Gay nightclub issues apology after 'tone deaf' name sparks outrage among lesbian community

An Australian nightclub has faced backlash and been forced to change its name after it sparked outrage among the LGBTQ+ community.

The venue in question, which has for now changed it's social media handles to @new.name.coming, was said to be opening as a new bar in early December.

And the name that's not gone down too well with people was actually inspired by a hit song which was released in 2023 and has become somewhat of a gay anthem.

As per Gay Times, upon initially announcing the venues name, owners described the choice as 'being unashamedly inspired by its namesake song that resonates so profoundly within our community'.

The owners, Kevin Du-Val and Michael Lewis, aged 80 and 57 respectively, already own and run a popular gay club called Palms on Oxford in Street Darlinghurst together.

Their plan was to introduce their new club onto the same strip, which is the centre of the city’s LGBTQ+ scene.

The Australian club has faced backlash for not only its name but also its comments about who can attend (Getty Stock Image)

The club name

The name the new club debuted as was 'Pink Pony,' with the name, of course, inspired by Chappell Roan's iconic song.

I know what you're thinking - what's wrong with that?

Well, the part that actually caused the backlash was the owners' announcement that the club will be predominantly aimed at young gay men between 18 and 35-years-old.

Speaking to Gay Sydney News, Lewis explained that Pink Pony would 'unashamedly be targeted at the boys, pretty much 18 to 35' adding: "And of course there’ll be overlapping above that, just as there is underlap at Palms [with] under 35."

He added: “But predominantly it will be targeted at the Flash/Arq/Déjàvu demographic/customer. 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.

"Obviously we’ve got legal hurdles … in terms of how much we can vet the crowd while still complying with the law … but it is our intention for it to be predominantly gay."

The club name took inspiration from Chappell Roan's hit song Pink Pony Club (Joseph Okpako)

The backlash

Understandably, the exclusion of gay women, when the name of the club is based off a song by a gay women has sparked outrage among lesbians and other members of the LGBTQ+ community.

I mean come on, they're kinda missing the whole point of the song.

Chappell herself is a lesbian woman and she reportedly wrote the song after her first time visiting gay bar The Abbey in Los Angeles, as per Out.

One social media user penned: "Misogyny is alive and well even in the queer community."

While a second added: "How can I take a song that isn’t even about my own specific identity and make it about me?"

And a third explained: "For those wondering why it’s a problem: Do you know how many lesbian bars there are in the us ? 36. Do you know how many gay bars there is? 803.

People have accused the nightclub of being exclusionary (Joseph Okpako/Getty Images)

"There is an insanely bad treatment of lesbians in gay bars, so taking a lesbian song by a lesbian about the lesbian experience to open another gay bar reserved for men? It is that deep."

"The song literally says “a special place where all the boys and girls can ALL be queens every single day”… like," added someone else.

Meanwhile, another person agreed: "Stealing a LESBIAN's song to exclude women is WILD."

The owner's response

As we say, the owners have since changed the social media account handles for the club and have also issued a statement following the backlash.

In an Instagram post titled: "Open letter to our community," they wrote: "Firstly we would like to sincerely apologise for any hurt or offense we have caused members of our extended LGBQTI+ family with the announcement of our upcoming project.

"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."

They admitted that the name choice was 'an error of judgement' given Chappell Roan’s 'well deserved reverence with queer Women'.

The owners have since issued an apology and gone back to the drawing board (Instagram/@new.name.coming)

"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 continued, "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."

They went on to reiterate that 'all members' of the LGBTQ+ community are welcome at all of their venues,

The statement adds: "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.

"At the end of the day the vibe of venue and the music and those it resonates with will dictate the crowd. Everyone is just looking to find their tribe and a place to belong.

"As announced already we will move forward with not only a new name but also a renewed and broadened perspective and sensitivity towards the views and needs of our wider community."