Home to a sizeable London lesbian community, with social life focused on the nearby parks and the iconic Blush bar on Cazenove Road. Sophie Wilkinson says Shoreditch is “one of the few pockets of London where I feel I can walk hand in hand with another woman without fear of attack”, along with Soho, Waterloo and Dalston (there are infrequent lesbian club nights at Dalston Superstore). Still an LGBT favourite, though, thanks to a thriving art/design and alternative bar/club scene ( Sink the Pink nights, etc), though high rents mean gays and lesbians are more likely to settle in Dalston or Hackney (see below). Then came the Young British Artists, the hipsters, the pop-ups, the City boys and the big chains. The Joiners Arms was a totemic gay venue when Shoreditch felt like “the middle of nowhere” (Summerskill). London's LGBTQ party scene: the best gay bars and clubs for allĪ prime example of pioneering gays subsumed within a wider influx of cool, followed by commercialism.New West End Company BRANDPOST | PAID CONTENT.