April 2018
Into More – 6th April 2018 – These Activists Are Fighting for London’s LGBTQ Spaces
March 2018
Evening Standard – 2nd March 2018 – London’s first community run LGBTQI+ pub could open in 2018
Gscene – James Ledward – 25th March 2018 – Friends of Joiners Arms win ‘Best Community Campaign’ award
February 2018
Dazed – 25th February 2018 – The Joiners Arms is coming back as the first community-run LGBTQI+ pub
Planet Nation – 24th February 2018 – ‘Why I’m supporting the Friends of the Joiners Arms and you should too’
Hackney Citizen – Andrew Barnes – 15th February 2018 – Joiners Arms: community meetings announced as plans for new LGBTQI+ pub/hub take shape
Out News Global – Danielle Mustarde – 13th February 2018 – Project launched to open London’s first community-run LGBTQI+ pub
GCN – Katie Donohoe – 13th February 2018 – Closed Iconic Queer Pub To Re-Open As London’s First Community-Run LGBT+ Pub
November 2017
LGC Plus – 24th November 2017 – Idea Exchange: We’re the first council to use planning powers to save an LGBT venue
October 2017
East London Lines – 19th October 2017 – Joiners Arms replacement must stay open late, council rules
Talk Radio – Amy Southall – 13th October 2017 – Iconic London gay bar must stay standing for 25 years, council rules
Local Gov – Mark Whitehead – 13th October 2017 – Council rules new development must include LGBT nightclub
The Guardian – Rupert Neate – 12th October 2017 – Joiners Arms redevelopment must include LGBT nightclub, council rules
Planet Nation – 12th October 2017 – Friends of The Joiners Arms Celebrates Winning Landmark Campaign
Tower Hamlets Council – 12th October 2017 – LGBTQ+ venue on the site of Joiners Arms to re-open with extended hours
Left Foot Forward – Charlotte England – 12th October 2017 – London LGBT venue wins unprecedented victory against property developers
Vice – Amelia Abraham – 12th October 2017 – East London’s Most-Loved Gay Bar Has Been Saved From Developers
Hackney Citizen – 12th October 2017 – Joiners Arms campaigners celebrate ‘landmark’ ruling for iconic LGBT pub
Mix Mag – Jim Ottewill – 4th October 2017 – Oppose the developers: London is fighting to protect its LGBTQ+ clubs
The Financial Times – Justine Simmons – 3rd October 2017 – How culture moved beyond the fringe and became central in London
August 2017
The Guardian – Letter by Amy Robert co-chair of FOTJA – 9th August 2017 – We fear the Joiners Arms proposal is a Trojan horse draped in a rainbow flag
Gay Times – Lewis Corner – 8th August 2017 – Joiners Arms campaigners reject developer’s ‘landmark planning condition’
I-D – Alim Kheraji – 8th August 2017 – Queer venue must open on the site of the historic LGBTQ pub the Joiners Arms
QX Magazine – Dylan Jones – 8th August 2017 – People are questioning the “landmark planning condition” that promises to keep The Joiners’ site an LGBTQ space
The Docklands & East London Advertiser – Alex Shaw – 8th August 2017 – No LGBT pub, no deal’ Tower Hamlets Council tells developers
BBC News – 6th August 2017 – Joiners Arms development ‘must include LGBT venue’
Breitbart – Victoria Friedman – 6th August 2017 – London Developers Told Apartment Complex MUST Include Gay Bar
Pink News – Meka Beresford – 6th August 2017 – Developers ordered to reopen legendary London LGBT bar
Gay Star News – Jamie Tabberer – 6th August 2017 – London gay bar development must include an LGBTI space, in first of its kind planning permission
Evening Standard – Sean Morrison – 5th August 2017 – Redevelopment of well-loved Joiners Arms pub will only be granted if LGBT venue is included
The Telegraph – Nicola Harley – 5th August 2017 – Luxury flat development of legendary London gay bar must include LGBT pub, planners say *
Daily Mail – Charlie Moore – 5th August 2017 – London council planners insist a new block of flats must have a gay bar as a condition of the development – and they will send workers there to check it is ‘LGBT-friendly’ enough *
My So Called Gay Life – 4th August 2017 – Only if it’s includes gay venue on site, then you get your planning permission *
The Guardian – Rupert Neate – 4th August 2017 – You must include gay venue on site of Joiners Arms, planners tell developers *
*A few of these articles are misleading, the planning conditions agreed did not include a clause that the Mayor’s officer would assess if the venue was ‘sufficiently gay enough’. Additionally, despite being depicted as an overwhelming success for FOTJA within the press, at this point it was clear to us that the concessions within the application were inadequate, hindering the pubs original role for the community as a late-night venue and its commercial viability through the early licensing hours proposed. With advice from planning experts, existing LGBTQ venue operators, the Campaign for Real Ale, and lawyers, we continued in our opposition as the agreement offered no secure protection of the LGBTQ status of the proposed venue, allowed the developer to dictate all terms of the lease with minimal oversight, and thus further prevented the viability of an LGBTQ venue becoming established on the site. See Amy Roberts’ response to the Guardian article.
May 2017
Hackney Citizen – Andrew Barnes – 18th May 2017 – Legendary gay pub The Joiners Arms “back in business” with events on Hackney Road
March 2017
Timeout – 20th March 2015 – Friends of the Joiners Arms are leading a march to save Soho
January 2017
Attitude – 21st January 2017 – ‘Campaigners to protest two year closure of LGBT East London pub’
Pink News – Joseph Patrick McCormick – 20th January 2017 – Protesters to remember the closure of London gay pub the Joiners Arms
The Gay UK – January 2017 – Campaigners plan protest outside Joiners Arms two years after it closed
January 2015
Vice – Rebecca Zephyr Thomas – 8th January 2015 – Photographing the Faces of the Best Gay Bar in London
The Docklands & East London Advertiser – Mike Brooke – 16th January 2015 – ‘Friends’ join up with Tower Hamlets to save Joiners’ Arms gay pub
November 2014
Dazed – Zing Tzjeng – 6th November 2014 – The Joiners Arms: goodbye to all that
Vice- Cliff Joannou – 4th November 2014 – The Joiners’ Arms is Closing and It’s a Travesty
ID – Paul Flynn – 6th November 2014 – Remembering the Joiners Arms
Miscellaneous Pre-Friends of the Joiners Arms
The Ransom Note – East London’s Joiners Arms is forced out by developers
Newham Recorder – Alistair Kleebauer – 29th November 2013 – Pay London City Airport cleaners the Living Wage, say campaigners
Time Out – 20th June 2012 – Joiners Arms
QX Magazine – 9th May 2012 – Joiners Arms 15th Birthday
The Docklands & East London – 27th January 2011 – Shoreditch pub fights back against VAT hike
The Guardian – Sam Jones – 22nd October 2009 – Trafalgar Square death raises homophobia fears
BBC News – Andy Dangerfield – 21st October 2009 – Homophobic crime rise in London