"We need somewhere that is created for us":
Searching for queer community in Sheffield's nightlife scene
At the intersection between South Lane and Cumberland Street, just past Sheffield's Moor Market, sits a strikingly drab structure, three stories high, with brightly-coloured love hearts adorning its every window.
This is Dempsey's Bar and Club, a vestige of the city's Gay Quarter, which, now confined to a single venue, is referred to affectionately by locals as the "Gay Corner".
While the absence of a bricks and mortar gay village in Sheffield is palpable, long-time residents will recall various attempts at establishing permanent queer venues over the years.
There was the "hole-in-the-wall" lesbian bar, crammed into a discrete corner of Kelham Island, Dempsey's, Queer Junction, and, more recently, Gut Level, a volunteer-run space, tucked away on Chapel Walk.
Queer communities are frequently credited with having invented much of modern club culture, carving out spaces where music and movement provide a vital escape from the hostility of the world outside.
And yet, soaring overheads, a cost-of-living crisis, and a concerning spike in LGBTQ+ hate crime have all combined to make running a queer venue virtually impossible in recent years.
A report compiled by UCL Urban Laboratory in 2017 revealed that London had lost 58% of its queer nighttime venues since 2006. Several years later, in 2023, Sheffield suffered another blow when Queer Junction, one of the city's only LGBTQ+ bars, was forced to shut up shop.
In spite of this, commentators have observed a groundswell of grassroots events and initiatives, making room for marginalised communities within Sheffield’s nightlife scene - an encouraging trend that looks set to continue.
Dempsey's Bar & Club, distinguishable by the brightly-coloured love hearts adorning its every window. (Credit: Evie Wynne)
Dempsey's Bar & Club, distinguishable by the brightly-coloured love hearts adorning its every window. (Credit: Evie Wynne)
Gut Level on Chapel Walk, dubbed "one of the coolest queer spaces" in Sheffield. (Credit: Evie Wynne)
Gut Level on Chapel Walk, dubbed "one of the coolest queer spaces" in Sheffield. (Credit: Evie Wynne)
Data compiled by UCL Urban Laboratory (2017) to demonstrate the heightened closure rate of LGBTQ+ nighttime venues in London,
compared to nightclubs and pubs across the UK.
58%
drop in London's LGBTQ+ nighttime venues between 2006 and 2017.
44%
drop in UK nightclubs between 2005 and 2015.
25%
drop in UK pubs between 2001 and 2016.
Sheffield's "Gay Corner", located at the intersection between South Lane and Cumberland Street. (Credit: Evie Wynne)
Sheffield's "Gay Corner", located at the intersection between South Lane and Cumberland Street. (Credit: Evie Wynne)
"I found it hard to develop who I was"
So just how queer-inclusive is Sheffield?
There is a theory circulating online that the dearth of queer spaces in Sheffield has come about as a result of LGBTQ+ people feeling so welcome in other parts of the city that the need for their existence has diminished.
This is a reassurance that Finn Warman, founder and director of queer arts organisation Andro & Eve, was offered numerous times upon moving here from Manchester.
But the reality revealed something very different.
"For all this tolerance and inclusivity, I've always had a problem in Sheffield with harassment and stuff in clubs, bars, and pubs," says Finn. "I would be stared at and get funny things on the street, especially if I was with my partner at the time."
A comment left on a Reddit thread about queer nightlife in Sheffield.
A comment left on a Reddit thread about queer nightlife in Sheffield.
Conversations with several other individuals who live in the city confirm that Finn's experience is far from being an anomaly.
Despite almost 5% of Sheffield's population identifying as LGBTQ+ - 1% higher than the national average - its queer inhabitants continue to feel unsettled by the response they receive from others in the street.
William Brassington, 23, who came to Sheffield as a student five years ago, admits to having struggled with the city at first.
He explains: “Walking through West Street at night, more so than anywhere else, I've received comments and remarks, and felt less safe in being queer.”
Deprived of their own, designated venues, LGBTQ+ people can feel unsure as to how or where they might explore their identity safely.
“I found it hard to develop who I was and how I fit within those spaces,” notes William.
As a result, many revellers resort to travelling as far as Manchester or Leeds, capitalising on the thriving queer scenes to be found in either city.
A queer renaissance
Not known for standing idly by and waiting for something to happen, queer creatives across Sheffield have taken matters into their own hands.
Fuelled by a desire to see marginalised voices heard and their art celebrated, Finn co-founded Andro & Eve back in 2016, before going on to become the organisation's artistic and executive director.
A decade on, the not-for-profit has grown into a powerhouse for UK queer talent, hosting an impressive rotation of poetry, dance, and drag.
"It feels like, if everyone's got something, there's something for everyone."
"There was really nothing ten years ago. Now, I can't keep up," marvels Finn. "It feels like, if everyone's got something, there's something for everyone."
King Confuza, an alternative drag performer and founder of Cryptid Queers, is another name that much of the city's LGBTQ+ community will be familiar with.
Tired of being turned away from venues for whom their performance style was frankly "too weird", Confuza set about building a separate, dedicated space both for themselves and others like them.
They explain: “It was really a response to having nowhere for myself to perform - and if you create a space for you, it also offers that space to other people.”
King Confuza, founder and director of Cryptid Queers, discusses the need for LGBTQ+ nightlife spaces in Sheffield.
In what has become a real "love letter to the community", Cryptid Queers has since spawned a summer workshop programme, offering mentoring and support to the drag monsters of tomorrow.
Fast forward several years and the number of drag monster events taking place in Sheffield has tripled, transforming the city into an epicentre for the alternative art form.
Confuza hopes that the various risks they have taken will finally pay off this summer, when they host the first ever drag monster festival in the UK, if not the world.
An alternative drag performer, photographed at an event hosted by Cryptid Queers. (Credit: Heidi Tomlinson)
An alternative drag performer, photographed at an event hosted by Cryptid Queers. (Credit: Heidi Tomlinson)
An alternative drag performer, photographed at an event hosted by Cryptid Queers. (Credit: Heidi Tomlinson)
An alternative drag performer, photographed at an event hosted by Cryptid Queers. (Credit: Heidi Tomlinson)
What next?
In recent months, the creativity and courage displayed by Sheffield’s queer community was formally recognised at a panel discussion between key stakeholders, hosted by global consultancy firm Arup.
One panel member, Rosie May, left her role at Sheffield City Council three years ago to set up Juno Books, a queer community bookshop, several doors down from Gut Level on Chapel Walk.
While recent regeneration efforts might not have completely disregarded the city’s LGBTQ+ population, Rosie feels as though “the vision for what we need is limited.”
She would like to see the huge number of disused buildings - dotted throughout Sheffield - made available to queer start-ups and community groups, allowing them to experiment, without taking on the responsibility of a permanent space.
“The queers will always build the things we need in the way we want them,” says Rosie. “We don’t necessarily need to be given an ‘area’ in a city: we will go wherever works for us.”
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