Bar wins right to ban heterosexuals

A gay bar in Melbourne has won the right to turn away straight patrons, so it can provide an environment in which gay men can express their sexuality without feeling threatened.

The Peel Hotel applied for an exemption to equal opportunities legislation, saying its gay male clientele felt uncomfortable about the increasing numbers of straight people using the venue over the past year.

Gay men were being "gawked at" as if they were exhibits in a zoo, the Peel's management said, and subjected to occasional abuse and violence. "If I can limit the number of heterosexuals entering the Peel, then that helps me keep the safe balance effectively," the pub's owner, Tom McFeely, said yesterday.

Although the Peel welcomed everyone, he added, he wanted to offer a non-threatening environment for gay men. The atmosphere changed, Mr McFeely said, when large parties of straight men and women came in, often for stag or hen nights.

He said there were more than 2,000 venues in Melbourne catering to heterosexuals, but his was the only one marketing itself predominantly to gay men.

"Heterosexuals have other places to go to; my homosexuals do not," he said. "The only place they can feel comfortable and safe is the Peel."

In what is believed to be the first case of its kind in Australia, the state's Civil and Administrative Tribunal ruled that the pub could ban people on the basis of their sexuality.

The decision was backed by the Victorian Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission.