Posted on 05/27/2007 4:28:27 PM PDT by TornadoAlley3
A Melbourne gay bar has been granted an exemption from the Equal Opportunity Act in a landmark ruling which will allow security to refuse entry to heterosexuals.
The owners of Collingwood's Peel Hotel, which came under fire in April for promoting a gay Anzac Day party, successfully argued to the state planning tribunal that banning heterosexuals from the club would prevent "sexually based insults and violence".
The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal granted the controversial powers to the club last week, the Herald Sun reports.
VCAT deputy president Cate McKenzie claimed that allowing straight men and women into the club would defeat the purpose of the venue.
"This would undermine or destroy the atmosphere which the company wishes to create," McKenzie said.
"Sometimes heterosexual groups and lesbian groups insult and deride and are even physically violent towards the gay male patrons."
McKenzie said some straight women came to the club because they found the gay patrons entertaining.
"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," she said.
"(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."
A spokeswoman for the Victorian Gay and Lesbian Lobby Group told the Herald Sun that gay men at the Peel had been made to feel like "zoo animals".
"This exemption was not sought to exclude members of the community but to try to maintain a safe space for men to meet," the spokeswoman said.
"It's sad that members of our community would have to go to the VCAT to preserve their rights.
"This is one of the only free venues with live music in the area, so certainly some people may feel a bit unhappy about the decision."
Turnabout is fair play.
Remember, gay rights doesn’t mean special rights.
Try to ban sexual deviants from your establishment and you’ll think the whole world just fell on you.
I only wish we could do the same...
How do they check for sexual orientation?
But, but isn’t that racial discrimination?
How do they check for “gayness”?
How do they decide whos who?
It reminds me of the stories from the late 60's of guys faking homosexuality to escape the draft. Proof was required, but only an extreme few provided that proof.
How do you check?
Melbourne , Australia
Peel Dance Bar (The)
Cruisy gay bar with fun dance floor action
Corner of Peel Street And Wellington Street
Melbourne
3066
VIC
Nearest Train Station Collingwood train station (Epping/Hurstbridge lines); tram 86, 87
Neighborhood Inner East
Opening Hours 7p-1a W-Th, 7p-3a F-Sa
The Peel is one of Melbourne’s most popular gay venues, located in the heart of the “Northside district”, as the Fitzroy/Collingwood gay patch is sometimes called. The dance floor might be small, but competition for space (and attention) is fierce. A cross-section of gay men, of all ages and interests, dance until dawn to the latest Whitney and Jennifer Lopez remixes, while Sunday sees the packed house sweating to eighties hits for the ever popular retro night. Dark and comfortable, it gets even darker and more relaxed for regular theme parties, which you will normally see advertised on posters in the club.
Credit Cards not Accepted
I don’t see what the problem is with this... you should be allowed to reserve the right to refuse service to anyone. Of course, if you try that in the USA, you will probably be sued :(
It’s been on the radio here this morning. How do they check?
Well, one woman was refused entry because... wait for it... she was wearing high heels! Not butch enough, I guess.
So not only do you have to be gay to get into this pub, apparently you have to fit the gay stereotypes.
No non-poofters!
“Sometimes heterosexual groups and lesbian groups insult and deride and are even physically violent towards the gay male patrons.”
LOL. Is this a misprint?—”Sometimes ...lesbian groups insult and deride and are even physically violent towards the gay male patrons.”
The dykes beat up the fags? LOLOLOLOL.
It reminds me of the stories from the late 60’s of guys faking homosexuality to escape the draft. <<
Yeah...Most became Congress critters...
Whattya call a gay bar w/ no seats? A Fruit Stand!
If you flinch when they grope your crotch you must be one of those rotten "straights".
It is called gaydar, it is a look or one can sense it. My Husband always is amused by it - He says: how do you know????? I say - sweetie it is the look.
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