PTV: How did you and your friends first notice the sign, and did it ruin your night a bit?
Stephen Wakefield: We went there quite early in the evening, for some drinks after an event. We just wanted to grab some beers, and one of my friends saw the sign at the bar and alerted me to it. We discussed it for a while, what it meant and how it felt to us – we actually left the bar for a while and talked about it outside, because I actually worried that we were being too PC, or getting too offended by it, and we wanted to really talk it out. We decided to stay and order some drinks, so we talked to the staff and asked why the line was there, and what it meant.
Well, he started asking my friend if he would be offended if it was a racial or religious slur or something against women, and we said yeah of course, that’s still completely unreasonable – a bar wouldn’t survive if there was a racist sign on the wall, so c’mon, you still wouldn’t stand for that. He then started asking if it was just my one mate who was offended, so then the whole group came over and started talking about it, and that’s when it got heated.
How so?
Things just got heated to the point where they were unreasonable, so we decided it was time to get the group out. At that point, the owner was telling us to “fuck off” and saying “why do you want to be here if you’re so offended?” We didn’t want it to end like that, we just started the conversation in hopes that he might have a bit of understanding about the sign and what it meant to people. We were quite frustrated and upset at that point.
The owner has since taken the sign down – has he contacted you at all?
He has contacted us to ask for a meeting today, but because of work commitments, we suggested tomorrow.
In his apology, Steve noted that the sign has been up for years with nobody taking offence – did you accept his apology?
Steve has also said he’s “mortified” by what happened – do you think that, with the best of intentions, people sometimes don’t realise when they’ve crossed a line?
Yeah, definitely. Most people are ultimately really nice people, y’know, and I understand he’s not homophobic himself, it’s just he’s come across that way with his joke, whatever the intention behind it.
So now the sign’s down, would you ever go back to Handsome Steve’s?
I unconditionally apologise for any offence I have caused. If anyone would like to talk to me about it, please come down to the house of refreshment. I’m here Friday – Sunday. All welcome.
Posted by Handsome Steve’s House of Refreshment on Saturday, October 24, 2015
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