Why do gay bars have such good deals

LGBT venues are being lost and with them gay and lesbian heritage, but do cultural shifts also play a part in this trend? H istorically, the gay scene has been a moveable feast. Pubsbars and clubs spring up in one area, thrive for a while and then fade away, only to pop up somewhere else. The future of four or five more hangs in the balance, and outside London, cities such as Brighton and Manchester are also suffering.

Losing four or five in the space of a year is a big impact. And the more places that are threatened, the harder it is to maintain community — especially when whole locations are being lost. The commercial gay bar and pub sector boomed in the s. Some continue to thrive. Some were bought by corporate breweries that turned them into straight venues.

Others were hit by the recession. Now the soaring London property market makes many sites vulnerable to commercial and residential redevelopment when leases end. But the owner can put a chain restaurant and a couple of floors of flats in there and make a lot more money.

The Royal Vauxhall Tavern has been bought by a property developer whose plans remain unclear. But insisting that gay bars are good and property development bad might be oversimplifying things. Property prices and the profit motive are not a new consideration in gay bars.

As well as economics, cultural and demographic shifts mean that the mainstream is less prejudiced than it used to be, leaving some LGBT people happy to socialise in mixed environments or via the internet and mobile apps. In the past, you might have expected people to take part.

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In Manchester, local institutions Taurus and Eden have recently closed their doors, perhaps forever, and a sense of vulnerability is in the air. If people do want those venues, they have to go there and use them. Still, the appeal of the old-school gay bar may be more robust than it seems.

And this applies to younger LGBT people as well. Travon Steadman is a year-old student and Black Cap regular. You can end up talking to a gay man in his 60s and learn so much about gay history and culture. Knowing your history, knowing your movement, gives you power. But the rate at which existing venues are closing remains a concern given how few new spaces are taking their place.

Yet Joannou takes strength from the past. When times are hard, we come together and find new places. When the Joiners Arms opened as a venue for all sexualities in MayJane Clendon was among the first regulars.