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Over the past few years, London has lost a number of amazing LGBTQ+ venues. Icons of the gay scene G-A-Y Late and The Glory are gone, and it’s been reported that more than half of London's LGBTQ+ venues closed between 2006 and 2022. So, it’s always great news when we hear about a new queer venue opening in the Big Smoke – it’s not all doom and gloom.
Plans have been revealed to open a new ‘inclusive’ queer venue at the site of former gay men’s club XXL in Bankside, Southwark. Southwark Council has pledged £1.5 million to go towards the new LGBTQ+ venue, which is due to open in 2026 and will include a theatre and workspace.
XXL club closed in September 2019 despite fierce rejection and a petition with 5,900 signatures asking for it to stay open. Although XXL wasn’t saved, it was agreed that the site would be kept as an LGBTQ+ space.
‘Borough and Bankside Liberal Democrat councillors successfully suggested the Council should agree a memorandum of understanding with the developers to protect this as an LGBTQ+ space when XXL closed,’ Councillor Victor Chamberlain told Pink News.
‘I’ve been working with the council and developers since to ensure this happens and encouraged the council to use CIL to make this a viable space to operate.
‘This is a good step forward, but we need a Southwark LGBTQ+ strategy that was agreed to be developed following a successful Liberal Democrat motion last year to ensure we can see even more LGBTQ+ spaces and businesses in the borough.’
The new space in Bankside will be part of a bigger £4 million investment from Southwark Council into improving the area, with £2.4 million going towards building a 100 percent affordable housing scheme on Old Kent Road.
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