Whisper
May 30th, 2007, 03:11 PM
MONTREAL – A woman who was turned away from a gay bar has filed a human rights complaint.
Audrey Vachon was recently refused service at Le Stud in Montreal's gay village after sitting down with her father for a quiet afternoon pint.
A waiter came over and told her father, Gilles, that the bar doesn't serve women.
Vachon, 20, says the waiter avoided looking at her during the conversation.
"On the spot I didn't believe it, I thought it was a bad joke," Vachon said today in an interview.
"I didn't say a word until I'd left. I was too shocked. I was embarrassed, I was humiliated, I felt guilty that I'd even gone there, like I'd done something wrong."
Vachon said she would be the first to complain if homosexuals were refused service at a business.
Bar owner Michel Gadoury says Le Stud has banned women most nights since it was established 11 years ago. He says he doesn't understand the fuss.
"We're not discriminating, women have the right to come on certain days," Gadoury told Radio-Canada.
"It's a choice, it's a choice that my clients make, that they ask me to make, and we're respecting them."
The bar, an understated spot in a flamboyant part of the city, has the trappings of a local pub with pool tables and video poker terminals.
On many nights it shows gay pornography on TV screens instead of the usual hockey game fare.
"Le Stud is the best place in town for a truly manly meat market," said a review on one travel website.
OMFG..I hope she wins
Audrey Vachon was recently refused service at Le Stud in Montreal's gay village after sitting down with her father for a quiet afternoon pint.
A waiter came over and told her father, Gilles, that the bar doesn't serve women.
Vachon, 20, says the waiter avoided looking at her during the conversation.
"On the spot I didn't believe it, I thought it was a bad joke," Vachon said today in an interview.
"I didn't say a word until I'd left. I was too shocked. I was embarrassed, I was humiliated, I felt guilty that I'd even gone there, like I'd done something wrong."
Vachon said she would be the first to complain if homosexuals were refused service at a business.
Bar owner Michel Gadoury says Le Stud has banned women most nights since it was established 11 years ago. He says he doesn't understand the fuss.
"We're not discriminating, women have the right to come on certain days," Gadoury told Radio-Canada.
"It's a choice, it's a choice that my clients make, that they ask me to make, and we're respecting them."
The bar, an understated spot in a flamboyant part of the city, has the trappings of a local pub with pool tables and video poker terminals.
On many nights it shows gay pornography on TV screens instead of the usual hockey game fare.
"Le Stud is the best place in town for a truly manly meat market," said a review on one travel website.
OMFG..I hope she wins