London’s sapphic scene is about to get a new permanent home. Dorothy’s, a lesbian and trans-centered neighborhood pub, is preparing to open in Camberwell this fall.
Created by couple Molly McCabe and Beth White, Dorothy’s will take over the former St George’s Tavern at 14 Coleman Road. The pair hopes to open the pub in early October 2026 following an extensive renovation.
London already has an incredible collection of lesbian club nights, sports groups, book clubs and pop-ups, but permanent sapphic venues remain surprisingly rare. Dorothy’s is designed to become the kind of place queer people can weave into their everyday lives, whether that means meeting friends for dinner, watching a game, stopping in alone or accidentally staying much later than planned.
A Proper Queer Neighborhood Pub
Dorothy’s will feel more like a local pub than a traditional nightclub. Plans include Sunday roasts, pub quizzes, supper clubs, rotating kitchen residencies, live music, DJs, drag and cabaret. The building will also have a beer garden and a separate pool room.
During the day, the atmosphere will be relaxed enough for coffee, lunch or catching up with a friend. Evenings will bring more energy without abandoning the neighborhood-pub feeling at the heart of the project.
Women’s sports will also have a reliable home on the pub’s screens. While the founders are Arsenal supporters, they told Broadsheet London that Dorothy’s will not be exclusively devoted to one team. Instead, they want to show a wider mix of women’s sports throughout the year, including the games that mainstream pubs frequently overlook outside major tournaments.
The pub also plans to showcase queer-owned and independent producers. Broadsheet reports that early partners include lesbian-owned Closet Brewing and queer natural winemakers Chateau Baby Girl. Dorothy’s house lager will come from a carbon-neutral, wind-powered family brewery, with a portion of sales from the house lager and wine supporting charitable causes.
Queer drinks, women’s sports, Sunday roasts and a pool table? We are listening.
Dorothy’s Honors London’s Lesbian History
The name Dorothy’s carries its own connection to queer London. It references the Gateways Club, one of the city’s most legendary lesbian venues, where “Dorothy” was reportedly once used as a password for entry.
The Gateways opened in Chelsea in the 1930s and later became an important gathering place for lesbians, queer women and gender-nonconforming people. It was also immortalized onscreen in the 1968 film The Killing of Sister George.
Naming the new pub Dorothy’s connects the project to a lineage of spaces where queer people found one another, built community and created culture. This time, however, there will be no secret password required.
The founders describe Dorothy’s as a lesbian and trans-centered space where trans women and nonbinary people are explicitly welcome. Accessibility is also part of the pub’s plans, including work to add an accessible bathroom to the older building.
Why Dorothy’s Belongs on a Queer London Itinerary
Permanent queer venues matter to locals, but they also transform the experience of visiting a city.
Finding sapphic nightlife while traveling often requires detective work. You have to locate the right Instagram account, check whether an event overlaps with your dates and buy a ticket before it sells out. Dorothy’s offers something wonderfully simple: a lesbian and sapphic pub that travelers can actually add to a London itinerary.
As Molly and Beth explained in an interview with DIVA, pop-ups and special events are valuable, but a permanent venue provides continuity. It creates somewhere people can visit without waiting for a particular night to feel connected to the community.
That distinction is important. Queer culture is not only created under disco lights at midnight. It also lives in afternoon conversations, football matches, shared meals, casual flirting and friendships that begin over a pool table.
The Community Is Helping Build Dorothy’s
The couple is investing their own savings into the project, but reviving a building that has not operated as a pub for several years requires significant work.
Dorothy’s launched a £20,000 crowdfunding campaign to help renovate the property and quickly surpassed its original goal. The campaign was extended with a £35,000 stretch target to fund additional improvements, particularly those related to accessibility.
Supporters have purchased future drinks, backed the project financially and volunteered professional skills. That enthusiasm says a great deal about how urgently sapphic people want spaces that feel permanent, welcoming and truly theirs.
Dorothy’s is aiming to open in early October 2026 at 14 Coleman Road in Camberwell, South London. Follow Dorothy’s on Instagram for renovation updates and its official opening announcement.
