Sex parties across London and the UK are closing, and it matters. So why do we fight for Fabric and mourn Plastic People, but forget to care about inclusive, liberating, diverse, celebratory nights of sex?
While much has been said about the city's dwindling club scene, the gradual erasure of sex parties and the venues that host them has gone mostly unnoticed. Few people are aware that the same market forces are threatening to push out London's sex party scene for good. If you've never been or even wanted to go to a sex party of any kind, you may think these changes don't matter. Yet the issues that currently threaten their existence should concern anyone who wants to live in a London that offers a night out beyond curfews, overpriced drinks and Ed Sheeran.
They matter too for those of us that care about sexual expression and preserving queer spaces - as well consenting adults having the freedom to collectively explore a fundamental human drive.
Much like any genre of music, sex parties can be subdivided into a range of related, yet distinct, forms. Play parties and orgies differ from swingers parties or kink events. They take place in a range of different spaces - regular clubs with a separate playroom full of beds, dedicated clubs, dark rooms, dungeons, and more private domestic-style environments.
The last few years have seen the closure of historic sex clubs and saunas such as Chariots, The Hoist, Stunners and Murder Mile, along with the dark room at The Eagle, and nightclub Shapes, which hosted one of London's largest sex parties. Numerous nights such as Peer Kink and Klub Fukk have also folded. With the remaining venues across London under considerable financial and licensing pressure, suitable spaces are becoming harder to find.
