BGWMC on Pollard Road must retain its status as a community queer space if bought says Council

In the ongoing battle over the proposed sale of the beloved nightclub, a victory has been claimed- it must remain a queer space, but it’s not over yet…  

Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club must remain an LGBT+ cultural venue Tower Hamlets Council told a performing arts trade union Equity yesterday.

The iconic queer performance space will not be allowed to be used for any other purpose apart from as a queer night space if it is bought and developed according to TH Council. 

However, this does not prevent developers from buying the club as an investment and leaving it vacant according to Equity. 

Tower Hamlets Council wrote to Equity about what they would allow the property to be used for if it was sold.

In a letter to Equity on 30 October the Council wrote: ‘It is clear and common knowledge that the site is a cultural venue. 

‘It is well known that the site has become a key LGBT+ nightspace in London.

‘Any proposed development which would not retain the existing cultural venue (along with its important LGBT+ focus) would not be supported.”

Essentially it would contravene the 2010 Equality Act to ignore the site’s cultural importance.

They continued: ‘If a proposed development did not retain the existing cultural venue then it would adversely impact on race, age, gender reassignment and sexual orientation protected characteristic groups, which would further weigh against such a proposal from a Council perspective.’ 

The much-loved space has become renowned for offering unknown queer performers and those from marginalised groups a stage to refine their shows. Since 2006 it has been a go-to venue for queer performers and partygoers, offering a safe expressive forum.  

Equity is now calling for people to sign an open letter to the council asking them to buy the building back and lease it to a community group. 

The letter has reached over 986 signatures at the time of writing out of the target of 1,000 in a day. You can find the petition here: https://www.megaphone.org.uk/petitions/open-letter-to-tower-hamlets-mayor-lutfur-rahman-buy-bethnal-green-wnc-and-save-our-venue.

Keegan, Variety Organiser at Equity, says: ‘While we welcome Tower Hamlets’ statement saying they will not allow developers to use the venue for non-cultural purposes, Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club remains at risk.’

Reflecting the importance of the venue, Sexquisite, a night organised and performed by sex workers weekly at the club doesn’t think that they would have easily found a space to develop their show and following in many other places. 

Many of the club’s performers are self-employed and have struggled to make ends meet since shows were stopped in July. 

On 29 July the club’s owners, the original members of the club that ran as a traditional social club for working-class men to mingle and drink cheaply, asked the venue’s managers to return the keys. 

This sparked heated opposition, with a petition organised by Equity to stop the sale reaching 10,000 signatures in three days and now at the time of writing stands at 12,909 signatures.

On July 29 over a hundred people gathered to protest the sale chanting ‘fuck your money, save our club.’ 

Equity is supporting 39 local people from performers to punters who formed the ‘Friends of Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club’ cooperative and applied to the council to register the venue as an asset of community value. 

On 6 August, the council agreed to class the venue as an asset, meaning that the cooperative would have the right to bid to buy the club if it went up for sale and six months to fundraise before it hits the market. 

Crowdfunding to buy the asset for community ownership has been proposed, but Nick Keegan from Equity says it would be a mammoth task. 

Between 2006 and 2022, the number of LGBTQ+ venues in London has dropped from 125 to 50, according to data from the Greater London Authority. 

This mirrors data from the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) that found that 3,011 night-time businesses closed between March 2020 and December 2023 – the fastest decline of any area in the UK.