New partnership with Camden Council to research local LGBTQ+ Spaces and Communities

UCL researchers Professor Ben Campkin and Lo Marshall will collaborate with Camden Council and partners to build detailed evidence of the changing profile of LGBTQ+ communities and spaces across Camden since the 1980s. Camden has a long history as a borough with a large LGBTQ+ population and continues to be home to many important spaces, despite some notable venue closures. 

The project will highlight a selection of the most innovative LGBTQ+ day-time and night-spaces and the ways in which they have served different groups, including by reducing social isolation and loneliness.

Case studies will also highlight how Camden Council, and bodies such as Camden LGBT Forum and LGBTQ+ campaign groups have worked together, with a view to understanding how these relationships could be nurtured.

The project will result in the publication of a briefing note detailing the research findings and recommendations, which will also be presented at a roundtable event with Camden Council and local stakeholders.

Since 2016 Professor Ben Campkin and Lo Marshall have been researching LGBTQ+ nightlife in London since 1986. Reports from the project released evidenced a 58% decline in the capital’s LGBTQ+ venues since 2006, demonstrating factors behind these closures, as well as the impact of closure upon LGBTQ+ Londoners. The significant drop in LGBTQ+ venues is more alarming when seen alongside wider trends, such as recently rising homophobic and transphobic hate crime figures and persistent health inequalities experienced by LGBTQ+ people (National Institute for Mental Health in England; Stonewall 2018).

You can read more about UCL Urban Laboratory's LGBTQ+ nightlife spaces research and find relevant resources on our website.