A queer, Yiddish, anarchist café in the south side which offered coffees and vegan food on a pay-what-you-can basis has announced it is to close in a heartfelt post on its website.
The Pink Peacock Cafe on Victoria Road in Govanhill opened in 2020 as a late-night dry (non-alcoholic) queer café and community space selling plant-based Jewish food.
However, in a post on their website, they revealed that were being forced to close in part due to "burnout" but also due to "right-wing backlash", "antisemitic vitriol" and harassment.
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They posted: "We’re so sad it’s come to this, and we want to be transparent about what’s been happening. The short answer is burnout.
"Most of us are disabled, and the ongoing pandemic is still hurting our collective physical and mental health. The constant battle to keep ourselves financially afloat didn’t help."
However, they also wanted to thank the community and customers for their support.
They added: "While the burnout is real and the harassment has really affected us, we’ve also received so much love and support: from our local community, the Jewish diaspora, and other anarchist groups in Glasgow and beyond.
"We’ve had dozens of wonderful volunteers drift in and out of the collective to offer their time and expertise, and countless others have donated their skills, money, furniture, art, and voices to this project. We could not have done any of this without you."
They said that they are proud to have shown that their "anti-capitalism in action" works, describing the pay-what-you-can-down-to-£0 model as a "love letter to a better future".
"Since we started at the onset of the pandemic, we’ve served thousands of free meals and hosted hundreds of queer, Jewish, and anarchist events," they continued.
"We’ve connected our diasporic communities to what we built in Glasgow, making it accessible not just to those in the communities the café is built to prioritise, but all who want or need.
"We created a beautiful space that was damn close to what we want to see in the world. We’ve proven that it’s possible, that we can come together as comrades and make things better."
They confirmed they will be closing for the final time on Wednesday, June 14, and invited people to come join them for a coffee or to donate to help with closing costs.
You can find out more and read the full statement on their website.
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