Lost Spaces: Memories from Gay Bars, Lesbian Clubs, and LGBTQ+ Parties

Princess Julia launched into her tales before I got a chance to even set the mic up, and so I hastily pointed one in her direction and let the conversation carry on! We went on a potted tour of queer venues in London from the late 70s until the 00s - so many conversations in so many directions that I’ve decided to make it a two-parter! Find out about how queer punk was, where you could get the best spam supper, and ‘the twilight world of unhappy gays’!

Not all queer spaces are queer. Or, at least, exclusively queer... In smaller towns and cities, where there isn't the population to support a full-time queer bar, straight bars can fill the gap by hosting themed nights weekly or monthly, providing a much needed opportunity for local queers to meet and interact... I caught up with Darryl Bullock, author of 'David Bowie Made Me Gay: 100 Years of LGBT Music' to talk about Crackers, a bar in the south western English town of Gloucester, which held a weekly gay night on Mondays in the late 80s. Tantrums, smashed items and picking strange men up in phone boxes… It's another episode of Lost Spaces!

Obscene badges, old-school game shows, and exploding butts were all things you could expect to see if you attended Shinky Shonky, a legendary club night in London in the 00s. I caught up with Boogaloo Stu, host/producer/DJ/you-name-it of the night to reminisce about it and The Polar Bear, a bar in Soho that hosted the event for the majority of its life.

What's the difference between regular drama and lesbian drama? What is the lesbian uniform? Which dodgy dance moves are guaranteed to woo the ladies? I found out the answer to these (and many other) questions when finding out about a little gem of a lesbian bar called 'Ace of Clubs', which ran for about a decade and was DJ Jo Bunny's stomping ground soon after she moved to London in the late 80s!

Spread over two floors, Trash Palace was THE drinking place of choice for alternative queers for a hot minute in the mid-00s, and is another of central London's disappearing bars (thanks largely to higher rents)... I caught up with Quiet Choir to talk about the skills needed for flirting, the halcyon days of myspace and projectile vomiting down Charing Cross Road.

We are back to London this week, and visiting another venue that fell victim to the Crossrail development (a large scale construction project which saw a good chunk of central London demolished to make way for a high speed train line). I had the delight of talking to Ali Brumfitt, a performance poet and all around charmer, about First Out Cafe, one of London's only daytime queer venues, which was open from the mid-80s up until 2011.

Brighton is generally accepted as the ‘queer capital’ of the UK, with an estimated 15% of all adults identifying as gay, lesbian or bisexual, and a thriving queer scene. That’s part of the reason it was such a shock when lesbian bar, The Princess Victoria (otherwise known as The PV), closed its doors. I caught up with radio presenter (and founder of Brighton Gin!) Kathy Caton to discuss the beloved bar, her first days in Brighton, and getting kicked out for disorderly behaviour!

Queensland didn’t legalise homosexuality until 1991 (which kind of blows my mind when you think of Australia’s reputation for being an open and welcoming country). That, says dj and all-around-charmer Kurt Luthy, is what made going to The Terminus in the mid-80s such a thrill.

London’s heart broke when legendary drag bar ‘The Black Cap’ closed in 2015. I caught up with artist, music fan and dj Joe Pop to talk about his life as a ‘punk kid’, the ‘dignity in toast’ rule, and watching Pete Burns perform their heart to a bar full of bewildered patrons.

Ever fallen in love on the dance floor? That’s what happened to journalist and writer Charlotte Richardson Andrews at the legendary London club ‘Ghetto’. We caught up to discuss online dating, queer role models and falling asleep on the night bus home.