Two male students, separated while kissing in an Oxford nightclub on Friday night, have expressed anger at what they felt was “homophobic” treatment by an Oxford nightclub bouncer. The club manager is insisting that the incident was not an issue of homophobia and stated that the club does not discriminate against anyone.
In a letter of complaint to the club, one of the students gave his account of what he viewed as “a shocking, and indeed traumatic experience,” which began when he was “pushed away” from his boyfriend by a bouncer while kissing him. Upon questioning the bouncer, the students were asked to discuss the matter in a stairwell.
“I asked again what I was doing wrong,” the student said. “He told me that ‘four girls’ had complained about me kissing my boyfriend and that this was something I should ‘do in private, not in public’. At this point I was so outraged that I got quite upset. I asked for his name, which is a piece of information we are surely entitled to, and he refused to give it to me. I felt entirely helpless.”
The club does not have a reputation for objecting to kissing on its premises. One regular visitor said, “There are always people getting off with each other and I’ve never heard of the management intervening before.” Last year, Kukui was criticised for hosting naked KY jelly wrestling event.
One friend of the pair who witnessed the incident said she had seen the bouncer separating the kissing couple and also claims to have heard the bouncer’s “not in public” comment. The student, also from St Hilda’s, expressed outrage at the incident adding, “In a place like Oxford, you expect better.”
Another witness to the proceedings said she had seen the boys being pushed apart and was “very shocked”. She said there was no way a complaint could have been made about the boys in the time they had been kissing, because it was only a “matter of seconds” before the bouncer split them up. She considered the way the couple were being treated “outrageously”.
The angered students then went to find the duty manager. In his letter of complaint, the student went on to describe how the manager told him to “go back into the club ‘to enjoy myself’. Feeling aggrieved and ignored, I told him I would go and get the bouncer for him.” However, the student claims the bouncer refused to accompany him.
Mr Steven Tingle, the General Manager of Kukui insisted, “This club does not discriminate against anyone.” He agreed the pair had approached the manager, but stated that they were reassured they were not being removed from the club. Mr Tingle said it was only when they subsequently became aggressive to staff members that they were removed.
Mr Tingle stated, “These two gentlemen were not asked to leave the club for kissing. They approached the manager on the front door and made allegations that they were being ejected from the club. The manager reiterated to them on several occasions that they were not being ejected from the club and [they] were told to go back inside the club and enjoy their evening.” He claimed that the students “went back inside but refused to calm down and were subsequently ejected for their aggressive behaviour towards the staff.”
After leaving the club, the angry students reported the incident to some police officers. One of the police officers fetched the bouncer and brought him to talk through their grievances. In his letter of complaint, the student claims, “At one point in the conversation I asked the bouncer ‘would you have done this to a heterosexual couple?’ to which he bluntly responded ‘No’.” This claim has been supported by another witness.
The incident was discussed at a meeting between OUSU representatives, JCR presidents and the Kukui management on Monday.
Jesse Harber, JCR President of St Hilda’s College commented, “Kukui, OUSU and I had a very constructive meeting. It’s clear to me that this is not an issue of homophobia on the part of Kukui and that Kukui is committed to providing a good time to the students of this university. I am also looking forward to working on this formal procedure for students to bring their grievances to clubs.”
A joint statement issued after the meeting described the incident as “regrettable”. It said that Kukui welcomed “all students regardless of sexual orientation” adding that the club has “a single standard for what is considered appropriate expressions of affection.”
However, they added that they “could have made it clearer how the students could have brought their grievances forward.”
The statement also emphasised that Kukui will be reiterating to its staff the existing policies on non-discrimination and acceptable behaviour within the club.
