The Queen’s Head own clientele suggests that a change has taken place.įor many years, straight bar patrons self-segregated. “The older generation like myself, we’re dying out.” “A lot of the younger gay people feel like they don’t need to go to the gay bars like we used to do back in the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s - places where would be ourselves and discover ourselves,” Sipson says. One theory is that the gay bars may not be needed today as they once were, as mainstream society becomes more accepting of homosexuality.
The dispute behind the closing of The Queen’s Head might seem specific, but it comes after a year of prominent gay bars closing abruptly across London.