pRIDE TRAIL POI'S
“Birmingham LGBT was established in 2002. Originally called Birmingham Pride Trust and then Birmingham LGBT Community trust, it was established as a grassroots breakaway group from the Pride festival by individuals who felt that a Pride event once a year did not meet the community’s diverse needs. From the outset the Birmingham LGBT aimed to raise awareness of issues that affect Birmingham’s LGBT citizens through consultation, community engagement, advocacy, strategic engagement and lobbying.”
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El Sombrero was a cafe in the 60s and 70s located on Horsefair. It was open until the early hours and very popular with the gay community.
The Wellington Hotel is a long-standing LGBT+ friendly venue in Birmingham located on the outskirts of the village.
Eden Bar is a gay bar at the base of Hurst Street, hosting events and drag nights since 2008.
A1: OVERLOOKING THE BIRMINGHAM LGBT CENTRE
A2: El sombrero
a3: the wellington hotel
a4: eden bar
a1 - a9
a5: el torro
a6: nightingales mark ii
a7: "rough irish pub"
a8: dv8
a9: star club
In the 1960’s many cafes were also used as well as pubs and bars as meeting places. El Torro was a very small cafe on Ethel Street near New Street Station that was popular with the gay community.
Gales Is the longest running gay club in Birmingham. This was its’ second location. in Aston. It took over the premises in 1975, and remained there until 1981 when it moved to a more central location.
“Prior to the 1960s, and well into the 1970s there appears to have been very little opportunity indeed for lesbians to get together openly in a social or public space. All the bars noted as being popular with the gay crowd in the 40s and 50s seem to have been restricted to men, whether by design or default.
We only found one reference to gatherings of lesbians in the 1950s. Meriel Bloor mentions a rough Irish pub at the top of Digbeth, near to where Selfridges is now. She said women were not supposed to go in to bars alone or in twos in those days, but she went to this pub and women were in there quite happily in quite large numbers. Meriel says lesbians used to meet here and tried to pick her up several times.”
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Full article here.
This was a night club situated on Lower Essex Street. Opened in 1999, although before opening as DV8 the premises formed part of an audacious bid by Bill Gavan to buy out the Nightingale club and create a large gay entertainment complex on Kent Street.
In the 1980s women started organising women only spaces including at various venues, including the Communist Party’s HQ the Star Club.