Gay in the 1980s – myths about Manchester: you couldn’t see into gay pubs because we were all so frightened

THE CLAIM

Gay life was furtive, with us scared out of our wits all the time, creeping around the “dank alleyways” near Canal Street under cover of darkness. For that reason all gay pubs in Manchester had curtains or blacked out windows so people couldn’t see inside. Manto bar, which opened on Canal Street in 1991, was groundbreaking because you could look in from outside.

THE REALITY

Until the 1990s, whether they were gay or mainstream, many pubs had curtains at the windows or frosted glass. Think about the Rovers Return in Coronation Street and the Queen Vic in Eastenders.

Closer to home in Manchester, take a look at these examples which were found quickly in the Local Image Collection: one, two, three, four.

The Coach and Horses, which is seen here in 1989, stood opposite Piccadilly Station on London Road. Not a gay pub, but you can see the front window has net curtains.

This may have been motivated in part by a desire to prevent children from seeing inside pubs. In the same way that betting and sex shops weren’t allowed to have unobscured windows.

Until The Licensing Act 2003 the opening times of pubs were strictly controlled. Some would lock the doors, draw the curtains, and carry on serving for a little while illegally. They didn’t want people (or the police) looking in.

In the 1980s some bar and clubs were in cellars and had no windows: Stuffed Olives, Heros, High Society.

While it’s true that outsiders couldn’t look into The Rembrandt or Union, my memory is that people passing could see into the Thompsons Arms on Sackville Street. It had big unobscured windows. Am I right? Let me know in the comments. I remember being in there in 1984 and seeing the pop video for Wham’s “Club Tropicana” on the new-fangled video jukebox!

And here is New York New York in early 1990, a year before Manto bar opened. As you can see, you can look right in!

These stories are tall tales from marketeers and their cronies who repeat them endlessly. They want to play up how bad everything was in the past, supposedly. The reality is that in those days the venues were fabulous, safe and 99% gay. There was a great sense of warmth and safety when you walked inside.