A lot has been written about how gorgeous the new space looks after such a long campaign. I wanted to find out a bit more from one of my friends and leading activists in the campaign, Alex Green, about what kept him going so that these lessons can be useful for anyone else out there dreaming BIG to bring QUEER JOY to the masses.

What motivated you to fight for so long?

Aside from stubbornness… really, it was a combination of my own history with the Black Cap and my hatred of stupidity and injustice that kept me, all of us, going.

When I first arrived in London as a bleached-blond 19-year-old singer in a dark electro-gothic band, the Cap quickly became my home, where I found my people. Where I felt safe, finally, to be the great big homosexual I clearly was.

Alex Green, Dan Glass and Jenny Boyn (long standing BlackCapactivist)

But also, I find any kind of injustice maddening. I come from a family of scrappers, parents who would do anything to help others in the community (despite them having ten kids of their own and barely surviving). I’d been involved in a lot of activism in the past, anti-racist, homelessness, and green issue campaigns around food waste – I set up the food charity FareShare with a bunch of other misfits, for example.

But other than Pride and Section 28 marches, I hadn’t really stepped in to use my various’ skills’ to fight for the LGBTQ+ community in any impactful way. The Cap, my long-time favourite bar, was first threatened with residential development; then, its closure triggered something in me. Plus, it came on the back of a whole series of LGBTQ+ places and spaces being closed or disappearing.

It was 100% the brilliant Black Cap Community and #WeAreTheBlackCap campaign family, against some big odds, and not always positive support from some in our own community (don’t get me started), that gave me the motivation to stay the distance.

I always say I met my chosen family at the Cap when it was open, but I feel blessed to have also added to that family while standing outside the Cap, for over a decade, with some of the toughest, bravest, clever people I have ever met. I am so proud to know them, and of them, it’s hard to put into words… and I’m pretty good at words – well, saying them.

What was your secret to being so resilient?

A really great team who, despite many differences in personality and temperament, shared one goal. To save and reopen the Black Cap. Pooling ideas, skills and talents. Respect for one another and the community, along with a lot of fun, have kept us resilient. Frankly, I have treated this group like my personal therapy group, and I have felt loved and encouraged by them in a way I rarely have.

I’m not sure I would have regained enough confidence to relaunch my writing and performing endeavours without this group, as odd as that may sound. So, thank you, BlackCaptivist Central, for that.

What advice would you give to others starting out on similar battles?

Anger and passion are the engines that start activism and, of course, sustain it, but you must find a way in your group to channel that anger and passion into something tangible. I’m passionate and loud, and a bit unbearable at times (I am aware), but thankfully, I, and others in our Black Cap Community family, are also good at the strategy and planning side of things, too.

It’s boring, but if you don’t know where you’re going, you won’t know where to go, and you won’t know when you get there. Agreeing on a simple vision or goal, e.g. ‘Save and Reopen the Black Cap’, and then being clear about how you will work to achieve that.

I am so proud of our decade-plus vigil protests outside the Black Cap, but they were just the shop front of a lot of hard work behind the scenes to meet that goal, not always directly by us, but instigated by us through collaboration and pestering, and guided by our strategy and plans.

That said, don’t wait for the boring plan when you need to get your banner made and go kick some arse.

Jenny Boyn, Dan Glass and Lazare Lazaro (on floor) One of the bedrooms on offer: Ms Chief.

What are you proudest about yourself and the other Black Cap activists?

Sticking to our goal as a group. Aside from myself, we have other massive personalities from all walks of life leading the #WeAreTheBlackCap campaign, but because we were all very clear about the one big goal, we were able to quite often scrap it out and find a way.

Anyone who has ever been involved in any kind of activism, group, membership situation, knows the ‘drama of kind souls – meeting for good’ can be a painful experience. So often, these well-meaning and often important activities don’t get followed through because lovely people can’t agree on what kind of tea to have at the meeting.

I am glad we chose the right tea.