Free Republic

A gay pub in the city of Melbourne has won the right to ban heterosexuals - the first time such legislation has been passed in Australia. The Victorian state civil and administrative tribunal ruled the Peel Hotel could ban patrons based on their sexual orientation. The pub's management said the move would stop groups of heterosexual men and women abusing gay people. Civil liberties groups have supported the decision. 'SAFE BALANCE' The tribunal's president said groups of straight women found homosexual men entertaining but that such attention was dehumanising, the BBC's Phil Mercer in Sydney says. Managers complained raucous hen...

PROVINCETOWN Town leaders here are holding a public meeting today to air concerns about slurs and bigoted behavior. And this time, they say, it's gay people who are displaying intolerance. Police say they logged numerous complaints of straight people being called "breeders" by gays over the July Fourth holiday weekend. Jamaican workers reported being the target of racial slurs. And a woman was verbally accosted after signing a petition that opposed same-sex marriage, they said. ...though police say they do not consider the incidents hate crimes. ......[T]ensions are rising in part because of strong feelings about same-sex marriage. ...A group...