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Gay conundrum

Article from: Herald Sun

Editorial

May 29, 2007 12:00am

THE VCAT ruling that a Melbourne hotel can exclude heterosexuals leaves the hotel with an interesting challenge: how will the bouncers identify who is gay and who is not?

The Peel Hotel in Collingwood caters for gay men. It sought permission to impose the heterosexual ban to protect its customers from "sexually based insults and violence".

VCAT accepted that this has happened and raised the possibility that if heterosexuals came into the hotel in sufficient numbers they could swamp gay male patrons.

Any hotel is entitled, even obliged, to protect its customers from insults or violence as is any other public venue.

But to ban groups, whether for sexual, religious or any other reason from public places, sets an unfortunate precedent.


Have Your Say

Latest Comments:

David, I am simply just expressing my opinions towards this. Sure, some straight people have been known to target gays, but I'm sure there are some straight people out there who have been targeted by gays. Gay people claim they want to be part of the community and don't want to be singled out. How is this ever going to happen if they take action like this and ban straight people?

Posted by: Sarah of Pertg 5:29pm May 30, 2007

I would like to include in this forum that many people in the gay community do not agree with this decision and see it as a move backwards in gay/lesbian/bisexual and transgender rights. (GLBT) The Peel has made a decision that not just bans "straight" people but also bisexual people, lesbians and gender diverse people. A shame, since it does not acknowledge the fact that "gays" don't only go out with "other gays." People's friends and family members constitute of all types across the spectrum all of whom we may like to share a beer with. This ban also makes a bigger target of the GLBT community as it raises the ire of those homophobes who will campain for increased discrimination against GLBT people based on this decision. I fear an increase in homphobic crime as a result. Rather than simply expelling trouble makers or people being homophobic or aggressive the Peel management has backed itself into a corner now by claiming it can "spot" a gay person. I will be interested to see if the gay men I know, many of whom do not fit the gay stereotype are allowed in. If the Peel is so good at spotting gay men at the door why was it so bad at spotting the trouble makers in the first place?! This well intentioned but incrediably and disastrously naive decision by VCAT makes me wonder what their contact with, and awareness of the GLBT community actually consists of. Where so they get their ideas of who makes up this community? One look at my friends and I can tell VCAT that it consists of women, transgender people, and contrary to Queer Eye for the Straight Guy stereotypes, people from absolutely any cultural background, age and income bracket. I believe many of these people are discriminated against by the PEEL's decision. Rather than seeing the potential of a united community VCAT is administrating division. Hardly a desicion to make people feel safe or included is it? Gabrielle

Posted by: Gabrielle of Melbourne 12:35pm May 30, 2007

Chris of Carlton: I'm not the one who started the segregation. You can blame your bar, The Peel for that.

Posted by: Ben of Hawthorn 12:54am May 30, 2007

Tom McFeely said the Peel is marketed predominantly to gay men. McFeely, before requesting an exemption from the EOA, don't you think it would have been smarter to re-think your marketing strategy? I think then you'd realise, that because you were attracting such groups - it simply isn't working. No business should have a right to pick or choose their custom from society, giving any business the green light to do so is bad precedent - what a business needs to do to reach their target audience is to market their business effectively. The business is not being marketed effectively for the objectives of McFeely, and rather learning how to market his business he's decided to cop out and get the law on his side. It's rather disgraceful actually, that they've been given this power - no matter what the premise. If these groups are objectifying people, insulting people, abusing people, this is reason enough to ask them to leave the premises. There's simply no need to have a right to refuse entry based on sexuality, if any "straight" club was given such a power, the gay community would be out in force.

Posted by: Luke of 12:40am May 30, 2007
Read all 16 comments

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