‘Allsorts’ LBGT night at The Place nightclub closes

The LBGT (Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay and Transgender) night promoted as 'Allsorts' at The Place has closed following falling popularity, with the club's general manager saying that the LBGT scene in Cambridge as a whole has "diminished beyond belief".

The closure and Mr. Kingerley's comments, which he said left the club "very disappointed" after six years of running such nights, come almost a year to the day after CUSU's LBGT executive withdrew its support for the event.

As The Cambridge Student (TCS) reported over a year ago, the then re-named night 'Thrust' sparked controversy with students complaining it was too sexually-orientated and excluded women. After extensive discussions between CUSU and the night's organisers, Thrust Promotions, the LBGT executive branch of the Union told TCS that "Members of the LBGT Executive were at odds with an unpopular name...which we felt was wholly unsuitable to a CUSU night."

Since then CUSU has launched a new night at popular bar-club Revolution in Downing Street, Cambridge, named 'Rendezvous'.

"The new night has turned out to be a success" states CUSU's current LBGT President, Raymond Li. He said he felt indifferent towards the closure of the once-popular night at The Place, as he had been aware of the event's difficulties.

Mr. Kingerley, however, went a step further in claiming that not only had the club been suffering from "a lack of custom" but also a "lack of support", with dwindling interest from both universities and townsfolk. He made it clear however, that he did not attribute any of this to CUSU's original decision to withdraw its support for The Place's event.

As for such events in general, it seems that debate continues over the ability of the LBGT community to improve its inclusivity. Selwyn College's LBGT officer for the JCR, Taz Rasul, believes this can be improved with the alteration of her community's name: "My proposal to change the name [SelLBGT] to Selwyn Sexuality and Gender (or similar) is an effort to open up the LBGT community so that it is not so insular".

In the wider community, disagreement remains between students over the closure of Allsorts. Ms. Rasul's predecessor, Owen Pyle, described the night Rendezvous as "a huge success" but Mr. Kingerley called it "really, really quiet". Mr. Pyle was firm however in saying: "people could have continued attending The Place's night, but they didn't."

Samuel Monks - News Reporter