIL AND CUT AT BLA’S, OR A TECHNILOUR TRANSFORMATN AT TUTTIIFTII’S, THE QUEER OWNED SALONS MAKE TREATG YOURSELF A BUZZ-WORTHY EXPERIENCE.\NDALSTON SUPERSTORE\NFOR A SUNDAY BNCH WH ALL THE BELLS AND BAR-DANCG DIVAS, QUEER GEM DALSTON SUPERSTORE OFFERS AN EXTRA SI OF SASS WH YOUR SUNDAY SERVICE. NOT ONLY KNOWN FOR THEIR INIC LGBTQ+ NIGHTLIFE (A FE ‘TO-DO’ TOO), THE FUN DON’T STOP WHEN THE MORNG RIS THE EAST. LOTED ALONG KGSLAND ROAD, ‘BASIC BNCH’, SERVED BY ONE OF MY DRAG FAVOUR A MAN TO PET, WILL HAVE YOUR EGGS POACHED PERFECTLY WH A DASH OF BCHERY, LEAVG YOU FULL OF LICLY PUT-TOGETHER FOOD AND FUN. CELEBRATG S 10TH BIRTHDAY THIS YEAR, ’S ONE OF FEW QUEER PLAC LEFT THAT GUID ME AND MANY OTHERS THROUGH QUEER ADOLCENCE, SUPPORTG THE WHOLE LGBTQ+ MUNY, PROVIDG A SAFE SPACE TO DANCE, FD LOVE, AND MEET LIKE-MD PEOPLE OVER A BEVVY.\N \N","MARKER":{"NAME":"","IMAGE":{},"SCRIPTN":"","NTENT":[]},"ID":268048774},{"TYPE":"SLISHOW","IMAG":[{"RETAHEIGHT":557,"MOBILESRC":","SRC":","MOBILEWIDTH":376,"SQUARELARGEHEIGHT":557,"WIDTH":562,"PTN":"INSI SH! ","HEIGHT":557,"SQUARELARGEWIDTH":562,"SQUAREHUGE":","RETASRC":","MOBILEHEIGHT":373,"ALT":"","SQUARESMALL":","RETAWIDTH":562,"SQUAREHUGEHEIGHT":557,"SQUARESMALLHEIGHT":320,"SQUAREMEDIUM":","SQUAREMEDIUMWIDTH":480,"SQUAREMEDIUMHEIGHT":480,"ID":20659,"SQUARESMALLWIDTH":320,"SQUARELARGE":","SQUAREHUGEWIDTH":562},{"RETAHEIGHT":369,"MOBILESRC":","SRC":","MOBILEWIDTH":560,"SQUARELARGEHEIGHT":369,"WIDTH":562,"PTN":"SH! ","HEIGHT":369,"SQUARELARGEWIDTH":562,"SQUAREHUGE":","RETASRC":","MOBILEHEIGHT":368,"ALT":"","SQUARESMALL":","RETAWIDTH":562,"SQUAREHUGEHEIGHT":369,"SQUARESMALLHEIGHT":320,"SQUAREMEDIUM":","SQUAREMEDIUMWIDTH":480,"SQUAREMEDIUMHEIGHT":369,"ID":20660,"SQUARESMALLWIDTH":320,"SQUARELARGE":","SQUAREHUGEWIDTH":562},{"RETAHEIGHT":548,"MOBILESRC":","SRC":","MOBILEWIDTH":383,"SQUARELARGEHEIGHT":548,"WIDTH":562,"PTN":"BRILL CAFE. ","HEIGHT":548,"SQUARELARGEWIDTH":562,"SQUAREHUGE":","RETASRC":","MOBILEHEIGHT":373,"ALT":"","SQUARESMALL":","RETAWIDTH":562,"SQUAREHUGEHEIGHT":548,"SQUARESMALLHEIGHT":320,"SQUAREMEDIUM":","SQUAREMEDIUMWIDTH":480,"SQUAREMEDIUMHEIGHT":480,"ID":20644,"SQUARESMALLWIDTH":320,"SQUARELARGE":","SQUAREHUGEWIDTH":562}],"ID":3804043288},{"TYPE":"PARAGRAPH","NTENT":"GAY’S THE WORD\NFOR OVER 40 YEARS, GAY’S THE WORD BOOKSTORE HAS BEEN A TREASURED ROURCE AND SAFE SPACE FOR EVERY MANIFTATN OF THE MUNY OF ALL AG AND GENERATNS. SUATED THE CHARMG STREETS OF BLOOMSBURY, CROSSG THE DOORWAY YOU ARE STANTLY MET BY WONRFULLY ATTENTIVE GENERAL MANAGERS, ULILENART AND JIM. BEYOND THE BOOKSHELV, YOU’RE PTIVATED BY THE NVERSATNS PEOPLE ARE SHARG, ELEVATED BY THE -PTH PERSONAL REMENDATNS PENNED BY THE WONRFULLY ATTENTIVE STAFF. \NSH!\NI’D POPPED TO GRAB A FFEE AT PFIELD LONDON HOXTON WHEN I FIRST STUMBLED ACROSS SH! IT WAS LIKE DISVERG A NGHTY NARNIA, HIDN THROUGH A SECRET DOORWAY. NTLED WH A WHOLOME EAST LONDON Fé, SH! HAS PNEERED ONE OF THE ONLY FEMALE-FIRST EROTIC BOUTIQU THE UNTRY SCE 1992. THE SPIRG LADI WHO WORK HERE ARE AS WONRFULLY PASSNATE ABOUT THEIR WOMAN-POWERED ETHOS AS THE STIMULATG ARRAY OF PRODUCT ADORNG THE SHELV. SHARG THEIR SECRETS AT REFULLY CURATED (AND OFTEN SOLD OUT!) TALKS AND WORKSHOPS LEAVE YOU FEELG MORE EMPOWERED BY YOUR BODY AND SEXUALY THAN EVER BEFORE, CELEBRATG THAT SEXUALY AND GENR IS NOT ONE-SIZE-FS-ALL. \NBRILL CAFé \NA PROUDLY PENNT FE AND MIC STORE, LOTED EXMOUTH MARKET, BRILL OFFERS MORE THAN JT A GREAT CUP OF FFEE. THE WALLS AT THIS APTLY-NAMED FE DISPLAY A WELL-CURATED LLECTN OF VYL, ALONGSI A WELL STOCKED SHELF OF QUEER MAGAZ TO BROWSE. EACH MORNG, SOMEONE OM THE STAFF CYCL TO BRICK LANE TO LLECT A H BATCH OF FAMO BAGELS, AND IF THE VEGAN ROCKY ROADS AREN’T VG ENOUGH, BRILL PRIS SELF ON BEG A QUEER-IENDLY STATN, HOSTG EVENTS SUCH AS QUEER MIC AND POETRY NIGHTS, EVEN FIXG UP SOME AFTER-HOURS PRI PUNCH FOR THE OCSN. \N","MARKER":{"NAME":"","IMAGE":{},"SCRIPTN":"","NTENT":[]},"ID":2662316747},{"TYPE":"SLISHOW","IMAG":[{"RETAHEIGHT":1600,"MOBILESRC":","SRC":","MOBILEWIDTH":280,"SQUARELARGEHEIGHT":640,"WIDTH":900,"PTN":"TATE BRA. ","HEIGHT":1200,"SQUARELARGEWIDTH":640,"SQUAREHUGE":","RETASRC":","MOBILEHEIGHT":373,"ALT":"","SQUARESMALL":","RETAWIDTH":1200,"SQUAREHUGEHEIGHT":960,"SQUARESMALLHEIGHT":320,"SQUAREMEDIUM":","SQUAREMEDIUMWIDTH":480,"SQUAREMEDIUMHEIGHT":480,"ID":20664,"SQUARESMALLWIDTH":320,"SQUARELARGE":","SQUAREHUGEWIDTH":960}],"ID":1421464829},{"TYPE":"PARAGRAPH","NTENT":"ARTS & CULTURE

London’s thrivg gay scene is world famo, om plh cktail bars, to rambunct drag bnch and everythg between. Here, The Rint… * gay coffee london *

London’s thrivg gay scene is world famo, om plh cktail bars, to rambunct drag bnch and everythg between.

The Two Brewers is a long-standg gay bar Clapham, and although might not look like much om the outsi, is home to legendary club nights, drag shows and quizz. Regularly toppg the charts as London’s favoure gay bar and club, Ku Bar is suated Cha Town.

South London is a vibrant scene of old and new, where relics meet regeneratn, wh Vxhall, Clapham, Kenngton, and Peckham amongst the most popular areas of this gaybourhood. Gay's the Word bookstore. Gay’s the Word.

"FOR THE MORNG GAYS": THE IMPORTANCE OF LGBTQ-OWNED F AS SOBER, QUEER SPAC

To celebrate Pri, we're showsg our favoure UK LGBT-owned bs. From hot sce to Gay's the Word bookshop. * gay coffee london *

For over 40 years, Gay’s the Word bookstore has been a treasured rource and safe space for every maniftatn of the muny of all ag and generatns. Two Brewers is great value for your money, srg big pots the lol gay scene. We're jt for the morng gays.

"When people thk of gay spac or queer spac, they immediately thk of a nightclub or bar — maybe a ltle hole the wall, " he said. Gay bars hold a eply important place the history of LGBTQ rights and visibily the Uned Stat. For s and s, jt visg a gay bar was a high-risk activy.

For young members of the LGBTQ muny, gog out to a gay or lbian bar was almost like a re of passage.

WHY IS ICED COFFEE SO GAY?

GQ vtigat the reasons why a simple iced ffee—a drk for all seasons, when you thk about —is so gay. * gay coffee london *

Growg up as a queer, Black women Louisville, Kentucky, Arielle Clark said that she felt like there were certa "ton" she wanted to meet to feel at home the muny: She wanted to attend Kentucky Pri and meet other LGBTQ people, and then she wanted to get to some kd of gay bar or nightclub bee that's where everyone spent time on the weekends. #2 Gay’s the Word. Found 1979, Gay’s the Word is the UK’s olst LGBT bookshop – both the onle and good old brick and mortar kd.

FIRST OUT CAFE LLS LAST ORRS ON LONDON'S GAY SCENE

* gay coffee london *

Set up by a group of gay socialists wh the aim of beg more than jt a shop, hosts regular events such as panel discsns and book lnch, as well as providg a safe space for muny groups wh the LGBT muny to meet. It’s obv, people rpond: He’s gay.

But none of that matters, after all; what was clear to the rner of the Inter known as Gay Twter, and to the se Gay Star News, was that this man was jt exercisg his rights—nay, his duty—as a gay man to drk iced ffee. Iced ffee, you see, is gay culture [ed.

GAY BARS AND CLUBS SOHO

Soho is the centre of the gay scene London, wh some of the bt LGBTQ bars and clubs town. Here's our pick of the bt of gay Soho. * gay coffee london *

Note: n nfirm] a piece published last October on the LGBTQ webse New Now Next, was noted that for the past two years on social media there’s been a steady flow of jok and mem about the gay muny’s affy for iced ffee.

Acrdg to NNN, iced ffee is gay bee: portabily (cute cups), easy nsumptn (’s ld) and ctomizatn (you n pump full of sugar, or sugar-ee syp that is fely not givg you diabet). The se pared to the stereotype of suburban moms and their nsumptn of pot grig; iced ffee is a gay ctch.

While ’s hard the days to tly unrstand why anythg be a meme (this is wavg at the Babadook), there are a lot of portable, easily ctomizable thgs that e cute packagg that aren’t so closely aligned wh the gay muny. (Although lookg back, actually, that was pretty gay. )One of the earlit exampl of the gay muny’s ep relatnship wh iced ffee om a 2001 episo of Will & Grace.

THE BT GAY BARS LONDON

Disver the bt gay, lbian and LGBTQ+-iendly bars and pubs central, north, south, wt and east London * gay coffee london *

Hijks, while havg a csh has certaly lead to gay people dog ridiculo thgs the past, the episo don’t que properly draw the le between iced ffee and gay culture at large. But there uld be somethg the way that Jack signaled himself out as a gay man to his csh by his repeated orrs of Frappuccos.

Ined, acrdg to former BuzzFeed wrer Sam Stryker, who once wrote a post for the se tled “This Post Will Only Make Sense If You're Gay And Love Iced Coffee, ” there’s a untercultural element to iced ffee’s populary wh the gays. “I thk the joke sort of origated as gays drkg iced ffee the wter, ” Stryker explas.

THE 10 BEST LONDON GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS LONDON

Top London Gay Clubs & Bars: See reviews and photos of Gay Clubs & Bars London, England on Tripadvisor. * gay coffee london *

“Like, gays will do ridiculo thgs and there’s somethg so unterculture about drkg an iced ffee durg the wter. ” It’s also, he says, a sign of ristg homogenizatn. Essentially, iced ffee has bee a queer avatar, and a way for gay people to signpost themselv agast the uniformy of you’re straight, that might sound ridiculo, pecially an age which—while thgs are far om universally perfect—gay people n live their liv wh a fair amount of tonomy.

But signpostg queerns is a gay tradn that dat back to the 19th Century acrdg to Dr.

That might be d to signpost which on—to e our language—are nsired ‘gay. And rather than necsarily beg a sign of sexual difference, acrdg to Bengry, ’s “about challengg the opprsivens of genr norms and genr prentatn”’s not to say that any sort of gay dg no longer happens, jt that an aspect of —shieldg onelf om persecutn at a time where beg homosexual was illegal—is no longer as heavy a necsy untri like the Uned Stat.

THE 10 BEST LONDON GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS LONDON

Perhaps then, as Stryker suggted, part of the gay muny -optg iced ffee stems om another kd of signpostg, one where s are a form of playful rebell fact, take a look back at the Gay Liberatn Front and you see a long tradn of playfulns as prott. “The Gay Liberatn Front would wear buttons that would explic say, 'I'm gay, ' or they would have language that explicly said that they were gay and intifyg as such, ” Bengry says.

“It uld be seen not jt as a to other people, but anyone who is lerate uld read the button and see that they were gay.

K., gay people no longer need to exist the shadows; and wh the fight for gay marriage and the modifitn of queer culture, LGBTQ people are gog there’s still an element of vert behavr that occurs the queer muny, be sexual or, the se of social media, through the velopment of digal languag like mem and morn slang. Iced ffee uld jt be an IRL maniftatn of this playful vert language, signalg to any fellow gays Starbucks that you’re one of them. Cg the book Changg Gay Male Inti, Stapl wrote that gay men have a tenncy to align themselv wh products and brands when formg their inti, wh a 2017 study by Campaign suggtg that more than a third of gays and lbians claim to be more loyal to brands that are nsired “gay iendly.

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* GAY COFFEE LONDON

THE 10 BEST London Gay Clubs & Bars (Updated 2023) - Tripadvisor .

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