This year marks 40 years since the infamous lesbian bar The Gateways closed its doors for the final time
BY BELLA FRANCIS, IMAGE BY JONATHAN PHANG
The Gateways was a popular lesbian nightclub that opened around 1931 and is considered the longest-surviving lesbian nightclub in the world.
In 1936, the building, located at 239 Kings Road on the corner of Bramerton Street in Chelsea, was legally converted into a members’ club. It was taken over by a bookie named Ted Ware in 1943 after he won the lease in a bet at a broadcast boxing event at the Dorchester Hotel.
He initially offered the space as a hang-out to a group of his lesbian friends who had been kicked out of their old Soho joint after new owners took over and banned them. Ted then allowed the bar to become a meeting place for the Chelsea Arts Club, a private members’ club composed of artists. The bar quickly became home to many gay and lesbian regulars.
In 1947, Ted was in the Gateways when he met actress Gina Cerrato. Gina was born in Italy in 1922 but grew up in Cardiff. The young star had come to London to pursue her acting career and had already appeared in several films. Despite Ted being Gina’s senior by over twenty years, the pair hit it off and were married in July 1953. They had one child together in 1954, Gina Jr, and remained together until Ted died in 1979.
Gina helped Ted run the Gateways until, nearing retirement, Ted gradually left Gina in charge. Gina was helped by an American ex-air force woman known as “Smithy”, who lived with the Wares as a close friend of the family.
In 1967, Gina made the bar, which was affectionately known as “The Gates”, women-only: solidifying its status as a lesbian bar.
In this same year, Gina’s daughter (Gina Jr) first discovered the club’s clientele and purpose. In an interview with The Guardian, she reminisced about her mother telling her: “‘I want to talk to you about something because you’re going to hear about this at school. You do know what the club is, don’t you?’ I said: ‘What do you mean? It’s a club,’ and she said: ‘It’s a lesbian club, Gina.’”
“I said: ‘What?’ And she said: ‘Lesbians! You know, women with women.’ So I was, like: ‘Really? Really?'”
“I think I then said: ‘Does Dad know?’ And she said: ‘He started it! It’s his club!'”
In its heyday in the 1960s, the club was popular with celebrities like singer Dusty Springfield, actress Diana Dors, and artist Maggi Hambling. Mick Jagger also reportedly once asked to come into the club, telling Gina Sr “Gina, please let me – I’ll wear a dress”, to which she replied “Darling, I can’t – it’s women-only”.
The bar has also been featured multiple times in mainstream media. Maureen Duffy’s 1966 novel The Microcosm was set in the Gateways, and explores the lives and relationships of the club’s patrons, using the club as a microcosm of the wider world and examining the freedom and constraints experienced by lesbians during that era.
The club and several regular club-goers also featured in the 1968 film The Killing Of Sister George, which was one of the earliest mainstream films to feature lesbianism. The movie stars Beryl Reid who plays a soap actor (June) who spends her time drinking and engaging in lesbian sex with her much younger lover Alice.
In 2022, the club was even given its own documentary by Jackdaw Media/Anibus Films titled Gateway’s Grind: London’s Secret Lesbian Club, presented by Sandi Toksvig. The documentary features interviews from several regulars and DIVA’s very own editor-in-chief Roxy Bourdillon, as well as a deeper dive into the building’s fascinating history.
As well as being a social hub, The Gateways was also an epicentre for queer social change. The Minorities Research Group, which started in 1963, was the first Nationwide Lesbian Group in the United Kingdom and it recruited members from Gateways’ clientele. The first Kenric group also used to meet regularly in the Gateways club on Monday nights. The group was established in 1965 by lesbians in the Kensington and Richmond areas to provide social opportunities for lesbians to meet and connect, particularly during a time when it was difficult for them to do so openly.
In the 1980s, more gay and lesbian venues began opening in central London causing the Gateways to lose clientele. The neighbourhood around Chelsea went very upmarket and, in 1985, the club lost its late license due to complaints about loud music. The final event at the Gateways was a social event for the Kenric lesbian group on Monday 24 September 1985. Longstanding members removed the nameplate from the front door as a souvenir, amongst other fixtures and fittings.
In January 2020, an application was made to English Heritage for a blue plaque next to what was the dull green door in Chelsea. It is supported by many prominent lesbians but the outcome is still pending.
Gateways Grind:London’s Secret Lesbian Club is available to watch on BBC iPlayer until 8 July.
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