Legendary London gay pub shuts its doors for the last time

Legendary east London gay pub The George and Dragon has become the latest LGBT venue to close in the capital.

The Shoreditch pub closes its doors for good tonight (November 30) after a final weekend of revelry which saw punters turn out to wish goodbye to the much-loved venue, a staple of the capital’s gay scene for 13 years.

The pub’s closure was announced back in August by owners Richard and Lili, who cited rent increases as the reason they could no longer keep the pub open.

In a heartfelt message on The George and Dragon’s Facebook page yesterday (November 29), the couple thanked punters and invited them to come and celebrate before they must surrender their lease tomorrow.

The George and Dragon is just latest in a slew of closures on London’s gay scene, and comes less than 24 hours after historic Soho eatery The Stockpot closed down for good.

Campaigners recently scored a small victory back in September with the news that The Royal Vauxhall Tavern has been granted Grade II listed status, but many more venues still face a struggle for survival in the face of development plans and rent increases.

Chariots sauna in Shoreditch and Soho’s The Yard Bar are the latest popular LGBT venues to come under threat in the capital, after a devastating 18-month period that’s already seen the closure of Barcode, Manbar, Madame Jojo’s, The Green Carnation, The Black Cap in Camden and more.

In the wake of closures, Stephen Fry has since backed the ‘Save Soho’ campaign to preserve the area’s heritage.

With more and more venues under threat, we recently took an in-depth look at the problems they’re currently facing, asking: is it the end of the capital’s gay scene as we know it?

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