A drinks menu at Fitzroy establishment Handsome Steve’s House Of Refreshment has led to a backlash, after a group of punters walked out on Friday night upon noticing that it promised ‘No Poofter Drinks’.
Customer Stephen Wakefield was with a group of 20 when he and his friends noticed the sign and asked for it to be taken down, reasoning that “you can have those jokes with your friend” but it’s “a bit rude” to display them in a public place.
“To see something like that, come on man, this isn’t 1995” he later told The Herald Sun.
Staff were not receptive to the request, and owner Steve Miller refused to take the sign down, insisting that is was not, like, actually homophobic, but was homophobic in a jokey, self-aware, retro kind of a way, y’know?
‘Homophobic’ menu triggers #Fitzroy bar walk-out by furious drinkers https://t.co/CELwxlluXj pic.twitter.com/KiwUzOvv48
— Herald Sun (@theheraldsun) October 24, 2015
Over the weekend, though, Miller had second thoughts, and removed the sign, telling the Herald Sun that he’d had it up for years without incident, and that many patrons, including gay ones, found it “hilarious.”
[When you’re on the precipice of invoking the old “I have lots of [minority group] friends” argument, you maaaaaay need to rethink your position just a tad, mate, but that’s just our two cents].
Miller added, however, that he was “mortified” that anyone would feel put-out by the sign, and added “if I’ve given offence to anybody, I unconditionally apologise, I unreservedly apologise.”
Handsome Steve’s Facebook page has since been inundated with support, from the likes of old mate below, and the bar may well have opened itself up to an all new, Reclaim Austrlaia-friendly customer base:
#SayNoToGayism
There has also been harsh criticism of the sign from those maintaining that hate speech is hate speech, no matter how you jazz it up:
We’ve reached out to those involved for further comment.
via Herald Sun
Image via The Steve Miller Band / Instagram
Image via The Steve Miller Band / Instagram
