Different bars for different sorts of lesbians
1985
During the eighties Mary visited various pubs and clubs in Birmingham including The Matador, where the old Bull Ring market was, which was quite a good gay venue, with a women's disco every Friday which attracted a broad spectrum of women. She, and quite a lot of the sporty dykey women also went to the Jester. In contrast the Star Club, at the back end of Thorp St., was a socialist/communist women’s club, but also attracted quite a broad crowd. The more middle class lesbians, the lipstick lesbians, the golfers, and skiers gravitated to the Grosvenor on the Hagley Road. Mary never went though some of her hockey player friends did. The Jug, round the back of M&S, offering drag, strippers and cabaret, attracted women because of the after hours drinking. Mary and her friends occasionally went for weekends in Brighton and London and described this as “like going on holiday to gay land”.
Contributed by: Mary Dunne, 52