The owner of the iconic G-A-Y Bar in London has said that it is “time to say goodbye” to the venue, citing struggles to stay open and the area losing “its identity”.
Jeremy Joseph, the owner of LGBTQIA+ venues like G-A-Y and Heaven, made the update on Instagram, explaining why it felt like time to close the doors to the club permanently.
He had suggested that the venue may be closing down back in January, confirming that he had put G-A-Y Bar up for sale as the area’s strict licensing made it too difficult to stay open and claiming Soho has “lost its vibrancy”.
Now, Joseph has reflected on some of his favourite memories at the venue and said goodbye to customers before doors close permanently.
“Old Compton Street has been my home & my work. When I opened G-A-Y Bar, it was to be on one of the safest & most proudly LGBT streets. A place where you could be who you are & feel safe. For Me, Old Compton Street has lost that LGBT identity,” he shared.
Among his favourite moments were “being on the back of a lorry as a mobile stage with Peter Tatchell & Derek Jarman,” having Madonna perform at the venue – a move which led to a queue “all the way down to end of the road & back down the road on the other side of the street”, and how the community came together following the tragic shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando in 2016.
“I was so proud to be part of publicly defining a street as a safe place, where you can hold hands with your partner, go buy a sex toy, not be afraid to have a cheeky flirt, to wear whatever you want, but most importantly to be openly whoever you wanted to be,” he wrote, later adding: “But sadly thats not Old Compton Street anymore.”
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Among the struggles faced by the bar, Joseph looked at how some landlords were “amazing” in providing support over the years, while others were far from it.
“There has to be a way to protect businesses with zero costs to taxpayers, maybe a change in the law in the same way residential tenants have rights, so should commercial tenants. Not reliant on who your landlord is, but all businesses treated equally,” the post continued, reflecting on the recent battles faced by his other nightclub, Heaven, and saying that “the process is stacked in the landlord’s favour.”
Explaining how he was recently sent the Rent Review Arbitration result for his Heaven venue, Joseph explained that the Soho Estates landlords, “knowing how damaging the last four years have been, have given me the opportunity to leave & concentrate on Heaven”.
“Here’s what happened with Heaven… We knew the date for Heaven’s rent review. We asked the landlord, ArchCo, to start the process a month before the review date but they waited until the date itself to serve notice that gave us no time to agree or budget before an increase took effect. If we disagreed with the rent increase, then as they told us on the day of the rent increase, while we went into negotiation, with immediate effect, we were paying backdated rent on an unknown figure.
“On the advice of two rent surveyors, we appealed & went to arbitration. Nearly two years later, costs of over £100,000 & having Heaven’s future unknown, we finally have a result & it’s in Heaven’s favour. There is a rental increase, nowhere near what ArchCo wanted but it’s doable & now I’ll work on ways to cover it with the least impact on Heaven’s customers.”
Thanking those who supported G-A-Y over the years, Joseph concluded the post by saying that “the gesture meant a lot, but the truth is, the arbitration outcome was the defining factor in whether Heaven remains a viable business or not.
“No one should have to go through the stress & uncertainty I faced, yet every commercial tenant is at risk under the current system. The government cannot say it wants to protect workers unless it also protects the businesses that employ them.”
The venue opened in 1979 and became an influential part of London’s LGBTQIA+ scene, hosting the long-running club night G-A-Y. It was also celebrated for Paul Oakenfold’s acid house nights in the late ‘80s and is sometimes credited as the birthplace of ambient house. The Heaven name has also been extended to clubs in Gran Canaria and Ibiza.
G-A-Y Late closed in November 2023 due partly to continuous building works, according to Joseph, which made running it “too disheartening to continue”.
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