Gay Australian pub wins right to ban straights

[Vegas]

http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSSYD21543120070528?feedType=RSS&rpc=22

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - An Australian hotel catering for homosexuals has won the right to ban heterosexuals from its bars so as to provide a safe and comfortable venue for gay men.

In what is believed to be a first for Australia, the Victorian state civil and administrative tribunal ruled last week that the Peel Hotel in the southern city of Melbourne could exclude patrons based on their sexuality.

Australia's equal opportunity laws prevent people being discriminated against based on race, religion or sexuality.

But Peel Hotel owner Tom McFeely said the ruling was necessary to provide gay men with a non-threatening atmosphere to freely express their sexuality.
"If I can limit the number of heterosexuals entering the Peel, then that helps me keep the safe balance," Peel told Australian radio on Monday.

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.

Victoria's state human rights commission backed the ruling, saying it was in line with equal opportunity guidelines defending the rights of groups subject to discrimination.

Commission chief Helen Szoke said the hotel's gay clientele had experienced harassment 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," Szoke told reporters.

McFeely told the radio that the hotel had received homophobic telephone calls since news of the ruling was made public.

[ryr8828]

Isn't that sweet.

[Iron Jaw]

How the heck would they know whether a guy was hetero or homo? I mean, not all homosexuals dress up like the guy who runs the extremist Queer Nation and calls himself "Luke Sissyfag." Most probably dress pretty normally. And not all of them talk in the stereotyped feminine manner - some do, but not all. Thus, how do they know unless the guy tells them.

Of course, I wouldn't go to one anyway. But if a homosexual can come into a "straight" bar, I guess a hetero could go into the opposite.

But that's Australia. They make their own laws.

Speaking on the topic of determining whether someone is straight or not, a few years ago (c. 1990 or so), the San Francisco Police Department attempted to actively recruit homosexuals, citing the large numbers of that group in the Bay area required a force with about 20 percent homosexual officers. They began an expedited hiring program - the SF Police pays pretty well so it is an attractive job for those who opt for the law enforcement profession (though in SF, even good public servant pay isn't enough for the cost of living there). After recruiting, hiring and training the new officers, an activist group proclaimed that SF actually hired a majority of heterosexuals in the expedited program. They cited the fact that several were seen off-duty with wives, girlfriends, etc. The only one who was questioned by a reporter off duty proclaimed that he "was" gay, but took the "Pat Robertson" cure - essentially to mock the reporter. The problem for the SF Police, they really couldn't prove whether a candidate was telling the truth or not at application time. Many people live the straight life but are really homosexual.

Basically, word of mouth was all they had to go on. The SF Police expedited hiring program was deemed a failure - but, SF Police probably already has a significant number or homosexual police officers from their normal recruitment, hiring, training.