Queer Street

"Although our approach has always been to be inclusive, with Queer Street we had been attempting to do something that was more reclaimed for the LGBT community - to say this is a gay space.

In its defence, Birmingham's Queer Street disputes the suggestion that the Canal Street bar's reputation extends across the country.

His father John was in Queer Street and was ultimately thrown in prison due to his spiraling debts.

Queer Street is the latest venture by family firm GB Holdings, headed by Birmingham Pride director Lawrence Barton.

Girl, the queer street punk in Katia Noyes's debut novel, on the other hand, approaches this intrinsic search for home in the reverse, traveling from her frantic life in San Francisco to the lonely heartland of the United States.

Hopefully the excellent Steve Mason and Rob Wright can guide me along the rocky road away from Queer Street.

But using the phrase 'bar food' unfortunately conjures up images of microwaved gristle-pies thrown on a grubby table in a grimy pub in Queer Street. Let us at once dispense with this imagery, for All Bar One serves up bar food in a wholly different categ ory, and indeed much higher quality.

And this weekend Channel 4 takes us down Queer Street and asks: "Is it only lesbians and gay men who can be queer or can anyone join in?"

At this rate, I'm heading off to Queer Street with my rag-bound ratboy sons.

I've always wanted to become a published writer and to open up an LGBT youth center, with a focus on queer street kids.

This is the first of many quotes that James McCourt uses as a chapter heading in his new book, Queer Street, and it's a revealing one.

Jaquie Lawrence, commissioning editor for Queer Street, Channel 4's late- night gay and lesbian programmes, said: "From British television, you wouldn't know what lesbians did in bed.

But they're not the only ones in queer street. Only last week came the very real threat of Mansfield players refusing to play their final fixture after pay cheques bounced for the second month r unning.

The disconnect between those of us who were witness to old-school gay society and those who have come to maturity in an age of pride is one of the many subjects of the you-can't-dam-this-stream-of-consciousness prose of James McCourt in his lavishly enjoyable book Queer Street. There's a lot of windy but pretty chuff to get through before you get his rhythm, but once gotten, it's fairly addictive.

But with five minutes to go they surrendered a try to the Scottish left wing, Conan Sharman, and back they shuffled on to queer street.