History of the Queer the Marly campaign

In 2021, in the midst of plague, a group of activists came together to seek to protect the Marlborough pub (as it was then known). It was being sold. As a means of protecting the venue's position as a queer pub par excellance - earlier as a dyke pub, and later as one of the few safe spaces for trans folk - an Asset of Community Value [ACV].

It registers a building as one of particular interest to a given local community - in this case, Brighton's queer community. It means that when a building comes up for sale, that interest group is given first refusal on buying the property. It's designed as a way to guarantee that assets of community value do not disappear to the vagaries of real estate transactions.

You can see the application - ref ACV/APP/2018/003 - on the council's website, https://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2024-11/List%20of%20Assets%20of%20Community%20Value%20%201%20Nov%2024_.pdf (sorry for the ugly link, 'tis the way of URLs I'm afraid)

I think to be honest the council are probably best suited to answer any questions on this - the long and the short of our story is that the ACV has put us in a position to fundraise to buy the Marlborough / Actors building for the queer community's wellbeing. And you can contribute to that from our home page. The council's website, meanwhile, has more info on ACVs: https://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/planning/planning-city/lists-assets-community-value