Australian Gay Hotel Bans Heterosexuals and Lesbians

[jIgG]

Yahoo News:

An Australian hotel popular with gay men has won the right to refuse entry to heterosexuals and lesbians, officials and the owner said Monday.
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The Peel Hotel in Melbourne won an exemption from the Equal Opportunity Act to prevent insults and abuse directed toward gays in its bars and nightclubs, owner Tom McFeely told AFP.

"The hotel predominantly markets itself towards homosexual males, towards gay men and we want to protect the integrity of the venue as well as continue to make the men feel comfortable," McFeely said.

"When large numbers of heterosexuals or even lesbians are in the hotel that changes the atmosphere and many gay men can feel uncomfortable."

The landmark decision by a civil tribunal gives the establishment -- which does not offer accommodation -- the right to refuse entry to people considered a threat to the safety and comfort of its patrons.

Helen Szoke, the chief executive of the Victoria state government's Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission, said the Peel Hotel's gay clientele had experienced harassment, hostility and violence.

"(They) also have felt as though they've been like a zoo exhibit with big groups of women on hens' parties coming to the club," she said.

McFeely said his aim was not to ban all straight patrons and lesbians but to limit their numbers so gay men could freely express their sexuality.

He said he expected a backlash from other patrons, but added: "I'm not worried about it because to be frank I don't really care what heterosexuals or lesbians think.

"My main motivation is to protect my gay male customers and I realise heterosexuals and lesbians may be upset. but I don't care about that.

"We are open at 8.00pm and we go all the way through till the morning. We have two dancefloors -- it is a nightclub environment."

McFeely said it would be easy to sort out desirable gays from undesirable straights and lesbians.

"It is particularly easy to implement with the females 'cause that is pretty obvious.

"With the heterosexual males, if they identify themselves as that at the door, or indeed we question their behaviour in the venue and if they come across as being heterosexual, then we will simply ask them to leave if the behaviour is unappropriate."

Human rights group Liberty Victoria supported the decision, vice-president Michael Pearce said.

"There are numerous places where heterosexual people can go," he said.

"I think what (the tribunal) has said is that there aren't that many places where gay people can go and meet without the risk of being harassed or vilified, and that they are entitled to have their own spaces to do that in."

[hotporn]

Not really sure what to think about it... on one hand it's a hotel on the other hand it's a bit strange banning "heterosexual" per se... I mean if it's a gay hotel and everybody knows it's a gay hotel, I truly doubt that:

a.) it would be first choice for heterosexuals to go
b.) if they did choose it then probably they're quite tolerant or acceptable or even bisexual

so personally I think this is kinda unapropriate and just big publicity

[haganxy]

i once stayed at a "gay male only" hotel. they got away with it by making it a "private club". making club membership $1.00 and giving you a generic membership "card", which was basically a cheap xerox copy. this was NOT a bath house, but an all gay male resort. it was actually a very nice resort.

i'm not sure why this hotel didn't do something similar - i think that's what the bath houses do? to keep out people they don't want in there? maybe the laws in australia are different?

i also once went to a gay leather bar that had it set up so the ONLY WAY you could get to the dance floor and bar was by going through the men's restroom. that definitely worked keeping out the lesbians.

now if this hotel was "straight only", do you think that would have held up in court? do you think gay people would claim they were discriminated against?

how about straight clubs having "no cover & 1st drink free for women"? how do they get away with that? isn't that discrimination? are they considered a private club?

[ArmpitLover]

I would have thought a few more rainbow flags around the entrance defining the venue as gay and a bouncer would have had pretty much the same effect.

In my experience any nightclub with two dancefloors and a mixed crowd, naturally formed its own separation of lesbian & gay, girls took one, guys took the other .... as for the straight crowd .... You gotta have eye candy!

maybe there was :catfight: in the bathroom or :argue: at the bar and the owner just couldn't :juggle: everything without getting the :cop: involved?

[desslock]

i once stayed at a "gay male only" hotel. they got away with it by making it a "private club".

i'm not sure why this hotel didn't do something similar - i think that's what the bath houses do? to keep out people they don't want in there? maybe the laws in australia are different?

Out of curiosity, what state were you in?

Most states in the USA have a long history and tradition of "private club" laws. Most of them exist and the explanations as to why go back to at least the Alcohol Prohibiton of the 1930s..... and maybe before that.

For example, as recently as the 1960s in Texas, if you wanted to buy a mixed drink, you couldn't buy one at a bar....("liquor by the drink" was not legal) At bars, some let you bring your own booze, where they would sell you "set ups." Your only other options at that time if you wanted to imbibe evil spirits was to purchase bottles at a liquor store, or go to a private club.

Back in the 1990s, my ex and I stopped to eat at a Chilli's in Temple, Texas which is a pretty straight laced town near Waco and Killeen/Fort Hood Army Base.... and to buy my margarita, I had to join their "private club" .... which literally was the same kind of "signature card" formality one goes through when visiting a bathhouse.

Translation: Chilli's in Temple, Texas couldn't purchase a liquor license, so they ran as a private club for their patrons who wanted a margarita. I'll bet the bill for that drink was on a separate receipt too, come to think about it.

Today most places now allow business to sell beer, wine, mixed drinks much more freely --- but the laws and court rulings on business establishments operating as private clubs still exist..... and so yes --- I'd think that if a bar was open to the general public for business... and they treated guys and girls differently.... they might have a potential legal problem.

Nevertheless --- this is why in the USA there are legal venues for operating as a private club under which most of the clothing optional gay resorts and bathhouses operate....and why laws regarding this are different from other countries.

Steve

[longboardjim]

i feel uncomfortable with "segregation" , i have no problem with gay/straight , lesbian/homosexual , etc. i expect "vacation" (restru/hotel/etc.) to accomodate all just as i would not want to be "excluded" (interpreted: being gay means being comfortable being you and the world around you , not "editing" the world to suit you.)
i understand the need for more "private-areas" where "sexual-activity" will/may occur but then those areas should be marked , otherwise the establishment appears to be some common "free for all" brothel of sluts and hoars at some "love-fest" hotel orgy convention. (i am not above being a slut but at my age the light of day is not so kind and i need the cover of darkness a hotel room provides!)
my overview of "gay-establishments" has always been one of charging more than "straight-establishments" (gay tax?) so when i travel i avoid guide books and look for those places situated close to where i want to be , usually several $100 less than a "gay resort"

sincerely ~ ..."it doesn't pay to be gay"...

[jaycar]

well, living not far from the hotel in question, I can understand why they did it. If a gay male coup[le went to a straight club and danced on the floor together, what do you think would happen? theyd either get beaten up or asked to leave at some point. A gay club is just that, a gay club. its a place for gay people to go and feel comfortable and not to worry about being harrased. The Peel has been around for decades so nearly everyone in Melbourne knows what it is. I have nothing against straight people gong to a gay club but why do they need to go to a gay one when there are plenty of straight ones in the area. Makes you question their motives in the first place. Morally wrong to ban hetrosexuals from gay bars...maybe true, but if they frequent them, please, leave your prejudices at the door. There is obvioulsy more to the whole story than was reported in that article.

[Ounique]

well, living not far from the hotel in question, I can understand why they did it. If a gay male coup[le went to a straight club and danced on the floor together, what do you think would happen? theyd either get beaten up or asked to leave at some point. A gay club is just that, a gay club. its a place for gay people to go and feel comfortable and not to worry about being harrased. The Peel has been around for decades so nearly everyone in Melbourne knows what it is. I have nothing against straight people gong to a gay club but why do they need to go to a gay one when there are plenty of straight ones in the area.

Yeah but the point is this. Us as Homosexuals SCREAMED that we wanted rights! we wanted to be protected under the fair housing act.

we need to have OUR doors OPEN

PEROID!

we're worse then any straight people were at this point

[jaycar]

Yes I agree, we need to have our doors open but not taken off its hinges. In a lot of straight clubs and bars there is an unwritten policy that gays are not welcome. Im not saying at all that straight people should never go to a gay club or bar but when they take over, thats another matter. Yes we screamed for years and years for equality etc and now that we have a small measure of that, lets keep it that way and let gay people have their space where they can let their hair down and not worry about accidently hitting on a straight guy in a gay club. Personally, I dont go to them anymore but I can fully understand why The Peel felt a need to do what they did. And good luck to them.:groovy:

cheers