The club provided a solid model for future nightclubs.Īfter homosexuality was decriminalized in the UK in 1967, gay bar culture became more visible and gradually Soho became the centre of the London LGBT community, which was "firmly established" by the early 1990s. Its creator Frida Strindberg née Uhl set it up as an avant-garde and artistic venture. It opened in an underground location at 9 Heddon Street, just off Regent Street, in 1912 and became a haunt for the wealthy, aristocratic and bohemian. The first gay bar in Britain in the modern sense was The Cave of the Golden Calf, established as a night club in London. One of the most famous was Mother Clap's Molly House. In the 18th century, molly houses were clandestine clubs where gay men could meet, drink, dance and have sex with each other. Since the 1980s, the Le Marais district is the center of the gay scene in Paris. Chez Moune, opened in 1936, and New Moon were 20th-century lesbian cabarets located in Place Pigalle, which converted to mixed music clubs in the 21st century. Lesbians who did go to bars often originated from the working class. Lesbians rarely visited gay bars and instead socialized in circles of friends. In the 1950s and 1960s the police and authorities tolerated homosexuals as long as the conduct was private and out of view, but gay bar raids occurred and there were occasions when the owners of the bars were involved in facilitating the raids. Paris retained the LGBT capital image after the end of World War II, but the center of the meeting place shifted to Saint-Germain-des-Prés. Although Amsterdam, Berlin, and London had more meeting places and organizations than Paris, the latter was known for the "flamboyance" of LGBT quarters and "visibility" of LGBT celebrities. Paris became known as a centre for gay culture in the 19th century, making the city a queer capital during the early 20th century, when the Montmartre and Pigalle districts were meeting places of the LGBT community. Among its visitors were many artists, like actor Jean Marais and comedians Thierry Le Luron and Coluche. The Zanzibar was opened in 1885 and existed for 125 years, before it was closed in December 2010. The very first gay bar in Europe and probably in the world was the Zanzibar in Cannes on the French Riviera. In the United Kingdom and the Netherlands gay bars were established throughout the first quarter of the 20th century. In Cannes, France, such a bar had already opened in 1885, and there were many more in Berlin around 1900. It is not clear which place is the first gay bar in the modern sense. The site was the scene of alleged gay marriages carried out by the Reverend John Church. The raid led to the executions of John Hepburn and Thomas White for sodomy.
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The White Swan (created by James Cook and Yardley, full name unknown), on Vere Street, in London, England, was raided in 1810 during the so-called Vere Street Coterie. Reports from as early as the 17th century record the existence of bars and clubs that catered to, or at least tolerated, openly gay clientele in several major European cities. Gathering places favoured by homosexuals have operated for centuries. The Mixei nightclub in Tammela, Tampere, is the oldest, still operating gay bar in Finland, having first opened its doors in 1990.