If you have ever been to The Royal Vauxhall Tavern in London, you can once again help save it from the latest attack on our LGBT heritage.
Last year, we helped The RVT obtain a Grade II listing so that it couldn’t be demolished or changed – unfortunately that only protects the building and not its use. Now property developers Immovate plan to sell the building and the buyer could be anyone. The country’s most well known gay bar could become a just another generic pub owned by the highest bidder. I don’t think Whetherspoons would keep the cabaret and dance nights!
So how can you help?
You can read all the details here, but basically if you’ve ever been to The RVT in the past ten years and have proof like ticket stubs, posters, pictures, videos etc you can send them to Lambeth council with your testimony. Simply email your evidence, along with an explanation of your involvement with the Royal Vauxhall Tavern to Rowena Folkes at Lambeth Council – RFolkes@lambeth.gov.uk and make sure you CC in hello@rvt.community before midday on Friday 1 July. This case number should be included with all submissions: 16/02418/LDCE
Below is what I’ve just emailed along with these images and videos.
Dear Rowena,
The first London gay bar I ever heard about was The Royal Vauxhall Tavern and I grew up rural Yorkshire in the 80s and 90s!
As this was before the internet and mobile phones, Channel 4 was my only window to the gay world. As well as Julian Clary and late night LGBT films, there was also a drag queen called Lily Savage (aka Paul O’Grady) on The Big Breakfast show. He was discovered after performing for eight years at The RVT and was the reason for me hearing about the venue.
When I moved to London in 2006, I became a regular at The RVT especially on Sundays for the cabaret show. Most of my friends did and still do frequent the bar and in the countless times I have been there, have always walked away with a huge smile on my face.
The RVT is more than a bar – it is more than an institution, it is home for me, my friends and thousands of other people from London and all over the country. It is a space where many can go any day of the week and feel safe, be entertained and be themselves. There is no fighting, no gangs of tanked-up thugs looking for trouble and no discrimination of any kind.
We all want to live in a more integrated, inclusive and accepting world, but that world does not yet exist. The LGBT community needs The RVT now more than ever. Money moguls and property developers are eating away at what’s left of our scene and soon there will be nothing left. London is the gay capital of the United Kingdom and The RVT is one – if not the – most important venue we have.
When the LGBT community rallied together last year to make The RVT a listed building, we all believed that would be the end of it. This new threat is yet another kick in the teeth for us, but I have no doubt we will all rally together once more to make sure that The Royal Vauxhall Tavern stays as it is, a centre of entertainment and enjoyment for so many of us.
In the past, I have queued for two hours on more than a dozen occasions to get a ticket to the Sunday cabaret show and intend to do the same again next month when The Dame Edna Experience returns. People love The RVT just the way it is; the memories we have and the memories we continue to make there can’t be found anywhere else – it really is a unique and extremely popular entertainment venue. Go one Sunday and see for yourself, just make sure you get there early if you want to see the show!
I have included images and links to two videos I made at The RVT – one of The Dame Edna Experience and the other of Charlie Hides.
Kind regards,
Terry Gee