XXL is a gay nightclub in London which primarily caters for the bear sub-group. The nightclub is situated at 51/53 Southwark Street, under a number of railway arches just outside of London Bridge being relatively close to London Bridge and Southwark. The club was founded by Mark Ames and his then partner David Dindol in 2000. It is the largest dedicated "bear" venue in the United Kingdom.
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Southwark and Lambeth, given their more liberal stance towards after-hours entertainment, have seen a number of clubs springing up in their areas with a number of them setting up under railway arches like a number of nightclubs throughout central London.
The club is made up of 6 railway arches with a legal capacity of 2000. The interior of the venue is very large and utilitarian - bare brick walls in place of the usual club offerings, possibly reflecting the club's patronage. It does boast one of the best sound systems in London clubland.
The XXL website details the history of the club through the eleven years it has been operational. Ames felt disillusioned with how little there was for the London Bear Community outside of one bar in Soho. He created XXL and it was a success; its brand grew rapidly as did its popularity and reputation as creating a safe, attitude-free venue for bears, cubs, chubs and their admirers. In 2003, XXL in London created bear necessities, a weekend long celebration of everything "big, gay and hairy" with events around the country. A year later this turned into London Bear Pride In 2004 this was expanded to include the leather community in Bear and Leather Pride in 2006. The two subcultures do have a large overlap and there are a number of leather fetishists patronising XXL.
Polls in magazines such as Gay Times, the Pink Paper, and Boyz regularly put XXL in the top two night clubs in London. XXL was also the title sponsor of the 2006 Bingham cup in New York Bingham Cup. In 2007 the club expanded and also diversified the brand by launching new nights, extending its appeal far beyond the core audience. In 2009 Ames became the gay promoter of the year according to the london Boyz magazine readers poll and was named as a gay Icon in London's QX magazine.
In June 2010 the UK Gay Press [1] reported on comments written by Mark Ames on his Facebook page, in which he stated that he would boycott Muslim Businesses. He issued an unreserved apology.[2]