Lesbians In London Relegated to the Basement as Iconic Lesbian Bar Closes

Soaring rent cost forces London’s only lesbian bar, Candy Bar, to close doors after nearly 20 years.

On 21 October, Candy Bar, London’s only bar primarily catering to lesbians, announced it will shut down for good in January 2014. The iconic bar on Carlisle Street is being forced to shut down due to the cost of rent skyrocketing by nearly 50%, according to GayStarNews. 

Since Kim Lucas opened the establishment in 1996, Candy Bar has changed hands many times, but remained the go-to place for lesbians in the Soho district of London to meet and hang out with other women. However, this will not be the case come January as current owner, Gary Henshaw, is reluctantly planning to move the girls into the basement of Leicester Square’s bay bar, KU on neighboring 5^th Street.

Candy Bar, which has been hugely popular over the years, was even featured on UK TV’s Channel 5 in 2011, and promoted as a “brand-new documentary series revealing the lives and loves of the staff and regulars at the world-famous Candy Bar in London, a lesbian night club with a reputation for decadence.”

The famous watering hole, operating over the years with the motto ‘Run By Girls, For Girls,’ will most likely close doors the weekend of January 11, 2014.

Watch the girls of Candy Bar here:

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