A bar has been accused of 'homophobia' for banning public displays of affection 'that disrupt straight clientele'.
A Facebook post by Guys and Dolls on the Isle of Man says PDA is banned for straight and gay people alike, as it 'undermines our community-based function'.
The original post, announcing the venue is taking bookings post-lockdown, appeared to imply that gay people were deliberately flouting the PDA rule to "disrupt" straight drinkers.
But the bar owner has rejected the criticism, claiming the policy applies to everyone regardless of sexuality, and called the bar "all-inclusive".
The post said: "All staff are now aware of our PDA (public displays of affection) policy and why we apply it. Also the manner it's being used to undermine our community-based function.
"Any further attempts to deliberately provoke it will be regarded as anti-social behaviour aimed directly to disrupt our straight clientele, many of whom have family members who are from LGBT+ groups."
The post was met with a wave of criticism with 600 replies.
Caitlin Aimee Dunn commented: "I'm literally in disbelief that this post is even real.
"I always thought that G&D's was a safe space for the LGBTQ community to go out and let their hair down, without fear of judgement."
After the complaints, Guys and Dolls shared another message saying the PDA policy is for "regulating behaviour that would be considered by other guests as socially unacceptable".
It added: "In a mixed environment this sometimes gets confused as being unfair when it isn't. Our rules apply to all regardless of sexuality etc."
The post continued: "A simple kiss between two people wouldn't cause any issue, it happens frequently.
"However when things get a little more heated it's a different story and as in any public venue a request to cool it down will be made."
Kara Varetto, 24, fell foul of the policy in 2017, when they were told by bar staff to stop kissing their girlfriend Gina Kinrade, 23, on a Pride night.
Kara said: "I was just about to go to the bar and I kissed my partner briefly. One of the staff members very snappily said 'stop that.'
"We were both taken aback and we giggled, but then we realised she was being serious.
"We went up to her to get an explanation, and she told us that we weren't allowed to kiss on the premises, as it was their PDA rule.
"When she said that, I remember looking around and seeing lots of couples kissing. I have a lot of friends who are straight and as far as I'm aware, they've never been chucked out of there for kissing."
Kara, a support worker and Pride Youth representative, added: "I think the recent Facebook posts were very badly worded, and the way they've gone about enforcing this rule comes across as very homophobic.”
Richard Wernham, owner of Guys and Dolls, defended the policy, saying it applied to everyone, and condemned what he called false claims, denying he was homophobic.
"We're an all-inclusive venue", he said. "I've been running it for ten years.
"I've been accused of being homophobic, which is absolutely ridiculous. There's not a homophobic bone in my body.
"We do cater for the island's LGBT, but we also cater to an older audience, some of them straight, some of them gay.
"We have a policy which dates before I was involved, initially called a 'no-kissing' rule. I changed its name to make it more understandable.
"It applies to gay people, straight people, lesbians. It doesn't matter. It's about keeping standards of behaviour high and not about spoiling people's fun."
He called the criticism on Facebook a "malicious attack" that "seems highly orchestrated".
The row comes in the same year that the Isle of Man will be hosting its first Pride event.
Kara said: "There's a lot of good that's going on here, and it's a shame that this has cast a really bad light on the Isle of Man."
Though they added: "You can see some people from the older generation who are falling behind a little bit."
A spokesperson for Isle of Pride, an LGBT charity, said: "Recent Facebook comments from a local bar have demonstrated that while we may have come a long way on the journey to equality, there is still more work to do.
"The ability to hold hands and kiss your partner in public is not restricted in law nor to being a specific gender or sexual orientation."
