Inside the fight to keep Soho’s LGBTQ+ spirit alive in London

Coven, the successor to G-A-Y, is determined to keep the scene alive.

Mark Mark
Aug 8, 2026 - 20:00
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Inside the fight to keep Soho’s LGBTQ+ spirit alive in London
A black and white photo of queer patrons dancing inside Coven bar in London at its opening night party.
Image Credit: @worldwidecoven/Instagram

Soho‘s rich LGBTQ+ history and vibrant community are not going anywhere, if the London gays can help it.

Since the partial decriminalization of homosexuality in the late ’60s, the Bohemian and artsy neighborhood has been the center of London gay life. That said, rising rents, new spaces, and commercialization over the past few years have forced shifts elsewhere.

In October 2025, the historic and camp culture-defining G-A-Y, where icons like Adele and Lady Gaga sharpened their teeth and high-production parties found their footing, closed its doors for good.

Still, its successor, Coven, is determined to keep the scene alive.

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“What I found is that the queer community recognize the fact that it’s a bit of an emergency in terms of how quickly we’re losing spaces — the battle against nightlife in many ways,” Covens founder Matthew Jacob Morgans told BBC.

It seems the UK’s problems echo the United States’ own, with gay bars “closing their doors at a heartbreaking pace.” The fix, Morgan hopes, is partially returning the idea of “third spaces” in the LGBTQ+ community.

Now, Coven operates as a nightclub and opens during the day as a “department store with a coffee shop” patrons can work from.

“We just basically want to make this a space that is really being reclaimed by the queer community and is actually responding to the needs of what people are after right now so we just engage with artists in whatever way we can,” he explained.

As London’s first Black-owned queer venue since the ’70s, Morgan created the reimagination of G-A-Y’s space as “a place of safety, love and support, away from the darkness of outside.”

Considering it’s one of London’s most popular neighborhoods, Soho’s queer spaces are “hugely important to its identity,” according to The Night Time Industries Association exec Michael Kill.

“Soho is world renowned for its sex positive, inclusive environments where people are free spirited and welcoming so I think it’s vitally important for the iamge and also the cultural and social tapestry of London,” he said.

Thankfully, Coven is not in it alone.

In addition to the Old Compton Street spot, some of our GayCities favorites include Comptons of Soho, the bear-friendly Kings Arms, lesbian spot She Soho, and Village.

And even though the Soho streets may not look the same way they did before, there’s something to be said for how LGBTQ+ community in London has blossomed across the city.

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