Caravan gay bar

If you were a gay person in London in the s, you faced the very real risk of arrest, prosecution and harsh punishment for expressing yourself in public—and even in private. It was called the Caravan Club, and it gained quite the reputation during its brief existence. Just one of an entire world of temporary underground spaces for LGBTQ people to meet, the club was hidden in a basement near Covent Garden and was open to members only.

The recreated club captures the dramatic and lavish interior of the venue, which was open only from October to August when it was raided by police.

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But it's impossible for visitors to know what it would have been like to be living as a gay person during that period, under surveillance and constant threat of imprisonment when they went out with friends. That notoriety meant it was carefully watched by police.

The August raid saw police breaking up same-sex dance parties and arresting men and women in total. Though a majority were found not guilty on condition of never frequenting another nightclub, Brown reports, a few had to serve long prison sentences and even perform hard labor for daring to be gay in the private venue.

It took decades for homosexual activity to become bar in England, which eventually happened in Posthumous pardons were finally granted last month. Erin Blakemore Read More. Erin Blakemore is a Boulder, Colorado-based caravan. Learn more at erinblakemore. The original Caravan Club was a short-lived, members-only venue.

The replica club gay be open through the end of the month. Gay men are arrested by police at a club in London in Public and even private expressions of homosexuality were outlawed in England until Museum of Migration Opens in London. Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.