Sydney’s Pink Pony has officially unveiled its new name following the social media firestorm that stemmed from its owner revealing that the venue would be catering to “predominantly” young gay men.
Taking to Instagram, the Pink Pony — slated to open on Oxford Street this December — has revealed its new name: TRIBE @ 231.
“We’re coming,” the IG statement began.
“TRIBE @ 231 Nightclub is set to ignite Darlinghurst Nightlife with three floors of high-energy dance music.
“A bold new chapter in Sydney’s nightlife is about to begin. TRIBE @ 231 a nightclub created by members of the LGBTQI+ community for the LGBTQI+ community, is officially opening its doors in the heart of Darlinghurst — and it’s ready to electrify.”
Further in its announcement, TRIBE @ 231 dove deep into what it will be delivering in terms of entertainment, including “three immersive floors”, “world-class sound systems”, “state-of-the-art lighting” and “its own unique energy”.
“Oxford Street has always been a cultural beacon for the LGBTQI+ community. TRIBE @ 231 is our love letter to that legacy — a place to dance, connect, and celebrate queer joy in all its forms,” the announcement added.
In early October, the Pink Pony copped a shit tonne of backlash after its co-owner, Kevin Du-Val, admitted that the club’s preferred clientele will be “predominantly gay boys”.
“Of course the girls will be welcome, but it would certainly be our desire that it is predominantly gay boys, and when I say predominantly, I’m sort of talking 90 per cent plus,” Du-Val told Gay Sydney News.
Members of Sydney’s LGBTQIA+ community, especially lesbian women, called out the venue’s decision to target men aged 18 to 35 and the fact the venue was named after “Pink Pony Club”, a certified queer banger by lesbian artist Chappell Roan.
Following the outrage, Michael Lewis — the CEO of Pink Pony’s parent company Tuloch Pty Ltd — confirmed the venue’s name will be changed, telling The Guardian the decision was made after “very passionate feedback from the wider community” last week.
Days before it debuted its new name, Du-Val and Lewis issued an open letter on TRIBE @ 231’s IG, apologising for “any hurt of offense” they’ve caused, as well as stating “all members of our community are welcome” at their venues.
“Firstly we would like to sincerely apologise for any hurt or offense we have caused members of our extended LGBTQI+ family with the announcement of our upcoming project,” the duo shared.
“In our excitement to announce the launch of our new venture, our first thought was to let those in the community we envisioned would be the core clientele know we were building something for them, in hindsight our communication was clumsy and very poorly worded.”
The pair went on to admit that using the name Pink Pony “was also an error of judgement” due to Roan’s “well deserved reverence with queer women”.
“Growing up as young gay men dancing to ‘Dancing Queen’, we selfishly considered the song another gay anthem completely overlooking the wider implications of using it.
“We can see the issue with using the song name as inspiration for what was expected to be a predominately gay venue. We have taken the time to see from the perspective of others in our community, and see that we appeared arrogant and selfish, for that we are sorry.”
The statement ended with the pair reiterating that their venues are for all members of the community and “there never was an intention to have a door policy of exclusion targeted at any particular group”.
“In hindsight we can see how our nomination of a preferred mix was tone deaf and hurtful and once again we sincerely apologise,” the statement added.
When the controversy reached boiling point, Lewis provided a statement to PEDESTRIAN.TV, stating the response “from some parts of the community is disappointing”.
“However, from our perspective, a business having a target demographic is not particularly remarkable or newsworthy, but clearly we have unintentionally hit a raw nerve,” he told P.TV.
But despite the media shitstorm, Lewis said he “[looks] forward to delivering a fabulour club to our followers”.
The post Sydney Gay Bar Pink Pony Unveils New Name After Backlash From Queer Community appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
