Club Wish © Stefan Klenke
Lesbian clubs in London
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By Kate Hutchinson
Posted: Wed Sep 2 2009 -
London’s lesbian scene made simple - here's Time Out's guide to the newest and most fun lesbian parties and club nights in the capital
Lesbian club nights | Lesbian bars
Central London sapphism is a thing of the past. The original and only full-time lesbian venue, Soho’s Candy Bar, ruled the roost from 1996 until its closure in 2008. Now under new management, it’s still a go-to spot for the under-20s.
There are, however, plenty of popular lesbian watering holes, where you can pick up flyers for club nights. Girls Go Down, hidden away in the basement of G-A-Y, still pumps out chart music every night for a studenty crowd or there’s long-standing vegetarian café-cum-club First Out. Up in Stoke Newington, a prominent lesbian stomping ground, Oak Bar is a favourite for north London riot grrrls.
Summer 2009 has seen a plethora of new 'anti-attitude' hangouts join the established scene spots: they’re less predatory, more performance and music focused and 100 per cent more fun. Here’s our guide to the best.
Lesbian club nights | Lesbian bars-
Ruby Tuesdays
FREE
Every Tuesday, Ku Bar & Club
For free, mid-week action, gay girls and their guy friends sniff Chinatown’s premier lesbian soirée headed by popular dyke DJ-about-town Sandra D and her sack of chart-friendly pop, indie and R&B records. There’s even a chocolate fountain for frisky strawberry-dippers. Read more
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Miss Shapes
Every Thursday, Trash Palace
Once the feisty weekly beacon for alternative lesbians in Soho, it’s still a polysexual place to shake a tail feather at now it's flown east. Read more
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G Spot Girl Bar
Every Thursday, Kudos
A sign that Soho’s lesbian scene is picking up, G Spot Girl Bar is not quite as steamy as its name suggests, but this dimly lit den of iniquity (they’ve got a huge lounge bed and intimate booths!) downstairs at Kudos attracts a sophisticated and good-looking crowd. Read more
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Girl Friday
FREE
Every Friday, First Out
At night this lesbian caff transforms into a popular pre-club party anthem-palace for a post-work crowd. Male guests are welcome, too. Read more
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Killer Queen
FREE
Every Saturday, The Royal George
Another Sandra D staple, this rockin’ indie weekly takes over downstairs at central London pub the Royal George for a freebie mix of Blur to Bloc Party via a healthy dose of girl-fuelled anthems. Read more
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Bird Club
Fri Oct 23, then bi-monthly, Bethnal Green Working Men's Club
Part rowdy cabaret club, part politically minded butch dyke disco, Bird la Bird and Maria Rosa Young’s night celebrates ‘queer femininity in all its forms’ and ruffle some feathers on the way. Expect satirical skits, neo-burlesque and topical themes, topped off with an indie-electro disco till late. Read more
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Club Jolene
Fri Sep 18, then third Friday of the month, A secret Kingsland Road location
Download a cut-out-and-club Dolly mask from their website and act out your Parton fantasies at this edgy, tongue-in-cheek electronic night, where they unleash the odd country seven-inch, too. Read more
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Other People's Property
Sat Sep 26, then last Saturday of the month, Korsan Bar
Another Kingsland Road haunt, this youthful lesbian club boasts ‘eclectic noise for girls who like toys’. DJs steer away from run-of-the-mill indie remixes and go for underground east London sounds instead, from Tomb Crew and Toddla T to Yo Majesty and Missy Elliot. Read more
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Mannequin Social
Fri Oct 16, then every second Saturday of the month starting Jan 2010, Shoreditch House
Dingy basement sweatfests are trendy and carefree, but glam lesbians who don’t want to trek to Hackney can find chic-yet-cool capers at Jo Wallace and Marta Aguiar’s Mannequin Social. Indie-disco and filthy electro meets high-end clubbing here, attracting designer dykes who sizzle on this members’ club’s dancefloor or relax on its terrace. Men are welcome as guests, too. Read more
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Corsets and Diamonds
Sat Sep 19, then bi-monthly, The Priory
If ‘Tipping the Velvet’ and ‘Moulin Rouge’ joined forces for the night, this would be their debauched offspring. It’s all old-fashioned glamour for girls and their male guests at this fab industrial-yet-vintage space, with scintillating burlesque and cabaret acts to boot. Read more
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Twat Boutique
FREE
Monthly, Dalston Superstore, 93 Feet East or Queen of Hoxton
Dalston’s leftfield gay arts space now has its own eclectronic emporium especially for hipster gay girls. You’ll find dance-focused creative types here digging the indie, new wave, electro and disco mash-ups from guest DJs, including Shitdisco and Simian Mobile Disco, and future nights see it flitting between 93 Feet East and the Queen of Hoxton. Read more
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The Penthouse
Various dates
This sky-high venue with stunning views over Leicester Square boasts five lesbian parties every month for well-heeled, cocktail-supping women. Networking event Lounge, on the first Thursday of the month, plunges into a packed party in the early hours; Pure, on the first and third Fridays of the month, provides funky R&B, soul and hip hop anthems for urban gay girls; and Something For The Weekend offers a twice-monthly bash brimming with party anthems for young and funky gay girls and their boy buddies. Read more
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Girl Action
Fourth Friday of the month, Central London venue TBC
Girl Action's monthly night is about to move to a new central London venue, but they also hold one-off parties and special events elswhere. Read more
Lesbian club nights | Lesbian bars
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1 comment
...but you forgot dirtyconverse DISCO! shame. it's run by girls, for girls and boys too...in fact technically open to anyone but given that it's run by lesbians and is full of them, surely it should be on here?
www.dirtyconverse.com