Plans for new ‘inclusive’ LGBTQ+ venue at former site of London gay men’s club XXL
London gay club XXL closed in 2019. (XXL)
Southwark Council has committed £1.5 million in funding to develop a new LGBTQ+ venue at the former site of popular and now-closed London gay club XXL.
According to the council, £1.5 million of a £4 million total investment for the area will go towards the new LGBTQ+ space in Bankside Yards. The council claims the new queer space will feature a “theatre and workspace”, and is due to open in 2026.
Councillors secured the LGBTQ+ space at the beginning of 2020 after the closure of XXL the previous year, initially aiming to have a new space open in 2022.
Before plans for a new queer community space were announced, the LGBTQ+ community fiercely criticised XXL’s closure, with a petition in 2019 calling for the venue to be saved gathering nearly 6,000 signatures. XXL, which caters to “bears”, still operates its club nights in Birmingham.
Very proud that Labour Southwark Council is investing in LGBTQ+ services! 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
— Cllr David Parton (@DavidParton_) January 15, 2025
This is a serious investment by the council into an inclusive LGBTQ+ venue, hosting a theatre and workspace, in central London. https://t.co/iRsvzRReT1
“Borough and Bankside Liberal Democrat councillors successfully suggested the Council should agree a memorandum of understanding with the developers to protect this as an LGBTQ+ space when XXL closed,” Councillor Victor Chamberlain explained.
“I’ve been working with the council and developers since to ensure this happens and encouraged the council to use CIL to make this a viable space to operate.
“This is a good step forward, but we need a Southwark LGBTQ+ strategy that was agreed to be developed following a successful Liberal Democrat motion last year to ensure we can see even more LGBTQ+ spaces and businesses in the borough.”
Councillor Helen Dennis added that the new space will “massively benefit” the LGBTQ+ community in Southwark.
“Making sure money from developers is reinvested back into our communities is a vital part of what we do and we’ll keep ensuring that money goes towards making a real difference and improving life for the people of Southwark,” she said.
While the new LGBTQ+ space is promised for 2026, XXL’s closure marked further losses of LGBTQ+ nightlife in the capital. According to Greater London Authority (GLA) data, more than half of London’s LGBTQ+ venues closed between 2006 and 2022, with numbers falling from 125 venues to just 50.
Speaking to the BBC in 2024, John Sizzle, co-owner of now-closed east London bar The Glory, claimed the hospitality industry was struggling due to “the cost-of-living crisis, coming out of the pandemic, the expense of goods because of Brexit”. He added that fewer young people could go out to nightclubs because they were “spending their money on rent and had less money to spend on leisure”.
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