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Escape Goat · May 25, 2012

The Abbey nightclub in West Hollywood, Calif., regularly welcomes customers who are not gay. But operators say there will be an exception to that policy until same-sex marriage is legal across the land.

We love our straight girlfriends coming in to celebrate one of the happiest days of their life," says Abbey owner David Cooley. "But its also a slap in the face to my customers and my life that we cant have that same celebration.

Male go-go dancers are just one reason why one of America's most popular gay bars has become a big draw for straight women's bachelorette parties.

Each weekend, The Abbey hosts several dozen ladies night parties. But Cooley says, no more. Until marriage is legal for everyone, straight women can no longer celebrate their pending nuptials at his club.

His position is getting mixed reviews from both gay and straight customers.

Everyone should be able to get married," says Roshanna Sabaratnam. "We shouldnt, as straight people, be flaunting it in front of people who cant.

But, there are also some gay customers who disagree.

I think the ban is an interesting approach to the debate about gay marriage," says Alexander Villalobos. "But I think you shouldnt limit other peoples rights in order to get yours.

It is pretty frustrating having women celebrating their marriage when you're legally denied the same thing. But ultimately I think its just the right tactic in the wrong place. These women probably support gay marriage or at the very least wouldn't be opposed to it. So the only real person being hurt is the business owner.

freenudemacusers · May 25, 2012

damn, where are these women gonna find their Gay Best Friend now?

SUPREME1 · May 25, 2012

Equality for all!

POWERSPHERE · May 25, 2012

Bans panties? Oh...

Guerrillas in the Mist · May 25, 2012

Teh Hamburglar said:
But ultimately I think its just the right tactic in the wrong place. These women probably support gay marriage or at the very least wouldn't be opposed to it. So the only real person being hurt is the business owner.

That's exactly the sentiment I get from this. Except for it being the right tactic. Alienating supporters of your cause like this isn't smart, period.

Ultima_5 · May 25, 2012

Fair enough. It's a private establishment and can refuse service to anyone they see fit. Probably losing quite alot of $ though

GasProblem · May 25, 2012

This is really stupid. Just really stupid. Let's ban people who probably support gay marriage just because customers are jealous...

kehs · May 25, 2012

Until we get our civil rights, your civil rights are violated!

ChuyMasta · May 25, 2012

We should almost get into a fight about this!

Souldriver · May 25, 2012

Huh, I never even thought of this sad irony.

Guerrillas in the Mist · May 25, 2012

Ultima_5 said:
Fair enough. It's a private establishment and can refuse service to anyone they see fit. Probably losing quite alot of $ though

In the UK, this would be grounds for a accusation of discrimination.

In before "The UK is a horrible police state".

Replicant · May 25, 2012

Sounds silly to me. Why deny fun to people who clearly have no problem with you? Plus, why say no to money?

Sho_Nuff82 · May 25, 2012

Wasn't there a judge recently who said they weren't going to do any straight marriages until their state allowed gay marriages?

Replicant said:
Sounds silly to me. Why deny fun to people who clearly have no problem with you? Plus, why say no to money?

Civil disobedience always inconveniences at least one or more parties.

CF_Fighter · May 25, 2012

ChuyMasta said:
We should almost get into a fight about this!

Talk, but don't touch

Davidion · May 25, 2012

I can understand his outrage but this is just being spiteful; next to no one responsible for his frustrations will be remotely impacted by this.

Time will tell if the publicity generated will really amount to anything.

Tacitus_ · May 25, 2012

Copernicus said:
Until we get our civil rights, your civil rights are violated!

Wait, holding a private party in a bar is my civil right? Good to know.

entremet · May 25, 2012

Seems silly, really.

lethial · May 25, 2012

How can a business man turn down MONEY in this day and age? Bachelorette parties are full of drunken sloppy women throwing money around for shots.

jon bones · May 25, 2012

Copernicus said:
Until we get our civil rights, your civil rights are violated!

i'm not sure you understand the concept of a "civil right"

shinobi602 · May 25, 2012

Sounds pretty idiotic to me, and illogical.

kehs · May 25, 2012

Tacitus_ said:
Wait, holding a private party in a bar is my civil right? Good to know.

Banning people based on sexual orientation.

Sounds familiar.

Az · May 25, 2012

CF_Fighter said:
Talk, but don't touch

lolololol

Sho_Nuff82 · May 25, 2012

Copernicus said:
Banning people based on sexual orientation.

Sounds familiar.

Women are still allowed in the bar. They are not allowed to celebrate their impending weddings at the bar.

Escape Goat · May 25, 2012

Copernicus said:
Banning people based on sexual orientation.

Sounds familiar.

They aren't banning women. They are banning bachelorette parties.

kehs · May 25, 2012

Sho_Nuff82 said:
Women are still allowed in the bar. They are not allowed to celebrate their impending weddings at the bar.

"You can have water at the fountain sure, that fountain over there."

Enco · May 25, 2012

Until marriage is legal for everyone, straight women can no longer celebrate their pending nuptials at his club.

Fighting inequality with inequality!

Fuck yea!

yogloo · May 25, 2012

This article is so funny when you look at op's avatar. Lol

ChiTownBuffalo · May 25, 2012

OK, so the deal is with gay bars, is in a sense they are supposed to be a safe, comfortable place for gay folks. And not everyone is out of the closet.

It would be really fucking annoying for a bunch of women, who may get drunk and obnoxious, to come in for their bachelor party because they want the novelty of going to a gay bar.

Fuck them, gay people aren't accessories there for their whimsy.

Replicant · May 25, 2012

CF_Fighter said:
Talk, but don't touch

AHAHAHAHAHA. Is this our new meme?

Sho_Nuff82 said:
Women are still allowed in the bar. They are not allowed to celebrate their impending weddings at the bar.

To be fair to the owner, I am in no position to get married anytime soon (I can't even find a BF!). So I definitely don't understand his distress of being unable to marry the person he loves.

FoneBone · May 25, 2012

I'd oppose any effort to ban women from a gay bar altogether, but I'm not really seeing the issue here? There's an ugly gays-as-zoo-exhibit condescension that tends to pervade these sort of things.

Escape Goat · May 25, 2012

ChiTownBuffalo said:
OK, so the deal is with gay bars, is in a sense they are supposed to be a safe, comfortable place for gay folks. And not everyone is out of the closet.

It would be really fucking annoying for a bunch of women, who may get drunk and obnoxious, to come in for their bachelor party because they want the novelty of going to a gay bar.

Fuck them, gay people are accessories there for their whimsy.

I've seen a lot of those groups of women in gay clubs. Everything is also a picture worthy moment. Its like they're exploring into the rainforest and documenting rare species. Its a rare event for them. Its a friday night for everyone else.

shinobi602 · May 25, 2012

ChiTownBuffalo said:
OK, so the deal is with gay bars, is in a sense they are supposed to be a safe, comfortable place for gay folks. And not everyone is out of the closet.

It would be really fucking annoying for a bunch of women, who may get drunk and obnoxious, to come in for their bachelor party because they want the novelty of going to a gay bar.

Fuck them, gay people are accessories there for their whimsy.

Daaamn, bravo. Amazing you could twist this one. Bravo.

ChiTownBuffalo · May 25, 2012

shinobi602 said:
Daaamn, bravo. Amazing you could twist this one. Bravo.

Thank you.

I'm trying on my Spurious Logic/Outrage hat today.

ivysaur12 · May 25, 2012

I get it, I guess. I don't really go there that often because it's a huge scene, but it is kind of weird that in a state where gay people can't get married, straight women are celebrating their marriage in a club designed for patrons who's rights were taken away by a state vote.

And really, the last thing that gay clubs need are more women.

Teh Hamburglar said:
I've seen a lot of those groups of women in gay clubs. Everything is also a picture worthy moment. Its like they're exploring into the rainforest and documenting rare species. Its a rare event for them. Its a friday night for everyone else.

Sometimes this. Sometimes women want to go places where they feel safe. Really depends on the bar. But The Abbey feels like its sometimes more women then men. Among other reasons that bar sucks.

Steve Youngblood · May 25, 2012

Copernicus said:
"You can have water at the fountain sure, that fountain over there."

I'm not necessarily championing the reasoning employed here, but this metaphor is terrible. To use that example, what he's saying is "we don't have a fountain, so you don't get one either."

Cat Party · May 25, 2012

He's turning down a lot of money to make a statement. I respect that.

freenudemacusers · May 25, 2012

shinobi602 said:
Daaamn, bravo. Amazing you could twist this one. Bravo.

eh, it's pretty accurate in these instances.

Orayn · May 25, 2012

ChiTownBuffalo said:
OK, so the deal is with gay bars, is in a sense they are supposed to be a safe, comfortable place for gay folks. And not everyone is out of the closet.

It would be really fucking annoying for a bunch of women, who may get drunk and obnoxious, to come in for their bachelor party because they want the novelty of going to a gay bar.

Fuck them, gay people are accessories there for their whimsy.

Teh Hamburglar said:
I've seen a lot of those groups of women in gay clubs. Everything is also a picture worthy moment. Its like they're exploring into the rainforest and documenting rare species. Its a rare event for them. Its a friday night for everyone else.

This is a perfectly good reason for the ban.

...I'll give it about two hours before Fox News spins it into an epidemic of anti-straight discrimination.

ConradCervantes · May 25, 2012

His loss. They'll just go to another gay bar. Who taught him how to run a business?

Wolfe · May 25, 2012

Enco said:
Fighting inequality with inequality!

Fuck yea!

Yeah, instead of inequality for some it's inequality for all (thus making them all equal while in that establishment).

Not really understanding why some of you are seeing this negatively, in my opinion there's nothing wrong with what he's doing.

Sure some have said that in doing so he's alienating people that agree with him, well wouldn't they then in turn agree that it's unfair to the gay guys there that can't get married that they can have these parties right in their faces?

They can still have their parties elsewere, he just doesn't want them taking place at HIS bar until all of his patrons can enjoy the same rights and benefits. Seems perfectly reasonable to me.

What I feel is more unfair is that people are getting upset and crying foul about this when the dude is just trying to stand up for what he believes in. Who cares if he loses money, he is getting his voice out there and causing people to take notice, which is far better than doing nothing and hoping things will get better.

That's my take on it at least.

ConradCervantes said:
His loss. They'll just go to another gay bar. Who taught him how to run a business?

I dunno, maybe he doesn't give a shit about that and just wants equal rights for gay people?

i_am_ben · May 25, 2012

lethial said:
How can a business man turn down MONEY in this day and age? Bachelorette parties are full of drunken sloppy women throwing money around for shots.

To be honest, this probably isn't some marriage equality thing at all.

They probably just want to decrease the number of women there. Especially if those women are treating the gays as some sort of zoo attraction and it's subsequently leading to a lower level patronage of their main clientele. Of course this scenario is absolutely discriminatory so they wouldn't be able to come out and say it.

who knows though perhaps i'm just being cynical.

Steve Youngblood · May 25, 2012

ConradCervantes said:
His loss. They'll just go to another gay bar. Who taught him how to run a business?

Well, if his bar isn't a publicly traded company that answers to investors, I don't understand this comment. Obviously, most business owners want to make some money, but not every business strives to maximize profits at the expense of everything else.

wenis · May 25, 2012

i_am_ben said:
To be honest, this probably isn't some marriage equality thing at all.

They probably just want to decrease the number of women there. Especially if those women are treating the gays as some sort of zoo attraction and it's subsequently leading to a lower level patronage of their main clientele. Of course this scenario is absolutely discriminatory so they wouldn't be able to come out and say it.

who knows though perhaps i'm just being cynical.

You aren't being cyncial. I see it every friday/saturday night out in the Castro. There are far more drunk straight chicks latching onto each other by the end of the night crawling out of Castro gay bars, then I ever see a gay man/woman do. Most of them have gone onto other spots in the city that have been kinda claimed as the new "best gay bars" in the city.

Oppo · May 25, 2012

ChiTownBuffalo said:
OK, so the deal is with gay bars, is in a sense they are supposed to be a safe, comfortable place for gay folks. And not everyone is out of the closet.

It would be really fucking annoying for a bunch of women, who may get drunk and obnoxious, to come in for their bachelor party because they want the novelty of going to a gay bar.

Fuck them, gay people aren't accessories there for their whimsy.

Well fucking said.

SMT · May 25, 2012

So he's being bitter? Ugh. That's no better than intolerance dood, don't stoop down to the oppressor's level!
This article makes me wonder; do straight men casually make their bachelor parties at lesbian bars?
Can anyone shed some light on this?

Escape Goat · May 25, 2012

SMT said:
So he's being bitter? Ugh. That's no better than intolerance dood, don't stoop down to the oppressor's level!
This article makes me wonder; do straight men casually make their bachelor parties at lesbian bars?
Can anyone shed some light on this?

No, they most certainly do not.

freenudemacusers · May 25, 2012

SMT said:
So he's being bitter? Ugh. That's no better than intolerance dood, don't stoop down to the oppressor's level!
This article makes me wonder; do straight men casually make their bachelor parties at lesbian bars?
Can anyone shed some light on this?

of course not, all the best straight men bachelor parties end the night at a good ol fashioned leather bar.

wenis · May 25, 2012

Teh Hamburglar said:
No, they most certainly do not.

worst bachelor party ever... better off going to a gay bar with a higher dude ratio, at least you'd have a better chance of getting fondled/going home with someone that way.

ChiTownBuffalo · May 25, 2012

Teh Hamburglar said:
No, they most certainly do not.

Yeah. Second this. I've been to lesbian bars and its disconcerting to have women stare at you angrily when you try and use the urinal. But I get I was totally invading their space.

SMT · May 25, 2012

Teh Hamburglar said:
No, they most certainly do not.

Thanks, I was wondering because this article made me think about it, I learned something new today.

** Crosses out Lesbian Bar Bachelor Party **

Leather bar? I guess there's always hiring Razor Ramon to give me some full-on leather.

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