Opposition from Brixton Gay Community and allies to bailiffs and the police during the eviction

The Defendant's case (summary)

Gary de Vere for the SLGCC made it clear that number 78 Railton Road, like many other buildings in the vicinity, was unlikely to be of commercial value given the run down state of the area which was under a compulsory Purchase order and suffering from 'planning blight' with many buildings and houses left empty. This meant that the buildings would remain 'untenanted and useless' for years until bought by the council for demolition. The implication being that the Gay Community were putting the place to good use by occupying it and providing a service.

The gay centre was squatted in March 1974 and within a week or two was visited by one of the plaintiff's agents. Though aware of the occupation no objections were raised by the plaintiff for over a year after the building was first squatted. This led the people using the place to believe that it was 'reasonable to assume' that a license had been granted by acquiescence if not by direct consent.

To reinforce the argument the defendant pointed out that at no time during the first 15 months of existence had they been approached by the plaintiff for repossession and conceded that had it been within the first week or so they would have considered vacating the premises.

The defendant challenged the understanding that Lambeth Council would not purchase the property from the plaintiff without vacant possession and that those already in occupation of the premises could not be viewed as legitimate tenants. This was contradicted by the fact that Mr. Oroloba was already paying rent to the council as a bona fide tenant (?) and that Lambeth Council was willing to purchase the property without vacant possession pending the outcome of the SLGCC's application for a grant to cover rent and other expenses. If the grant was approved the occupants would be offered a tenancy provided they signed a rental agreement and the council would purchase the property tenants without the need for eviction proceedings to occur. The plaintiff was fully aware of these negotiations. While this matter was slowly going forward for over a period of 6 months, the defendant argued, there was no communication from the owners of the property. This again indicated the lack of interest in pursuing repossession. The defendant later also requested that the case be dismissed on the grounds of legal errors and factual inaccuracies.

The gay centre flourished as a social and political centre for the first 18 months then staggered on in fits and starts before its closure after about two years. Despite the threadbare organisation and a leadership oscillating between laissez faire libertarianism and hyper critical dogmatism a number of achievements can be racked up. Apart from the functions already mentioned activists at the gay centre were also responsible for setting up the 1976 Gay Pride Week event jointly with the Campaign for Homosexual Equality. They also participated in and organised many other political and social events. But the main legacy left behind by the gay centre was as a focal point in drawing other gay people (mostly men) into the area. With the continuing growth of gay squats on Railton and Mayall Roads there was a gradual shift in locus from the declining influence and eventual closure of the gay centre to the houses as the hub of social and political activity.

The refusal of a grant by Lambeth Council to cover running costs and the continuation of inadequate sources of funding through donations, dances and discos partly contributed to the gay centre's decline and closure. But more seriously was the debilitating arguments between the centre's organisers and their critics which led finally to the withdrawal of the most experienced and committed volunteers. The so-called ‘coup’ (see Gay News) was the result of irreconcilable differences and persistent infighting between those centre users who were described as 'nerds', 'druggies', 'untogether', 'disruptive elements' by their detractors and the more educated 'hierarchy' of organisers, movers and shakers who were seen as ‘elitist’. This was characterised by some as antagonism between working class users and middle class 'student types' who were seen as the ‘collective’ hierarchy and too rigidly dogmatic in their political stance against bisexuals and heterosexuals using the centre.

But the last few months of life under the new regime, with the absence of motivation and organisational skills, the gay centre went to rack and ruin with unpaid bills, lack of maintenance and an increasingly unwelcoming atmosphere of drunkenness and drug use. The residual users of the centre had also turned against it being exclusively for gay people with straight couples using it as a bolt hole for sexual liaisons.

The 'untogether' people who 'seized' control of the gay centre which led to its neglect and demise. Photographs for 'bloodless coup': Robert Workman archive, Bishopsgate Institute

With little or no interest in keeping the centre on an even keel it rapidly fell into decay until finally the building was abandoned and later demolished. Both the gay centre and the Women’s Place next door were buried under slabs of paving stone and are now a forecourt for St. George’s Residences.

The gay centre was a welcome haven for some and weathered the initial storms of hostility in the middle of a poor, working class, inner city area with high levels of poverty, racism, crime and unemployment. What the gay centre did achieve was a breathing space that allowed a considerable number of people the opportunity of breaking away from an isolated and confused existence into something approaching the self-confidence, self-worth and integrity needed to fight back against the burden of an essentially hostile world. Not to put too fine a point on it there was also a lot of fun, hilarity and laughter on our way to carving out a 'liberated' space for ourselves.

The collective coming together of mostly gay men released an enormous amount of creativity right across the board. The gay centre and squats encouraged, in a communal setting, the astonishing growth of artists, writers, sculptors, actors, technicians, musicians and political activists. It is inconceivable that the creative talents that went into all the Brixton Faeries theatre productions or the campaigns around gay pride and Gay News or the spirited energy and commitment that encouraged many people to came out loud and proud could have happened had people remained isolated in their bedsits, flats or rooms in a shared house.

It was a limited achievement which ultimately failed as a ‘Utopian’ experiment in communal living. Nevertheless that achievement to this day still raises affectionate memories in those who continue to challenge the smugness and complacency of a decaying capitalist system as we enter the third decade of a globally disastrous and nightmarish century. We can learn lessons of real and lasting value from those experiences of past endeavours as the struggle for gay liberation continues especially the need to build and maintain a collective identity in struggle with others against the worsening system of exploitation and oppression that is capitalist patriarchy. The value of solidarity and community against atomisation and isolation can never been underestimated in the continuing battle for liberation and that’s the lesson we can learn from those 1970s experiments in collective living, loving, campaigning and creative artistic endeavours.