Queer And There Zine Bonus Bits
QUEER AND THERE ZINE BONUS
THE NAUGHTY BITS by Sam Huxter
Not recommended for under 21s under-16s
As it stands today, Union Street may be better known for its mainstream venues, like the Plymouth
Pavilions, providing a wide variety of entertainments alongside clubs, bars, and other small
businesses. However, the street has also provided a sense of refuge for minority groups in the city,
when they have most needed it. It has played a vital role in the developing sexual identities of
Plymouth’s gay and bisexual men.
Letting off steam
The Manticore Spa and Sauna is located within the Genting Casino and caters predominantly for
queer men. Aside from the main sauna and bar areas, it includes private cabins, glory holes, and a
cinema room, with porn showings that are definitely rated ‘R’. It also hosts fetish nights, glowstick
parties – where the colour of your glowstick indicates your sexual position or preference – and
dedicated nights for trans women and ‘femboys’.
While still being quite discreet, the Manticore benefits from an age where gay saunas are perfectly
legal and above board – and in my opinion, rightly so. It is arguably more visible than other, less
overtly sexual spaces of years gone by. For example, venues in Plymouth in the 1950s – such as the
gay-owned café, Mambo – were pushed underground, as in other cities.
Dr Alan Butler is a leading researcher, and co-ordinator for the Plymouth LGBT Archive, whose work
has greatly influenced this chapter. He cites the Sexual Offences Act of 1956, which stated, “it is an
offence for a man to commit an act of gross indecency with another man” [3]
, doubling down on
previous legislation. Butler proposes that, along with a rise in arrests, this “caused the creation of
more secretive gay subcultures... as gay people sought out spaces where they felt safe to express
themselves” [4]
.
The Mambo therefore operated as a café during the day, and closed in the evening, only re-opening
under the cover of darkness and once other venues had finished their trade. This luckily seemed to
go unchallenged, as many people in Plymouth were happy to live and let live, according to Butler. In
fact, the patrons of Union Street, in particular, were a unique blend, who didn’t simply coexist, but
actively spent time with one another.
“Pubs, prostitutes, and the Paramount”
Butler cites these “three Ps” [5] as having been integral to the nightlife of local sailors, out on the
town from their bases at the Royal Navy in Devonport. The main draws were perhaps the Paramount
Dance Hall – a popular venue for single heteros looking to get down, in the most 1950s way possible
– and the well-known presence of sex-workers on the street (some of whom would also gather at the
Mambo café).
Since the servicemen were paid fortnightly, it was not uncommon for them to have spent most of
their wages in the first week after receiving them – perhaps in the pursuit of women – and then to
have run out of funds for their visits to local pubs. Male admirers would sense an opportunity, and
would buy them a drink, thereby coining the term “blank week” (a term seemingly unique to
Plymouth) [5]
. Sailors were often happy to oblige, and thanked the men in more ways than one,
putting the naughty into the nautical.
References
1. Plymouth’s Palace Theatre throughout the Ages
https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/history/plymouths-palace-theatre-cost-98000-474356
2. Flyer from 1953 variety show at the Palace, featuring Frankie Howerd
https://www.flickr.com/photos/plymouthhistory/5999044395/
3. Sexual Offences Act 1956 https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Eliz2/4-
5/69/enacted#:~:text=It%20is%20an%20offence%20for%20a%20man%20to%20commit%20an,gross
%20indecency%20with%20another%20man.
4. Going Underground – Plymouth LGBT Archive https://plymlgbtarchive.org.uk/2012/06/10/going-
underground/
5. Union Street’s ‘blank weeks’ when the LGBT+ community would meet for a drink
https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/history/union-streets-blank-weeks-lgbt-4983214