#WeAreTheBlackCap protest outside the Black Cap on Camden High St, April 18 2015
Since the #WeAreTheBlackCap protest last Saturday (April 18 2015), the campaign to protest the shock closure of the iconic Camden LGBTQ pub and performance venue has gathered pace.
More and more people in London seem to be cottoning on to the fact that alternative and independent spaces are facing an extinction-level crisis – and that can only help spread the word about cases like the Cap’s.
It’s still early days but with people including Spike Rhodes, Nigel Harris (director of Camden LGBT Forum), Joe Parslow (producer working with Familyyy Fierce) and Steve Binks helping drive things forward, the following has been achieved.
• Loads of media coverage, including the Independent, Evening Standard, VICE and BBC London
• More than 1,500 members joining the Facebook group #WeAreTheBlackCap, which has become the hub for the campaign and also a place where loads of photos and videos from drag history at the Cap have been posted
• More than 5,000 signatures on the change.org petition to reopen the Black Cap
• Plans afoot for a regular Saturday afternoon vigil to keep the Black Cap site alive and visible to the public (email weareblackcap@gmail.com to volunteer your time – they want fabulously dressed folk and less-fabulous-but-no-less-important stewards and leafleters)
• Plans for a potential temporary new roof over the head of Cap devotees at the Golden Lion – a nearby pub that has fought off developers itself and is very open to giving Cap acts and crowds a place to meet, plan and perform while the fight continues to keep the Cap itself alive (Michael Peacock has been instrumental in forging this link)
• Plans for a drinking demo outside the HQ of Black Cap corporate operator Faucet Inn next Friday May 1
• Support from US drag family including Morgan McMichaels and Latrice Royale of RuPaul’s Drag Race
• Support from Camden council to try to maintain the site as an LGBTQ social and performance space
• Continuing attempts by Camden LGBT Forum to engage with the new owners to find out their plans
• Establishing links with other groups with related concerns such as Save the Joiners, RVT Future and Save Soho
It’s early days for many of these avenues and there’s still a mountain to climb to bring back the Cap – not least because information about the new owners and their plans remains sketchy to say the least.
All in all, not a bad week’s work!
