Over a hundred people turned out to a rally to Save Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club today at midday. The rally drew together drag artists, cabaret artists, magicians and other performers in the fight to save the iconic East London and LGBT+ venue.
The club is at risk of closure after the owners indicated a wish to sell at the earliest opportunity. The programming team have been threatened with eviction and were due to leave today, but after consulting with their lawyers they have not yet left.
We are currently in constructive dialogue with the owners to prevent the closure, with a full statement and update on the situation below. Over 11.5k people have signed a petition to save the club since it was launched last week.
Sign the petition to save Bethnal Green Working Men's Club
Speakers at the rally included:
· Dan de La Motte (compere, pictured above) – performer and Equity Councillor for Variety, Circus and Entertainers
· ShayShay – drag artist, director, co-founder of The Bitten Peach queer Asian cabaret, member of Equity’s Drag Artist Network
· Olimpia Burchierallo – from Friends of the Joiners Arms and author of The Gentrification of Queer Activism
· Elly Baker – London Assembly Member residing in East London
· Paul W Fleming – Equity General Secretary
Equity update on the Save Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club campaign:
Equity very recently found out that BGWMC was at risk of closure. The programming team have been threatened with eviction and asked to hand over the keys and vacate today. The owners have indicated they wish to sell the club at the earliest opportunity. Equity are now in constructive dialogue with the owners to prevent the closure of live performance at BGWMC.
We are seeking assurances that any sale will guarantee the continuation of BGWMC as an LGBTQ+ performance space. We are also seeking a guarantee that the community of performers and punters will be given the opportunity to fundraise and buy the venue in shared ownership. This would allow BGWMC to continue a more than 100 year history as a member owned club.
We hope that the programming team can resist this eviction and give everyone more time to negotiate a good outcome. For Equity it is crucial that any outcome will ensure that LGBTQ+ performance can resume at the club at the earliest opportunity. BGWMC is a vital source of work for Equity members and many people rely on this space to earn a living.
Paul W Fleming, Equity General Secretary, at the rally said:
“Our members in every area of art – whether it be the English National Opera going in and out of schools in East London, having that programme slashed and burned; whether it be theatre spaces places that are closed because of a government austerity programme that’s gone on for over 20 years in the arts; or whether it be independent queer spaces that allow our members to work and earn their living doing a performance art that progresses a narrative; that is our members’ under attack. And our members are choosing not a narrative of resilience, but a narrative of resistance.”
Elly Baker, London Assembly Member, also speaking at the rally said:
“It’s an absolute tragedy that the venue is facing closure or is closing today, with the loss of work particularly that its going to bring to performers at the start of their journey… For the LGBT+ community, as has been said, too many venues have been lost and we’re watching London becoming homogenised and sanitised, and made expensive and exclusive for performers and just for Londoners, and that’s not what London should be. So if we continue to lose small venues, then we’re going to hollow out the eco-system of our nightlife and of our arts system, and it will crumble. And we won’t have the places to support what people say London is good for – for the life that people say London is good for – and trade on, and make money from. And frankly will be a lot more boring for it as well.”
The potential loss of yet another London venue for queer nightlife is devastating and represents a significant loss of work for performers in the drag and cabaret sector. Not only is the BGWMC an asset of tremendous value to the community, but the programme of events is also a vital and consistent source of income for so many professionals.
Photos: Equity UK/Jack Witek
