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Home , Admiral Duncan (pub), Gay bar, London, Old Compton Street, Soho Square

QX 596 MASTER PT.1 24/7/06 12:07 pm Page 10

qx FEATURE

Eros On - so named after the Greek god of love because it was notoriously surrounded by hookers

Soho Square in 1816

Starting this week, QX traces the history of ’s - North, South, East, West and Central. This week...

WESTWhat’s made such a magnetEND for for 300 years?BOYS HAYDON BRIDGE reveals all… IF you’re not doing anything one Sunday, you Lane, , was raided in 1726. (Although www.pinkuk.com and a recent posting reads, can take a tour of historic gay courtesy of this area was swept away long ago, it’s now “’m a Special for Unit for the Kairos. But it’s a bit of a cheat. Although today occupied by the London School of Economics, . We only visit the cruising it’s camper than Jordan’s and Cheryl Tweedy’s which hosts the gay Latino Exilio). area to deter the criminals. If you get robbed, weddings put together, Soho has been gay for Prosecutions, and indeed executions, of gay please report it. We will be discreet and you only twenty years. The surrounding vicinity, men did little to deter others. In A View of will be treated sensitively.” however, is another . British gay life as Society and Manners in High and Low Life Historian Matt Cook says that it was the con- we know it began in London’s West End 300 (1781), writer Parker deplored the struction of the railways, from 1837 to 1876, years ago, and virtually every significant event men “who signal to each other in St James’ that brought about the next advance in gay in British gay history ever since has occurred Park, and then retire to satisfy a passion too society. Suddenly, there were a lot of strangers either here or in the of London. Why? As horrible for description.” In 1791 there was a in London, men who were in the only to we’ll see, one thing leads to another. call for the park to be locked at . The next work or to have a night out. The possibilities for Perhaps because London in the 18th century big scandal came in 1810, when at least twen- anonymous contact were increased, especially was not only a centre of culture, but also multi- ty men were arrested at the White Swan around railway stations. Later, servicemen on cultural (foreigners came to London to escape in Vere , off Street. weekend leave poured off the and into in the rest of ), a Then as now, some of those who appeared to the toilets. In the , the West End new concept of sexuality developed here: men be upholders of traditional values were hyp- changed when were razed for the con- began regularly to solicit sex with other men. ocrites. In 1822 the Bishop of Clogher was struction of . Beautiful new Just to prove that there’s nothing new under found with a guardsman in the White Lion theatres, which lined the avenue, attracted rich the sun, a report of 1706 tells us that Tavern in the Haymarket. In 1825 John men, who in turn attracted prostitutes of both Edward Barker was prosecuted for poking his Muirhead, a member of the Society for through a hole in the wall of a cubicle of a Suppression of Vice, was arrested for picking “bog-house” in the Temple! up a man in Sackville Street, off Piccadilly. London in the 18th century In 1709 journalist revealed that the From 1829 we know much more about back room of a brandy shop in London cruising patterns because the newly- was not only a centre of was used by men who enjoyed the of formed recorded them. In “mollies” ( impersonators). Publicity the began raiding that culture, but also multi- must have helped establish London as the catered for men who brought back soldiers place to enjoy these new thrills. In 1726 the they’d met around Parade. cultural… a new concept of London Journal reported that there were twen- The main cruising areas in the City at this time ty “molly houses” in operation, and that men were St Paul’s, and Finsbury sexuality developed here. were in , Square. In the West End, Piccadilly and sexes. The of Christian Charity, erected Lincolns Inn, Moorfields and the south side of Covent Garden were still popular, but the fash- to honour the 7th Earl of Shaftesbury, was St James’ Park. ionable Strand and Hyde Park were also men- nicknamed Eros (the Greek god of love) A Christian group, the Society for the tioned. Probably more than 200 years old, because it was constantly surrounded by hook- Reformation of Manners, placed agent - Hyde Park’s cruising ground is easily London’s ers who serviced the theatre crowds! cateurs in the cruising areas and helped indict oldest. The Rose Garden on the south east Meanwhile toffs who preferred sex with their Margaret Clap, whose , in Field corner remains busy today. Visit own class frequented the Turkish baths. One 10 11

QX 596 MASTER PT.1 24/7/06 12:08 pm Page 11

Jermyn St Turkish bath

YS of the earliest gay haunts, opened in Jermyn Street in 1857, survived until the 1970s. Apparently Rock Hudson was a regular. WILDE DAYS: PICCADILLY RENT AND A RIGHT ROYAL SCANDAL BY the late 19th century, Piccadilly was notori- ous for its “renters”. The area was known as “the Meat Rack.” Cards were distributed here for a male brothel at 19 Street. In 1890 a case was heard at the that potentially could have brought down the Government and implicated the Royal Family. It was alleged that in 1888, a prostitute named Jack Saul (subject of a ghosted 1881 autobi- ography, Sins of the of the Plain) had solicited the Earl of Euston in Sackville Street and taken him to Cleveland Street, where they had sex. The jury chose to believe the Earl’s denial, which was just as well for the establish- ment. Other clients at Cleveland Street includ- ed Lord Arthur Somerset, at least two MPs and possibly – although it has never been proven – Prince Albert Victor (“Eddy”), grand- son of Queen Victoria. Rumours also circulat- ed that another client was Oscar Wilde. In 1894 brothel keeper Alfred Taylor, who indis- putably catered for Wilde, was arrested at 46 Fitzroy Street. The trials of Oscar Wilde in 1895 were a fore- gone conclusion because the playwright had been so indiscreet. There was evidence that he had kissed a waiter at the Soho restaurant Kettner’s and, worse still, had orgies with renters at the Savoy in the Strand. But Wilde’s conviction seems to have had no effect on gay life in London, which continued as 10 11 normal. Gay men had sex in the cubicles QX 596 MASTER PT.1 24/7/06 12:08 pm Page 12

qx FEATURE

Soho Square in 1870 Lyons’ Corner Houses

The Caravan Club - “London’s greatest Bohemian rendezvous”

Old Compton Street in the 1920s

A flyer for an early gay club

of the baths at the Regent lar were Lyons’ Corner Houses, particularly in End’s most historically important gay bars. But Street Polytechnic (now the University of Street and the Strand. In 1925, John in the post-War years, Soho was for ). It’s been suggested that the Bull magazine exposed six notorious homosex- old men who liked young girls. It was a homo Poly’s founder, Quintin Hogg, killed himself in ual hang-outs including the Hotel de in no-go zone. In the 1950s, the Swiss Tavern in 1903 because he was about to be outed. Villiers Street (world-famous since 1979 as the was not entirely straight. Possibly the first “gay ” as we know the location of ). But even as late as 1976, listed only term was Madame Strindberg’s Cave of the In the 1930s the West End’s most famous gay two gay bars (the A&B and the Golden Lion) in Golden Calf in Heddon Street, off Regent pub was the Running Horse in Shepherd the whole of Soho. Opened in 1981, Subway, Street, which was open before . Market. The Caravan, in Endell Street, in , the only attempt during the (Gay performance artist Ryan Styles uses its described itself as “London’s greatest period to replicate in London a New -style name as the title of one of his shows). Bohemian rendezvous.” But this was a sex with dress code, became a hotbed of euphemism for . A witness who found controversy when it was accused of helping to 20TH CENTURY SEX men dancing together here in 1934 described spread AIDS. Subsequently all gay were FROM the beginning of the 20th century, club as “an absolute sink of iniquity.” tarred with the same brush; Heaven was one of West End, with its wide variety of gay-friendly During the blackouts of World War II, London the few that managed to survive. locations, became the of British gay life. was, for many , the biggest and best Why did Soho go gay? Thank the puritans of Adventurous queers exposed themselves in dark room in gay history. During the day, cine- the Tory-run Westminster City Council. At the French-style, cast iron , erected in mas were used. The best were the little news beginning of the 1980s Soho was overrun throughout the capital. In his 1973 theatres, which never put up the lights during with unlicenced hetero sex traders. Many had autobiography, actor recalls continuous screenings of and car- turned ancient delicatessens and restaurants how an antique dealer described these pissoirs toons. One cinema in Victoria, ’s first into porn shops and peep shows, and some as “the comfort stations of the cross.” The cinema The Biograph (originally the Bioscope), powerful local residents were unhappy. most famous, in Dansey Place, off Wardour was known as the Biogrope until it was demol- Accordingly, the Government gave the Street, featured in “Horton vs Mead, 1913”, ished in 1983. Council powers to put the porn barons out of After the War, the , in St Martin’s business. By 1987, Soho’s sex industry had Lane, was the pre-eminent pub, so well- been reduced to five shops, three strip clubs, Then as now, some of those known that it was used as a location for the two soft porn cinemas – and a lot of empty groundbreaking 1961 film Victim, starring Dirk premises. It just so happened that simultane- who appeared to be uphold- Bogarde as a gay who exposes the ously gay business was getting into its stride. blackmailers that caused his ex-boyfriend’s sui- The gay scene was fading in other parts of ers of traditional values cide. There were a few other discreet gay bars London, and Soho, with its saucy reputation, in the West End. But mainly for economic rea- in need of regeneration, had potential. The were hypocrites. It was sons (cheaper accommodation, for ), Swiss Tavern became Comptons in 1986 and alleged that in 1888, a prosti- the gay scene had begun moving West, to the rest is gay history. In a very short time , and finally Earls Court, Soho has become a world-class , tute named Jack Saul had where the world of the homosexual was one that has survived a tragedy (the bombing soon to burst into the light. But what of Soho? of the in 1999) to become solicited the Earl of Euston. stronger, louder and prouder than before. the leading case on male/male soliciting. It was SOHO: THE DIRTY SQUARE MILE Begun in 2003, Soho Pride already less dangerous to pick up in the street THE so-called Dirty Square Mile has had gay attracts large numbers – an estimated 50,000 because this didn’t involve indecent exposure. connections since about the 1890s. Wilde – that rival the main Pride London event. In his 1968 autobiography, radio producer J.R. bought gay porn here, and Jack Saul lived in There’s something about Soho. Ackerley, who prowled Marble and Hyde Old Compton Street. During the Bohemian Park Corner for guardsmen, remembers the 1920s and 30s, there were several gay-friendly Read more about London’s gay history prices during the 1930s: “A pound was the cafés in Soho. Quentin Crisp writes about sit- in Queer London by Matt Houlbrook and recognised tariff for the Guards then; the ting for hours with his friends in the Black Cat London and the Culture of Horse Guards cost rather more.” in Old Compton Street. In 1941 the Arts and by Matt Cook, available But the risk was minimal in venues where most Battledress Club opened in Orange Street, from Gay’s , 66 Marchmont if not all the clientele was queer. For more than behind the . It later moved to Street, London WC1. twenty years from 1916, cultivated gentlemen Soho and was still going, as the A&B, in the met on Sunday mornings in the Long Bar of 1970s. It’s up there with and the For a tour of gay and Soho, go to the Trocadero on Piccadilly . Also popu- still flourishing as one of the West www.kairosinsoho.org.uk 12 13