**COMMUNITY CLEANSING CONTINUES…

Yet another prolific LGBTQ hub, safe spot, cabaret venue, meeting ground and community pillar has gone!

“THE BLACK CAP” in camden closed yesterday 12/04/2015 after decades of serving a vast and emerging community of queers.

Redevelopment plans have meant that yet another historical venue has been smothered to make way for more… you guessed it…FLATS!

Now there is the argument to say that this is natural evolution of venues and that everything will inevitably change. And often change is healthy and makes new opportunities and room for growth.

But with the closure of 4 top LGBTQ venues in the last 6 months: The Joiners Arms, Madame JoJo’s, The Nelsons Head and now The Black Cap – and with others at risk: The George and Dragon and the Royal Vauxhall Tavern (RVT), it’s seems that London is successfully cleansing itself of it’s Queer community!

These places were not just bars and clubs, they all served as hubs and safe houses for those in the LGBTQ community. Queer community homes are closing at an unsustainable rate leaving many high and dry.

This bodes major questions; what are we developing into?!

Where is the development in all of these closures and who is it serving?

Do we really need MORE FLATS in an already busy city, or is this yet another money driven decision? Closing down venues which serve a purpose farther than that of money is effectively cleansing out communities in need of a safe place. Of course the majority of the world is not gay but does that make it ok to give little or no consideration to our needs. Minority cleansing is seen as crime in many other cases but it appears this rule does not apply to the queer community.

There are enough flats in London, there are enough pop-up shops, bars, restaurants, coffee houses, street food stands and overpriced vintage stores to serve the entire nation 3 times over. There are a million options for Heterosexual people to eat, shop, play ,rest, hangout and meet friends or fellows in a safe and unperturbed environment.

But we appear to live in a city where it is “STILL NOT OK TO BE GAY!”.

If equal rights were truly in place then there would be little need for a Gay scene or a Queer community.

But they aren’t! It is still dangerous to be open about your sexuality and living life as yourself unless you hide under the guise of, “Straight-Acting”. Continuing attacks on LGBTQ’s even in queer heavy areas such as Soho and Shoreditch make the need for safe venues even more prominent.

Closing down these spaces makes it harder for LGBTQ people to come out into the open and enjoy the quality of life they deserve as human being and this is NOT OK!

London was once seen as a hub for the gay community, a city in which many have fled to from the others parts of the UK and the world to find like mined people and a better quality of life. But if we continue to toss out our culture in favour of commerce then we will have to find somewhere else. A cold city with no room for Queers is not the place to find home!

So London, if this is your evolution so be it. It’s sad, it’s inconsiderate and somewhat unsustainable. Remember that the primary and most crucial stages of development come from your Thinkers, your Minorities, your Queers, your Artists and Performers. The people who come together to make themselves a better quality of life as a community. There would be nothing to capitalise on without clever ideas, culture and art.

You are killing yourself as a city; and as one that preaches a promise of opportunities, liberal values and community, do you wish to become a closed door, a hollow metropolis overseen only by the grey cloud of commerce?!

Have a think will you, or is that too much of a Dirty Word?

Queers are humans too!

written by Ted Rogers “Artpornblog”