Gay and lbian snas London

Contents:

• GAY SNAS LONDON
• THE FUTURE OF BRA’S GAY SNAS
• LONDON GAY DISTRICT: SOHO
• GAY AND GAY-IENDLY HOTELS LONDON
• GAY SNAS LONDON

GAY SNAS LONDON

Before ronavis h, Charts Vxhall claimed to be ​“Europe’s largt gay sna” for men wantg steam, queer mararie and a potential subterranean hook-up. Charts Vxhall was the last survivg outpost of a gay sna cha which at s 2005 peak had six branch dotted across London.

Losg Charts is a major blow for London’s queer male muny, but gay snas across the UK have weathered an credibly ttg 12 months. “Gay snas n of the possibily of sex, but whether people actually have sex when they get here is a pletely different thg, ” says Stephen Gunn of Mantire Spa Plymouth. In 2021, gay snas are faced wh the same toxic cktail of threats as any other LGBTQ venue.

THE FUTURE OF BRA’S GAY SNAS

But when we talk about savg our val queer spac, gay snas tend to be exclud om the nversatn. Nick Batt, owner of Pk Broadway Southampton, says a lol rad statn was terted hearg about his stggle to survive the panmic as a small bs owner until he said he ran a gay sna.

Even wh the LGBTQ muny, gay snas have a lgerg image problem. In 2016, gay magaze Attu published an op-ed tled: ​“Perhaps the time has e for gay snas to close – and that’s fe. Pl Town, manager of The Locker Room South London, says is rctive to pigeonhole all gay snas as ​“expensive knockg shops”.

LONDON GAY DISTRICT: SOHO

Clearly, gay snas exist so that men have n sex wh men a space that isn’t their home, a hotel or a cisg spot. Sce I started visg gay snas a ago, I’ve seen steam room i, group jack-off ssns the showers and men wag expectantly large leather slgs.

In my experience, gay snas are sexy, sex-posive spac where not everyone ends up havg sex. “Nobody ever talks about the lonely olr gay man, ” says Pk Broadway’s Nick Batt.

​“Maybe their partner’s passed away and they want some pany, but they don’t feel like they belong the [gay] bars bee you’re visible those plac if you’re over 40. ” Batt also says his sna provis a safe space for gay and bi men who aren’t out. ​“I’d say up to 70 per cent of our ctomers don’t live what you’d ll a ​‘gay liftyle’, ” he says.

GAY AND GAY-IENDLY HOTELS LONDON

​“I’ve had ctomers e up to me and say: ​‘My mum died yterday and she never knew I was gay. Gay snas like London’s Pleasuredrome, which pre-Covid opened 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, n also bee a refuge for vulnerable and homels young men. Dean, a 25-year-old queer man om London, says he ma his first viss to gay snas around seven years ago ​“out of sheer necsy”.

Dean adms that gay snas were ​“ no way an idyllic sanctuary” and says he sometim felt sred sleepg such a sexualised environment.

Other young gay and bi men vis snas bee they offer relatively hassle-ee hook-ups. Tom, a 23-year-old gay man om Edburgh, says that pre-Covid he popped to gay snas once every uple of months bee felt ​“slightly kky and different and excg”. Whereas the mastream LGBTQ scene ​“favours cis, whe, affluent gay guys, you see a different si to the muny at snas – people you wouldn’t see bars”.

GAY SNAS LONDON

Jack, a 25-year-old gay man om Plymouth, says he would normally vis his lol sna once a week simply to ​“chill out and have fun” while ​“meetg new and different people”. Its unique style, smopolan populatn, unbridled artistic culture, and gay neighborhoods like Vxhall, Dalston and Soho make London a worldwi gay pal. Vxhall is more eccentric and unrground, while the more ncentrated London gay scene n be found Soho.

In the center, Old Compton Street is where all the gay actn happens. The first brothel the cy opened s doors Soho, and the area has mataed s sexual reputatn wh sex shops such as Prowler (5-7 Brewer St), the biggt gay sex shop the Uned Kgdom.

The English aren’t exactly known for their culary skills, but Balans Soho Society (60 Old Compton Street) is a gay rtrant that satisfi everyone wh an ternatnal menu.