London’s G-A-Y bar in Soho will serve its last drinks this weekend with its owner saying the LGBT culture of Old Compton Street as been lost.
Jeremy Joseph, the owner of the bar flagged the venue was likely to close at the start of the year, and now in an Instagram post he’s announced this weekend will be the last hurrah.
“When I opened G-A-Y Bar it was to be on one of the safest and most proudly LGBT streets. A place where you could be who you are and feel safe. For me, Old Compton Street has lost that LGBT identity.” Joseph said.
Jospeh said closing down the long running bar would allow him to focus his energies on his other venue, the world famous night club Heaven.
The Soho bar grew out of a popular club night of the same name that had been running since the 1970s. Alongside the Soho venue the brand was also located in several other locations.
G-A-Y is not alone in disappearing from London’s LGBT scene, it has been estimated that the city has lost more than half of its queer venues between 2006 and 2022. Researchers counted 125 venues across the city back in 2006 and it had dropped to somewhere between 50-60 venues just sixteen years later.
Overall London has less bars than it did in years gone by, a BBC report suggested that there been a 25% drop in the total number of venues between 2001 and 2018, but LGBT venues seems to be disappearing at a much faster rate.
