Scots owner of gay bar wins legal right to turn away straight people

In what is believed to be a first for Australia, a tribunal has ruled that Melbourne's Peel Hotel can exclude people based on their sexuality. The move is intended to stop heterosexuals from insulting and intimidating the venue's regular customers.

Tom McFeely, the hotel's owner, who emigrated to Australia from Scotland 17 years ago because of homophobia, said the ruling was necessary to provide gay men with a non-threatening atmosphere.

"We've always welcomed everyone at the Peel," he said. "But when it got to the stage where a gay person could feel intimidated or unsafe at a gay venue, that's when I felt I had to take action. If I can limit the number of heterosexuals entering the Peel, then that helps me keep the safe balance."

Mr McFeely said he was not banning all straight people but wanted to have legal backing when he told unwelcome groups or individuals they should leave.

He said women on hen nights, who had a tendency to "have a giggle at the poofs", and men on stag nights, who could make the atmosphere threatening, were among the problems customers faced. He also wants the right to exclude lesbians, because the hotel was set up as a male venue.

Mr McFeely said lesbians had undressed in front of each other in the past, and gay male customers had complained that they had felt uncomfortable.

While Australia's equal-opportunity laws prevent people being discriminated against on grounds of race, religion or sexuality, the civil and administrative tribunal of Victoria ruled that exemptions can be made in exceptional circumstances.

Mr McFeely, 44, grew up in the Drumchapel area of Glasgow and emigrated "because of what I perceived was homophobia".

He said Australia was, in general, "very tolerant" of gay people and recent visits to Scotland showed the atmosphere had also improved greatly there.

"If it had been like it is now 17 years ago, I would not have emigrated," he said.

Ten years ago, a heterosexual couple complained to equal opportunities chiefs that they were discriminated against at the Peel, when they were asked to leave for what Mr McFeely described as "almost having sex". But he said that case had not influenced his decision to seek the latest ruling.

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

Helen Szoke, the head of the commission, said the hotel's gay clientele had experienced harassment and violence. "[They] have felt as though they've been like a zoo exhibit," she said.

A spokesman for the Victorian Gay And Lesbian Rights Lobby said: "We support the exemption. One of the objects of the Equal Opportunities Act is to foster an environment which is protective of and supportive of the act.

"This is about a marginalised and disadvantaged community. Gay men feel they're not in a safe environment at the Peel, which was set up for them.

"But we feel it's quite sad that you need to go and use the law to try to protect gay men's rights."

At the Vine, a mainstream pub on the same street as the Peel Hotel, Jackie Milesi, the landlady, backed Mr McFeely's stand.

"A lot of people go into his venue and create problems, and I don't think it's right," she said. "The gay people come to our place for lunch and we're very comfortable with that. They have a right to their privacy."

TELETUBBIES FACE TV BAN

THE Teletubbies potentially face being banned in Poland after a government official claimed that they encourage homosexuality.

A special committee has been appointed to examine allegations that the popular TV programme breaks down gender barriers and promotes homosexuality.

Ewa Sowinska, the country's Children's Ombudsman, told Wprost magazine: "I've noticed Tinky Winky carries a woman's purse, but I didn't think he was a boy.

"At first I thought that a purse may bother the Teletubby ... later I found out there may be some kind of hidden homosexual subtext."