Mapping the Places and Faces That Make up Queer London

, and countless others, in order to find out more about the past, present and future of queer life in London.James Greig: You write in the introduction that one of the defining features of queer London is its resilience. I thought this book represented a challenge of sorts to the narrative that London’s LGBTQ+ scene is in a perpetual state of decline. Was that intentional?

AK: I think maybe it has. Can geographic scenes form in London anymore? I don’t think they can because of the nature of the city now. You’re not going to get a migration of a group or a community of people to one place anymore, because people mostly go where they can afford. So there’s a diaspora of queers now. Before, Earl’s Court was popular because it was cheap to live there.

AK: I’d done a lot of the research before but I wrote it during that period in summer when things had opened up a bit. It was OK. I did feel like I was lying a little bit, because I knew that as soon as I submitted the book that it was already going to be out of date.AK: There’s things like Chariots [sauna] in Vauxhall … would that have stayed open without the pandemic? Probably.

This is a hope rather than a forecast but I hope that those sorts of places become more prevalent, rather than, you know, the conglomerate brewery-owned venues. I hope it means that more independent community-led spaces can crop up. Because places are going to close, that’s just an inevitability. But in the ashes, I hope that something more vibrant and less homogenised will emerge.

“Rather than thinking ‘this person opened this bar and that makes them significant,’ I wanted to go bigger and think about how they have shaped the fabric and ethos of what it feels like to be here” – Alim Kheraj

United Kingdom Latest News, United Kingdom Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

London mayor candidates on their best ideas for LondonA record number of candidates are vying to win Thursday’s London Mayoral election on policy platforms ranging from the bizarre to the revolutionary Where’s LozzaFox on this list? please turn london upside down
Source: MetroUK - 🏆 13. / 82 Read more »

I May Destroy You’s Paapa Essiedu Discusses His New Queer Crime ThrillerThe British actor – best known for playing Kwame in I May Destroy You – tells Sagal Mohammed about the words he lives by and his intoxicating role in new film FEMME
Source: AnOtherMagazine - 🏆 97. / 51 Read more »

Rose and Rosie share their dating advice for queer women and non-binary peopleFrom how to know if you're gay to what to do when you fall for a straight friend...
Source: Cosmopolitan UK - 🏆 134. / 51 Read more »

Rose and Rosie share their dating advice for queer women and non-binary peopleHow do you know if you're gay? What should you do if you fall for a straight friend? RoseEllenDix & Roxetera answer all your dating and relationship questions for LesbianVisibilityDay LesbianVisibilityWeek
Source: Cosmopolitan UK - 🏆 134. / 51 Read more »

London emergency: Victoria Station 'evacuated' as police and fire crews rush to sceneEMERGENCY services were seen rushing to the scene of an incident amid reports Victoria Station in London was evacuated.
Source: Daily Express - 🏆 26. / 68 Read more »