"On April 6 2010, the Policing and Crime Act 2009 came into force and amended Schedule 3 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982, which has historically controlled sex shops and sex cinemas.
Tower Hamlets Council is considering whether to adopt new legal powers relating to how it regulates sexual entertainment venues (e.g. lap-dancing and pole dancing clubs) following changes to legislation.
A sexual entertainment venue is defined as a premises at which entertainment of the following kind is provided, before a live audience, for the financial gain of the organiser or the entertainer: –
a) any live performance; or
b) any live display of nudity;
b) any live display of nudity;
which is of such a nature that, ignoring financial gain, it must reasonably be assumed to be provided solely or principally for the purpose of sexually stimulating any person in the audience (whether by verbal or other means).
In order for the new provisions in law to take effect, the Council will need to formally adopt the provisions of the Policing and Crime Act 2009."For me, i don't see this as too much of a problem as it currently stands, i don't quite understand where the change's are happening and what it is that is the problem, however, these venue's often make money on people's sexuality... something which a little closer to home to me is under threat.... and i can't say i'm too botherd by it all.
Through the world "canal street" may well be a recognised street, during the 90's it was home to one of TV's most ground-breaking shows "Queer as folk" (Later re-made as a US version). Canal street also forms as the back-bone to Manchester's "Gay Village". Why do i mention this though?
Manchester's gay village has been put on a 5 year improvement scheme, with the warning that if the area does not improve, licenses will be removed from bar's and the council will disband the gay village. Shocked? ... I'm not.
Let's go back a little here in history....
During the 1960's in Manchester, a pub called "The new union" found itself at the centre of attention, when the landlord was arrested for owning a "public house of ill repute". You see back then, your typical gay bar was designed to house as many people as it could in a safe way too, they were safe haven's for gay people who wanted to go out for a drink, maybe even hold hands with their partner in public, but do it all without being judged for doing it, or worse, be arrested and possibly sectioned (Being gay at the time was classed as a mental health problem, so it wasn't rare to find gay people in mental asylums because they'd been found to be gay).
Over the year's since as gay pride came along and acceptance of the gay community has grown, the needs of having a gay bar have changed. These days, i can go to alot of mainstream pub's, bars and clubs and hold hands with my partner, even kiss... basically act the same as we would if we were in a gay bar... but there's 2 thing's that go with this that some of you might be thinking right now....
1) Few gay bar's are able to offer the protection they once could. Be it because they've fallen on hard times because of the economic downturn or because of the laws the way they are, alot of them have now had to become "gay friendly" which has resulted in some of these venue's being written off by the gay community, owing to the fact that you find hen parties in their because they "love the gays" or stag parties in their because they want to prove they're "ok with the gays" but truth of the matter is, they spend alot of time looking at gay couple's holding hands, or worse, if they are come-onto by a gay person, then they're shocked and disgusted, sometimes ending in violence, which as sad as i am to say it, is now becoming something regular to the gay village, where it once was never seen.
2) People's opinion's have changed and while yes there's always going to be the threat of something happening to gay people, these incident's are few and far between.
So in essence, the gay community doesn't really have a need for the old style gay bar any more and based on what people have said to me over the past few weeks, it seems that some people, like myself, don't like to attend the gay village anymore, because it has come to the point it feels like a freak show and if you're the gay person, you're the freak that all these people have been wanting to see.
Sure, if Manchester was to close it's gay village it would be a shame, but as it currently stands, i won't be attending the area for a while, like i would once years ago, be over the moon at the thought of going to the area.
What has brought on this 5 year warning for the gay village though?
Good question! It's been brought down to the fact that the area now offer's cheap drinks and some very laid back door policy's on what people can wear and who they're letting in. With that, the area has also seen an increase in violent attacks over the past few years, which has stopped alot of people going to the area. With these being the facts, the police and council have worked together to try and bring the area upto scratch, but they've had enough because they're not seeing the results they wanted (and neither are we). This 5 year warning is to act as a wake-up call to everyone in and around the area, saying if you want to keep it, then improve it with us.
If the area doesn't improve, it will simply fail to exist, one way or another. Gay pride would still take place one would presume, but it could be re-located to a different part of the city, should the gay village no longer exist.
But what would happen to our little friend with history, the new union pub?
One can only presume, for history reasons alone, it would be able to keep open and doing what it does. It was the first one their and has already with-stood the test of time... but who knows what the future holds for the area?
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