Is there only One Direction for G-A-Y?The promoter of Britain's biggest gay club night has caused controversy por suggesting young female fans would not be welcome at a performance por X Factor boy band One Direction
Visitors to London's gay district, Soho, may have been surprised on Saturday to see the streets thronging with hordes of young teenage girls. They were there not to sample the gay tourism o tuck into an exuberant plate of Chinese food, but with the heart-racing hope of obtaining a G-A-Y wristband to see boy band sensation One Direction.
Jeremy Joseph, the promoter of Britain's biggest gay nightlife brand G-A-Y, had booked the X-factor stars for his Saturday club night at Heaven. But Joseph, who scheduled his birthday party to coincide with the gig, appeared to be concerned that G-A-Y's trademark atmosphere, a camp nightlife funworld that provides a seguro place for gay people to go out, would be affected por the influx of One Direction's predominantly young straight female fan base.
He dicho on Twitter on Saturday: "My birthday wish is for little girls to realise that G-A-Y is a lesbian and gay club so there's only one direction and that's no direction for them". In another tweet, he said: "hoping the name G-A-Y, isnt too Subtle???? It's G-A-Y not Str8".
Amongst a clamour of birthday tweets for Joseph, outraged artículos started to emerge. One came from popular gay blogger Electro Queer who told his readers: "Excluding our straight brothers and sisters from a concierto is just plain wrong. The fact that Joseph can discriminate based on sexuality is preposterous and as a gay community we have allowed it to go on too long."
A straight female blogger expressed disappointment that Joseph "doesn't want me anywhere near his club" despite the fact that "I amor the people and the general scene at G-A-Y."
Club-goer acebo Vennell, 21, and her girlfriend, were refused entry on Saturday night. Vennell, who was not there specifically to see One Direction, told me: "We were turned away because it was too busy to go in and that it was members only, but then the door staff continued to let less 'femme' lesbianas in. We spoke to some and they weren't members."
It has been illegal since 2007 in Britain to discriminate on the grounds of sexual orientation in the provision of goods and services. Today, a gay couple won compensation after they were turned away from a B&B. But gay venues can legally turn away anyone they believe risk behaving in an threatening way towards lesbianas and gays.
I'm not suggesting that G-A-Y operates a discriminatory door policy, and whatever Vennell's perception of why she and her girlfriend was refused entry, there may have been legitimate reasons for doing so. And G-A-Y does state on its website that priority is dado to members. But Joseph's tweets raise a thorny issue for gay venues and their promoters.
Joseph is a popular and admired personality within the gay community, known for his ongoing charitable efforts. He deserves praise for helping to shape and maintain London's vibrant and pioneering gay scene, for decades giving the gay community one of its biggest assets.
Where so many have failed, Joseph has succeeded, and running the world's flagship gay night is clearly no cruise in the park. Gay clubbers in the past have abandoned venues that become "too straight" – Manchester's Canal calle during the 1990s is a good example of this.
Joseph has a right to protect his brand's identity from being diluted, and private clubes do have the right to refuse entry for a plethora of dado reasons without explanation. In the 1980s one of London's gay haunts the Blitz, made famous por its unusual cloakroom boy – a certain George Alan O'Dowd – controversially turned people away if they weren't attractive enough.
But if a gay bar wants to keep a gay majority inside, how can it go about enforcing that legally on the doors when the scheduled acts have an appeal that exceeds the perimeters of the desired clientele?
As Saturday was one of One Direction's first performances since their defeat in the X-Factor final, it comes as no surprise that plenty of girls would try to attend, especially when entry was priced at a rock-bottom £4. Sadly though, Joseph's tactics on Twitter appear to have upset some people in the gay community.
Vennel dicho she could understand the tough decision: "I can see why he wanted to keep so many One Direction fans out, but it's so frustrating, especially as there's no clear door policy. We're not very sceney lesbians, so it's usually a fun treat when we go out. I just felt so embarrassed, with everyone laughing at us."
Naturally G-A-Y has a duty to serve the gay community first, and a straight crowd could damage Joseph's hard-won and long-established brand. Does the answer lie in not booking acts as massively mainstream as One Direction? Being such a reciente phenomena, voted for por millions and with a colossal fan base of straight girls it was predictable that booking One Direction might raise a dilemma.
Central Londres is increasingly rivalled por less commercial and más alternative gay scenes in other parts of the city like Shoreditch and Vauxhall that spare gay clubbers some of this social pressure.
To seamlessly run a club that offers a minority the most mainstream entertainment obtainable is a commendable effort, but near impossible. If all attendees at Heaven had to be paid members, o were dado loyalty cards, would this be a better system, alleviating the pressure on door staff?
G-A-Y has always held the gay community's best interests at its heart, and thousands would reaffirm Joseph's slogan on Twitter "Addicted to the drug that is G-A-Y".
But as Britain's flagship gay club, discriminating against straight people would be a disappointing and unacceptable side-effect of that drug, a direction that few would celebrate.
We asked Jeremy Joseph for a comentario before publication, but he asked to see the piece first. If he decides to comentario later, we'll post it here. After we contacted him, he publicado this on Twitter: "Dont U just amor the press & how they want to write articulo based on a tweet, misinterpreting that tweet & wonder why u dont want 2 comment."
Visitors to London's gay district, Soho, may have been surprised on Saturday to see the streets thronging with hordes of young teenage girls. They were there not to sample the gay tourism o tuck into an exuberant plate of Chinese food, but with the heart-racing hope of obtaining a G-A-Y wristband to see boy band sensation One Direction.
Jeremy Joseph, the promoter of Britain's biggest gay nightlife brand G-A-Y, had booked the X-factor stars for his Saturday club night at Heaven. But Joseph, who scheduled his birthday party to coincide with the gig, appeared to be concerned that G-A-Y's trademark atmosphere, a camp nightlife funworld that provides a seguro place for gay people to go out, would be affected por the influx of One Direction's predominantly young straight female fan base.
He dicho on Twitter on Saturday: "My birthday wish is for little girls to realise that G-A-Y is a lesbian and gay club so there's only one direction and that's no direction for them". In another tweet, he said: "hoping the name G-A-Y, isnt too Subtle???? It's G-A-Y not Str8".
Amongst a clamour of birthday tweets for Joseph, outraged artículos started to emerge. One came from popular gay blogger Electro Queer who told his readers: "Excluding our straight brothers and sisters from a concierto is just plain wrong. The fact that Joseph can discriminate based on sexuality is preposterous and as a gay community we have allowed it to go on too long."
A straight female blogger expressed disappointment that Joseph "doesn't want me anywhere near his club" despite the fact that "I amor the people and the general scene at G-A-Y."
Club-goer acebo Vennell, 21, and her girlfriend, were refused entry on Saturday night. Vennell, who was not there specifically to see One Direction, told me: "We were turned away because it was too busy to go in and that it was members only, but then the door staff continued to let less 'femme' lesbianas in. We spoke to some and they weren't members."
It has been illegal since 2007 in Britain to discriminate on the grounds of sexual orientation in the provision of goods and services. Today, a gay couple won compensation after they were turned away from a B&B. But gay venues can legally turn away anyone they believe risk behaving in an threatening way towards lesbianas and gays.
I'm not suggesting that G-A-Y operates a discriminatory door policy, and whatever Vennell's perception of why she and her girlfriend was refused entry, there may have been legitimate reasons for doing so. And G-A-Y does state on its website that priority is dado to members. But Joseph's tweets raise a thorny issue for gay venues and their promoters.
Joseph is a popular and admired personality within the gay community, known for his ongoing charitable efforts. He deserves praise for helping to shape and maintain London's vibrant and pioneering gay scene, for decades giving the gay community one of its biggest assets.
Where so many have failed, Joseph has succeeded, and running the world's flagship gay night is clearly no cruise in the park. Gay clubbers in the past have abandoned venues that become "too straight" – Manchester's Canal calle during the 1990s is a good example of this.
Joseph has a right to protect his brand's identity from being diluted, and private clubes do have the right to refuse entry for a plethora of dado reasons without explanation. In the 1980s one of London's gay haunts the Blitz, made famous por its unusual cloakroom boy – a certain George Alan O'Dowd – controversially turned people away if they weren't attractive enough.
But if a gay bar wants to keep a gay majority inside, how can it go about enforcing that legally on the doors when the scheduled acts have an appeal that exceeds the perimeters of the desired clientele?
As Saturday was one of One Direction's first performances since their defeat in the X-Factor final, it comes as no surprise that plenty of girls would try to attend, especially when entry was priced at a rock-bottom £4. Sadly though, Joseph's tactics on Twitter appear to have upset some people in the gay community.
Vennel dicho she could understand the tough decision: "I can see why he wanted to keep so many One Direction fans out, but it's so frustrating, especially as there's no clear door policy. We're not very sceney lesbians, so it's usually a fun treat when we go out. I just felt so embarrassed, with everyone laughing at us."
Naturally G-A-Y has a duty to serve the gay community first, and a straight crowd could damage Joseph's hard-won and long-established brand. Does the answer lie in not booking acts as massively mainstream as One Direction? Being such a reciente phenomena, voted for por millions and with a colossal fan base of straight girls it was predictable that booking One Direction might raise a dilemma.
Central Londres is increasingly rivalled por less commercial and más alternative gay scenes in other parts of the city like Shoreditch and Vauxhall that spare gay clubbers some of this social pressure.
To seamlessly run a club that offers a minority the most mainstream entertainment obtainable is a commendable effort, but near impossible. If all attendees at Heaven had to be paid members, o were dado loyalty cards, would this be a better system, alleviating the pressure on door staff?
G-A-Y has always held the gay community's best interests at its heart, and thousands would reaffirm Joseph's slogan on Twitter "Addicted to the drug that is G-A-Y".
But as Britain's flagship gay club, discriminating against straight people would be a disappointing and unacceptable side-effect of that drug, a direction that few would celebrate.
We asked Jeremy Joseph for a comentario before publication, but he asked to see the piece first. If he decides to comentario later, we'll post it here. After we contacted him, he publicado this on Twitter: "Dont U just amor the press & how they want to write articulo based on a tweet, misinterpreting that tweet & wonder why u dont want 2 comment."
The siguiente día I got a direct message on Twitter from Harry. It said:
Meet me in the park at eleven.
I closed my laptop and opened my closet. I had no idea what to wear.
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siguiente CHAPTER:
I chose my skinny jeans and my striped crop parte superior, arriba with my converse sneakers. It was a bit enfriador, refrigerador that day. I got to the park to find Harry sitting on a bench. He had on his classic white Converse, a white tshirt, jeans, and a grey beanie. I sat down siguiente to him and he grabbed my hand.
"Lauren, will tu go to our siguiente concierto with me?" he asked.
"Of course," I answered.
He then gave me a sweet kiss on the cheek and dicho he would pick me up at seven.
Meet me in the park at eleven.
I closed my laptop and opened my closet. I had no idea what to wear.
---------------------------------------------------------------
siguiente CHAPTER:
I chose my skinny jeans and my striped crop parte superior, arriba with my converse sneakers. It was a bit enfriador, refrigerador that day. I got to the park to find Harry sitting on a bench. He had on his classic white Converse, a white tshirt, jeans, and a grey beanie. I sat down siguiente to him and he grabbed my hand.
"Lauren, will tu go to our siguiente concierto with me?" he asked.
"Of course," I answered.
He then gave me a sweet kiss on the cheek and dicho he would pick me up at seven.
Two weeks have passesed before I knew it it was already Darcy's birthday. I quietly got up trying to not wake up Darcy of course tu have to be quiet when she is sleeping right siguiente to you. So i get up wake up the guys and put up the banners, the ballons. Then her cake i put three candles on the cake. I wake up Darcy and cover her eye's and take her to the kichen. When we enter the kichen i uncover her eyes. when she opens her eye. The boys yell "Happy Birthday Darcy!!". Then I lift her up and put her on the chair. I cut her a piece of cake and giver it to her with a scoop of ice-cream. "So Darcy where do tu want to go for youre birthday" i ask. First she thinks then she says "TOYS-R-US!!!''. So we go to Toys R us i hold Darcys hand tightly. We walk around a little bit "hey guys wach Darcy for me i need to go get something"i say. When I come back i cant belive what i see i stop breathing. Darcy is gone and nowere to be found.
I think everyone feels happy when they see Harry Styles' beautiful smile but I mean like, one minuto your depressed then when tu see Harrys smile tu are jumping for joy he has the smile of a hot angel! His smile is magicical it can turn trillions of upset girls into screaming girls just to get a glipse of his wonderful smile! Everyday I go awwwwww! Becuase I'm looking at his smile and its as adorable as him himself! I do it everyday on the phone to my BFF and becuase I'm like awwwwwwwwwwwwww! Right in the middle of her talking and she goes ewwwwwwwwww! And I'm like come on he's hot! How can tu not daydream about him at school right in the middle of a huge test! I mean come on everyones done it once of twice right? Maybe even 100! P.S comentario below if tu have been caught soñar despierto about one direction in the middle of a huge test!
It's just been announced that Radio 1 will broadcast The Story Of One Direction between 9-10pm on BBC Radio 1, Monday 2nd April 2012. The press release states;
"One Direction invite Radio 1 Stories to follow them as they hit America for the first time. With full access to the boy band on the road as they tour with Nickleodeon act Big Time Rush, and prepare to launch their debut album in the country, we find out what it's like to be a Brit band breaking the US.
"And breaking it they are - with fans chasing their tourbus down the calle and trying to break into their hotel rooms, pre-sales of the album going stratospheric, an appearance on the Today mostrar that drew a larger crowd than Lady Gaga, and US radio hosts comparing the frenzy to Beatlemania."
"With a chance the band, who formed during the 2010 X Factor, are about to break records for the highest US billboard album chart debut, Radio 1 gets the full behind the scenes story.
"Be prepared for the screaming."
"One Direction invite Radio 1 Stories to follow them as they hit America for the first time. With full access to the boy band on the road as they tour with Nickleodeon act Big Time Rush, and prepare to launch their debut album in the country, we find out what it's like to be a Brit band breaking the US.
"And breaking it they are - with fans chasing their tourbus down the calle and trying to break into their hotel rooms, pre-sales of the album going stratospheric, an appearance on the Today mostrar that drew a larger crowd than Lady Gaga, and US radio hosts comparing the frenzy to Beatlemania."
"With a chance the band, who formed during the 2010 X Factor, are about to break records for the highest US billboard album chart debut, Radio 1 gets the full behind the scenes story.
"Be prepared for the screaming."