Two weeks ago, fresh from presenting at the hate rally that was RadFem 2013, Cathy “Bug” Brennan made a trip with some fellow transphobes to a bar in London to watch some gay cabaret, at which point she was ejected for being a lesbian, as she claims. This in indicative of lesbophobia in British culture run amok, with the trans cabal of heterosexual men running the LGBT show.
Except, you know, that’s the opposite of what happened.
In the video she uploaded to Facebook (which, in case you get any ideas in your head, Cathy, fair use applies), she screams “you’re discriminating against lesbians!” several times, drawing a comparison to the fact that she’s a lesbian (actually, she’s more of a pretendbian than you or me) and the fact she was ejected from the bar. This, she claims, violates the Equality Act.
For a lawyer, albeit one who works for loan sharks (which has the totally feminist result of disproportionately targeting minorities), it seems that she does not understand the law. A private institution such as a bar or a nightclub has a lot of discretion on who is allowed in their premises. As they should; alcohol and humans don’t mix well. Now, that doesn’t extend to refusing service on the basis of protected characteristics other than those predefined by law; those characteristics are age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage, race, religion, sex, and sexual orientation. Of course, a bar can refuse access to under-18s under the Equality Act 2010, as they were exempted under Section 28 of the Act. And, under the Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007, the definition of discrimination in regards to sexual orientation is:
For the purposes of these Regulations, a person (“A”) discriminates against another (“B”) if, on grounds of the sexual orientation of B or any other person except A, A treats B less favourably than he treats or would treat others (in cases where there is no material difference in the relevant circumstances).
What this means, obviously, is that you can’t have a sign that says “no lesbians allowed” (as it would be sex and sexual orientation discrimination) but you can have a policy of ejecting unruly customers as long as it isn’t targeted towards them. It’s a strange lapse in the knowledge of people who have already stated they know of the trans rape shelter exemption. And, as a private establishment, they may legally be allowed to bar you for no reason; they just can’t discriminate on the basis of protected characteristics, and they can’t assault you while asking you to leave.
But we’re getting beside the point. The reason she was asked to leave, as even stated in the video, was at the request of the event promoters; indeed, she violated their policy on harassment, as she is known to the queer and trans community, especially of London, as the bigoted transphobe she is. Because anyone who knows anything about the gay scene in London knows what Bar Wotever is: it is the (so much so it’s in <em> tags!) weekly night for queer and trans entertainment. Now, for someone who is rabidly queerphobic and transphobic, why would anyone choose to go there? Because the simple fact is, she was wanting to cause trouble.
And indeed, she was; why cross the Thames when Soho is nearer to Camden? And the Royal Vauxhall Tavern is, as even Google Maps tells us, a “legendary gay nightclub”. Why the fuck would they eject people for being lesbians? You’d be marginalising at least 50% of your key demographic! Worse than being immoral, it’d be really bad business sense.
Her actions in the bar are irrelevant, her mere presence is enough for security to be concerned. It’s the same reason why, when the EDL rally is in town, the plastic glasses come out and security watches for any bald white men with English flag tattoos. She was wanting to be confronted by an angry queer or trans person so she could play the victim, and she failed. So she then turned her sights on the scene itself (which does have problems, just not the one she sees).
And you know what, Cathy? That’s not going to work either.
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