A new gay nightclub in Sydney that was forced to change its name referencing a song by US lesbian popstar Chappell Roan has apologised for “any hurt caused” to the LGBTQ+ community.
The venue, which was to be named “Pink Pony”, also said nominating its preferred clientele as young gay men was “tone deaf and hurtful”.
The club was due to open on Oxford Street in Sydney’s LGBTQ+ heartland in early December. It faced a swift and fierce backlash over its proposed name which led to them revoking it earlier this week.
In a statement posted on Instagram on Thursday, Kevin Du-Val, the owner of the nearby Palms on Oxford nightclub, and its manager, Michael Lewis, said the name choice for their new club was an “error of judgment” given the “well deserved reverence” queer women feel for Roan.
“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,” the statement said.
“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 & selfish, for that, we are sorry.”
Sign up: AU Breaking News email
The statement said the pair wanted to “sincerely apologise” for any hurt or offence caused to members of the LGBTQ+ community.
“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.”
Du-Val and Lewis reiterated that “all members of our community” are welcome at all their venues but said the nomination of a “preferred mix” was “tone deaf and hurtful”.
“Once again we sincerely apologise,” the statement said.
Du-Val and Lewis previously announced via social media their new venture was “unashamedly inspired by its namesake song that resonates so profoundly within our community”.
Roan has previously said she co-wrote the song after visiting The Abbey gay bar in West Hollywood, which welcomes all genders and sexual orientations.
But news of the Sydney club was met with criticism when it emerged its “preferred clientele” was young gay men.
“In line with our experience and our passion PINK PONY is being created specifically for 18-35 (state of mind) Gay men who love to dance and get sweaty to high powered dance music in a safe space that is theirs to enjoy,” the club’s operators said via social media.
Lewis told Gay Sydney News on Sunday – which reported that Du-Val is aged 80 – that “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% plus.”
In a since-deleted comment on Instagram, as reported by Gay Sydney News, Pink Pony added: “Hopefully all gay venues are accepting of the full spectrum of our community, we are just being honest and open about our reason for being and our target demographic and preferred clientele.”
Early on Tuesday afternoon, Pink Pony’s Instagram account was wiped, with a “new name coming” holding page showing in its place.
“We acknowledge and respect the very passionate feedback from the wider community and it is clear that it’s best to move forward with a different name for the new venue,” Lewis told Guardian Australia.
It was unclear how the venue – no matter its branding – might police admission without breaching discrimination laws.
Exclusion from a venue based on a person’s gender identity or sexual orientation may amount to unlawful discrimination under the Sex Discrimination Act (SDA), unless that discrimination can be shown to substantively improve equality for a historically marginalised group.
The Australian Human Rights Commission referred Guardian Australia to previous interpretations of the SDA.
Melbourne’s Peel hotel is an example of a pub that was granted an exemption to discriminate under Victorian state law as a means to help gay men achieve equality, while McIver’s Ladies Baths in Coogee was in 1995 granted a similar exemption, allowing it to exclude men.
