Birmingham gay scene

Too often, gay bars don’t survive the threats of gentrification and criminalisation. Yet some last drawn-out enough to turn into important institutions in their own right.

This is correct of the Nightingale, one of many queer landmarks in Birmingham.

In 1967, 2 men named Laurie Williams and Derek Pemberton paid £600 for ownership of the Nightingale, a rundown Indian restaurant on Birmingham’s Camp Hill. 

It was a landmark year for British gay history, thanks to the passage of a bill decriminalising homosexuality in private. It was also a bittersweet victory, one which came with a higher age of consent for gay men, limited jurisdiction (the bill applied only in England and Wales) and harsher punishments for gay people caught on the streets.

At the period, there were very few places for LGBTQ+ communities to express or examine their sexuality in public safely. Gay affection shown in straight pubs often led to hostility and harassment.

There were a handful of gay club nights, but they came with the exposure of being raided by police or exploited and overcharged by landlords. 

Williams and Pemberton set out on a mission to build a viable alternative in the form of the Nightingale.