By Ashley Jones

A Cardiff store which supports people from the LGBTQ+ community is asking people to back its campaign against plans to open a cocktail bar next door. The Queer Emporium on St Mary Street, fears its customers, including children, could feel intimidated.

Recently, a bar called Blame Gloria has been permitted to open adjacent to the store.

The Queer Emporium has served more than 20,000 people in its first year of business: one in 10 of those were children, 50% considered themselves to be disabled or had a long term health condition and more than a third were gender non-conforming.

It has been argued that it is a safeguarding issue to have an 18+ venue serving alcohol next door to a business with such a young and often vulnerable demographic.

A statement posted by the Queer Emporium on Instagram said: “We hoped Cardiff Council would see protecting a space that has so many queer kids and other marginalised parts of our community coming through its door as more important than large day drinking venues.”

The store has called on Cardiff Council to issue a revocation order in the hope of protecting the safety of its customers and has encouraged those in support of this to add their names to a letter that will be sent to the council.

Blame Gloria has yet to make a statement. However, The Queer Emporium said it had approached the cocktail bar in hopes of working out a compromise, but has been unable to reach an agreement.