The Badminton Report · https://thebadmintonreport.news/features/goslings-badminton-london-lgbt-147333
Meet London's oldest LGBT+ badminton club: 'It’s like a second family'
02.10.26, 07:26 Updated 02.10.26, 09:55 3 Minute Read
When London’s oldest LGBT+ badminton club sold its allocation of around 280 tickets in less than 72 hours for its 50th anniversary celebrations this month, it underlined Goslings’ strength of community and lifelong friendship.
Its history and acronym hark back to the mid 1970s when it started out as the Gay Outdoor Swimming London-ings.
According to Oliver Parsons, the club’s co-chair, some of its older members recall living through the HIV stigma in the 1980s when gay clubs found it hard to get venues. Oasis Leisure Centre in High Holborn was the first to welcome clubs such as Goslings.
After a decade the club then diversified into badminton and the sports separated. However, the Goslings name - “a pretty cool name,” says Parsons - was retained and is now known throughout the gay badminton community.
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Rod Gilmour
EditorFollow Rod
has written for every UK national newspaper in a sports journalism career spanning more than 20 years. He has covered badminton for Reuters and the Daily Telegraph at a time when the Lin Dan v Lee Chong Wei rivalry was in full flow. He is also founder of The Hockey Paper and Squash Mad.