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Britain’s capital is intertwined with the LGBTQIA+ movement and is home to some of its most iconic venues. We’ve rounded-up a few of our favourites places to have a banging night out.
Eagle London
Nearest station: Vauxhall
This south London gay bar has been an integral part of LGBTQIA+ nightlife since 2003. Home to their long-standing Sunday night staple, DJ four-piece Horse Meat Disco, the Vauxhall venue has just celebrated its 18th birthday. Although Eagle used to have a bad rap for being a sleazy male-dominated sex club, it waved goodbye to its sex licence in 2016 and the pub-turned-club is now a popular LGBTQIA+ venue for all genders and sexual orientations. On weekends, the dancefloor welcomes a younger and trendier crowd for their POP! Saturday event, while on weekdays you can enjoy 2-4-1 drinks from 9 till 11pm.
Crossbreed
Nearest station: Hackney Wick
Doubling up as a record label and tech-house rave, Crossbreed brings together the best of London’s fetish scene and clubland across various venues in the capital. Crossbreed promote self-expression and sexual experimentation, with a strong focus on the QTIBIPOC community (Queer, Trans, Intersex, Black, Indigenous and People of Colour). With regular nights at Hackney Wick’s Colour Factory – where resident DJ and Crossbreed founder Kiwi offers genre-hopping dance music – and workshops on topics such as consent, this party is really leading the way in ensuring LGBTQIA+ venues are safe, fun, and inclusive spaces.
Duckie at Royal Vauxhall Tavern
Nearest station: Vauxhall
The Saturday night hotspot hosted at Vauxhall’s former Victorian music hall-cum-LGBTQIA+ venue has been serving up iconic events for generations (the site’s first drag shows date back to the end of WWII!) This place offers the best Saturday night entertainment with an array of performers every week, from drag queens to dancers. It’s also home to DJ duo the Readers Wifes who follow up the evening’s entertainment with the best club anthems and cheesy bangers. But it’s work-hard-play-hard for this queer and quirky haunt: on Monday evenings they host their QTIBIPOC Creatives sessions, a young artists’ network for queer performance development.
Two Brewers
Nearest station: Clapham High Street
At the heart of London’s gay scene for 40 years is Two Brewers, Clapham’s glittering drag cabaret venue. Open 365 days of the year, this joint typically offers cabaret through the week and club nights on a Friday and Saturday. Their flagship Sunday show, The Power of Four!, sees four of the best drag cabaret acts grace the stage back-to-back. From comedy and karaoke to bingo and theatre – and always with a spattering of drag – it’s no wonder this LGBTQIA+ spot has had such an enduring history. Two Brewers offers something new everyday, but two things are always guaranteed: cheesy tunes and a long queue at the door.
She Soho
Nearest station: Leicester Square
Young, sexy, and sparkly, She Soho is celebrated for being London’s only LGBTQIA+ venue aimed exclusively at queer women and non-binary folk. Whether you’re after DnB DJ nights or drag king cabaret, this neon basement bar has it all. The vibrant lesbian venue is slap-bang in the centre of London, too, with G-A-Y Late only one minute’s walk away, making it the perfect place to come if you plan to spend the night exploring the streets of Soho. Although the space is women-centric, male guests who are LGBTQIA+ allies are usually welcome when the space inside permits it.
Ku Bar / Little Ku
Nearest station: Leicester Square
These sister venues are run by the Ku Group and offer pre-club bar nights with competitively priced cocktails and champagne. Their iconic ‘blowjob’ shots – Irish cream and amaretto topped with whipped cream and traditionally knocked back using only your mouth and no hands – are only £1.50 a pop. Lying just off Leicester Square, Ku Bar and it’s more intimate sister Little Ku – just a few streets away – are popular spots for Heaven’s revellers to enjoy a few pre-drinks before making the short trip around the corner. With nightly DJ entertainment at both spots, attendees will be fired up for a big night out without forking out a fortune.
Dalston Superstore
Nearest station: Dalston Kingsland
By day, Dalson Superstore is a gay café, gallery, and community space on Kingsland High Street, home to the legendary drag brunch hosted by queens such as ShayShay and Just May. But by night, the venue transforms into a popular queer club, cabaret spot, and drag space, with parties every night Wednesday till Saturday. They’re doing their bit for sexual health too, offering free HIV testing on the second and fourth Friday of every month.
Heaven
Nearest station: Embankment/Charing Cross
The king of gay clubs, Heaven continues to reign supreme in the world of LGBTQIA+ events. First established in 1979, the club was famed for its ground-breaking resident DJs through the 80s and 90s and is considered the birthplace of acid house and ambient music, though the music nowadays is far more mainstream. Home to London’s famed gay night G-A-Y since 2008 (not to be confused with G-A-Y Late down the road in Soho), its status is recognised across every demographic, LGBTQIA+ sphere and beyond. It was only last month that Adele graced Heaven’s stage with an impromptu pole dance performance after judging the club’s weekly stripping competition, Porn Idol.
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