for LGBTQ+ Folks

BRIGHTON’S BEST PLACES FOR LGBTQ+ FOLKS

Brighton. The gay capital of the UK, with a huge LGBTQ+ scene across the town. The city is filled with entertainment and huge drag queen and king culture. It’s a small town packed with a lot of LGBTQ+ pubs, clubs, bars and entertainment located around St. James’ street in Kemptown. This is your guide for the best spots around Brighton.

Words By Ridwan Islam

CLUB AND BAR REVENGE CHALK

The infamous seafront LGBTQ+ bar and club has a lot of events to offer throughout the year. It attracts a huge crowd within Brighton and across the UK. The bar offers events such as ‘Gaymers’ night, karaoke, and ‘Lip Sync For Your Life’, as well as viewing parties of ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race UK’. These events attract such an array of people and are a great way to socialise with other people from around the city with similar interests. Bar Revenge is a safe space for Queer people and drag artists to showcase their art. Even though Club Revenge has the potential at times to be a mainly straight crowd, on nights such as ‘FOMO’ on Thursdays, it is very clear that the club will not tolerate any kind of homophobia which makes the club such a beloved safe space. The club has a variety of nights that include various genres of music which opens their audience up to a lot of different people.

QUEEN’S ARMS

LGBTQ+ bar based off St. James’ street features the best drag, cabaret and camp shows. The Queen’s Arms is one of the only places that is open 365 days a year. Queen’s Arms showcase talented, brilliant and hilarious acts. It is one of the best spots in the UK for a good night out and great entertainment, especially when coming down to Brighton. The Queen’s Arms showcases talented acts from across the UK such as Kara Van Park, Miss Jason, Son of a Tutu and Alfie Ordinary, to name a few. Chalk is a student-based club that has a lot of different nights throughout the week and the month. Even though as a club they don’t tolerate any homophobia, racism or misogyny, on certain nights the club has the potential to attract a less than amicable crowd. However, the club does hold events such as ‘Polyglamorous’- an LGBTQ+ event that attracts a huge crowd within East Sussex and Brighton. The club also holds ‘Cherry Bomb’ social club, which is the ultimate girls night out - a femaleonly event. On a weekly basis, the club holds live events with musicians, indie and alternative artists and music nights like Decades of Pop and Let’s Kill Disco are a main attraction to the venue.

LEGENDS

Known as the café, bar, club, and cabaret venue in a gay hotel. Legends offers people to stay on the seafront on a visit down to Brighton, a casual cafe and a subterranean club. The venue attracts a huge range of people as it has quite a lot to offer, it is a great place to stay when visiting Brighton due to its location, near Kemptown, and locality to all of your favourite LGBTQ+ coffee shops, bars, pubs and clubs. The venue offers amazing cabaret performers including international artists, singers and drag queens taking to its infamous stage.

Credit: Rae Garvey

Rae’s Comments: I think this art piece sums up Brighton really well. Everybody has a lot of love to share here, and everyone’s just extremely kind. I’ve lived here since 2019 and I’ve only ever had positive interactions with people; this artwork really captures that kindness. Also, being one of the queerest cities I’ve ever witnessed, I found it fitting that this artwork was placed in this city.

Rae’s Comments: Brighton can be a very busy place for such a small city, but the beach can actually be a great way to escape the hustle and bustle of the streets and The Lanes. Every picture I’ve seen of this pier has been perfect, but the scaffolding just makes the photo a bit more visually interesting from a photographer’s standpoint.