Please note there are two tours on this date: 11am – 1pm and 3pm – 5pm. You can get your ticket here.

Join us this Febuary as we explore the vast and complex history of gay and lesbian life in London and learn how we have evolved into the dynamic and thriving LGBTQ+ community we enjoy in London today. The tour is a fundraising event to raise money for LGBT HERO’s vital work for LGBTQ+ people, including mental health, wellbeing, sexual health and peer support.

The Tour takes you through central London from Charing Cross to Soho Square on an exciting journey through the ages, detailing a fascinating history of a sordid and secret existence for many. We look at some of the iconic gay people of the time, discuss landmarks, venues, parks, characters and events that have all helped shape and shake the resilient LGBTQ+ community from adversity to one that absolutely thrives on the global stage today.

We will take a deeper dive into the historic suffering that living a gay life endured in the past, enduring a systemic and clandestine repression when it came to the law and death sentences of many. This includes the pioneering drag queens of the 1700s who paved the way for others, secret gay soirées of the 1920s, the birth of Gay Pride in the 1970s and the devastating impact AIDS had on our community in the 1980s.

No stone is left unturned in this time line of dramatic events as we walk up to Soho, taking in the wonderful sights and hearing about the queer history stories integral in such well known areas as Trafalgar Square and Picadilly Circus.

Finishing the tour in Soho Square, we consider present day life and discuss how London has got to this point, how much further it still needs to go and how we are incorporating the changing needs in society of a more gender fluid and non-binary generation.

Come on this Soho Queer History Walking Tour to understand it’s past and celebrate why London is one of the most exciting and openly free societies of the modern age, with the largest demographic of openly LGBTQIA 🏳️‍🌈 people in Europe!

Tour Highlights include:​

​Roman Queer Influence
Heaven Nightclub
Oscar Wilde
​The History of Gay Pride and the Gay Liberation Front
Molly Houses
Tea rooms
The Admiral Duncan
The AIDS Eipidemic
and much more, including personalised stories from your tour guide, Marcus James, who’s been a regular part of the evolving LGBTQ+ scene for (gulp) 30 years! Along with historical facts, expect some open, honest and hopefully entertaining anecdotes that Marcus will be happy to share!

Meeting Point – The Clermont Hotel, Charing Cross

​We begin outside the Clermont Hotel, next to Charing Cross Station, just near the underground station. The station is on the Bakerloo and Northern line, and around a 5 minute walk from Leicester Square and Embankment Station.

We recommend arriving 10 minutes before the tour starts, it gives you plenty of time to meet the guide and grab a coffee and snack if needed and use the toilet.

ABOUT YOUR HOST.

Marcus started working for the gay press in 2005. Since then he’s been an integral part of the teams at a variety of gay men’s lifestyle titles over the years, including Gay Times and Attitude magazines.

He now works for Gay London Life and for the last two years has been taking the Queer History walking tour but also working as a supporting artist on films and tv shows such as The Crown, House of the Dragon, Ted Lasso, Napoleon and Slow Horses, etc.

On the 18/02/2024 we will be running a morning and afternoon tour.

Morning tour: 11am – 1pm

Afternoon tour: 3pm – 5pm

Choose the ticket for your preferred tour when you click Get Tickets.

*Every penny raised from the Soho Queer History Walk will go towards the important work of LGBT HERO, which includes providing help, support and advice through mental health and wellbeing information, sexual health support, peer support groups and peer-to-peer support forums.

*LGBT HERO is the national health & wellbeing charity supporting 100,000+ LGBTQ+ people a month to create personal and social change. Equal Health. Equal rights.