Gay bars cambridge uk
The end of Glitterbomb and the importance of a rubbish club night
Let’s encounter it, most gay clubs aren’t that good. While It’s a Sin and Pose depicted fluorescent mazes packed with well-dressed models, thumping basslines, and subversive social attitudes, many I have entered have been stale, sticky-floored, and sparsely populated. But it wasn’t until Vinyl announced the end of its weekly queer night, Glitterbomb, that I began to value my time in these shoddy queer clubs.
If the news of this closure comes as a surprise, I don’t blame you, it has done to everyone I’ve told. But I encourage you to think when the last time was that you went to Glitterbomb, or Vinyl at all for that matter. The introduction of the intelligently named replacement, ‘Get Duck’d’ comes after Vinyl saw a sharp decline in weekly attendance and profits. For the most part, this was brought on by racism allegations against Vinyl staff and the university-wide boycott. The establishment of the POC-focused Queer Acquire Down, and the (albeit short-lived) addition of Raid put the nail in the coffin for what was formerly Cambridge’s only queer club night.
And I can’t say I’m surprised. Glitterbomb was my first ni
Remembering 14 queer pubs Cambridge has loved and lost
Over the years Cambridge has been home to a number of LGBTQ+ friendly bars and pubs, which many residents will have fond memories of.
In the 80s and 90s, regular haunts for the LGBTQ+ community included staples like The Anchor and Turk's Head.
But sadly, favor many Cambridge venues, they have vanished over time.
Read more: Looking back at the damage caused by the infamous Great Storm of '87
The city still holds several monthly gay nights including Glitterbomb at Vinyl, and the Dot Cotton Club, though it's without a home, still puts on events.
We asked you to divide your memories from Cambridge's queer pubs that we own loved and lost.
Inundated with pictures and anecdotes from years gone by we decided to lay them into a nostalgic list for you to enjoy.
Janie Buchanan, a long-term member of woman loving woman group Sisters Perform commented: "The pubs were essential because of the town and gown divide.
"All the colleges had their queer societies and reading groups and we had no access to those. The pubs were a lifeline."
Have we missed any out? Let us know in the comments below or message us on
How Cambridge’s queer tune scene finally came out
Coming to Cambridge from England’s lgbtq+ capital (Manchester, obviously), I feared my beloved queer melody would be ruined among ‘Gold Dust’, ‘Titanium’, and whatever other 2010s path Rumboogie has on replay. My first night out proved me wrong. While Lola’s drip-fed me Dua Lipa once in a navy moon, Glitterbomb overflowed with gay classics. It offered a space to soak in Britney and Beyoncé without having to tone down my singalong. Yet in my three years, Cambridge’s lgbtq+ scene has arrive a long way, now offering far more than cheesy 00s pop.
At that show, Glitterbomb was Cambridge’s only frequent lgbtq+ event, but allegations of racist staff meant many students needed a novel home for their queer anthems. This was the inception story of The Queer Get Down. Hosted at Mash, QGD was founded “to create a safer space … for queer people of colour by queer people of colour”. These were the words of QGD’s organisers, who told me how important music is for queer identities. “It’s about feeling comfortable in your own skin. Homosexual artists have made music that made me feel that way.”
That emphasis on expression is certainly felt in the music, as t
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