2 weeks Ago
A community group has launched a fundraiser to save a historic pub as it is set to go up for sale. Queer The Marly are hoping to raise £400k to purchase The Actors pub, formerly the Marlborough Pub and also known as The Marly, on Prince’s Street in Brighton. The pub is due to be sold later this year, and the group hope their purchase would ensure the site is cherished as a “permanent queer cultural centre”.
The pub has played an important role in Brighton’s LGBTQIA+ community for over 60 years, hosting Gay Liberation Front meetings in the 1970s, to being a hub for the lesbian community in the 90s, to helping launch the UK’s first Trans Pride in 2013. On their GoFundMe site, the group says: “Built as an inn in 1787, our little corner of Brighton has been many things to many people. “More than a pub, this building has been a community tavern, an arts venue, a cultural site, a space to support human rights, and a place to find belonging.
“The Marly cares about queer wellbeing and continues to find ways to improve accessibility in the space. “The Marly has been there for our community. Now, it needs us to be there for it!” After the Covid lockdown, the pub’s future fell into uncertainty.
The community rallied together to protect it and in 2022 the venue was registered as an asset of community value - a legal recognition of the building’s cultural importance. The group has already raised over £3,000 - but only has until June to meet their target and secure a mortgage for the building. They have said if they are unable to buy the pub, money will be refunded to contributors.
Donations can be made via the Queer The Marly GoFundMe website and the public can stay up to date with the project on their Instagram..
