Latest anti-Emo news

'Emo,' goth subcultures thriving in Mexico
Arizona Republic, AZ
This article focuss on class issues. Lots of comments mostly anti-Mexican and Anti-Emo.


Good article which points out the violence is ongoing and explores earlier conflicts:

Although the Mexican public has been taken aback by the violence against Emo fans, Adam Gonzalez, a hardcore promoter in the Valley, said that conflicts between genres are common. Music used to have clear divisions, he said. But now music is melding together, pulling influences from different genres.

Hardcore is mixing with emo. There are hardcore bands with metal influence. And as genre's mix, fans mix too.

"There could be a hardcore that ends up going to a metal show," he said. "We end up going and it's different styles of music, different styles of thinking. Of course it's going to clash."

In the RGV, where there has always been a strong metal following, conflicts arose as hardcore tried to establish itself. "There were a couple of fights," he said. But in the past few years hardcore has found its niche the conflicts have subsided.

Why Mexico wants emo dead
Monitor, TX - 11 Apr 2008

Meanwhile this article reveals some authorities in Mexico want Emos removed from public spaces. Sounds familar.

MEXICO: "Emos" Under Attack
By Diego Cevallos

MEXICO CITY, Apr 8 (IPS) - "We are a komplex organisation, kapable of eliminating EMOS in this world, if you want to kontact us, our email is (…)" On-line messages like this one have been fanning a wave of intolerance against one of the lesser-known young counterculture groups in Mexico.

Over the past month, Mexico has seen several incidents of anti-emo bashings and harassment by members of other subcultures like metal heads, skaters, punks and Goths, as well as ordinary working-class adolescents.

Emo (short for "emotional hardcore") describes a counterculture that has its roots in punk fashion and music, with touches of gothic subculture and styles.

A typical emo look involves shaggy hair dyed jet black (sometimes with brightly coloured highlights) that sweeps over the forehead and sometimes part of the face, horn-rimmed or other "nerd" glasses, and usually black clothing including tight pants, overly small vintage t-shirts, studded belts, converse tennis shoes, eyeliner and dark nail polish.

The emo subculture is typically associated with depression, self-harm and suicidal thoughts, with emo kids celebrating teenage angst and generally drawn to pop-punk, hardcore punk and indie rock.

"Hello culeros (a derogatory Mexican term for gays), the Anti-Christ greets you….who are the emos, those abnormal asexual ones, the ones whose balls haven't dropped down, those fags who cry like girls…?" says the voice-over on a video posted on the YouTube video sharing site, which shows images of Mexican emos.

Although these different youth subcultures do not generally share interests and even detest each other’s fashions or music, in the past there has been little intolerance and clashes were rare.

But on Mar. 7, several emos were beaten by a huge crowd in a downtown public square in the central Mexican city of Querétaro, where emos hang out. The attackers chanted homophobic insults.

Youngsters describing themselves as "anti-emo" had previously circulated anonymous emails inviting people to "take back the square" from the emos, who they said were "gay" because they wear makeup and dress effeminately.

A week later, in Mexico City, emo demonstrators protesting the violence were the target of attacks, and the police had to intervene.

In the capital and other cities, the police have stepped up security in certain hang-out spots to protect emos, because the harassment and threatening email and Internet campaigns have continued.

The emos tend to come from a comfortable middle-class background and many attend private schools. Most of them are 15 or 16 years old.

By contrast, anthropologist Paulina Leipen told IPS, members of the other counterculture groups like metal heads and punks are often kids from poor barrios who have come together seeking mutual protection and a shared sense of identity and belonging.

"The recent expressions of intolerance are a sign of the increasing breakdown of the social fabric and growing marginalisation, which is why attention from the state is needed," said Leipen, who works with street children.

The anthropologist said that like other so-called "urban tribes", the emo subculture has spilled over into Mexico from the United States and Europe.

A few of the bands popular among emos today are My Chemical Romance -- whose debut album, released in 2002, was "I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love" -- Fall Out Boy, Escape the Fate, Paramore, Glassjaw, The Used and Funeral For a Friend.

"Emos describe themselves as melancholic and searching for solitude. But I see it as more of a fad, and in that sense it shouldn't be surprising that the group is also full of contented people," said Leipen.

Fausto Pretelín, a researcher of social issues at the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico, said "the ornaments of unhappiness form part of the emo aesthetic, which is complemented with styles and other elements that give them a Hollywood special effects look."

There are no reliable estimates of the number of emos in Mexico. But like other subcultures, the group is a minority, and many people were not even aware of its existence until video footage of the early March beating of three skinny emo kids in Querétaro was broadcast on TV newcasts.

Officials in different cities have called for tolerance, and have even organised meetings between different social tribes in an attempt to combat the wave of hatred

But some officials have taken a different stance. Mayor Gerardo Hernández in Celeya, a city in the state of Guanajuato, said emos should be removed from downtown public squares.

"We wouldn't want them to be in the city centre," said Hernández, who belongs to the conservative governing National Action Party (PAN). "They hurt our image and set a bad example. They should congregate elsewhere, where they don't hurt the city’s image."

The governmental National Council for the Prevention of Discrimination called for an investigation of intolerant statements and measures by officials, and an in-depth probe into the origins of the anti-emo threats.

The chairman of the Council, Gilberto Rincón, said that "a small, eccentric, easily identifiable group is an easy target of stigmatisation and discrimination," and urged the authorities and society as a whole to show tolerance and take legal action when necessary and appropriate. (END/2008)

Of course in the UK we shouldn't fel too smug. Look at this comment in the paper on Leeds corn Exchange which as we pointed out earlier was recreated to deliberately exclude emos, goths etc.

Everyone's got an opinion on the transformation of the Corn Exchange into a food emporium.

When I popped in the other day it seemed most of the dozen or so people in there were gazing wistfully at the rows of empty units as if imagining how it used to be.

As I stood there I overheard a man explain to his companion that the shopping centre had suffered because of youths hanging around outside. He was referring to the Emo kids – easily confused with Goths as they all dress in black and live by the rule that you can never wear too much black eyeliner.

So I almost fell over laughing when he added: "Yeah, you know the sort – those emu kids"!

"Emu" kids really would have got the security team in a flap.

Help! I think I'm turning into Cat Woman
Yorkshire Evening Post, UK - 8 Apr 2008

More Corporate seizure of open space

An article in the Guardian notes how massive redevelopment seems to target areas favoured by alternative shops and people.

Cities for sale
Guardian, Saturday March 29 2008
Paul Kingsnorth

Liverpool - Architecturally, the Paradise Project will certainly be an improvement on what went before: something the city council, and the developer it is working with, is trumpeting from the roof-tops. What they are less keen to trumpet is that Paradise requires the first privatisation of a city centre anywhere in England.
Liverpool city council has sanctioned the corporate enclosure of the 42-acre city-centre site, which encompasses 34 streets and a public park. The development company Grosvenor, owned by the Duke of Westminster, the country's third-richest man, has been given a 250-year lease on this area. Grosvenor, with the enthusiastic blessing of the council, is putting into practice the kind of massive, consumer-focused re-engineering of the landscape previously seen only in private malls such as Bluewater...

The thing that bothers Don, apart from the Paradise Project itself, is that
no one else in Liverpool seems to care. Perhaps no one in Liverpool: Don is from
Manchester. About the only other significant opposition to the Paradise Project
comes from the place where we're headed now - Quiggins.
Quiggins is a three-storey shopping centre. A Liverpool institution, it's a chaos of clothes shops for teenage goths, secondhand clothes, furniture and books. It's about to be demolished to make way for Paradise. Quiggins' founders, brothers John and
Peter Tierney, set up the centre 18 years ago as a conscious attempt to keep alternative culture alive in an increasingly corporate city centre. They kept
rents deliberately low, and provided a space for creative talent to flourish.
The city council says it will find Quiggins another home, but the brothers are
not satisfied. "Quiggins is committed to Liverpool's cultural industry and has
been since its formation..." they write on their website. "It houses 45 local businesses, employing 25 local people, all helping to recycle within our local
economy." It doesn't matter much what the brothers say, though. Quiggins has
already had a compulsory purchase order issued against it.
In the noisy, wholefood cafe on Quiggins' third floor, Don and I sit down to talk. "It took me a long time, and a lot of correspondence with the developers and the council, before they finally admitted what was happening with this project," he says.
"There was a very low-key public announcement - you had to know where to look to
find it - that they were removing the rights of way from 33 streets in the city
centre. It took a lot of to-ing and fro-ing, but I finally got them to admit to
me that they were replacing these rights of way with something called 'public
realm agreements.' " He looks at me with raised eyebrows.
"Well, I'd never heard of these things, so I kept pressing them, and it turned out that these 'public realm agreements' would give the public very limited access to the
streets, on Grosvenor's terms." They would be within their rights, Don tells me,
to begin access half an hour before the shops opened and end it half an hour
after they closed. There would be nothing to say that they had to allow you in
outside those times. "Remember, these are streets - this is not some private
shopping centre. Yet now you will have no right to use them unless you're
shopping. While the public are winning new rights of access in the countryside,
they're having these rights taken away in towns and cities."

Quiggins was the Liverepool equivalent of Camden and the Leeds Corn Exchange both recently "improved". There was a massive campaign in Liverpool over its move.

Meanwhile in Camden...

H&M on the High Street, but what’s in store for old market?
Camden New Journal, - 13 Mar 2008

FASHION giant H&M has confirmed it will move into Camden High Street next month, sparking fears its arrival could threaten Camden Town’s vintage market

Camden Fire - Aftermath

Looks like whether or not there was a conspiracy there may be moves to "improve" Camden.

Evening Standard : Camden Lock was just perfect - so rebuild it 15.02.08

Just rebuild it. Don't argue. Don't fantasise about some new-age Camden Lock to replace the one that went up in flames last weekend. Don't imagine architects can change their spots and design an urban stage as compelling as the Victorians did. They can't, any more than Britart can produce another Constable

It’s a miracle nobody died: but could it happen again?
Camden New Journal, UK

The look of Camden Lock has been changed forever. As our front page picture shows, three buildings – including the former Caernarvon Castle pub – were judged unsafe and demolished in the aftermath. It could be largely up to CMH as to how the damage is repaired and market regulars want assurances that the bohemian feel of the market will not be lost.
Stephan Janes, a resident’s leader who lives in Harmood Street, said: “The problem is that the market has changed and it is too driven by profit. They have tried to squeeze so many stalls together.”
Camden Market Holdings are the same company that recently jousted with regulars over its steel and glass revamp of the nearby Stables Market. A spokeswoman said it was too early to say how the company would deal with the flattened land.
She said: “Camden Market Holdings is working with Camden Council to produce a solution that will benefit traders and the local community, taking into account the extensive damage caused by the fire to the current site.”

In other news the Dev relaunches with an end of its dress code.

Goths-only rule goes as pub lightens up
Camden New Journal, UK

The Devonshire Arms, in Hawley Crescent, one of London’s best known alternative pubs, previously turned away drinkers not wearing all-black attire.
A £6,000 refurbishment has seen ghoulish mannequins, dragons and skulls replaced by real ale and new toilets. The pub has been renamed the Hobgoblin-Devonshire Arms.
The changes have left some Goth regulars threatening to boycott the pub. A former patron, who did not wish to be named, said: “I hate the way it has evolved and I am reluctant to return. Since the mannequins and ornaments have gone, and now with cheap and tacky gargoyles on the bar, the place has lost the quirky, gothic charm that the previous managers brought to the place.”
New boss AD Hill, 24, said: “It’s a business first and foremost. Now it doesn’t matter who you are, what you look like – you’re welcome.”
He added: “The Devonshire Arms tried to be the ultimate alternative bar. The Hobgoblin-Devonshire Arms is an über-alternative bar that doesn’t care.”

Camden Canal Market Fire - A conspiracy?

Following the tragic news of the Camden Market fire the internet has been ablaze with speculation that the fire is part of a sinister plot. It seems that the idea of a plot is highly unlikely after all corporate plotters usually don't need fires to clear away opposition they sorted out the Stables Marke and Leeds Corn Exchange easily enough. Plus of course it is the area by the station currently under threat of redevelopment rather than the canal market. I suppose we shall see what actually happens when the area reopens, but given the fact many stall holders might have serious problems considering their losses it would not be surprising if there was a big alteration in the stalls.

Given the huge number of redevelopments of alternative fashion areas over the last few months it is hardly surprising conspiracy is in the air. [See our posts on Corporate Redevelopment Hell ]

The Times said February 10th:

Hundreds of traders at Camden market, North London, whose businesses were destroyed by a weekend fire do not have insurance against damage, The Times has learnt. More than 100 stalls were gutted by the fire, which broke out at 7pm on Saturday and raged for three hours. No-one was reported injured.

The devastation wreaked upon parts of the market and the Hawley Arms, the pub favoured by celebrities such as Amy Winehouse, could pave the way for major developers to move into the area. "We don't want the big companies coming in and taking over," Pat Callaghan, a Labour councillor for Camden Town, told The Times. "It's a quirky, rough-and-ready area."

Musicians such as Kate Nash, and Alex James and Graham Coxon, of Blur, are among the high-profile names who have spoken out against a scheme to transform Stables Market, a separate part of the area.

Smoke hung heavy over the Canal section of the market yesterday afternoon. Police said it was too early to determine how the fire started.'

Camden Fire: 'We Know Who Lit The Blaze' - Yahoo! News UK

People in Camden are convinced they know who was behind a huge fire that engulfed much of the market area - but are too scared to tell police.

Several traders and residents believe the blaze which tore through Camden Market in north London is suspicious, but are worried about revenge attacks if they go public.

Sky News cannot reveal the name on locals' lips for legal reasons.

Fire officers and police have refused to be drawn on whether the fire may have been started deliberately.

The Standard provided some good fuel for conspiracy and reports the cost of the blaze was over 30 million:

Some traders criticised the fire brigade over its response. Ruth Mottram, one of the owners of the Hawley Arms, questioned the time which firefighters took to bring the blaze under control.

She said: "When our staff called the fire brigade the fire was a long way away from us. The pub was evacuated at 7.10pm and there was no immediate fire risk. We did not think for one minute that it would make its way to where we were.

"Obviously there are lots of questions, like why did it take so long to get the necessary firefighters there? I am sure lots of things will come out in the next few days. I just hope that it is looked at properly and not just swept under the carpet."

Anyway check out a sample of internet musings.

What's the betting that the Camden fire? - Yahoo! UK & Ireland Answers

Comment is free: Are you gutted?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/02/10/nfire210.xml

"Conspiracy theories and other conversations were under way on Yahoo Answers, Neogaff, Suzy's photos and elsewhere. "

Afflecks Saved

Good News for a change on this front...

Iconic Afflecks saved by owners
BBC News, UK - 1 Feb 2008

A shopping emporium in Manchester's Northern Quarter has been saved from closure after its landlords struck a deal following months of negotiations.

Afflecks Palace is popular among the city's youth for its many market-type stalls which sell punk, retro and avant-garde fashions.

Its future was thrown into doubt as its 25-year lease is set to expire in June.

The emporium, which has been trading for 26 years, has been bought out by landlords Bruntwood.

They struck a deal with manager and founder Elaine Walsh as an interim measure but are planning to find someone else with expertise in running similar enterprises to buy it from them.

'Absolutely chuffed'

In a joint statement, Bruntwood and Afflecks' management team said: "After 26 years of trading, Afflecks management has sold their company to Bruntwood in an agreement that protects the future of Afflecks....

Afflecks palace to go?

It seems likely that Afflecks Palace is like Leeds corn Exchange in serious trouble as higher rents push out alternative stalls as has been on the cards for a long time. There are last minute talks but if this is resolved favourably Manchester will have achieved something Leeds and Camden failed to do:

Afflecks talks on hold
Manchester Evening News, UK - Jan 25th
TOWN hall-mediated talks over the future of Afflecks Palace have been postponed for 24 hours - with the centre's landlords and managers holding further discussions in private.

Bosses from the shopping emporium were due to meet landlords Bruntwood in public yesterday in a bid to thrash out a deal to save it from closure.

The future of the centre - and its 100 stalls - has been hanging in the balance since the original lease ran out in June.

Traders fear a huge hike in rents that could accompany a new agreement would put them out of business. But Bruntwood wants the dilapidated building to be refurbished and insists that the costs of any future improvements should be covered by the lease.

Negotiations have broken down several times and Afflecks founder and manager Elaine Walsh warned traders they could be given notice to quit by the end of this month.

8000 behind Afflecks battle
Manchester Evening News, UK - 23 Jan 2008
TRADERS at Afflecks Palace have collected 8000 names on a petition to save the iconic Manchester emporium from closure. The lease at the shopping centre .


Smells Like Teen Spirit
Manchester Confidential, UK - 21 Jan 2008

Protesting ought to be a sport reserved for the young – they look a damn sight edgier and cooler doing it.

Hundreds of angst-ridden pubescent teenagers stampeded to the rescue of Manchester’s landmark shopping centre Afflecks Palace on Saturday. Cars beeped their horns as squeaky girls chanted “Save Afflecks” at decibels that could be heard over at Piccadilly Gardens.

The protest not only demonstrated a huge amount of support but the array of fabulously experimental and individual clobber with which the kids kitted themselves out also illustrated what a fundamental impact Afflecks has had on youth culture over its 26 years in residence.

Music legends back Afflecks
Manchester Evening News, UK - 18 Jan 2008
THE campaign to save Afflecks Palace has been backed by some of Britain's biggest music legends.

Leeds corn Exchange closed

The Guardian has noted the ongoing attack on diverse shops in the UK in the recent closure of Leeds Corn Exchange which is combined with demonisation of alternative subcultures from local authorities. (See previous post on this.) It doesn't mention the recent moves in Glasgow, Camden Market or Bristol though. There has been a massive protest about the plans:

Experts ask: 'Is Leeds going in the right direction?'
Yorkshire Evening Post, UK - Dec 18, 2007
"The Kirkgate Market and the Corn Exchange are both icons of the Leeds landscape, truly unique results of the city's history. The plans currently tabled for ...

Save the Corn Exchange Effectively Leeds Corn Exchange now forms part of a property portfolio of one of Zurich’s .... Sign a petition to Save the Corn Exchange in one of the shops ...


The contract by the new owners Zurich Assurance banning Goth/Metal/fetish shops is an amazing new low especially considering Leeds was at the forefront of establishing goth back in the 80s:

Guardian - Comment is free: Exchange or refund

This month's closure of Leeds Corn Exchange is the latest blow to be struck against individuality in the name of regeneration.

The shopping centre - whose independent traders specialise in alternative fashion and curiosities - is being turned into an "international food emporium" by its leaseholder Zurich Assurance and the traders have been given until January 14 to leave.

The firm has yet to secure new tenants but promises a huge range of upmarket foodstuffs, plus a branded "statement" restaurant.

It claims the changes are essential to recoup £1.5m of refurbishment costs but traders suspect their wares and clientele - students, teenagers, goths and emos - are surplus to requirements in shiny, regenerated Leeds.

Last year the youths who loiter outside the centre were threatened with dispersal orders and asbos, and shop contracts specifically ban the sale of gothic, pagan or fetish clothing or accessories.

The surrounding Exchange Quarter is the centre of the city's vibrant alternative scene - gritty, grubby and full of cutting-edge nightspots, vintage shops and tattoo parlours. Elsewhere, the bland chain stores, dull chain bars and prestige department stores reign supreme. The evicted traders are struggling to find new premises in the booming city, where rents have leapt fourfold in a few years and vacant units are in short supply. Some will quit Leeds, while others are looking for jobs.

The plans have prompted some to question the direction of Leeds' regeneration and the squeezing out of quirky, independent shops and those whose lifestyles don't fit the norm.

Similar things are happening in other cities, where individuality is being crushed by profit-driven big business, intent on sleek, gentrified spaces and products that attract the "right sort" of consumer.

Quiggins, a legendary Liverpool hippy emporium that was home to 50 stalls, fell victim in 2006 to a massive regeneration scheme linked to the European capital of culture preparations.

Campaigners in Birmingham are fighting the planned closure of the Fiveways Centre - home to a progressive publishing company and a Fairtrade music venue - by its owners Mars Pension Trustees.

The future of Manchester's bohemian Afflecks Palace is uncertain. Stallholders have been in limbo since their leases ran out in June and any hike in rents - on what is a prime site - could put many out of business. London's Queens Market is also fighting for its survival.

Critics claim Leeds is on its way to becoming a soulless "clone town" peopled by wealthy yuppies and corporations - and with few spaces where citizens of all classes, ethnicities and ages can mingle. Their fears are compounded by plans to redevelop the city's Kirkgate Market.

In an open letter, 14 academics specialising in urban regeneration warned the drive to open exclusive retail centres is stripping away its character. They wrote:

"Gentrification by its very nature actively works against efforts to narrow the gap. It also erodes what is left of the public realm.

In the obsession to compete with other cities, to go up a league and be the Barcelona of the north, Leeds is in danger of simply becoming a 'clone city', a place like anywhere else.

And a clone town promotes clone people. As the city changes shape, there is a real danger that it actually narrows the type of people that it attracts."

Their warning should be heeded by other cities, where corporatised developments continue to suck the life from independent enterprise and leach away individuality.

The key to effective regeneration must be safeguarding a town's uniqueness, public spaces and sense of local identity - and small businesses are a vital part of that. This, surely, is exactly what makes many continental cities so special.

Leeds Corn Exchange under threat

Following the loss of Camden market and the threat to Manchester's Affleck's palace now Leeds Corn Exchange is under threat. Similar problem to the Glasgow event noted recently. Particularly interesting is the police campaign against alternative youth highlighted by this article:


http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/11/386716.html

As most people form Leeds know, the Corn Exchange plays a major part in the city's youth alternative culture and has done for decades. On any day you'll see goths, punks, emo kids and just general teenagers meeting there, making new mates, getting along and having fun.

POLICE ASBO'S DEEPER SECRET?
Just over a year ago the owners of the building (Eagle Star Life Assurance / Zurich) and the centre management (Phoenix Beard) pressurised West Yorkshire Police, who were far from reluctant to act, to get rid of this young community through months intimidation; ranging from placing dozens of police officers outside the centre each weekend, arresting people for standing in the 'wrong place' and serving Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) on kids for doing what kids do. They have also tried a smear campaign telling people that the Corn-X is a hotspot for drugs and underage drinking when this is infact far from the truth. At first the police and owners claimed the reasoning for their actions was that people gathering outside were intimidating those shopping there, but this didn't wash because it is a fact that most of the custom of shops inside comes from the youth who meet outside. Now it's appearing that the police smear campaign was just to try and get rid of the young community outside so the sale of the building can go ahead and the Corn-x can be redeveloped as a posh food emporium.


LEEDS ALTERNATIVE SCENE AT THREAT
The Corn Exchange is central to the alternative scene in Leeds due to it's high profile; it is one of the only places teenagers in the city hang out and keep entertained by friends instead of going off with a few mates and drinking in parks, or being reckless. Without it many people would lose friends they have seen on a weekendly basis; as well as the tight community where there is a large range of people from all different walks of life. If someone has something to talk about, there is always someone of their own age there who can help and even share experiences.


SMALL TRADERS WILL SUFFER
The stores inside the centre have been given until January to find an alternative premises, or face closure. These shops are small traders and cannot afford to move and pay the expensive rent for the other places in Leeds City Centre; and aside from the money aspect there is a lack of empty premises in town as they are all being bought out by large retailers - this is also another contributor to the rise in costs for renting space. Either way these shops will have to close down which will have an effect on the local economy, as well as the customers who shop there as due to many of the stores being specialist traders. Not only shops inside the Corn-X will suffer, but many of the alternative stores in the vicinity will lose a large amount of custom as they are a tight community of traders; not forgetting that there will be a lack of customers around for them...

Similar points are made elsewhere and in this protest video from 2006 which shows the feelings of locals:

Corn Exchange demonstration against exclusion order

Add to My Profile | More Videos

Youth Comment - James Roberts - 01/04/2006 - Communitycare.co.uk ...

Glasgow - Alternative teens banned from public place

Following the recent events in Blackburn, Glasgow is the latest city in which alternative youth is facing harassment from the authorities.

---

Scotsman.com News - Scotland - Goma goths banned - heaven knows they're miserable now

Sun 9 Dec 2007
MARC HORNE (mhorne@scotlandonsunday.com)

WITH their black clothes, white faces and mournful expressions they have become an instantly recognisable part of life in Scotland's city centres.

But now Glasgow's goths have a genuine reason to look miserable. City leaders have branded them a threat to economic prosperity and have launched a bid to bar them from their favourite hangout.

For years dozens of outlandishly dressed youngsters have made Glasgow's Royal Exchange Square in the city centre their second home.
But now the council has accused them of intimidating shoppers and being behind a rise in anti-social behaviour.

In a bid to move the youngsters on they have cordoned off steps between Borders bookshop and the Gallery of Modern Art (Goma) - a favourite goth gathering point. Security guards have been brought in to supervise the area. A Glasgow City Council spokesman said: "Royal Exchange Square is one of the jewels in Glasgow's crown.

"In recent months, however, there has been the risk of the Square, and in particular the steps at the western end, becoming a focus for anti-social behaviour.
In consultation with businesses in the Square it was decided to cordon off the steps.

"This measure will remain in place for as long as is necessary to ensure it remains one of the country's premier locations for shopping and entertainment."

A council insider said: "Royal Exchange Square is a gateway between our premier shopping locations and, as such, is incredibly important to us.

"We need it be a nice, safe area for the people who are walking through it. We have had complaints about teenagers gathering there and there were allegations about drinking, drug-taking and inappropriate behaviour. So far the measures we have taken seem to have helped."

But youngsters who are refusing to leave the area, which is full of exclusive shops and eateries, claim the council's tactics were heavy-handed, discriminatory and unnecessary. One teenage girl said: "There is absolutely no way we are here to cause trouble.

"We are too young to go to the pub and we hang around here for the simple reason that we have nowhere else to go to chat and meet up with our friends.

"It's laughable that Glasgow City Council regards us some sort of threat to society simply because we choose to dress differently."

Her purple-haired friend added: "There are so many real problems with violence in Glasgow yet the city council is spending money sending security guards to intimidate groups of well-behaved teenagers.

"I suppose they see us as an easy target. We are meant to be the friendly, welcoming Commonwealth Games city, but we are clearly not welcome here."

The alternative teenage tribes of Royal Exchange Square, including punks, emo-kids and metal-heads, have become such a part of the city life that in 2003 they were featured in a BBC documentary entitled Glasgow's Goth Kids. Work created by the youngsters has been displayed at the nearby Goma.

Last year a study conducted by Dr Dunja Brill concluded that goths were largely sensitive youngsters who eschewed violence and were more likely to get good grades and go on to higher education.

Isn't enough that alternative people have to face abuse from thugs that they must be targeted by the authorities for simply existing? If individual people are misbehaving then what about the laws which exist to deal with individuals? CCTV covers the square after all. Why target a group as a whole? If you feel strongly about this try complaining to Councillor Steven Purcell.

Leader of Glasgow City Council - Scottish Labour Party
Email: steven.purcell@councillors.glasgow.gov.uk

There is a long history of similar issues in relation to the square.

Art chiefs' bid to get rid of Goths

Daily Record Feb 7 2003

ART gallery bosses tried to scare off gangs of Goths with classical
music. But it backfired on them as the youngsters - fans of shock-rockers
such as Marilyn Manson and Slipknot - discovered an unexpected taste for
Vivaldi.

Even more of them turned up at their meeting place outside Glasgow's
Gallery of Modern Art as the classical tunes blasted from its windows.

Gallery bosses took action because they believed the Goths
congregating in Royal Exchange Square were scaring off art-lovers.

The Goths also got into the building and took over the toilets to do
their distinctive make-up and hairstyles. Graffiti was daubed over the outside of the building and there were violent clashes with rival gangs of "neds".

The gallery set up patrols in the square and removed benches but
hundreds of youngsters still congregated outside.

Assistant curator Clare McLeod said they then resorted to playing
music they thought would annoy their unwelcome visitors.

She said: "We decided to blast Vivaldi at full volume from windows
above their heads to sicken them but they actually seemed to enjoy it in the
end.

"There are several hundred kids around here at the weekend and the
numbers certainly didn't decrease so we had to eventually think of different
ways to solve our problem.

"Our intial reaction was to get rid of the kids or move them along but
in the end we had to rethink."

The gallery has now invited the Goths to workshops and set up an
exhibition entitled Nu, which pays tribute to the Goth culture.

A focus group was also established in the gallery library so the Goths
could offer ideas about what they'd like to see there.

TV producer Tanya Cheadle, who has made a BBC1 documentary on the
Goths which will be shown next week, said: "We found them intimidating and
people wanting to get into the gallery were put off, so the steps they took
were perfectly valid.

"But I think the story ends on a very positive note. The exhibition
shows the children are threatening in appearance but are very much an art
form themselves."

Alterophobia's research has revealed that similar moves have recently occurred in Bristol as well. More on this later.

Links to the events mentioned:

Glasgow Needs Youth! Gallery Of Modern Art Gives Kids A Chance ...

Lion Television . Productions . Glasgow's Goth Kids

Elecric Ballroom under threat - again!

First the Stables market now the Ballroom which only survived in 2005 by the skin of its teeth:

Camden New Journal - Forum: Why it could be the last dance for our Electric Ballroom

November 17th 2007

One of Camden Town’s most famous music venues looks set to face a new threat of demolition after fighting off the bulldozers two years ago, writes Kate Fuller

CAMDEN Council agreed a controversial planning brief at the start of October that clears the way for the heart to be ripped out of Camden Town.
Councillors ignored 87 letters of objection and a 400-signature petition. They agreed a new policy that means London Underground have a green light to come up with plans to demolish all the buildings in the triangle behind Camden Town Tube station. Buck Street Market and the Electric Ballroom would become history.
If the previous plans they put forward in 2005 are anything to go by, London Underground’s vision for the future of Camden Town is an anonymous glass shopping mall full of high street chain stores that could easily be in Basildon or Croydon as in Camden.
No one denies that the Tube station is crowded and could be improved, but it’s the potential flattening of an entire section of the centre of Camden Town that shows London Underground – and the current leadership of Camden Council – just don’t understand what makes Camden a special, indeed unique, place.
London Underground doesn’t seem to grasp that the reason why Camden Town Tube station is so busy is because of what is above the ground here: markets and music venues.
The last time they tried to do this, in 2005, they were seen off. I thought I could get on with what I do best and love doing: running a popular, successful music venue with a great history and heritage. Little did I realise that, like Groundhog Day, I’d have to fight the same battle to save the Ballroom all over again.
We are determined to fight on to save the Electric Ballroom.
I recognise the need to improve the Tube station to ease congestion, but London Underground’s ideas for the site would change the nature of the heart of Camden Town and actually reduce the number of people coming to the area. It would turn the centre of Camden Town into a building site – a ground zero – for years.
This would be a nightmare for residents and businesses.
Camden Town doesn’t need a bland, arcade-style shopping mall above its Tube station. It has a unique character that needs to be defended.
My family has run the Electric Ballroom since the 1930s. My dad Bill Fuller took over the Ballroom, then known as the Buffalo club, in a run-down state and transformed it.
Eventually, he had a chain of Ballrooms covering England, America and Ireland. His venues became renowned all over the world as places for young Irish couples to meet and fall in love.
Over the past 65 years the ballroom has come to epitomise all that is Camden Town. As well as our long association with London’s Irish music scene, we have a reputation for hosting top musical talent such as Paul McCartney, The Killers, Oasis, U2, The Clash, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Public Enemy and many more.
We have just refurbished the Ballroom, investing a large sum of money in upgrading the venue. We do not want our premises demolished and our business frogmarched out of the heart of Camden Town to make way for a shopping mall.
We are particularly disappointed at the way in which Liberal Democrat councillors fought the 2006 borough elections in Camden Town and Primrose Hill ward, using leaflets that implied they opposed the demolition – now that they are running Camden they seem to have backtracked.
I have written to Mayor of London Ken Livingstone, who opposed the 2005 demolition proposal, appealing for his support in fighting the new proposals.
I would urge local residents and everyone who loves the music scene in Camden Town to contact their councillors and put pressure on them to reverse this crazy policy.
In the meantime – despite the axe hanging over us – we are getting on with running and improving the Ballroom. These proposals could take years to come about. We have defeated them once and we can defeat them again.
The best way the music-loving public can show they want us to stay in business at the heart of Camden Town is to carry on coming to gigs here.

Shocked letters...

camden-letters-ballroom

I have visited the Electric Ballroom on many occasions over many years and seen some great gigs at one of the best medium-sized venues in London.

Manchester - Urbis

Interesting article from a few years ago.

BANNED FROM SHOPS.. BECAUSE SHE'S A GOTH - News - Mirror.co.uk:

"BANNED FROM SHOPS.. BECAUSE SHE'S A GOTH By Daniel Boffey 07/06/2005 TEENAGER Melissa Fletcher was banned from a shopping centre because of her Goth fashion. Security guards stopped the 16-year-old at the entrance, saying her dyed red and black hair, pierced lip and black clothes would put shoppers off buying. Yet Melissa had no trouble getting in earlier that day when accompanied by her mum. Melissa was with two 16-year-old friends at the Triangle complex in Manchester city centre. Advertisement Her mother Sharon, 34, of Denton, Greater Manchester, said yesterday: 'Melissa does not drink, smoke or take drugs. 'She knows what is right and what is wrong but dressing differently is no reason to be singled out. 'Melissa had money in her pockets to spend but she did not even get through the front door. 'The security guard told me later that he was under strict orders not to let them in because of the way they looked....'"

The Triangle continue their policy today making life hard for some as they are next to Urbis - Cathedral square the main teen alternative hangout in Manchester. The teenagers meet there to catch up withfriends and also to seek safey in numbers to avoid assault. Nevertheless local alternative teens can face fights in the area it is not unknown for large groups of thugs to come there looking for a fight. The irony is that the Triangle was formerly Manchester Corn Exchange a place full of alternative shops but after the IRA bomb in 1997 it was redeveloped into another mainstream shopping area.

See the posts on Blackburn for a similar problem today and the post about the dispersal order at Bristol College Green .

Camden Stables Market doomed

Despite a massive internet campaign to save it Camden Stables Market a central point in the UK's alternative scene has been lost. Iconic shops like Black Rose, and Cyberdog are to go. More than 10,000 people have added their names to an online petition to save it. The massively higher new rents plus the glassy buildings inside will seriously alter the structure of the market and the area. It was wonderful use of Victorian buildings now it will be a souless hell. Rumour has it that the ultimate aim is to push out many of traders and eventually urn some of the area into apartments :

Camden New Journal - News: Campaign fails to block £12m revamp

Camden New Journal - by RICHAED OSLEY
Published 12 October 2006
Stables plans win traders' backing despite 'shopping mall' warning

THE campaign against the £12 million redevelopment of the landmark Stables Market collapsed on Thursday night as planners gave permission for building work to begin.
In a split vote, councillors allowed landowners to build a glass complex next to railway sidings in Chalk Farm Road, Camden Town.
Barring an expensive legal appeal, it marks the end of a bitter battle between those traders who want the market to stay as it is and managers Stables Market Limited, whose investors include millionaire clothing tycoon Richard Caring.
The proposals will cut back some of the railway arches to create new retail units and make changes to land surrounding the historic Gin Building and Horse Hospital. They caused a storm of protest, with more than 4,000 supporters signing an online petition.
But the Save The Stables Market Campaign has struggled to maintain a public face and only one speaker addressed Thursday’s crucial planning meeting.
Stefan James, from nearby Harmood Street, said: “This will completely change the nature of the market. Camden’s alternative culture and individuality will be lost. We don’t want glass buildings.”
His protest was outflanked by stallholders who spoke in favour of the new designs. Many signed a petition in favour.
Stallholder Franck Coido said: “The current application will give the market a much-needed facelift and provide us with better-quality stalls in a higher-quality environment.”
Trader Thierry Durieux added: “The proposals are for a new, up-to-date market for Camden.
“They include many small market stalls, providing improved facilities for traders which are badly needed.”
Labour ward councillor Pat Callaghan opposed the “very dominant” proposals. She said: “This is a matter of respecting the setting of the listed buildings.”
Planning officials approved a similar scheme in 2003, so, even if councillors had rejected the latest plans, landowners could have pressed ahead with a large-scale revamp.
After a two-hour discussion with planning officials, councillors voted 6-4 in favour of the proposals.
Planning chairwoman Conservative councillor Dawn Somper said afterwards: “We absolutely support the desire to preserve the independent and alternative attraction and feel of Stables Market – rather than it looking like a typical high street – and also its economic importance to Camden Town.”
Suki Jacobs, from the Stables Market campaign, whose husband is a stallholder, said: “The planned building will resemble a shopping mall. It doesn’t make any sense.
“I have lost faith in English Heritage. Precisely whose heritage do they protect?”

The campaign has been marked by long slow starvation of the type of edgy and interesting stalls that make Camden interesting

camden-news-stables

Sepember - TRADERS forced to move from their spacious arches in the Stables Market in Camden Town say their new temporary spaces are a “death row” for their businesses.
They were forced to evacuate their Victorian arches to make way for a multi-million pound redevelopment.
Stallholders were given until the end of August to move out but market management said last week major work such as the demolition of the arches won’t begin for another month.
Instead, work has begun on dismantling some of the temporary shops opposite the arches.
Tensions are mounting as the disparate traders adjust to their new positions, with many claiming they have been moved to a hardly-used tunnelled alleyway while the refurbishment takes place.
They say their regular customers can no longer find them.
One man, who did not wish to be named, said: “It’s become such a joke. My new shop is a third the size of my old shop and they are asking for more money. They call this part of the market death row because nobody comes here.”
But Luke Akehurst, speaking for the market management, said most traders will not face rent increases.

Camden New Journal - News: Traders furious at plans to turn market ...

GALLERY owner Alex Proud has unveiled plans for a glittering new bar in the listed Horse Hospital at the heart of Stables Market in Camden Town. ...

The forum here traces the whole sorry saga.

!! SAVE CAMDEN STABLES MARKET !!

www.savecamdenstablesmarket.co.uk/