\nBackstreet tonight? We’re open from 10pm. t.co\/MCjD0HNi1R<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/NSUb0CfIkC<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 The Backstreet (@BackstLondon) August 10, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
The Guardian<\/em> reports<\/a>: \u2018Dozens of men<\/a> who regularly visit the Backstreet, which boasts the \u201cstrictest fetish dress code in Europe\u201d, wrote to the council during the six-year planning battle to explain the importance of the club to them. \u201cWhen I discovered the fetish scene by going to the Backstreet as an 18-year-old, it saved my life,\u201d one man<\/a> wrote. \u201cIt gave me a community that made me feel welcome, and embraced me flaws and all. It stopped me thinking I was odd or an outsider, [it] gave me confidence in myself, and gave me some incredible friends and mentors.\u201d Oscar Easton, who at 21 is much younger than the Backstreet\u2019s average clientele, said he would be gutted if the club closed as it was his favourite place on earth, and he \u201csaved like crazy for [his] leather gear\u201d.\u2019<\/p>\n
Tower Hamlets Council ruled that the bar should be kept and blocked the 12-story high-rise apartment building development, saying that it would \u201charm the long-term provision of a nightclub that serves the LGBT+ community\u201d.<\/p>\n
Said Cllr Rachel Blake, the borough\u2019s deputy mayor: \u201cIt is the last true gay<\/a> fetish club, and diversity matters to us. This kind of venue really matters to us, it matters to Tower Hamlets and to the whole of London. It is very important to have safe spaces for the whole community.\u201d<\/p>\n
The post Backstreet, London\u2019s Longest-Running Gay Leather Bar, Saved from Bulldozer by Letter-Writing Campaign: \u2018It Saved My Life\u2019<\/a> appeared first on Towleroad Gay News<\/a>.<\/p>\n