Crushed by huge debts, the lesbian, queer and feminist bar is at risk of closing after more than ten years of existence. The LGBT+ community is mobilizing to save the festive and activist venue.
The Mutinerie’s call for help has been heard. The sidewalks of Rue Saint-Martin, in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris, are overflowing with people on the evening of Tuesday, September 3. People sit on the sidewalk with a drink in their hand or around a table when they can find a small spot. Just forty-eight hours ago, the Mutinerie, a mecca of Parisian LGBT+ culture, released the news on Instagram: after more than ten years of existence, the doors of the bar could close for good in a few months, due to major financial difficulties.
Since Sunday, messages of encouragement have been pouring into the mailbox of the collective that has been running the feminist, lesbian and queer bar since 2013. Those who had never dared to come, but also former regulars or current regulars. “We have about three times as many people as usual,” smiles Claire, co-manager of the bar for nine years, glasses on her nose. We meet her again two hours later with her girlfriend, both of them dragging a keg of beer from the bar opposite: “There are so many people that we have nothing left to drink, we have to borrow from the neighbors!” she rejoices.
“We have too few bars like this left”
If “la Mut'” has its head under water, it is because excessive debts have led the commercial court to place it in receivership. Costly soundproofing work, the impact of Covid that is still being felt, and the cherry on the cake: the Olympic Games have caused a drop in attendance “by 30% during the summer”, according to the collective. The bar now has three months to prove that it can hold up. If it fails, the business could be resold without the collective at the head of the Mutinerie – composed entirely of employees – having any say in the future owner. Their goal is therefore to increase attendance in order to “show the court the support of our community,” insists Claire, 35 years old and co-manager for nine years. “We will do everything to stay open.”
“If I had known a place like this when I was younger, I would have come out years earlier.”
— Anne-Claire, client of the Mutinerie.
After hearing that the place was under threat, Rose didn’t hesitate for a second. She came there to spend the evening over pints of beer with her partner. Her attachment to the Mutiny makes it unthinkable for her to think that it could no longer exist. In 2020, when she came out as a lesbian to her family at the age of 48, it was one of the first places she went. “Everyone knows what it represents,” she insists, leaning on a small black table under a subdued light. Her lover, Anne-Claire, continues: “There are too few bars like this left in Paris, where you feel safe, whether you are a woman or a trans person.” Over the years, many queer venues have had to close in the capital due to financial difficulties. Like the lesbian bar Le Troisième Lieu, which was forced to close in 2012, where Anne-Claire was a regular. She doesn’t want to see history repeat itself: “We need this emblematic place of lesbian culture. If I had known a place like this when I was younger, I would have come out years earlier.”
At La Mutinerie, you don’t just have a drink. You can find LGBT + associations like Acceptess-Transgenre or Outrans. Lesbian discussion groups or groups dedicated to victims of sexist and sexual violence. A space to exchange when you are wondering about your sexual orientation or gender identity. “We are like an LGBT+ center bis», Claire explains simply, on behalf of the collective. Every year, the bar is open on December 24, to allow those who cannot celebrate Christmas with their family not to be alone.
“This place saved lives”
Cup in hand on the terrace of the bar, striped beret screwed on her long brown curls, Ambre, 26, recalls other significant initiatives. One in particular comes to mind: during Covid, food distributions were organized within the walls of the Mutinerie for transgender people and sex workers in difficulty. “This place has saved lives,” she assures.
The young woman discovered the bar at the age of 18, having just arrived in Paris from Toulouse. It was one of her “first landmarks” in the capital. She glances at the bright black and red storefront behind her. This decoration based on improbable posters and paintings was part of the decor of her first steps in the capital, when she was “a little lost” and looked for places where she would feel “accepted as [elle est]». Like many, she cannot imagine a rue Saint-Martin without its “Mut'”. Not only for her, but for “future generations” : “For all those queer youth who, when they don’t know where to go, will always find the Mutinerie open.”
