A recent public debate about the death of London's gay nightlife has focused on a few high-profile spaces. Commentators have often interpreted the threats or reasons for venue closures in overly simplistic terms. They have largely ignored the eclectic range of spaces and events that have comprised the capital's lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer scenes, frequently relying on anecdotal evidence and lacking understanding of urban processes.
In this timely, compelling and provocative contribution urban historian and queer scholar, Ben Campkin, interweaves evidence from personal observation, archival research, and spatial and interior analyses, to craft a new and queer history of the geography of LGBT London by night, from the 1980s to the present.
Mapping the dynamics of shifting scenes over time, Queer Premises will provide a lively account of how night spaces have been appropriated or 'queered', and of the variety of community, commercial, policy and other circumstances that have led to their establishment and sometimes their decline or closure. From iconic venues around which activists have recently mobilized to forgotten clusters and quirky individual neighbourhood bars and events, the book is at once an important survey and archive of a range of LGBT spaces and an insightful commentary on their qualities and characteristics. Grounding its essays in new evidence, and maneuvering between debates in queer and urban theory, Campkin points to the tensions between queerness and heritage including contradictory pulls between fixed and fluid, ephemeral and permanent space. He offers a nuanced analysis of how LGBT history is embedded in the urban fabric and the traces of nightlife scenes.