Every effort has been made to provide accurate information and review the venues fairly, but the reader should note that details can change frequently . This guide is not intended to be an authority on the scene, so if you go somewhere that I've made sound nice and you can't stand it, don't blame me!

I should also point out that these reviews have been written independently and without the knowledge of the owners/managers/promoters of the venues listed and represent the average view of a number of LGB students.

If any of the details given are incorrect or incomplete, please send any changes via e-mail.

Art's Cafe

Location: Call Lane.

Style: Cafe-bar with more emphasis on the cafe. Displays of artwork by local artists on the walls.

Access: Poor - the toilets require going down some narrow steps.

Prices: Food is reasonably priced and so are non-alcoholic drinks, but alcoholic drinks are a little more expensive than in bars.

Clientele: Relaxed and laid back.

Review: Art's is a 'gay-friendly' venue. The food is delicious and not too expensive, and it fills up in the evenings. Regular live jazz graces this venue and is very popular.

Blayd's (0113 2445590)

Location: Blayds Yard, Lower Briggate. Open 1pm till pub closing time , 7 days.

Style: Intimate, modern bar.

Access: Very small, so unsuitable for wheelchair users.

Prices: Average prices for in-city bar.

Clientele: Mixed.

Review: Nice if you want somewhere a bit smaller but the staff often get annoyed if you take up the little space there is and dont buy drinks. Place for a pleasant drink.

The Bridge Inn (0113 2444734)

Location: Bridge End (corner of Lower Briggate and Call Lane).

Style: Traditional style pub, but with the odd camp twist here and there.

Access: The toilets are downstairs, making it unsuitable for wheelchair users.

Prices: Average bar prices on a good range of drinks .

Clientele: Fairly average people with quite often a good mix of men and women. More popular with the over-25s.

Review: Recently reviewed in Boyz (08.08.98) as a bent boozer , there's not much else to say really except that The Bridge is a generally nice venue. It's attempted to become a bit of a pre-club pub on Thursdays to Saturdays by having one of the bar staff turn DJ and play loud music and this is fairly successful . Pub grub is available during the day. Extended hours on some nights for members.

Cafe Junction

Location: Call Lane.

Style: Cafe-bar. Orange and deep purple walls. Giant cogs on the ceiling. Stylish continental feel.

Access: Good - a ramp leads to the entrance rather than steps and a dedicated disabled toilet exists.

Prices: One of the pricer bars .

Clientele: Cafe Junction is a mixed bar and is quite often predominantly straight. You need to be fairly smartly dressed to get in.

Review: Cafe Junction is still a bit of a newcomer to the scene in Leeds, having been open just over a year now . It's fairly quiet a lot of the time, but does get packed at weekends. The venue has a strict no-attitude policy.

The Fruit Cupboard (Cafe Junction's Club)

Location: Call Lane, in Cafe Junction.

Style: Same as Cafe Junction (which itself forms part of the club).

Access: Poor - if you use a wheelchair you'll have to stay downstairs in the main bar.

Prices: Club entry prices are reasonable but drinks prices tend to be on the higher side.

Hours: Open 10.30pm till late. Closed some nights.

Clientele: The club is predominantly straight but has a strict no-attitude policy .

Review: Worth a visit just to find out whether you can get in , I have seen door staff refusing entry to single-sex groups.

The New Penny (0113 2438055)

Location: Call Lane.

Style: Deep pink floral wallpaper, deep pink rouched curtains on stage, low lighting.

Access: For men it is reasonable, but the ladies toilets are downstairs making it unsuitable for female wheelchair users.

Prices: Cheaper beer than many of the other gay venues .

Clientele: Varies, but mostly slightly older plus a spattering of die hard 'Scene Queens' who can't bear to go out without visiting every venue. Very male dominated.

Review: The New Penny (sometimes referred to as the 'Tarnished Farthing') is the oldest of the city centre gay pubs and certainly shows it in its interior decor, which some describe as 'seedy' and reminiscent of the gay bar in Police Academy though it's not filled with men in leather with handlebar moustaches and black caps , well , okay , I've seen a couple . It's worth a visit though . Described in Boyz (08.08.98) as having a traditional boozer feel to it. Open normal pub hours.

The Old Red Lion

Location: Meadow Lane (across Leeds Bridge from 'The Bridge Inn').

Style: Traditional style pub.

Access: Good access for wheelchair users.

Prices: Information not available.

Clientele: Generally older (40s and above).

Review: Often referred to as 'The Old Dead Lion' because of the age of its clientele, this pub is comfortable and quiet, so is perhaps somewhere to consider going to if you want to just sit and talk without thumping music getting in the way, whilst still being in the safe surroundings of a gay venue.

Metz Cafe Bar

Location: New York Street (next to the market).

Style: Cafe Bar. Plain stark decor.

Access: Reasonable access for wheelchair users.

Prices: Slightly more expensive than Queens.

Clientele: Very mixed - with a slogan 'Dont Discriminate, Integrate', customers vary with the time of day.

Review: A new and trendy bar, it can lack atmosphere at times. The food is good but expensive althogh sevrice was slow when I ate there. An offshoot of Metz in Manchester, the place still needs a bit of breaking in to give it some atmosphere.

Queens Court Bar (0113 2459449)

Location: Lower Briggate.

Style: Cafe-Bar. Deep purple, blue and green walls and sofas, arty brass candleholders on the walls, stylish and very corridor-like! Courtyard outside for warm weather drinking.

Access: About four steps need to be negotiated to get to the toilets, but staff are willing to assist wheelchair users if necessary. A dedicated disabled toilet is provided.

Prices: Reasonable in-city prices and regular special offers.

Clientele: Large age mix (lots of young people), good mix of men and women.

Review: Queens Court opened in June '96 and was immediately a success - packing customers in every night. Since then trade has fallen off a bit, but it still fills up late in the evening and it's quite often a nightmare getting served (although the staff do their best to serve as quickly as possible). The majority of students who go out on the scene come here. Good, reasonably priced food is available throughout the week including lunchtimes.

Queens Court Club(0113 2459449)

Location: Lower Briggate, upstairs from Queens Court's bar.

Style: Same as the bar. The dancefloor is quite small.

Access: Poor - a spiral staircase leads up from the main bar to the club, but door staff are willing to assist.

Prices: Entry prices are reasonable and discounted with membership. Membership is available on the door ; note : renewal is due Feb 99. Draught prices have also recently been reduced.

Hours: The club opens between 10.30pm and 11pm depending on the night, and closes at 2pm. Mondays is Carry on Camping with alcoholic drinks �1 , Tuesdays is Cabaret (Stripper), Wednesdays the club is open with Cans of Carling �1 , Thursdays is 70S Night with DJ Glen, Fridays is the cheesier Weekend night (til 3a.m.) with Saturday being the more up to date night when the club is open til 4a.m.

Clientele: More male dominated than the main bar, but still with a good number of women. All ages come, but like the main bar it attracts large numbers of young people.

Review: Fairly quiet early in the week, but reaches capacity at the weekend, when it can be quite difficult getting from one end to the other. Music varies from 'gay anthems' through 70s and 80s retro trash, to dance and house. Regular themed nights and the occasional PA keep people coming back for more. Currently Moday nights admission is cheap and drinks are only a quid so thats good for an extended weekend . Q-jumper tickets on Fridays and Saturdays, enable you to buy entry to the club between 8pm-11pm, then waltz past everyone who hasn't got one once the club opens. These have proved so popular that you end up queuing with everyone else who's got one, but at least you're guaranteed to get in and can pop off for a bite to eat first. Note though that management still reserve the right to refuse admission.

Velvet (0113 2425079)

Location: 11-13 Hirst's Yard.

Style: Designer interior style, fittings by Philippe Starck if you were wondering. Jazzy cafe atmosphere .

Access: Stairs make the venue inaccessible to wheelchair users.

Prices: Drinks are expensive.

Hours: Usual bar hours.

Clientele: Predominantly gay, quite well dressed.

Review: Well decorated and stylish, a venue to take your partner to for an intimate night out, rather than a place to pull. Serves Food .

Red Raw

Location: Club Nato, Boar Lane. Runs every first Tuesday of the month.

Style: Nato features a large, semi-industrial dance area (the 'Raw Room') and a smaller room, made out like a headquarters (the 'Red Room'). Bronze statues abound.

Access: Lots of stairs, so unsuitable for wheelchair users.

Prices: Admission is discounted with a Bitch member card, and sometimes with flyers.

Hours: Open till 2am, then everyone is kicked out of the Red Room which then reopens for a recovery session till 4am, costing �2 to get in.

Clientele: Big mix of people from all over the region - coaches come from as far away as Newcastle! Very popular with the young crowd.

Review: Red Raw is simply brilliant - it was voted Best Midweek Club Night (UK) by the readers of Boyz magazine. It's the biggest gay night in the North and, because of this, a lot of people really make an effort to dress up and there is quite an electric atmosphere. Regular PAs and themed nights keep the punters coming back month after month. The Raw Room features dance and hard house, while the Red Room chills on a mix of funky 70s and 80s tunes. Nato being quite a large club, it can be easy to lose the people you're with and then spend ages looking for them, but this becomes less of a problem the more people you know since absolutely everybody goes there! The night is very popular with students, many of whom haven't missed a single Red Raw while they've been in Leeds!

Speed Queen

Location: The Warehouse, Somers Street. Runs on Saturday nights.

Style: Funky, stylish, outrageous, a clubbers club .

Access: Lots of stairs around (the men's toilets are upstairs) so access for wheelchair users is poor.

Prices: Expensive entry price , (around �10) but worth it for six and a half hours (closes at 4.30 a.m.). Membership is available, but only to regulars who also manage to get to know the people running the nig ht.

Hours: 10 - 4.30.

Clientele: The door policy ensures that only people who have made a real effort to dress fabulously get in. It 's a smiley, happy, no-attitude crowd at this mixed night.

Review: Originally 'Vague' then @ Club Nato under the name 'i-Spy', this night has been at The Warehouse for a while now but still seems fresh every week . Speed Queen is probably one of the best nights out I have ever had in Leeds . Speed Queen is run by the same people who ran V ague and it is indeed a very similar night. Well worth going to at least once, it can become quite addictive .

Poptastic

Location: The Cockpit (appropriate eh ?) near Leeds Train Station. Every Thursday from 10 - 2.

Style: Gay Indie (Finally !)

Access: Not accessible for wheelchairs

Prices: Cheap in , Cheap drinks !

Hours: 10 - 2

Clientele: Different to most other nights with a number of students , predominantly gay indie kids .

Review: Had a totally fantastic time the first time I went and have been back every week since . The two rooms are well suited to cater for the different tastes of the crowd , with indie in the main section and chesier tunes played in the smaller room . With entry and drinks being so cheap it is difficult to imagine not going every week for the rest of term ! The POPTASTIC crew are now runnign a number of nights all over the North including Sheffield, Manchester and Liverpool as well as Leeds and have been described by a main stream muzik mag as 'The best indie night in the country'.

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The information and views provided in these webpages are neither those of Leeds University Union nor those of the University of Leeds. They are those of LUU LGB.