The Black Cap is one of the most happening places to go in Camden, with new manager Jamie Henderson sprucing up the shop and drawing a new crowd into its eclectic range of club nights. We caught up with Mr Henderson himself and one of the undoubted stars of the show, the wonderful Meth, to find out more… 

JAMIE HENDERSON
Black Cap Manager

Tell us a little about yourself.  

I have worked in gay bars since 2009 if that helps and I now live in the Black Cap.

What were your first thoughts about the Black Cap when you started work there? 

Oh, I loved it! The Cap is one remarkable building, one of the oldest gay bars in London and home to so many fond memories to so many people.

How did you go about making this Camden cabaret pub suddenly a ‘go to’ nightlife destination? 

We aim to get a balance between new acts and original style talent. There can’t be many places that have a Bear night one day and Miss Jason on stage the next! The important thing for us all here is that we value and respect the history of The Cap and build upon its reputation as the best gay nightspot in North London. I love telling visitors about the history of the business and photographing people with Regina or Mrs Shufflewick. We work hard to make everyone feel welcome.

What’s it like working with Meth and the Family Fierce on a weekly basis? 

Meth and The FF are amazing. Meth is the consummate professional, determined and focussed. I get to work with a team of people who are dedicated to bringing drag to a new audience and making it relevant to future generations of LGBT people.

Give us some of the highlights of the Black Cap to look forward to coming up. 

Where do we start?! We have some amazing things planned for the next few months, more visits from great American Drag Superstars, our first ‘Rehab’ Eurovision night, the Cap is back in ‘The Camden crawl’ for the first time in three years and a great Pride weekend being planned (all very top secret!)

And finally, what can we get at the Black Cap that we can’t get at any other venue in town? 

What you get here with us is probably the most eclectic mix of people you will ever find in a gay business. Every day is different and everyone is welcome. We are more than just a destination venue. To many of our regulars and new visitors we are a second home.

METH

For anyone who doesn’t know, who’s Meth?!

Meth is the extraordinary, Queer-Drag sensation, the Queen of the surreal and bizarre, the mistress of the Meth Lab, member of the Familyyy Fierce and star of Drag Queens of London. She’s aiming to make addicts of you all! Remember kids, drugs are bad. So don’t do drugs, do Meth.

And who is the Family Fierce?

The Familyyy Fierce are a group of queer performance artists and the best of friends. A combination ending up somewhere between an art collective and an American drag family. There’s 8 members at our core: Rubyyy Jones, Miss Cairo, Lolo Brow, Lilly Snatchdragon, Ruby Wednesday, Lady Tena, Bourgeoisie and myself (Meth). 

Why does Meth Lab work so well at the Black Cap?

The Black Cap has a wonderful history of being at the forefront of drag performance. I think the Meth Lab works so well there because we are bringing a new generation of drag to London and furthering the cultural and historical legacy of the Cap.

Do you think your brand of cabaret being so popular indicates that people want something new from the traditional? 

I think it’s more to do with there being a new audience out there. RuPaul’s Drag Race has brought a new style of drag to the British public which has captured a new and, dare I say, younger crowd’s attention. Drag is becoming a huge part of pop and celebrity culture so of course the young ones are gagging on it. I think my brand is pretty much the closest you can get to the American scene in London and I most certainly have no qualms about capitalising on that niche. That being said, traditional drag is here to stay too!

What’s next for Meth? 

I want to go to America for a few months in 2015. After that? World domination.

• Meth’s bi-monthly club night Rehab is back on May 10th with a Eurovision Party special. The inaugural Meth Lab Ball is on May 29th with special guest judge Michelle Visage. And Drag Race Season 6 favourite Bianca Del Rio joins the Meth Lab gang at the Cap on July 10th. www.themethlab.co.uk

• The Black Cap, 171 Camden High Street, NW1 7JY. 

Son of a Tutu takes to the road this May, with shows all over the country and abroad. As she prepares to load up her Priscilla-style tour bus, Jason Reid found out which essential items she NEVER travels without… 

Cocoa Butter

White people have it easier with some things and not with others. It costs a fortune to maintain a tan but then on the other hand, you don’t have to stress about concealing nasty white dryness marks on your skin if you haven’t greased-up your body from head to toe. An independent black woman’s independence begins after moisturising.

‘On the Origin of Species’ by Charles Darwin

I’m a good Christian woman but sometimes when I have time to kill before or after a show, I like to go knocking on Jehovah Witnesses’ doors; it confuses the bejesus out of them.

iPhone Charger

In the 21st century, you need your iPhone more than you need oxygen. Without Facebook and Twitter how would you know who or what other people are: wearing, eating, cheating-on, bitching about, stalking, liking, hating, threatening, about to bitch-slap. You have to stay connected or you’d disappear into irrelevance. I’d rather cancel a gig and return home than continue on the road with a dead smart phone.

Passport

It’s essential for a girl like me to take a passport with her everywhere she goes nowadays; not because I fear the onset of Nazi-style identification protocols for all foreigners, which could happen if UKIP get a workable majority in Westminster (God forbid) but because in this current climate of in-out referendums and the growing prominence of separatist political parties like the SNP and CNP (Cornish National Party), I fear I may go to bed in a lovely bijou Cornish B&B one night and wake up the next day needing to fight my way through immigration to get back to a less-than-Great Britain.

Mzz Kimberley’s ORIGINAL Birth Certificate

It took a while but I dug it up from underneath the pyramids of Giza. That old cow is a liar; whenever I’m feeling homesick or have had a bad show, I just take it out, look at the date of birth and SMILE!

• Keep up with Tutu’s travels at www.facebook.com/son.tutu

Renowned British soul singer Lisa Stansfield performs at G-A-Y this weekend. She reveals the voices that rock her world…

Aretha Franklin

Spanish Harlem is one of the most unusual songs I’ve ever heard. I was so very lucky to meet this lady.

Diana Ross

I grew up on Diana Ross. Hers was probably the first voice I heard musically, and I think she’s still amazing.

Adele

I think she’s very courageous in the way she writes and the way she puts herself out there.

Emile Sandé

I think as well as being an incredible singer, I think she’s one of the best songwriters of the last decade.

Gladys Knight

I had the opportunity to sing with her at an event and was so humbled by presence.

Amy Winehouse

What can I say, what a tragic loss to the music industry. An incredible songwriter writer and singer and she paved the way for a lot of other artists.

Sylvester

I remember when my sister bought ‘Mighty Real’ on red vinyl, and I nicked it off her and played it all day long.

Jill Scott

Such soul and what an actress.

Mary J Blige

I’ve always admired her voice and the courageous journey that she has made in her life whilst coming out the other side unscathed.

Etta James

I always do my warm ups to ‘I Just Wanna Make To You’. She’s a wonderful vocalist.

• Lisa Stansfield performs at G-A-Y at Heaven (Villiers Street, WC2N 6NG) on Saturday 3rd May, 10pm-5am. Discount wristbands from G-A-Y Bar. 

• The new album Seven is out now. 

Pleasuredrome has been open for 18 years now and to celebrate, owner Charles Hill is spending over £250,000 in improvements this summer including new private rooms, videos screen walls and just recently installing a superfast wifi network throughout the venue.

Now guests can use their phone apps to date, meet and hook-up as they please. Fast wifi like this is a first for London’s sauna scene, so go enjoy your Pleasuredrome this Bank Holiday weekend…

• Pleasuredrome is at Arch 124 Cornwall Road, Waterloo SE1 8XE and is open 24 hours a day 7 days a week… even on Christmas Day!

• For further information and a stunning new video of Pleasuredrome visit www.pleasuredrome.com

• Photo: Chris Jepson

The La Demence Cruise is back for 2014. Here’s why you should be on that ship when it sets sail…

1) The odds are in your favour

With approximately 1,400 guys from all over the world, the chances are there’s bound to be at least one guy you’re indulging in – and nothing makes a holiday more exciting than an intimate romance/hot fling… or at least a fumble in the hot tub.

2) It’s not all about the parties…
You can drink yourself stupid in London, what La Demence offers is the chance to take in some of the beautiful culture of the Mediterranean.; whether it’s strolling through the Italian Riviera or checking out the Arab Baths in Palma, it will certainly be more picturesque than your local kebab shop.

3) …But it also is all about the parties
Who wants to be cramped in a sweaty underground nightclub next to some gurning stranger when you can live it up under the stars with the cruise’s open air parties.

4) Eat well
All foods and soft drinks are included in the price, so if (or should that be when) you wake up feeling a little worse for wear, you’re free to tuck in at the buffet or grab something a la carte.

5) Relax in comfort
Despite being on a cruise ship, even those that get most seasick would forget they were in the middle of the ocean with rooms that rival some hotels on land.

6) Stay connected
Worried that you’ll lose touch with the rest of the world while you’re away? Don’t be. It’s every tech-savvy gay’s fear of being on holiday but not being able to upload the pics to Instagram. Internet/wifi and library zone have that covered. We’re guessing that includes Scruff, Manhunt and Grindr…

7) Treat yourself
Part of being on holiday is that you take a load off (interpret what you will), and with an on board spa, gym, yoga and fitness centre – feeling good hasn’t been easier.

8) Indulge your pleasures
What happens on La Demence stays on La Demence (unless you broadcast it on Facebook), so why not let your inhibitions – and trunks – disappear in the nudist area, catch a porn show or attend the fetish party.

9) A DJ line-up that’ll make your knees weak
You can expect to hear the likes of a number of international DJs, with Paul Heron (UK), Steven Redant (Spain), Oliver M (Denmark), John Dixon (France), Tony Bruno (Italy) – and that’s just a handful of them!

10) Beauty and the beach… and the odd bitch
During your week-long cruise you’ll touch on some of the most beautiful unspoilt beaches in the Mediterranean. If you didn’t get the memo, it’s really not about overcrowded beaches packed with drunk British tourists – that’s so San Antonio circa ’99.

• Book your place now at www.lademence-cruise.com

Former TimeOut Cabaret editor Ben Walters has produced and put together this new quarterly cabaret show featuring some of the best acts, both established and establishing a reputation, operating in the capital right now. For the inaugural event we saw Dickie Beau, Eve Ferret, Figs in Wigs and David Hoyle all take to the chosen theatre stage at the aptly named World’s End to wow us with their charms. 

COME WITH ME IF YOU WANT TO LIVE: By Patrick Cash

And wow us they (mostly) did. As a sometime roving arts reporter skewed across the London performance scene, I’d encountered three of these sterling acts before in their glory, but Dickie Beau was an entirely new and eminently pleasurable experience. A lip-syncher of rare skill, one can see his influence in the likes of the wonderful Foxy & Husk.

Beau enters on to the stage dressed in a sailor’s outfit and proceeds to mime out, perfectly, an entire Kenneth Williams recording, with each gesticulation, laugh and affectation minutely observed and portrayed. A master-class in how to kick-off a cabaret show in superb style.

Sadly, not entirely the same could be said for the lovely but a little tortuous Miss Ferret who took to the stage second. After delivering a rather long and rambling introduction, she proceeded to put on and take off her glasses several times, and each time she put on her glasses commented about how the audience all thought she was mad. This only served to alienate the audience more towards her act. Although when she did – eventually – sing, it can’t be denied she had a remarkably good voice, albeit tied to quite bizarre lyrics.

Figs in Wigs provided their seminal pea-eating competition again, where members of the audience had to eat as many frozen peas as possible whilst the FiW troupe danced around them. A great act, who are deservedly getting some attention from the London cabaret landscape right now. And, of course, last but never least was the inimitable in every sense of the word – Mr David Hoyle, who has recently started his ‘Still Life’ Thursday residencies at the RVT. Get yourself down there, because this man needs to be seen by all.

• The Chelsea Theatre, World’s End Place, SW10 0DR
• www.chelseatheatre.org.uk

Stop the press! Rumour has it that Miley Cyrus is gonna be at G-A-Y Camp Attack this Friday 9th May! Jeremy Joseph… can you confirm?

#QXGayLondon @QXMagazine

Tony Claffey worked on MX magazine from 1992. After it folded, he tweaked the concept and re-launched it with a new team and a new title, QX.

Ben Schubert came on board as co-publisher soon after, helping to grow the business from its first office in Tony’s flat, to the multi-platform media operation it is today. The two have remained at the helm of QX’s publishing company, Firststar, ever since. Tony shares his thoughts on the continuing legacy of London’s most popular gay magazine

Sex

QX was the first gay magazine to publish an erect penis and did so in one of its first editions. The printers initially refused to print the magazine unless I got clearance from a specialist lawyer. We got his approval in writing, which was forwarded to the printers. In those days the ‘Mull of Kintyre’ principle was applied to a penis which meant that it could be shown in print providing the angle was no greater than the peninsula itself, and as Jeff Stryker’s cock was very vertical it was a big problem. The article written by myself was encouraging the wearing of condoms and the lawyer’s ruling was that as the image was intended to educate and not titillate it could be printed.

QX was also very much credited with getting the male escorts off the street by allowing them to advertise, a job that was happily fulfilled by Stewart Who? shortly before his fame came from his creative writing. Street prostitution was a big problem as some guys selling themselves were very young and often got themselves into serious trouble with unscrupulous punters. Several documentaries were made highlighting the problem such as the BBC’s ‘Johnny Come Home’ a few years earlier. Many asked how we got away with such advertising and the answer was that the police and politicians knew that we were probably saving lives and also putting pimps out of business. We were even asked if we would consider producing a magazine that female ecsorts could use to advertise in, thus cleaning up phone boxes and hurting pimps. However, we declined.

Internet

I am proud to say that I put the first gay publication on the web. It happened like this; the office at the time was located in my home, Shaldon Mansions on Charing Cross Road. Egg owner Lawrence Malice and Troy Wear also had flats there and were regular visitors. Unannounced one day, Lawrence banged on my door and he had the owner of Dircon with him clutching a modem. I was told that I was going online, was connected up and was given my first email address. The modem speed in those days was 264K, extremely slow by modern standards, but I stuck with it and trolled the internet to download naughty jpegs and gifs which we sometimes used in the mag, which you could watch and wait as it unrolled on the screen, but nonetheless was very exciting.

I went across the road and bought a book on HTML design and painfully created the first QX website and decided the new title should be QX International as it could be read all over the world. Danny Grealy saw my efforts and offered to do a much better job of it and we never looked back from that day.

Drugs

When QX started the most common drug in use was ecstasy and the pills came in many varieties, the most popular being Doves. We always kept our readers informed as to which ones should be avoided and I was even threatened by a dealer because we had criticised his supply.

“In those days the ‘Mull of Kintyre’ principle was applied to a penis which meant that a penis could be shown in print providing the angle was no greater than the peninsula itself”

But we also had a bit of fun, and in one particular story we described a pill we called ‘Elephant E’ which we reported as being everything you could ever want from a pill but the downside was that it caused ageing and the enlargement of body parts plus we showed pictures to support this claim (Photoshop) and dreadful pictures of an ugly old drag queen. It was horrific, but to our amazement we had phone calls asking where these could be purchased!

DJs and Promoters

Up until QX came along the only celebrities on the gay scene were the drag queens and they were some of the best even to this day. We knew that to create an interesting scene we needed more well-known people that would make interesting reading and which our readers could take an interest in so we started publishing the names of club promoters and their DJs. It is amazing today to think that in those days a DJ’s name was unknown unless they were American and worked at the Sound Factory in New York. It has been recognised that without QX there would not have been such a vibrant gay scene and we might have never known these creators were such as Laurence Malice of Trade, David Inches of Heaven and, of course, Jeremy Joseph.

‘Hairspray Henshaw’ (Gary Henshaw of Ku Bar) started the early bar scene as the Village Bars, which he managed, grew as we did. It created a Soho scene which barely existed before then. It was made by people like himself and the promoters such as Wayne Shires who, in conjunction with QX, made this an in-your-face gay scene. We were dealing with AIDS/HIV and unashamedly getting on with our lives in a vibrant community.

Some of the cabaret circuit’s most fabulous artists celebrate with us this week, sharing their favourite memories, confessions, faux pas and general trashiness from over the years. Trust me, none of these can top what the QX girls get up to when Lambrini is on special offer and the steam starts rising. So raise your glasses, and blow someone’s horn, because… LIFE IS A CABARET!

Dave Lynn

I have so many treasured memories from performing over the years. For example, I was on at The White Swan when Michael Barrymore appeared on stage behind me and decided to come out as gay. Mind you, what really annoyed me about all that, was when his wife blamed me for his coming out, IN HER BOOK, calling me a Bet Lynch lookalike. What a cheek! Another highlight was working with Danny Dyer in the film ‘Malice In Wonderland’. He was so cool; I remember him saying to me: “I wouldn’t care if I was gay but I just don’t like the taste of spunk”.

Drag With No Name

I seem to create bedlam and attract trouble wherever I go! I shouted at a table for talking and not paying attention once, only to find out afterwards they were all deaf; I’ve slipped on strippers’ baby oil, falling flat on my back; I’ve tripped down stairs on TV; had my bollocks drop out my knickers mid-show and even slut dropped on a man’s face on stage once, only to break wind with all the excitement! But the worst, and most painful, moment for me, was when I dive-bombed the crowd in Birmingham, from a very high stage, only to have the people who were supposed to catch me decide to drop their hands to their sides at the very last minute, letting me fall flat on my face and ribs in front of a packed pub. The Drag with No Shame doesn’t even cover it.

Holestar

In eleven years of drag, one highlight that stands out is being part of the first NYC Downlow at Glastonbury in 2007 (the first gay stage at a British festival) with Jonny Woo, John Sizzle, Ma Butcher, Le Gateau Chocolat and the creative East End glitterati. It was pure combat drag; muddy, cold and it rained non-stop, but we laughed so much over the weekend that my face ached for weeks after. And, of course, there was the incident with the tea tree wipes…

The Downlow has grown so much in size and stature, it’s fabulous to be part of the best homo club in the world, bringing queer disco to the masses.

Son of a Tutu

The most embarrassing moment of my career so far was when I was standing in for a vacationing Bette Rinse, hosting karaoke at the now defunct CXR; a gorgeous man caught my eye, attention, and before long, my hungry kissing red lips. Suddenly, however, there was a wretched scream coming from behind me, upon which I was thrust aside and my hunk went storming after the source of the anguish. It turned out it was the shrieks of his new wife and it was the first day of their honeymoon. I could’ve died. Happy anniversary QX and much Tutu Love.

Lady Imelda

Waaaaaay back, when I was just starting out, before the Internet and social media, we had to use landlines for everything; remember those? It was much harder getting gigs and establishing yourself then, too. Especially for me, as I wasn’t as ‘draggy’ as some of the other acts on the circuit. You had to be ruthless, so I was. I can admit it now, as it was a long time ago; I would ring venues pretending to be a customer, putting on a different voice, asking when Lady Imelda was performing. Sometimes I did this a few times a week until eventually the manager would call to book me, clearly due to the ‘demand’ [laughs]. Love you long time, QX.

Tiffaney Wells

I loved working at the piano bar above Madame JoJos, for Paul Raymond, in the mid ‘90s. It was a crazy, fabulous place, full of kooky characters. Su Pollard, Julian Clary and George Logan, from Hinge and Brackett, were regulars, and they’d sit around the grand piano, singing along. I was there on Mondays and Wednesdays with various acts such as a Ruby Venezuela and Ziggy Cartier. Times move on but I do miss it, and would love there to be another venue just like it in the West End again.

Bette Rinse

One crazy night really sticks out in my mind: I was performing at the old Brief Encounter, about ten years ago, while you (Jason) were working there. Everyone got me trashed on vodka, and punters were ‘making’ me sniff poppers while I was on stage. I ended up taking my shoes off and my tits out, causing chaos. It got worse though, as we staggered home to a friend’s house, somehow I got shot in the leg with some sort of pellet gun. After arriving at the flat we called the police and paramedics, but typically I was still in my tights when they arrived. However this didn’t stop us drooling over them. You and I shared a bed that night too! That’s why I always say you’re the only queen I’ve ever slept with [laughs]. Like a true pro, though, I was at Molly Moggs the next afternoon for my show, even with my gammy leg. NEVER AGAIN DEAR!

Meth

Whilst playing host to DWV at The Meth Lab, I explained to the girls how the dressing room at the Black Cap has a door that opens straight into the men’s lavatory. Needless to say, less than three seconds had passed before one of them (who shall remain nameless) burst in and assisted a gentleman with his business at the urinal. It gave the term ‘helping hand’ a whole new meaning.

Martha D’Arthur

I learnt a valuable lesson early on in my drag life, which was to be very wary of accepting too many drinks from the crowd. Whilst hosting karaoke at West 5, some of the regulars thought it would be funny to slip vodka into my wine and ply me with me shots of sambuca. I ended up toppling forward off the stage, catching the karaoke screen on the way and was suspended between the top step and the telly; two punters had to help me get upright. I spent most of that night in the bath with a cold shower on my back because I wasn’t sure which end was going to go first. I’ve tried to work on a more ladylike demeanour ever since!

Sandra 

I remember during a show in the late ‘90’s, at a venue called The Mildmay, I was confused as to why guys kept disappearing; I thought, surely my singing wasn’t that bad? So I asked the sound guy what was going on. He told me they were going for a fiddle in the darkroom. I hadn’t realised they had one, so that was like a red rag to a bull for me. I went straight in for a piece of the action, with the microphone still on, and ended up getting stuck in there because it was so rammed with cock and bodies. I had to announce the next act in between courses, whilst I was slipping around on my knees. Arrrrrrrright!

Baga Chipz

I was performing at a Mecca Bingo in West Bromwich once (I know, the glamour eh?) and halfway through belting out Jane McDonald’s ‘The Hand That Leads Me’ some chav in a West Bromwich Albion top pulled me skirt down from behind me, in front of a crowd of bingo-mad old age pensioners and council estate trollops. Me gin soaked tights and Liz McDonald mini skirt was round me bastard ankles! Ya couldn’t see me feet; I felt like Oscar Pistorius hopping off that stage, covering me tuppence with me handbag. At least I got a shag from Barry the bingo caller and a nice carriage clock that night.

Jonny Woo

My award for funniest, silliest moment/s goes to Gay Bingo’s straight trans – Ma Butcher. For someone who spent the best part of 10 years mute, despite the occasional oink, much hilarity emanated often unwittingly from our number cruncher. Throwing cat food onto the crowd at Soho Theatre, CATFOODGATE; coming up on a pill mid-game at Shoreditch House; being stuck on the ceiling at The ICA, literally; running off stage to throw-up at Glastonbury; those dance moves; none of us can remember anything from TEA Bar so it must have been mega lolz! Oh, and then our little japes in the disabled toilet at Shoreditch House, with the seat underneath the shower head. Just sit there Ma, have a drink… oops! Sorry, didn’t see the tap there. Best friends. Best laughs.

And finally, a word from Myra Dubois…

1000 issues of QX? Good lord, do take a moment to remember the trees that gave their lives so that each week we can know which gays took their shirts off and where. I remember the first time I ever picked up a copy of QX, it was in a bar and they were out of beer mats. The second time I picked one up it was because I was in it! Most performers will tell you we don’t do it for the glory, but we do. It’s our every dream to see our name in lights. For me, this has yet to happen, but seeing it in small print in the listings of QX is a close second. Happy Birthday, or whatever the right greeting for a 1000th issue is, QX. Here’s to the next 1000!

The QX cover. Part worshipped by lustful readers, part reviled by those opposed to the deluge of idealized images that permeate our gay scene. 

QX has never apologized for celebrating gay sex. That would be like being ashamed of being born gay. And sex is often about fantasy, and for many guys, fantasy is a handsome guy with a six-pack. It’s not reality. Any level-headed person that’s been to a gay club will be able to tell the difference between the Adonis-like gogo boy on the podium and the guy they’re eyeing up on the dancefloor.

Of course, the QX cover isn’t always tanned topless torsos with their titties out. It’s sometimes political (see pages 70-71) and even occasionally camp, especially whenever there are drag queens involved.

However, when all is said and done, QX is a gay magazine for gay men, and we’re pleased to have featured some truly masturbatory cover photography over the years.

And so, in celebration of QX’s front page, to mark our 1000th issue we picked out just a tiny selection of some of the front covers that have run over the years, by some of the photographers whose names have became synonymous with ours.

[Show as slideshow]

QX launched its very first issue on Thursday, 20th October 1994. This week of May 2014 we celebrate its 1000th issue, and here we look over some of the most significant moments of gay history and LGBT rights to have occurred over that twenty year period. 

By Patrick Cash

1994

February: In the reform of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Bill in Parliament, Conservative MP Edwina Currie tables an amendment for the gay male age of consent to be lowered from 18 to 16. It is defeated by 307 votes to 280. Gay rights group OutRage! clashes with police outside Westminster in anger at the outcome.

Wendyl Harries of OutRage! says: When we were taking on the age of consent battle, you had all these organisations working together focussing on the campaign for the age of consent from twenty-one, and we all agreed the same policy: sixteen or nothing. A compromise would be worse because we’d have to start fighting all over again. If you’re going to discriminate against us you might as well leave it as it is. That was the big push… And then Angela Mason from Stonewall nearly got strung up on a lamppost outside the Houses of Parliament. They had the vote on a cold February, and we’d worked really hard, there must have been more than a thousand of us waiting outside in a candlelit vigil, whilst Angela Mason was inside. Derek Jarman had just died a couple of months before and all he wanted was the age of consent, and I’m glad that he’d died before this, because it would have broken his heart to see us lose. Then Mason comes out and says: ‘We’ve won! It’s eighteen!’ There was nearly a massive riot, and we had to start the campaign all over again.

8th June: Stonewall and sixteen-year-old Euan Sutherland launch an appeal regarding the age of consent to the European Court of Human Rights, in a case named ‘Sutherland vs United Kingdom’.

October: QX launches its first ever issue after reinventing itself from the short-lived ‘MX’. The tag line is ‘Clubs, Bars, Food, Fags and Lots of Other Stuff’. We dropped the food bit shortly after.

November: OutRage! names ten Bishops as gay at the General Synod of the Church of England and urges them to ‘Tell the Truth’.

1995

June/July: 200,000 people attend London Pride in Victoria Park, the biggest ever.

1996

OutRage! warns twenty closeted gay MPs that they’ll be outed if they keep voting against equality. Most stop.

1997

1st May: New Labour wins General Election, with seats to out-gay men including Stephen Twigg and Ben Bradshaw.

3rd May: Chris Smith becomes Britain’s first out-gay cabinet minister.

1998

22nd June: House of Commons votes to set the age of consent for gay men at 16.

22nd July: House of Lords defeats the clause.

1999

30th April: Bomb goes off in the Admiral Duncan gay pub on Old Compton Street, following similar attacks on Brixton and Brick Lane by the ‘London Nail Bomber’. Three people at the Admiral Duncan die, and several are injured.

Mark Healey of 17-24-30 No to Hate Campaign says: I passionately believe that it is as important today as it has always been to remember what happened during the London Nail Bomb attacks that took place in April 1999 which is why I founded the group 17-24-30 No To Hate Crime Campaign. It is important to remember what happened so we can prevent it happening again. Over the period of two weeks David Copeland set out to stir up fear and hatred in the hope that it would lead to the election of the British National Party. Luckily he was caught and his plan failed but not before he had killed three people and injured many more. It is important we remember those who lost their lives – John Light, Nick Moore and Andrea Dykes and her unborn child, that we continue to support those affected by these horrendous events and that we continue to encourage the black, Asian and gay communities to work together to eliminate hate in our communities. 

28th July: The Children’s Society lifts their five year ban on lesbian and gay people fostering and adopting.

2000

12th January: The ban on LGBT people serving in the British armed forces is repealed by the New Labour government.

2001

8th January: Gay age of sexual consent reduced to 16.

5th September: Two same-sex couples in London are ‘married’ under the London Partnerships Scheme, witnessed by current London Mayor Ken Livingstone.

Linda Wilkinson, who participated in a ceremony with her partner Carol Budd said: “We are doing this because we believe it is another nail in the coffin of the prejudice that denies us our fundamental rights as human beings and makes us second class citizens in our own country.”

2002

7th November: The Adoption and Children Act affords equal rights to same-sex couples applying for adoption.

2003

18th November: After fifteen years Section 28 is repealed from the law.

Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988 prohibited local authorities from ‘promoting’ homosexuality or gay ‘pretended family relationships’ and prevented councils spending money on educational materials and projects perceived to promote a gay lifestyle.

Peter Tatchell said of the repeal: Section 28 was the first new anti-gay law in Britain for over 100 years. It was the first law that directly impacted lesbians. It led to a huge crackdown by schools and local councils. They feared prosecution, so most of them cut funding and facilities to LGBT organisations. It hit support for LGBT youth really hard; betraying a whole generation. I was overjoyed when Section 28 was repealed after 15 years. But I also realised that repeal would not automatically result in LGBT-positive education in schools and more gay-friendly local services. These are battles we are still fighting, more than a decade after Section 28 was scrapped.

2004

1st May: The Sexual Offences Act 2003 comes into force and repeals the anti-gay sexual offences of buggery and gross indecency. It creates, for the first time, a criminal code that does not discriminate on the grounds of sexual orientation.

2005

5th December: Civil Partnership Act 2004 comes into force with first civil partnerships registered taking effect from the 21st December. A civil partnership is described as a legal status similar to a marriage but for two people of the same sex.

2008

May: The Criminal Justice and Immigration Act offers legal protection against incitement to hatred on grounds of sexual orientation, although has a religious defence after amendment by the House of Lords.

2009

April: Equality Bill introduced to Parliament in an aim to replace separate laws on gender, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity and religion or belief with an all-inclusive legal framework.

However, Peter Tatchell writes in The Guardian in December of that year: ‘The equality bill denies LGBT people protection in cases of homophobic harassment by school authorities, by the owners and managers of properties and by the providers of services. Similar harassment is specifically outlawed on the grounds of age, disability, race and sex. This omission gives a green light to homophobes. Under this section of law, they won’t face sanctions for anti-gay victimisation.’

25th September: Ian Baynham, a gay man, is attacked by three teenagers as he walks through Trafalgar Square holding hands with his partner. One attacker, Ruby Thomas, stamps on his head when he lies on the ground. He dies in hospital eighteen days later.

30th October: Thousands of people attend a candlelit vigil against hate crime, organised by Mark Healey of 17-24-30, in Trafalgar Square.

2010

May: General election results in a coalition government of the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats with David Cameron as Prime Minister. More openly lesbian and gay MPs are elected to the House of Commons than ever before.

June: Government publishes its LGB and T policies paper which covers religious civil partnerships, lobbying other countries to repeal homophobic laws, remove historic convictions for consensual gay sex from criminal records, tackling homophobic bullying, better recording of hate crimes and ending the deportation of LGBT asylum seekers fleeing homophobic countries.

Four years later, when QX interviews Russian LGBT asylum-seeker Irina Putilova in 2014, she says: People just asked me all information from my passport and information that doesn’t say anything about you. There was just one question to do with why I left Russia and you’re supposed to answer in a couple of sentences and that’s it. And that’s how they make a decision. So basically all this hour, this person was asking me all these facts, date of my birth, where I lived, all this factual information, nothing about me as a person but me as a piece of paper. And then, based on this information, they decided to put me on the fast track for detention. They put me in a so-called ‘removal centre’, the place from where people are usually sent back, so they probably wanted to send me back as fast as possible just to get rid of me. 

2011 

January: Civil partners Martyn Hall and Steven Preddy are successful in their case against B&B owners Peter and Hazelmary Bull. The Bulls refused Hall and Preddy a double room at the B&B on the basis of their sexual orientation.

January: Ruby Thomas, 18, and Joel Alexander, 20, are convicted of manslaughter for their involvement in the killing of Ian Baynham, with sentences enforced by the 2003 Criminal Justice Act.

2012

20th January: Three Muslim men are convicted at Derby Crown Court of inciting hatred on the grounds of sexuality after distributing leaflets calling for gay men to be killed. The first prosecution under hate crime legislation.

12th April: Mayor of London Boris Johnson steps in to ban an advertising campaign due to run on buses by a Christian group suggesting that gay people can be ‘cured’ by therapy.

7th July: The 40th anniversary of London Pride is held in the capital, in conjunction with World Pride. However, at an emergency meeting on 27th June the festivities are scaled back because of financial difficulties and mismanagement. A new Pride organisation is set up after the board steps down.

2013

5th February: The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill legalizes same-sex marriage for couples in England and Wales. It passes 400-175 in the Second Reading in the House of Commons.

27th March: The National AIDS Trust sends an open letter to the London Councils calling for effective action to address a recent and rapid rise in the use of crystal meth, mephedrone and GHB/GBL on the London gay scene. Drawing on evidence from Antidote (the one LGBT drug support service in the capital) and from the Club Drug Clinic and the clinic at 56 Dean Street, NAT’s letter draws attention to the massive increase in the use of these drugs by gay men in the context of high risk sex. There are also high rates of injecting (‘slamming’) reported.

Deborah Jack, Chief Executive of NAT, says: HIV prevention services for gay men in London have failed to effectively address this issue. They have been too slow to respond to the fast changing trends in drug use on the gay scene.

QX reports full-length features on the issue of ‘chemsex’ twice in print during the year, ‘It Starts With You’ in September and ‘What’s Up, Doc?’ in November.

We also publish online our ‘In Conversation With’ interview with leading LGBT drugs expert David Stuart, formerly of Antidote and now working for 56 Dean Street.

May: Leading gay men’s charity GMFA has the majority of their statutory funding slashed, along with other significant decreases in funding for LGBT institutions, such as THT. QX reports on how these changes may affect the London LGBT community in ‘Cut To Your Heart’.

30th June: President Vladmir Putin signs into law an ‘anti-propaganda bill’ in Russia, effectively banning the mention of the word gay on the streets in order to ‘protect minors from non-traditional relationships’. Parallels to the UK’s Section 28 are remarked upon, but it also arrives with a steeped rise in homophobia in Russia.

QX reports on the issue three times during the year:

July: ‘To Russia, With Hope’.

September: When QX Editor Cliff Joannou organises the ‘Love Russia, Hate Homophobia’ day of action, in association with Peter Tatchell, at Whitehall. The event results in Tatchell meeting with the Home Office to discuss the issue. Following the action, Prime Minister David Cameron raises the subject with President Putin at the G20 summit.

October: When we cover Rachael Williams (of the Dalston Superstore)’s event, organised in conjunction with Daniel Vais of TedXHackney, ‘To Russian LGBT With Love’.

October: The ‘States of Minds’ report is released, covering the mental wellbeing of HIV+ men, and revealing that three-quarters experience mental health problems. QX speaks to a selection of gay men living with the virus within the London LGBT community about this issue in ‘Beautiful Minds’.

December: Following on from this initiative, and to mark World AIDS Day on the 1st December, QX speaks to another selection of men about what it’s like living with HIV in London’s gay community in ‘Me, My Life & HIV’.

2014

March: With the ‘chemsex’ and attendant HIV/STI infections still rising in London’s gay community, QX Assistant Editor Patrick Cash organises the first ‘Let’s Talk About Gay Sex and Drugs’ event at Manbar, Soho, in association with David Stuart from 56 Dean Street. An open-communication forum for gay men to come talk freely, and without judgement, about how they perceive sex and drugs within the LGBT community, the event is a success. The next one is scheduled for Monday 12th May. QX reports on why they’re running the event in the magazine in a ‘Let’s Talk About Gay Sex & Drugs’ article.

29th March: Same-sex marriage is officially legalised in England and Wales under the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013. QX interviews a selection of voices from around the scene on their opinions of what this means for the modern gay community in ‘Is Gay Marriage Making Us the Same or Tame?’

8th May: QX publishes its 1,000th issue, marking nearly twenty years of weekly gay publishing.

QX has never pretended to employ the most upstanding examples of the perfect queer citizen. Here’s just a smidgen of the reasons why…

Money don’t buy love: By Cliff Joannou, Editor

The editorial department’s propensity for causing a fuss is sometimes second only to our in-house finance department’s ability to cause offence. It’s no secret that at QX Towers we’re ‘sometimes’ hounding clients for payment of booked advertising space. As a result, we’re kinda used to irate people calling us all sorts of names under the sun when they are chased for payment. One client in particular, Mr Clint, called and released a torrent of unrelenting abuse over the phone. We couldn’t figure out why?

After some investigating, it transpired that the former bookkeeper here was doing her duty of sending out the invoices and chasing up payments as is part and parcel of what she does. As much as we loved her, she was one of the more ‘on edge’ members of staff we’ve employed in that role. In her haste (although I think maybe subconsciously) she’d inadvertently addressed Mr Clint’s demand for payment and invoice to the less than flattering ‘Dear Mr Cunt’.

Needless to say he never advertised again.

Driving round the benders: By Tony Claffey, Publisher

Former QX writer Michael Murphy had hired a car that he failed to return and was driving us to a pub to celebrate my 60th birthday where upon we were surrounded by police cars whist driving through the City in the evening. Apparently the tight security meant that the number plate had been picked-up by a camera and identified as a ‘stolen’ car. We were all arrested: Michael, our web designer at the time Daniel Greally, my co-publisher Ben Schubert and myself. We spent several hours in police cells while the mess was sorted out. When we were released Danny could hardly walk because, as soon as we were stopped, he had swallowed a chunk of hash and an ’E’ that he was terrified the police would find! We did manage to drag him away before the police noticed – with a big grin on his face.

Piles of Fun: By Tony Claffey, Publisher

Barry Laden, who at one time or another worked for every gay publication but ended up doing press for Andrew and Susan at The Fridge, always sent us a very high resolution image for our back cover. That week he sent us the same, but of a gogo boy dancing naked on a podium. We fitted it neatly onto our page and off it went as a Quark document along with the Tiffs and fonts to our printers that had to be sent in those days on Syquest. This was before we could transmit them as PDF documents where no errors were possible. All seemed well until we received the printed magazines where the image had been blown up to such a great degree that every detail of his bum hole could be seen… including his piles! Barry phoned up to ask for a refund but was laughing as he knew that every gay man in London was talking about THAT ADVERT.

The gogo boy went back to his day job and never danced naked again.

Horsey Mustn’t Climb Walls: By Matt Joshua, former Deputy Editor

There was a graphic designer, Suren

Who felt rather gymnastic now and then

To avoid the door fee at HMD

Over the wall he would leg it, happily

Now Suren likes a tipple and she loves

a good bump

But cat like she aint’ and she came down with a thump

Was she monumentally high, or stupendously pissed?

Not so light on her feet, just a limp,

broken wrist

For Suren missed her footing and

teetered and fell

She lay on the Vauxhall pavement feeling pretty unwell

Back at QX with her wrist caked in plaster

Oh egg the on her face… much giggles

and laughter.

(You know QX staff get guest list, right love?)

Absinthe Fairy: By Tony Claffey, Publisher

It seems our craziest nights often occurred at The Fridge. We had all been given free shots of Absinthe by owners Susan and Andrew, a drink none of us was accustomed to and had us all rolling around the floor tripping, and some even attempting to shag! When the most upstanding of us realised that a friend, John, had gone out into the yard at the back and disappeared, yet the rear gate was well and truly locked! We eventually gave up looking for him. The next day he told us that he had somehow decided to climb up onto the roof of the Fridge and leave the club that way. Fortunately he made it off the roof of the Fridge in one piece, with no injuries other than ripping his leather jacket to shreds in the process. He had no idea why he had decided to leave that way.

We all thought that his disappearance was purely imaginary and part of the trip we were on, and were very reluctant to accept any more invitations to that bar by the owners. Andrew always claimed that he was the first to import Absinthe into the UK after it had been banned for years.

Shit happens…: By Cliff Joannou, Editor

It was my first day in the office as Editor. I was just 26 years old and admittedly a little nervous. I was the youngest one in the team (not any more – ahem) and eager to make a good impression. At the time we had three office dogs (‘dogs’ as in animals, not rancid staff of which there were many). I was never brought up around pets at home, so having three dogs sniffing around my ankles while I was proofing Club News was a little distracting. In an effort to be ‘nice’ I let one of the older of the dogs, Marley, lick the leftovers of my tuna salad out of its plastic container. Within minutes Marley was shitting up and down the office.

“Who gave him oil?” came a familiar screech from the dark side of QX Towers.

I pleaded ignorance.

Let that be a lesson to you: don’t ever be nice to a scrounging dog, and don’t ever let a bitch lick your trash out.

In office affairs: By Cliff Joannou, Editor

It was the launch party or birthday of a gay venue in Soho. There have been so many over the years I can’t for the life of me remember which one it was. A bunch of guys from QX Towers were also in attendance. All that is scarred on my memory is the horror of what was to come.

It was a rare hot summer, so I’d left my bag and coat in the office to collect later. After several hours of getting blasted in whatever Soho venue I was in, I staggered back to the office to collect my bag. As I climbed my way up the stairs I found the office door unlocked and the lights were on.

Fuck! Had I forgotten to lock office? Were we being burgled? I snapped out of bitch mode and into butch mode (I took my earrings off and rolled up my sleeves to accentuate my biceps). I opened the door slowly not to startle the intruder.

I nearly vomited to find a certain member of shrill staff who shall remain nameless for legal reasons cavorting naked with some rather hideous bloke he’d pulled from the party.

Years of therapy, counseling and hypnosis have failed to remove this terrifying image from my memory.

Bottled it… (or a shot too far): By Cliff Joannou, Editor

A few years ago we published a photo of a famous London club’s manic dance floor packed full of hot guys, gogos, lasers and happy faces. Oh, and in our haste on press day nobody noticed that in the foreground of the photo was one clubber passing a dropper bottle and pipette to his friend. Oops. Cue irate phone calls from the venue owner. *

* QX does not condone drug taking, especially in gay night clubs! We just sometimes inadvertently report on it happening.

QX has been fortunate enough to have worked with some of the most legendary, famed and feared clubbing promoters and venue owners of our illustrious gay scene over the years. Here we talk to a wide selection of these well-known faces who have shaped the gay face of London as we know it, finding out both their career and personal highlights from their time on the scene.

Jodie Harsh, Room Service

Career: Being fired from Heaven in 2003 (don’t worry, I got back in there years later). Being thrown out of Clone Zone for laughing at the sex toys (I didn’t realise they come in so many different shapes!) Being barred from The Village for serving drunken shows by breaking a table I was dancing on – and subsequently breaking my wrist – when I was 18. I think I’m allowed back in now.

Personal: When Madonna performed at G-A-Y. It was such an amazing moment. I remember it being really hot and sweaty and she came on quite late, and the second the lights dropped, the clock started ticking at the beginning of ‘Hung Up’ and the disco ball opened, I just lost my shit. Biggest thing in gay London ever.

Mark Oakley, The Eagle

Career: The creation of the world’s first Gay Cinema sections in a high street retail chain with Virgin Megastores in the early 90s which evolved into ‘Gay Shopping Nights’ with exclusive titles like Priscilla Queen of the Desert. Beautiful Thing topped the national charts although only available from our own Virgin Megastores!

Personal: My personal highlight is the happiness, love and life I am sharing with my partner of twenty-seven years: Ian, my rock and my best friend.

Suzi Krueger, Hardon

Career: Having a float at Gay Pride for my last club FIST in the 90’s and having a FIST dance tent at all the Gay Pride’s in the 90’s.

Personal: Being able to work with so many people on the gay scene and creating so fantastic events over the years!

Mark Ames, XXL

Career: Simply starting XXL. It’s brought me highs and lows, brought me friends and foes but I still pinch myself at times. I knew nothing about running a night let alone owning a club. When I started it really was just a mad leap of faith. All I really knew was what not to do and the people I wanted to come, related with mostly bears, and the rest is history. I still remember the look on staff’s faces in the QX office when I exposed the idea for XXL… Happy to say we are mostly all still here.

Personal: Going to Number 10 Downing Street as a gay community representative. I had, prior to XXL worked in politics for years so I’d been there numerous times for work, but being there representing my community was a whole different thing. I was very humbled and proud to have done that, I even chucked out my own reasoning and agenda and went in saying ‘I’m gay first, and this is what gay people need’!

And what I believe personally was secondary, odd as I knew many of the politicians there and I have been since told I was a bit stand-offish towards them and ‘this is not enough and we need more’… Hey ho, sometimes my poker face is just too good and bitches need to be told.

Wayne Shires, East Bloc

Career: Has to be the opening night of Crash. We were the first dance club in Vauxhall back in 1998 and had an amazing ten years there; the highlight was Yoko Ono doing a PA and Madonna’s brother getting wasted after her wedding with Jean-Paul Gaultier and Rupert Everett.

Personal: I am still recovering 9 years later! Ha! Personal: My 40th at the Rivoli Ball Room. Panti Bliss performed (before she was an international gay icon).

Jeremy Joseph, G-A-Y

It’s hard to say one personal highlight over 1000 issues of QX, as every time I pick up QX, it’s a new highlight in my life. But I think the highlight is how G-A-Y has grown over the 1000 issues. When QX first started, G-A-Y was in LA2, below the Astoria. From LA2 to The Astoria, expanding by taking on a business partner and opening G-A-Y Bar and G-A-Y Late.

And then the biggest investment of all, when Astoria was knocked down for Crossrail, a sad day in the history of music venues, but a silver lining: buying Heaven, and then not forgetting G-A-Y Manchester. But as you take one risk and think you can relax and breathe again, survival meant no longer sharing the day-to-day responsibilities of G-A-Y as a business and having to go it alone, buying out my business partners with a huge loan.

So when I think of 1000 issues of QX, I don’t think of one highlight, I think of all the highlights that brought G-A-Y to where it is today – Gawd Bless QX and all who have sailed in her!

Chris Amos, Manbar

Career: Hard to pick one highlight out of dozens! When I was editor of Bent Magazine I got to interview the original Duran Duran band members. I grew up in outback Australia and was a massive fan as a kid so to meet them each individually for one-to-one interviews, in London, was electrifying and a bit surreal.

Personal: Actually, I think my own personal highlight may have happened this week. I saw the first viewing of the rough cut edit of a feature documentary film I am producing with Colin Rothbart starring six East London performers. It is so funny, touching and amazing, I am blown away by how good it is! We raised about £10,000 through Kickstarter and are now in the process of completing the film which was filmed over the last five years. It’s called ‘Dressed As A Girl’ and will be in cinemas next year, hopefully.

Patrick Lilley, Queer Nation

Career: My favourite highlight of my own club work was literally last year on the night of Pride in London, when we hosted ‘Urban World Pride’, the biggest urban LGBT club event in the UK at Club Colosseum. We had all the best urban and world club brands working together like Queer Nation, Work, Urban Desi, Queer Nation, Bootylicious and even gay arab club Habibi in under one roof – a spectacular 1500 attendance embracing black, white, Asian, Arab, huge numbers of people from all backgrounds… Each with their own sound. Urban R’n’B bashment, house, desi/Bollywood, pop and Arab sounds.

It was amazing. A few weeks earlier I had wondered if it was worth putting stuff on… then wham! Your biggest hit ever. I am immensely proud of Urban World Pride which is an annual event now in its third year and will be at The Scala in 2014.

Personal: To be honest I love both Brighton Pride and Summer Rites, but personally I guess those early Summer Rites caught the zeitgeist of London in the 90s. Just five clubs in the park. There was friendliness, and a great mix of people, I think it was even free. Although not a Pride event as such it has a London community feel… Personally I also adored some of the boutique nights like Marvellous and Rebel Rebel. There is so much still on in London. As someone said five hundred years ago: bored of London, bored of life!

Neil Hodgson, Comptons 

Career: Reflecting on the last fifteen years at Comptons, I think one of the greatest highlights of my career, and certainly the most memorable, has to be the reinstatement of the top floor and the overall refurbishment of Comptons façade. It’s certainly been the most challenging but very much worth it!

Personal: The most personal highlights of my life must be back in my teenage years, marching for equality when “Pride” really meant something. Also, the candlelight vigils outside Parliament, showing strength in numbers for the lowering of the age of consent. It’s great to see where we have got to in terms of equality, it was really tough growing up gay in the 90s for many reasons.

Jimmy Smith, Two Brewers

Career: Taking over The Black Cap for the first time was the big move in my career. I was so proud to be a part of such history. Lets hope it continues and wins its fight to stay a major part of London’s Gay Scene.

Personal: Gay Marriage! And yet we are still fighting predjudice and ignorance.

Dan Beaumont, Dalston Superstore 

Career: Definitely opening Dalston Superstore and proving that actually London queens know their music and appreciate a proper drink.

Personal: For me being part of the most vibrant and creative gay scene in the world is an ongoing privilege that I am forever thankful for. When QX landed, 1994, was actually the year that I came out!

Jason Woodson, SweatBox

Career: When we first opened SweatBox and had yet to build up a customer base, we had this one really sweet foreign guy who came every day for our foam party, and even though some days he was completely alone in the room, he loved every minute of it. He called it his sexy fun time and said that in his country he didn’t get to do things like this, which made it all the more worth it for us.

Personal: It’s hard to pick one highlight, because we are so fortunate to have such a vibrant scene. The things that stand out for me are my nights spent at Queer Nation and Barcode, painting a mural live at the first Hotwired event, Suzie Krueger’s Sweat parties @ SweatBox, and, of course, being fortunate enough to live in a country where I can say that I am marrying my partner, Mark, this time next year.

Chris Selby, Popcorn

Career: It’s hard to pinpoint one moment – lots of great things have happened, big and small, and they’re so very special for different reasons.  Launching and maintaining a record breaking night and brand, to this day, seeing it grow, through good times and bad, has been incredible and something I am grateful for everyday.

Personal: Probably maintaining my sanity! (Anyone who works in this industry will understand!)

Craig Elder, Orange

Career: My biggest moment happens continuously, to feel how lucky I am time and time again as I see the most talented men and women who make my clubs not just the best in London but the best in the world. It never amazes me to see how much passion they have. It humbles me and made me realise how London has to change with the times. And I am so proud that Orange Nation holds the mantle that keeps London clubbing.

Personal: What is there not to say about being gay in London. London is the epitome of being free. This is not possible in most countries. We should all be proud to love under a regime that allows freedom and equality for all

Gary Henshaw, Ku Bar

There have been so many personal highlights in my career.

I arrived in London in 1991 so some predate QX including the opening as general manager of The Village West One in Hanway Street followed by The Village in Wardour Street and then Kudos in Adelaide Street.

QX arrived in October 1994 whilst myself and my then business partner Michael Joyce were running The Gay Tea Dance at The Limelight. That was a fun event every Sunday evening from 6pm – midnight, with Dusty O on the decks and some fabulous and some rather dodgy cabaret performances.

In December 1995, 14 months after QX arrived, Ku first opened its doors at 75 Charing Cross Road. That was a great high point in my life.

Ku was to have a bumpy ride over the next twelve years as the London scene went through the ups and downs of a major terrorist attack, and as Old Compton Street established itself as the heart of gay London.

In January 1997, Ku Charing Cross Road closed its doors and in February of the same year I gambled my life’s savings and my home on a massive venue in Chinatown. Many said I was insane. On the opening night ,February 14th, in the presence of my family and friends, Ku Leicester Square opened to a massive queue and has been packing them in ever since.

It’s been almost 20 years since QX launched, 1000 issues, and so much has changed on the scene in London. Most importantly, attitudes and laws regarding our rights.

QX has been there through all these years, I have always advertised and had great editorial support. Of course, I have had the odd strop but hey, we all argue in relationships.

Overall QX has been there as both myself and my business have grown. My personal life and my business life are so intertwined it’s very difficult for me to differentiate: perhaps therapy is needed.

But there is no doubt in my mind about one thing. London remains the ‘Best Gay City in The World’, bar none. And I am very proud, as QX should be, be to have played a part in its continuing evolution.

A big congrats to Tony, Ben and all the team at QX. Well Done.

David Pollard, The Joiner’s Arms

Personal: THAT 20 years encapsulates so much in gay history: our legal framework is radically different, of course, but so is our ‘cultural’ world. Capital Gay was still going, ‘Thud!’ magazine was about to be born (and only lived two years), we invaded the airwaves, Manchester Mardi Gras started about that time. We still didn’t have combination therapy, and that was a stark, dark background against which we frankly glittered.

Attitude started in May of that year, and I think QX was already up and running then. I know THUD was, ‘cos, scathingly, I reviewed Attitude for it, and QX was in my remit for a ‘what the gaypers say’ column. Capital Gay was still going, as was the Tory government, and there was nothing in the medicine cabinet except the failed experiment with AZT to deal with HIV/AIDS.

It was a time crowded with incident for Queers (hence your title): clause 28 was still firmly on the statute books, AND in February of that year Parliament had refused an equal age of consent by rejecting Currie’s amendment. The fury as we did a vigil outside the Commons was amazing – the road was invaded and the traffic stopped, and the party at G.A.Y. afterwards was almost triumphalist. The memory of Angela Mason dancing on a table drinking champagne from the bottle is as clearly blurred in my memory as the sight was then.

Paul Kemp, Wild Fruit/Brighton Pride 

Career: Well, I guess Brighton’s the other end of the London train line and London’s my second home. I’ve had some of my best nights out partying in London and some great Wild Fruit collaboration parties: Trade, Queer Nation and Mama Yvette.

Personal: My highlight each year is the exodus of London to Brighton for Pride. Brighton Pride’s always been hugely popular with Londoners and we love playing host for the weekend.

Since its inception, QX has championed gay rights and issues like no other magazine can.

Of course, there are other magazines that proudly represent the queer voice, like Attitude and Gay Times. Both of them are tremendously impressive titles as national publications that are distributed across the UK and, equally as vital, reach those gay guys in the more remote parts of the UK where there is little or no gay scene. In the days before the internet and social media (and still even today) those titles were often the only lifeline to a gay community for many people.

However, QX was different in that it focused its attention on the burgeoning London scene. With such a dense population of LGBT people, combined with the capital being the political, financial and creative centre of the UK, QX was in a position to shout louder and be heard directly by the influential figures that needed to hear our message. As a weekly title, QX could also react faster to news and the pertinent issues of the moment; after the Admiral Duncan bombing in 1999, the story made our cover. And crucially, as a free title that was distributed in clubs, bars, gay friendly retailers and health centres it spoke directly to the people that needed to hear about the issues that affected the gay community. While we may not have enjoyed the high profile of the newsstand titles, the reach of our readership was undoubtedly impressive and spoke directly to the heart of the community.

Yes, QX adorns on its covers reams of handsome men, and runs pages upon pages of frivolous gays kicking their heels up in bountiful abandon in clubs and bars across the city. Yes, we celebrate the sometimes more flighty aspects of gay culture, from pop music to fashion to the body beautiful. But life is all about Balans, right? Sorry, I meant BALANCE. Life is all about balance, and if we’re going to celebrate the exuberance of living an indulgent lifestyle, then we are very much aware that we have a responsibility to also tick our karmic boxes and do some good, too.

We at QX know that we have a responsibility to educate and inform people in a non-judgmental manner about the drugs they are necking every weekend. (And weekday, knowing some of you as we do.) We know we have to highlight the problems that gay men face today, from mental health issues to HIV awareness. We also need to let you know which political parties and institutions are looking to halt the march towards equality. Finally, we have a duty to inform you about the gross injustices that continue to take place around the world to LGBT people who live in fear of being open about their sexuality.
So, that’s just what we do.

The past 1000 issues of QX have seen a plethora of writers and contributors give their talents to the publications. From notable political activists (Peter Tatchell) to celebrity comedians (Alan Carr, Paul O’Grady) via more familiar gay scene personalities, these pages have been graced (and proudly disgraced) by an immense variety of opinions. But none of them have been as influential as a handful of people that put their own personal stamp and identity on the magazine during their tenure here.

QX as a product is something that exists, survives and continues only because each contributing talent has meshed their unique viewpoint into its wider identity. We invited the Editors and Deputy Editors from the formative years and more recent times to write a lil’ something looking back at their time here…

Stewart Who?: Former QX Contributing Editor and Writer 1994-2003

My life at MX was spawned via a snippy letter to the publishers. It praised the editorial, critiqued a perceived slavery to advertisers and challenged them to review my dwindling Sunday club night in Chiswick. Tony Claffey and Vince Tassone picked up the gauntlet, bringing Jeremy Joseph with them to the curious Platform 3. Owned by two very eccentric men, it was housed in cavernous railway arches and featured a bowling alley, swimming pool, flotation tanks and a library. Too drunk to notice my VIP guests, I finished off the night off by grabbing a mic and miming to Lou Reed’s ‘Goodnight Ladies’ whilst swaying with a pint of Guinness. They offered me a job on the spot.

My initial, faltering approach at the MX offices in ’93 was very analogue. I thought you could fax money to people and wrote my features in long hand, before typing them into the computer. John Major was the Prime Minister. The internet was yet to detonate, cameras had rolls of film in them and I had LOADS of hair. What happened over the next decade was extraordinary and from my perspective, life changing. They sacked me from the advertising department, but let me run riot on the editorial. MX split, became QX and it found a new vigour.

The magazine was highly ground breaking; edited by the fierce, fearless lipstick lesbian that was Jacqui Gibbons. She held court at Trade in a peroxide pixie crop and a skimpy mix of Lacroix, Westwood and fetish wear. La Gibbons infuriated the lesbian community to such an extent that the Lesbian Avengers removed copies of the magazine from every venue across London. We had arrived. Again. QX proudly embraced a cocky philosophy that was politically incorrect, dangerous and FUN.

Jacqui was an inspirational mentor and stepping into her killer heels was daunting – but also, the gig of a lifetime. I feel very blessed to have worked for such a radical, provocative, underground and creative publication. Tony Claffey gave me free rein to experiment with the editorial – but the WHOLE venture was an unhinged art project. From the acid house, Bauhaus, psychedelic and ultramodern graphic design from Denise The Lady to the hot, semi-pornographic butcher’s platter of the escort section, QX howled from the page. It was a weekly explosion of queer and chaotic content, both dark and glorious. It pleases me no end, that the magazine continues this tradition. It’s STILL the most edgy and informative free magazine in London, if not the world. Yes, the fucking world. Have you seen the free gay mags in other cities?

Of course, QX is a little sharper these days. More professional, one might say. In the early days, it was Devil Wears Prada Vs Trainspotting. For one cover, in the mid ‘90s, we chopped out a line of “coke” on the photocopier and scanned an image of someone snorting the alleged ‘line’ (see above, right). It was a dreadful cover, but we didn’t care, because being rock and roll idiots was way more important than competing with Tatler. In many ways, I bled my life onto the pages of QX during a somewhat chaotic period in my life. In amongst interviews with pop stars, short stories and book reviews, I charted nervous breakdowns, relationship angst, family trauma, righteous fury about HIV awareness, polemic rants, experiences of therapy and a persistent, slightly horrified fascination with the micro world that is the gay scene. Today, everyone seeps their personal life into the public sphere via social media. Back then, it was brave and unique of QX to allow a debauched and rave-damaged queen to document their bumpy ride from disco to downfall… and back again.

My years at QX were eye-opening, hugely instructive, stupidly exhausting, occasionally violent, brilliantly social, highly emotional, morally challenging, chemically fuelled, utterly hilarious, often shocking, sporadically heart breaking, highly addictive, harsh on the liver, politically inspiring, persistently insane, creatively nourishing, spiritually draining, wild beyond redemption and never, ever boring. We were a dysfunctional family, but a passionate one – we believed in the product and fought its corner with the passion of parents protecting their child. You should, too. QX is a slick gift, a weekly slice of saucy, honest, sassy LGBT culture. Love it, read it, fight for it. You’ll miss her when she’s gone. 1000 issues? Boom! Here’s to the next 1000.

The tequila boy pic was used in an ad campaign that ran in MX, before I started work there. It was used to launch The Box. QX publisher Tony recognised me from the advert. That was the other thing that got me the job. Makes me feel dirty.

Keith McDonnell: Former QX Editor, 2001-2003

Mine was a ‘rags to riches…to rags’ modern day QX Cinderella story that alas involved no high-heels or charming princes. It was the dawn of the new millennium and I had just left a demoralising job at CNN, so was on the lookout for something new and challenging. My friend Stephen Moore was running the sales department at QX and he wanted someone to join him at the coal face, as it were. I was available, had ten years of sales’ experience, and needed to pay the rent, so I thought ‘why not?’

I hadn’t been in my role long when the office was thrown into turmoil one Monday, which was press day, as the Bar News’ writer had gone AWOL. “Hold the front page,” I cried. Having done some writing in the past I jumped in and dashed off Bar News in an hour or so. It went down well, so from that moment on Bar News was mine. Within a year, after having proved my mettle by editing, if that’s the word, some truly execrable examples of Club News I was promoted to the position of Editor.

For a while I really did think I was the cat’s pyjamas, my arrogance far outstripping my abilities, but as Spider-Man says, “with great power comes great responsibility,” and in hindsight being able to troll around gay London quaffing as much free alcohol as I could physically consume was not really the best course of action for me.

Having said that, it was exciting to be at the helm of QX, as big changes were happening. The ‘sex’ elements of the mag were excised into a companion publication called QC (which current QX Editor Cliff edited), allowing a greater breadth of editorial in QX than had gone before. I interviewed and made Pam Ann a cover star before anyone else saw her mega-superstar potential, comedians Jo Caulfield and Simon Happily wrote for the mag, as did Kiki and Herb, whilst Stewart Who?’s new column, The Three-AM Boys was nothing short of genius. Of course, being Editor of a free publication that is paid for by advertisers often caused problems, and whilst most club promoters were a joy to work with, I found that those with the least amount of talent or originality unfortunately had the biggest egos.

I certainly learned on the job, and it provided me with invaluable experience – yes I made mistakes along the way, but who doesn’t? And it’s only fair to say that Cliff has done a fantastic job as my successor over the last eleven years. Happy 1000th.

By Matt Joshua (aka Tilda Basmati Rice): Former QX Deputy Editor and QXMEN Editor, 2004-2008

 A Tale of 2 Editors – an ode to Clifftina, with sincere apologies to Charles Dickens.

It was the best of times (guest list, drinks tickets, experiments with dr…ag, free porn and pants, and a whole lot of laughs), it was the worst of times (reviews in the arse end of nowhere, in the cold, in the wet, the hangovers, the long-suffering boyfriends), it was the age of wisdom (who has the list, who has the drinks tickets, who lets you backstage), it was the age of foolishness (10 inch platforms and a baby doll in February! Seriously?), it was the epoch of belief (against my better judgement, I believe I’ll have another drink/bump/spin around the dancefloor), it was the epoch of incredulity (especially during my QXMEN days – “he put all of that in there?!”), it was the season of Light (Chris Jepson, c’mon on, gisa flash luv!), it was the season of Darkness (and darkrooms and dungeons – it’s like method acting, innit?), it was the spring of hope (hoping my Mum never found out what I did for a living), it was the winter of despair (and discount tents – camp, gurl!), we had everything before us (sometimes new escorts will give you a freebie if they think you work in sales – I didn’t, but certain others did!), we had nothing before us (especially on Bank Holiday Mondays when we had a rota for the office sofa, shaking, fuelled by coffee and cold pizza. Oh wait. There was no sofa! Just the floor. Ouch), we were all going direct to Heaven (and Trade, and G-A-Y, and Trannyshack, and Fruit Machine, and Orange, and the RVT, and HMD, and the Hoist, and Ted’s and the White Swan and the Black Cap, and on, and on) and…we were all going direct the other way (Oy vey, duckie! I’ll never be the same again!)

Congratulations on your 1000th issue!

Lee Dalloway: Former Deputy Editor, May 2008 to Feb 2013

QX was such an insane period for me, and it takes some distance and time from stepping off the party train to fully appreciate how it affected my life. Five years of mincing, networking, gurning, learning, long hours and living in a bubble of extreme queenery, drag and wide-eyed topless torsos. You really get to see ‘behind the curtain’ of London’s glittering gay scene™.

My first assignment called for me to choose between going on my friend’s private jet to party in the country manor of a rock star he was doing publicity for… or reviewing Barcode Vauxhall. I made a choice of career over debauchery for the first time in my life, but the two would be intertwined for the next half decade. After a month or so, I was made Editorial Assistant. Our Glorious Leader Kletus went on holiday and suddenly I was managing a magazine with zero experience in journalism. Talk about a baptism of fire – such is the way at QX Towers.

I must have done all right, as I was made Deputy Editor. I’d already been pounding the London gay scene for eight years when I got the job, but suddenly I was being handed free drinks left, right and centre, as my friends and I sashayed past the queues, getting into the hottest nights for free. I knew all the secrets, gossip and politics that affected the drag queens, DJs, gogos, bar managers, club promoters in this microcosm of madness.

I got to meet amazing people, seek out and hire great talent, interview celebrities, write ridiculously silly pieces and also serious ones that affected our community. Those particular articles often allowed me to let go of my own demons. One of the greatest moments was receiving an email from a young guy who read my personal account of depression and told me his article had made him think twice about ending his own life. It’s a humbling reminder that the words I typed out, often feeling like a hamster on a never-ending gay wheel, could actually resonate with people.

When I started I was 25, naïve, immature and full of wide-eyed wonder and energy, when I finished I was 30, exhausted, frustrated and had developed a cynical crust it took me a while to shake off. People think QX is a life of drinking, decadence and deviance – and it is – but it’s bloody hard work, too. I also gained invaluable experience that later allowed me to become Assistant Editor of Gay Times.

QX has the most dedicated staff I’ve ever seen; people who work extremely hard to promote and help keep alive probably the greatest gay scene in the world, who I miss working with to this day. None more so than my Editor and dear friend Kletus (that’s Cliff to you). We constantly fought like an old married couple, but, as a creative partnership, no-one could touch us, and I wouldn’t be the person I am today if it wasn’t for this wonderful man and insane magazine. Long may she rein with her tongue-firmly-in-cheek, face-down-in-the-gutter-view of all things homosexual. 

Patrick Cash: Assistant Editor, 2013-present

What does QX mean to me? I would say it’s a reflection of the gay community in London, and a means of reaching that community. Occasionally, when I’ve interviewed people in my time at the magazine and asked them how they perceive that gay community in London, they’ve questioned whether there is a sense of community at all. Does being gay automatically join us together?

I think it does. Whatever our age, we know that being gay has set us apart from the greater cross-section of society. We’re aware of the difficulties each of us have been through, and that many of these difficulties will have been very similar. Growing up gay with no one else gay or mention of it in schools, the widespread normality of homophobia amongst adolescents, coming out to friends, coming out to family – and finally, coming out to the scene.

Where of course, the story never stops. The gay scene in London is a wonderful, vibrant, brilliant creation that is continuously evolving and changing its spots. You can enjoy a different facet of the gay scene’s jewel every night of the week in London, and QX both turns and spurs on those ever-revolving doors. And I’d have to admit that during my time here of just over a year, I’ve taken many a swing around those revolving doors myself, staggering into and falling out of various venues around town with drink, fag and keys clutched in hand.

But, if the city is a theatre, a scene is only one part of a greater whole. So, amongst the great and constant celebration of all that’s electric and happening in the clubs and bars, QX also integrates all other parts of that whole, which are often the darker parts that need to be spoken about.

During my time here so far we’ve featured a lot of stories I’ve been proud to be a part of, from ‘Growing Up Gay and Muslim’ to the Russian situation, to living with HIV. However, possibly most pertinently as to what’s currently affecting the gay community of London, are the ‘chemsex’ issues, where HIV rates are soaring due to drug-fuelled sex involving high risk. We’ve covered this extensively, and not just by moaning ‘this is bad’ repeatedly, but by trying to work with key figures to analyse why this is happening and, through identifying a source reason, possibly moving forward with a means toward a solution.

And I get to do this kind of work at QX because I’m lucky enough to work with a team that care about all aspects of the gay community in London. So, that’s what QX means to me: community, and a sense of ongoing, supportive solidarity.

For four years, QX was part of the huge dance party that took over swathes of our central London village. Soho Pride ran 2006-2008, before Gaydar presented Soho Live in 2009.

When we were approached by Soho Pride to sponsor the dance stage on Rupert Street in 2006, I nearly creamed my pants. ‘Yes’ had to be the answer.
Of course, I had to get the ‘OK’ from my publishers. It took a lot of convincing to persuade them that this would be a wise move for the magazine. It was a huge financial investment for effectively no return. After all, it’s not like we were selling anything or charging people entry. But I persevered and they eventually agreed. Organising such an event is a massive undertaking when you’re also trying to churn out a weekly magazine. But as challenges go, I didn’t care. This had to happen. Everyone at QX Towers got involved too, from designing visuals to helping staff the backstage VIP area. It was a huge team effort.

I booked some of the scene’s best house DJs that I knew would deliver the right sound. I programmed PAs, dance acts and MCs. While the main Soho Square stage was a more straight-up dance affair, this would be a day of non-stop, high octane entertainment.
The day came and we were nervous about hosting what effectively was the second stage of the whole party. But as the hours ticked on, the crowds flocked in, and by 3pm the street was absolutely going off.

Over the years, our DJs included the likes of Mike Dower, Kris Di Angelis, Jodie Harsh, Jamie Head, Per QX and the GutterSlut bitches, and many more. Dance troupe The Powder Puff Girlz were a constant thrill, along with other surprise acts, and singer Therese provided the vocals. Finally, Crystal MC kept the crowd whooping along to the very end. It was a formula that delivered. 

What was most impressive – and gave me most pride – is that unlike most street parties, the crowd didn’t seem to leave, they came to check us out, and they stayed for the party, screaming for that one extra track when closing time came. The police were impressed enough to let us carry on, for a good few encores. When we closed, the street exploded in applause after the last track.

The DJs, performers and team at QX were all utterly elated. It was one of the most uplifting days of my life, watching it all unfold. After that reaction, everyone agreed, it was worth every penny.
We continued to host the event for the following Soho Prides (where we hosted two stages – the second one Old Compton Street, which featured pop DJs and cabaret acts.). After it folded, we came on board with the first Gaydar-run Soho Live party.

But this was to be the last street party of its kind that Soho was to enjoy other than the annual Pride celebrations. Largely due to the uncooperative authorities and local residents that resisted it, costs of staging an event on such a scale as well as the worldwide recession that had just hit, it became unfeasible to produce another Soho Pride/Live.
But for those who were there, and those who have only just joined us on London’s gay scene, here’s a tiny selection of the shots our resident snapper Chris Jepson took to give you a taste of what was a phenomenal experience for us at QX…

Photos by Chris Jepson

The gay scene is a forever growing and constantly evolving place. The current landscape of prominent gay villages in Soho, East London and Vauxhall, with numerous pockets of surrounding venues, was predated by other popular gay ghettos, like Earls Court. Go back 20 years to the first issue of QX and you’d be hard-pressed to find more than Comptons and the Village in Soho. As time rolled on, the gay scene exploded across the city to become the most diverse gay community in the world. And these are just some of the people who helped create it that are sadly not with us to celebrate our 1000th issue. While they may not be around to raise a toast, we certainly haven’t forgotten their remarkable creativity, vision and contribution…

Chris McKoy, DJ and promoter
By Thomas Mutke, Bootylicious promoter 

Chris McKoy was bubbling with infectious excitement and enthusiasm. A 19-year-old from Derby when he first hit the gay scene in London, he soon discovered that there was nothing out there specifically for black gay people and the music they were listening to.

The first club he did as a co-promoter/DJ, ‘With Love’ at the Vox, and then the Pressure Zone, addressed that particular problem with spectacular results. Practically overnight there was a big weekly gay club in Brixton for the new sounds of R’n’B or Swingbeat as it was called, with the likes of Mary J Blige, Joe, Biggie, Faith Evans, Sean “Puffy” Combs who were then just starting out, and Reggae/Ragga.

He was the life and soul of any party, as well as probably the most outspoken and visible black gay man out there, frequently on TV and in press interviews. Especially so during the Buju Banton furore where Chris tried to steer a course that wouldn’t demonise a whole music genre just because powerful people saw gains to be made from “populist” homophobia, something that we still see in many parts of the world.

During the last few years he started playing his particular brand of House music and soon became a successful DJ for Trade Lite and Factor 25 amongst others. It was his success as a House DJ that brought him to Amsterdam where he died in December 2001. His legacy lives on to this day in Bootylicious, the club he co-founded and for which he coined the name. As usual he knew how to pick a hit.

www.qxmagazine.com/blog-event/chris-mckoy/

Tony De Vit, By Laurence Malice, Trade creator

Tony was not just a fundamental and much loved member of the Trade family who certainly inspired a magical era for the club from his debut set, which broke so much ground with his musical take on what we were establishing. He was also one of my best friends. We simply clicked when we met, on word of mouth, he used to travel from Birmingham with friends to experience Trade.

From our first introduction his enthusiastic charm won me over, and then I listened to his mix tape! He felt inspired to push a new style of the tougher end of House & Techno, which completely fitted our ethos and went on (before social media) to establish Trade globally. His style is still held in high respect all these years on. Pete Tong once commented that Tony’s mixing was so flawless it was very hard as a DJ to follow him!

Before anyone else he brokered his tuff edged sound in Ibiza which raised so many eyebrows including a comment from the legendary DJ Alfredo who was concerned that Tony’s set at Manumission was too fast – Tony had over 7,000 people on the floor at Privilege going crazy and finished his set with new TDV remix. As he pulled his headphones out, he commented to Alfredo; “Too fast? Mix out of that!” The power of his reputation speaks for itself after all these years, a completely unique tour de force, a pioneer who will never be forgotten – and most importantly; a much missed friend.

Transformer, By Chrissy Darling, interviewed by Jonny Woo

I met him back in the 90s at a club in Birmingham. I was working on the door and a guy turned up with a bag with some very glittery material protruding, and I knew it was him. I had heard of him, because we both worked for Miss Monneypenny’s and he had appeared on their CD cover and I thought, WOW, this guy’s good.

He was doing stuff that nobody else was doing. He was wearing birdcages as shoes for example. He was utilising things that other people wouldn’t have dreamt of using. We would be walking down the street and he would find things that had been thrown in the rubbish, or just left on the street and he’d say ‘Oh Miss Thing, I’m going to make something fabulous out of this!’ I’d say ‘Yeah Yeah, whatever’ and he always surprised me with an amazing creation made from some plastic he’d found in a skip.

I remember him wearing a headpiece that was made from two giant cones which lit up and flickered like a spaceship. People were mesmerized, yet he was very dismissive of his own genius.

He wasn’t drag as such, but of course there was a transgender element going on, but it was more like performance art. Whatever anyone else tried to do, you couldn’t out do him. He was always two steps ahead of everyone else.

He was fearless going to a club. He knew he could walk in and all eyes would be on him. He was never scary, but people were totally fascinated by him.

Out of drag he was very handsome and very sweet. Also very intelligent to an extent which made others feel less so, but not because he was superior but because he truly was, a creative genius.

Many people who arrived on the scene after his death may not have heard of him. He doesn’t have the legacy that other club stars may have. He never had a celebrity entourage. He never ingratiated himself to people just for the fame and he did all the work himself. There was no team sewing on sequins or making his outfits. It was all his own work. It’s a shame that his legacy has been lost in the midst of time, because in my opinion, he was the best.

Steffan Whitfileld, By Vicky Lee, Way Out Club promoter

Numbers are strange aren’t they! QX has produced 1000 issues. Last year the WayOut Club completed 1000 nights. On the 23rd August Steffan Whitfield would be celebrating his birthday, but we lost him to cancer in 2005 at the age of 40. This year the WayOut Club is 21 years old – that’s more than half of the number of years that Steffan was given.

I can’t believe nine years have passed – Steffan would have loved where the scene has gone to in these last years. He was a bit of a ‘luddite’ with computers, but he loved his phone and I can imagine him now with a tablet blogging and Facebooking and videoing and YouTubing, knocking us dead with his creativity.

He aspired to being La Voix vocally and I see a lot of Steffan in La Voix’s performance and image. He may even have beaten Dusty O to ‘Tranny Academy’, and if he hadn’t he’d have been kicking his own arse that he hadn’t thought of it first. He would have been an advocate, judge, mentor and he would have promoted ‘Drag Idol’ worldwide. He would have SO loved the platform that social media provides us now.

It was this love of the platform and an audience that he taught so many of us to embrace. But with a platform comes the opportunity to spread a message and Steffan’s message was: “Age, race, sexuality, gender have NO boundary and… neither does LOVE.”

Since losing him WayOut has raised more than £7000 for cancer charities. It seemed, to me, to be logical on Saturday 23rd August to remember Steffan, raise more money for charity and celebrate WayOut’s 21st anniversary all in one amazing night.

I call on all of my ‘sisters’ to pledge their support and join us in a mega show and on that night we will open both halves and both bars at The Minories. I will also ask for an extension for an hour or two. Alan Bugg and Cancer is a Drag will join with us and it will be a phenomenal night.

www.qxmagazine.com/blog-event/steffan-whitfield/

Simon Hobart, Popstarz promoter, By Dusty O, DJ and promoter

Simon was and is a huge hero of mine. When he took over The Ghetto, my night ‘Babe’ was the only one he kept and after a little tweaking it became ‘Don’t Call Me Babe’ and a nighttime legend was created.

Simon could do that. He had an inner sense of what people wanted from a club and the talent to deliver. He was always spot on trend wise and unafraid to try new things, but keep the best of what was there. He went from promoting Goth clubs to the spectacularly successful Popstarz, which tuned in perfectly to those discontent with the generic gay clubs of the time. He was fearless and innovative.

On a personal level, I adored him. Simon was subtle, gentle and kind. He treated his staff, his customers and his friends with respect and grace. The perfect gent. We shared every Tuesday night together for several years so I got to know him a little and I never saw him lose his temper or be rude to anyone, ever. He was a beautiful, clever and inspiring man and I was heartbroken when he died and as were so many others. I will never forget this charming man and his clever mind, gentle heart and the best jewelry on the scene. I miss him enormously.

www.qxmagazine.com/blog-event/simon-hobart/

Tallulah, DJ (1948-2008), By Patrick Lilley, Queer Nation promoter

Tallulah was not just one of London’s most prominent and pioneering DJs, but my very best friends but also a mentor and lovely to work with: a class act, a gentleman and everybody’s friend. I never heard anyone say a bad word said about him and he was kind to strangers and friends alike.

My favourite thing would be to pop round and watch Leni Reifanshal films like Olympia, with some modern soundtrack he chose (Lemon Jelly?), smoke joints and have afternoon tea… Or on the phone watching Crime Watch as Tallulah would suggest the most ineligible men to date from the most wanted posters or CCTV of guys leaping over counters! He had a wonderful sense of un-PC humour and so many of us miss him.

www.qxmagazine.com/blog-event/tallulah/

Paul Wilde, co-founder Eagle London, By Mark Oakley, Eagle London owner 

One of the most influential and important people in my life, I had known Paul from his Wilde Artist Management Days back in the early Eighties. He put Divine on the back of an Elephant at the Hippodrome, he managed Lilly Savage in her early career and then went on to create Wilde Ones Events who were responsible for London’s original mega Prides in Clapham and Hyde Park. His proudest production achievement was Brighton Pride from the early few tents in a park to the UK’s most popular Pride event.

He also created a hugely successful retail business with his life partner Gregg Ohanian, Wilde Ones on Kings Road, and his co-ownership of Eagle London with myself and Ian Cullen. All of which survive today as a vibrant legacy to his amazing love, character and ability to see an opportunity and partner with the right people. Paul was also one of the original founders of London’s gay business organisations, and a tireless supporter of the early Aids awareness campaigns, ensuring everyone was treated with love and respect. Always and forever, one in a million.

Steve Elliott, Salvation Promoter

Steve Elliott made his name on the London gay scene when he began working for Alex Erfan’s Salvation club after its second birthday in 1999.

Alongside Alex, they established the brand as one of London’s most popular regular events and one of the UK’s most famous internationally recognized brands. When the club was sold to new owners, Steve and Alex parted ways with Steve continuing to work for Salvation as Director and Promoter.

Steve was key to taking the Salvation experience to over sixty countries around the world, something that his partner, Ian Durston, cites as one of his proudest achievements.

This week as QX celebrates its 1000th issue, Jason Reid pays homage to some of the most influential cabaret artists that may have bowed out of the spotlight yet still inspire the artists of today. These are the cabaret greats that paved the way and shaped the scene, in a very different time…

Phil Starr

Tallulah, Queen of Clubs (1948-2008)

By Haydon Bridge

This tribute to the marvellous career of one of the UK’s greatest gay icons was first printed in QX issue 624 on 14th February 2007 to celebrate Tallulah’s induction into the House of Homosexual Culture’s Hall of Fame.

It scratches the surface not only of a 40 year DJ career but also of a great gay life. It was lived to the full from the secretive, exciting, pre-Wolfenden era, through the mad, hedonistic, disco days of the 70s, right up until Shadow Lounge a couple of weeks ago. Tallulah’s fame and recognition may have been limited by the fact that he was “just” a DJ. But those of us who knew him also knew that he was so much more than that, a giant of gay culture, a positive role model for younger men, and perhaps most importantly an all-round good person.

Fortunately his history will not be lost because his friend, writer Ian Cameron Williams, is now completing Tallulah’s biography. Princess Julia famously called Tallulah “the oldest DJ in the world.” Not true. Alan Keith was still a Radio 2 DJ when he died in 2003 aged 94. But what’s longevity compared to living legend status, which Tallulah’s about to achieve?

On 22nd February he’ll become the first inductee into the House of Homosexual Culture’s Hall of Fame. With typical modesty, he thinks Bette Bourne deserves the honour more than he. Even so, Tallulah’s track record is awe-inspiring and unique.

He was a DJ before the disco era, playing LPs on a single turntable, and he’s still a DJ today. Tallulah’s not good with dates, but even at a rough estimate that’s nearly 40 years. Along the way he’s been beaten up, shot at, and threatened with a knife. But nothing’s deterred him. He’s got every intention of exceeding Alan Keith’s record. Now Princess Julia is urging him on. “If you give up,” she reminded him recently, “I’m going to be the oldest.”

I tell Tallulah when we meet that I’m hoping for indiscretions about sex and drugs. “It’s everything I would have expected of QX,” he assures me. It turns out that only two topics are off-limits, his age and his real name. Well, who cares when there’s so much debauchery to reveal? But we’ll get to that later. First, the House of Homosexual Culture. “I’d been to a few of their events at the Drill Hall,” Tallulah tells me, “and they had a great Autumn Fayre at St John’s Church, Waterloo, that Ian McKellen opened.”

(Apparently Serena had such a great time selling fairy cakes at the Fayre that he then went around the corner to IMAX to

introduce a screening of Lord of the Rings, and ended the evening at Duckie). “If it’s good enough for him,” Tallulah continues, “I’m very honoured to be chosen.”

What can we expect of this gala evening? “I’m evidently on stage for about an hour being interviewed by Brian Robinson [programmer of the upcoming London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival] and we’re going to go decade by decade up to date until they give me the gong I presume.” Does he like talking about himself? “No, to tell the truth. It’s fine with friends. But there’s kids around who turn up at clubs I’m playing at and think, God, who’s that old queen up there? I think there’s a lot of them who don’t know who the hell I am, and there’s no reason why they should.”

Oh, yes, there is, Tallulah, and the history lesson starts here. Although born in Hamburg, where his caterer father was helping to re-establish the city’s hotel trade after World War II, Tallulah was brought up in Maidstone, where he got his sex education off his school’s toilet walls. “I thought if the toilet walls in school are like this,” he reasoned, “there must be toilet walls elsewhere.” Aged 15, he began investigating the local bus station, where there was a glory hole the size of a football.

“I didn’t even understand when a cock came through the wall,” he claims. “I didn’t know what to do with it. I don’t think I’d ever seen a hard cock.” (He tried prodding it with his finger). He soon met two more experienced young queens, who used the queer lingo Polari. “Oh, we’ve got to take you out,” they told him. Their first trip was to a rough old boozer called The Ship in Chatham, full of foreign merchant seamen, dyke whores “and a couple of smart queens propped at the bar with blow-dried hair, plucked eyebrows, tight trousers and pink shirts. If you wore a pink shirt you were queer straight off. I loved that look and I still love that look.” (But being “a very effeminate, fey child”, Tallulah usually chose for himself customised women’s clothes sometimes made from Simplicity patterns. Needless to say, he was “always getting beaten up.”)

What went on between Tallulah and the sailors at The Ship? “You couldn’t talk to them so it was straight in for a grope out the back in the car park against the wall.” Tallulah began to move further afield – Ramsgate, Broadstairs, then Canterbury, where the Queen’s Head was “packed full of vicars and priests, all very hoity-toity.” This is where Tallulah met pirate DJ “Tatty” Tom Edwards, who was 19 and seemed “really old.” Even at this time, in the 60s, queers usually had street or “West End” names. Tom’s was Elvira (after the black maid in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?) and he gave Tallulah his name. He accepted it without knowing of bi-sexual actress Tallulah Bankhead. (Such is our Tallulah’s fame that both Judie Tzuke and Simon le Bon have named their daughters after him).

Although Tallulah was by now a fan of soulful singers (“I had to find someone to follow and I picked Cilla Black. She was my pin-up”) he was in no doubt that he would follow his Dad into the catering trade. After studying at Broadstairs College, he got a dream job at the Cora Hotel, Euston, which included his own apartment. He loved the area. “I thought I’d hit heaven. The hotel was opposite Euston and there was St Pancras and King’s Cross down the road. I called them the Holy Trinity. Sunday was the best day because all these soldiers poured off the trains and had nowhere to go. I used to keep those boys very happy.”

Tallulah began hanging out at Pimlico’s Escort club, a swishy place for the G&T set. The DJ, Jimmy Flipside, couldn’t make it one evening and asked Tallulah if he could cover for him. Tallulah arrived at the club and asked the manager what to do. He replied, “Your first job is to clean the toilets.” Tallulah then discovered that he was in fact doubling as DJ and cloakroom attendant. He managed the feat by putting an LP on the Dansette turntable while he hung up the coats. He thought it was a great experience. “I think every DJ should start by cleaning the toilets,” he declares.

Through people he met at the Escort, Tallulah nabbed his first residency, three nights a week at Shane’s, a club behind Finchley Road tube station.He remembers he had two decks, some knobs but no faders. One night the system caught fire. (“We just blew it out.”) He doesn’t remember much more (“I was drunk. I was drinking all the time.”) But he does know that this was when he and other DJs began to influence public taste.

“We’d gone past pop. There was all this stuff coming in from the States. Every Friday we’d go up to Quicksilver Records in Hanway Street because that’s when the soul imports would arrive – Parliament, George McCrea, especially the Love Unlimited Orchestra’s ‘Love’s Theme’.” In the early 70s cheap flights to the U.S. arrived. British entrepreneur Gerry Collins was so impressed by Studio One, a gay disco in Los Angeles, that he returned to London determined to give the capital the same thing. This was Bang, which opened in 1976 in the former ballroom of the Astoria theatre next door.

Tallulah was one of the DJs: “I still say Bang was one of the best clubs London ever had. It was a trailblazer. Previously we’d all been shoved into garret rooms. You’d be lucky if you’d get a hundred people. But this was the epitome of the 70s club, all chrome rails, on two levels, a horseshoe shape with the stage at the end and bars all around. People used to come in when we opened and stand in the middle of the floor just to listen to the sound system. We had confetti, snow, go-go boys. I’d be announced and I’d walk through the crowd with a spot on me! It was hedonism.” Were boys dancing with their shirts off yet? “Definitely not!”

Throughout his early DJ days, Tallulah kept his cushy day job at the Cora Hotel. But then new management decreed he could no longer have his free apartment. He decided to go to New York. Many friends had already moved there, following the misery of the Tory government’s three day week and other cut-backs. In the Big Apple Steve Rubell’s Studio 54 was the talk of the town.

Tallulah pitched up there, so trolleyed that he fell over the velvet rope, into the arms of the bouncers, who carried him to Rubell himself. This is how Tallulah came to work at the notoriously decadent club, not as a DJ, but in the lighting rig. He did DJ elsewhere in New York, but his fondest memories are of the sleazy, pre-AIDS bar scene: “My favourite bar was the Anvil. Felipe, from the Village People, was discovered there on the trapeze.”

Tallulah was on his way to the Anvil one night when he was shot and passed out. In hospital, nurses found in his arm a pellet dipped in elephant tranquilliser. “I was the first K tragedy,” he boasts. Back in London, Tallulah began working at Scandals in Wardour Street, where the DJ booth was hidden behind frosted glass: “I loved it because nobody could see what I was doing. I was definitely on a bottle of Gordons a night. About ten years ago I was in Champions and this guy came up to me. He said, ‘You won’t remember me, but we used to come into your booth at Scandals. We rolled joints and you gobbled us off.’

I was so shocked!” At the end of the 70s, Tallulah was involved in the brief roller disco craze. At the Electric Ballroom in Camden Town, Tuesday was gay night. Unfortunately it all turned nasty: “There was a similar black disco in Shepherds Bush and gangs started coming down to us because we were just frothy. They had to put a cage at the entrance, where people were searched. One night a guy jumped on the stage and held a knife to my neck. Then I had a fire extinguisher thrown at me.”

Somewhat discouraged, Tallulah returned to catering in the mid-80s, and managed several restaurants including Sour Grapes in South Kensington and Queenie’s in Chelsea. But in the late 80s, back in the clubs as a punter, he studied the DJs and thought, “I can do better than this.”

He made a comeback, initially at Circus Circus at the Studio Valbonne. He’s been full-time since the early 90s, when his age had made him a curiosity: “I got all these weird gigs – Subterranea, Mink Bikini, Hanky at that sauna in Drury Lane.” But out of this came Heaven: “I started in the Powder Room and progressed through every room over the next seven years.”

For the past ten years Tallulah has been a national gay treasure, his presence in a club is enough to instil it with gravitas, class and a bit of fun. He’s worked for promoters Wayne Shires at all the Substations and Crash, and at the Shadow Lounge, Sanctuary (now Green Carnation) and Coco Latte. On Millennium Night he was at Delano in Miami, “Studio 54 by the sea.” Tallulah calls that “the best gig in the world.”

Never experienced Tallulah? Prepare yourself for “Good, eclectic music – house, tribal, funk. But I’ve got to the stage where I’m lucky enough to be able to throw in old disco tracks, you know, a nod to our heritage. So at the beginning of the night you’ll get bizarre stuff from Giorgio Moroder and Paul Jabarra. They worked their arses off for us and they’re good fun.”

But don’t look for Tallulah on the main floor at 3am. “Those days are well over,” he admits. “I’m quite pleased because if I did it I’d have to take more drugs.”

10/05/14: EastBloc “DISHed” up a Saturday night feast to a flesh-eatin crowd ravenously celebrating that Eurovision was finally won by a bearded tranny–Austria’s Conchita Wurst, who had premeired her top gong song “Rise Like A Phoenix” at EB’s SEPM not three weeks ago, interviewed and predicted to win by moi (you’re welcome, babes)!

Main Course Dining Room was well-fed by chef Tom Stephan sprinklin some serious fairydust tweakin us naive, starry-eyed, “fresh-from-Eurovision-win” virgins just right for a trip to the rough side of town where Borja Pena stuffed our mouths (and bums) full of hotter, spicier enchilladas that dared only the most fearless of our crew to venture to the back Tapass room.

Just as it said on the tin, QBoy’s mix of 90’s hip-hop-r’n’b smacked our booties red for Cathal to ride us raw and pimp us out.

Virgins no more, we crawled over to the Sidedish club shed. Ollywood was a much nicer neighbour, took pity on us and served us his warm homemade goodies of happy ‘pop ‘n’ hop’ and all seemed rosy— until, that dark prince of the decks, the DJ of Goth-shock-rock, Ray Noir crept onboard to spook!

Backed by an inverted Norwegian flag emblazened with Noir’s cryptic symbols next to the ominous teaser vids on the big screen, Nosferatu’s black-nailed talons spun dark funk creeprock driving his fangs deep into our souls!

What began as sweet, innocent “Ms. Eurovision” were left deflowered, devoured daughters of darkness. Now that’s a night to make any bearded tranny feel like a winner!

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East Bloc, 217 City Road, EC1V 1JN
Words by Tom Redkid
Photos by Mark Storey