"Because there's no long-term financial risk," he explains, "The Chateau can be more daring and radical in our programming." Belgrave also admits that keeping The Chateau afloat hasn't been easy, but says "we're proof that you don't necessarily need lots of money or even direct experience to create a space and positively affect the lives of LGBTQ Londoners". Belgrave admits The Chateau will never have long-term security because it "operates on a temporary rolling basis – effectively on a handshake agreement", but believes this can be a blessing in disguise. It was only supposed to open for two months, but has now been going for 18. Frustrated by south-east London's lack of LGBTQ spaces, founder Laurie Belgrave launched a pop-up in the unoccupied basement of a Camberwell hotel. Still, The Chateau in Camberwell offers a possible template for a new, more affordable kind of queer venue. Their business model is incredibly admirable, but clearly unrealistic for anyone without independent wealth. Owners Lucy Fenton and Phil Hunt say they opened their "unconventional neighbourhood public house" in 2018 to create a "space where the LGBTQ community and other people living an alternative lifestyle can be themselves".Įveryone's welcome, but Fenton reckons around 80 percent of their customers are LGBTQ, and says: "We’re all about bringing the greatest diversity of people together." Their super-inclusive entertainment programme has made The Apple Tree a destination for queer folks who may feel alienated by more traditional gay venues. Like LICK, The Apple Tree in Clerkenwell provides an alternative to older venues that have often catered mainly to cis gay men.
Still, she concedes that "we definitely still need more ", adding: "As long as they’re being started for the right reasons and run in the correct way, then the more, the merrier." Since LICK opened its permanent space in Vauxhall last summer, Edwardes says she's seen "a lot of new nights" launched as "people have realised how just popular and needed" they are. All these elements have created something that people have embraced and really run with." Co-owner John Sizzle told VICE last year: "The reason we make money is because we work bloody hard and our emphasis has been not on profit, but on glamour and fun and entertainment and theatre and community. Call me!"Īlso flourishing is The Glory, which this month celebrates five years of bringing forward-thinking drag and off-the-wall parties to an east London area it's playfully renamed "Faggerston".
"If some rich sugar daddy with deep pockets wants to buy the RVT for the community and protect the UK's first Grade II listed queer building forever, we have plans. "While that's the case we need to be vigilant," he warns. The RVT Future campaign's Rob Holley says this historic south London venue is now "flourishing" as a business, but points out it's still owned by the same Austrian property development company that wanted to flip it for a profit. Thanks to a grassroots campaign to protect it from property developers, for example, the future of the Royal Vauxhall Tavern looks less precarious than it did five years ago. Still, instead of blaming dating apps for killing off gay bars, it's important to highlight the exciting ways in which the scene continues to evolve.