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<\/p>\nBritain\u2019s National Trust Sets Up Tours of Soho District\u2019s Gay History<\/b><\/p>\n
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Britain\u2019s National Trust, a heritage conservation organization, will be conducting tours this March<\/a> of London\u2019s Soho district, featuring its underground gay<\/a> past.<\/p>\n With the official title \u201cQueer City: London Club Culture 1918-1967<\/a>,\u201d the tour will take in buildings that formerly housed illicit gay<\/a> clubs, survey archived photographs and documents pertaining to the era, and conclude with a vivid recreation of storied members-only club The Caravan:<\/p>\n In the evenings you can become a club \u201cmember\u201d and enjoy a bespoke cocktail menu with drinks drawn from clubs of the era provided by the expert bartenders of Freud Caf\u00e9-Bar. This immersive\u00a0experience will include surprise\u00a0performances\u00a0from some of the most sought after cabaret artists in the land. Dressing up is very much encouraged.<\/p>\n This year marks the 50th anniversary of the decriminalization of homosexuality in England and Wales, and saw the retroactive pardoning of thousands of gay men<\/a> who had been convicted under the wrongheaded prohibition previously. The sites and stories featured by the tour highlight the lengths taken by LGBT individuals to socialize and survive in the shadow of legal disapproval:<\/p>\n Joseph Watson, London Creative Director for the National Trust, said: \u201cWhile the project will be an opportunity to celebrate the partial decriminalisation of same sex<\/a> relationships, it will also confront the realities of those lives that were fettered, destroyed, or worse, by prejudice of that era.\u201d<\/p>\n The post Britain\u2019s National Trust Sets Up Tours of Soho District\u2019s Gay History<\/a> appeared first on Towleroad<\/a>.<\/p>\n