Australian Gay Bar Wins Right to Ban Heterosexuals
Tom McFeely, owner of the Peel Hotel in Melbourne, has won the right from an Australian tribunal to refuse entry to heterosexuals after arguing that an increasing number of straight people threatened the safety of his gay patrons.
According to Reuters, "McFeely said that, while the hotel welcomed everyone, its gay clientele had expressed discomfort over the number of heterosexuals and lesbians coming to the venue in the past year. He said there were more than 2,000 venues in Melbourne that catered to heterosexuals, but his hotel was the only one marketing itself predominantly to gay men." Said Peel: "If I can limit the number of heterosexuals entering the Peel, then that helps me keep the safe balance."
A tribunal agreed with Peel. Said Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal deputy president Cate McKenzie: [If heterosexual men and women came into the venue in large groups] this would undermine or destroy the atmosphere which the company wishes to create. Sometimes heterosexual groups and lesbian groups insult and deride and are even physically violent towards the gay male patrons. Some women even booked hens' nights at the venue using the gay patrons as entertainment. To regard the gay male patrons of the venue as providing an entertainment or spectacle to be stared at, as one would at an animal at a zoo, devalues and dehumanises them. (This exemption) seeks to give gay men a space in which they may, without inhibition, meet, socialise and express physical attraction to each other in a non-threatening atmosphere."
The decision has understandably created quite a bit of controversy. Said McFeely: "I was expecting some flak. But I did it to protect the integrity of the venue and to ensure the safety and comfort of my regular gay clientele."
McFeely says that since the decision was handed down, the club has been receiving more threats than ever. McFeely: "The phone honestly hasn't stopped ringing and that's sad but it also in my head demonstrates the need for this type of thing, because there is still quite a bit of homophobia within the general community."
Court Decision [read it]
Peel Hotel [official site]
Gay pub bars heterosexuals [tr]
Gay Australian pub wins right to ban straights [tr]
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Posted May. 29,2007 at 9:30 AM EST by Andy Towle in Australia, Melbourne, News, Nightlife | Permalink
A couple of years ago we could've used that kind of segregation in my home town. For a while there was a real schism between the gay and lesbian communities. A gay bar would hold a bachelor auction or a party for single gay men to meet other single gay men and a crowd of lesbians would descend on it and disrupt it, despite the fact that the number of gay and lesbian bars were pretty equally matched. I've also suffered through bridal shower and bacholarette parties invading and gawking and "OH MY GOD!"ing. I have no idea what the cause was, but two years later it seems to have worked itself out and now my favorite bar to go dancing in is a lesbian bar.
Posted by: pablo | May 29, 2007 4:03:09 PM
noah i was saying their target domographic the image they portray they say Black Entertainment Television why is their no rock or classical just 'soulful jazz" r&b and rap. Im black and im sick of being told my musc, guyc,lothes choice make me white which is what this channel backs up. Furthermore if o ne wants to be sucessful they go to the same colleges jobs banks so then why ddo they have black enterprise magazine do blacks use different jobs is their a black wall street. TOp that off most sexual harassment cases women play victim duke, kobe, more and more i stand by my point
Posted by: sasha | May 29, 2007 4:37:24 PM
Oh, Sasha: You're so sincere, it's heart warming. Diversity: that means there is room for everybody, and that's what gay folks CLAIM to be about.
Posted by: Derrick from Philly | May 29, 2007 4:53:44 PM
Very slippery slope this sort of rule/law causes. What next, he won't let people in based on color, social standing, how much money they have in their wallets? Instead of copping out and banning people, maybe he should have done what a real businessman would have, hired a good security team.
And, for the poster who dragged black folks into this, have you a clue? This is Australia, and their record other indigenous blacks is deplorable, so, no need to pull out a race baiting card,you have issues with blacks find the forum for your bashing and nonsense, especially when some posters here are bashing gay women, and a couple women in general. And no, women don't play the victim, they usuualy are since the rules are still set up and enforced by men in just about every country on this planet.
Posted by: janet | May 29, 2007 5:03:25 PM
Nice work Janet - I lived in Australia for 12 years (the worst period of my life) and it's the most small-minded, racist, xenophobic, self-satisfied hellhole on the planet. "White is right" rules, and you're tarred and feathered for having the wrong accent. It's about time this alienation nation was outed - never before has such an excellent PR job been pulled off. Fair go and tolerance? Pull the other one!
Posted by: ka-os | May 29, 2007 6:27:20 PM
The law has not been changed, an exception has been made in the case of The Peel based on a a couple of specific incidents outlined in the Court Decision linked above. (Not a court of law though, an Administrative Tribunal that mediates matters such as those relating to anti-discrimination laws.)
The decision does not allow for a blanket ban, but gives The Peel the right to restrict entry for those who are not gay men. It's a bar primarily aimed at a gay male clientel and has been mostly a gay male bar until the influx of straight and lesbian groups. Violence, harsh words and a change in atmosphere ensued.
This does not open up a can of worms. The Tribunal will not automatically let other gay bars in Melbourne do this, unless they suffer the same kinds of problems The Peel has - which is less likely because most other gay bars in Melbourne have a far more mixed patronage in terms of sex and sexuality.
This is not the same as a "straight" bar banning homosexuals. Given the sheer number of straight bars, The Peel should have every right to nurture the clientel it has - and keep it as gay male as possible. This was becoming harder and harder to maintain.
The decision achieves two things - a public profile for The Peel as a predominantly gay male space, which welcomes everyone but reserves the right to restrict entry on the basis of being non-gay male; and two, it's great publicity and makes me want to go there this weekend as a show of support!
Posted by: Keith G | May 29, 2007 9:52:57 PM
Sorry, but I don't get it. Every business has the right to refuse service in the case of abusive or disruptive customers.
Quite frankly I don't like the practice of barring any "group". You'll never catch me patronizing a bar that discriminates against straight people (or lesbians! That concept is just mind-blowing to me!). I've been to clubs where there was the occasional disruptive straight person. They were shown the door... usually by the biggest drag queen. Never a problem.
Posted by: Dean | May 29, 2007 10:37:40 PM
"Every business has the right to refuse service in the case of abusive or disruptive customers."
Yes, but it's illegal to say they're going to be abusive by virtue of the fact that they're heterosexual. If anyone with money and a legion of lawyers can simply litigate their way to an exemption from anti-discrimination laws, why bother having them at all?
Posted by: John | May 29, 2007 11:41:59 PM
This place looks like it afford to hire bouncers, so why aren't the bouncers just kicking out the assholes?
And why aren't the gay patrons growing themselves a few pairs and sticking up for themselves in the face of discrimination?
Maybe the UN needs to send a shock troop of 6'4" drag queens to fly down to Melbourne and kick some butt!
Posted by: schwarzestiefel | May 30, 2007 12:42:41 PM
Gay and from Melbourne, here.
Personally I think the idea is wrong, while I understand the decisin (drunk heterosexual girls' on a Bachelorette party can be cumbersome to say the least!), but to ban any non-gays from entering? Come on.
Won't this also fuel hate crimes? A person can pretend to be gay to get in, leave with a guy, and then out his frustration on that poor guy.
We understand that most laws are against us, to to do the same to others is almost as bad.
Separatism makes us no better than the neo-cons.
Posted by: Louie | May 31, 2007 2:48:20 AM