Gay kiss pub protest at Soho's John Snow

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Gay kiss pub protest at Soho's John Snow

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Hundreds of people gathered at the John Snow pub on Broadwich Street, Soho

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A mass same-sex "kiss-in" has been staged outside a pub in central London where two men said they were ejected on Wednesday for kissing each other.
Hundreds of people gathered at the John Snow pub on Broadwick Street, Soho.
The men in question, James Bull and Jonathan Williams, attended the protest and held hands outside the building.
But Daniel Griffiths, ex-president of the Federation of Licensed Victuallers Associations, said if they did not like the house rules, "don't use the pub".
Earlier Thomas Paget, the licence holder of the pub, had refused to comment on the row.
Asked whether the venue - which closed early on Friday - had been the victim of a "misunderstanding", Mr Paget said: "I don't have anything to say."
Samuel Smith's brewery, which owns the venue, has also not commented.
'Gone viral' Mr Williams said the turnout had been "absolutely amazing".
Continue reading the main story Analysis

Andy Dangerfield BBC News, London
The plan was simple: don't talk just kiss.
Minutes beforehand, crowds began to gather in their hundreds.
It was a cheerful atmosphere, lips nervously poised, and after a countdown the kissing began.
It was brief, far from obscene and met with cheers of approval from onlookers.
A rainbow flag was raised above the pub, as Jonathan and James (above) appeared at the door - but this time they chose not to kiss.

"I think the landlord has to reconsider his position," he told BBC London.
"I think the landlord should realise that you can't do this kind of thing in Soho, because obviously people will react.
"Not just because it's wrong, but because people realise it's not acceptable any more."
Asked whether it could have been any kissing couple who were ejected, and not just two men, Mr Williams replied: "Show me a straight couple that has been kicked out. I would gladly reconsider my position."
The pub had shut at about 1600 BST, and Richard Lally, 26, of Clapham, south London, said "people started piling out".
"The doors were then locked," he added.
"You wouldn't think in Soho, this kind of thing would happen."
Friday evening's protest was planned on the social-networking website Facebook and had "gone viral", protest organiser Paul Shetler said.
"It seemed rather than us just sort of accepting that we should be hiding away from a place like this, we should just go there instead and have a massive kiss-in."
The Metropolitan Police is investigating Wednesday's incident.

 

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Kissing men 'should have left Soho pub after warning'

James Bull said he and Mr Williams had been asked to leave after "a quick peck on the lips"
Continue reading the main story Related Stories

• Kissing men 'ordered out of pub'
• Pub 'refused gay group drinks'

A gay couple who say they were removed from a pub after kissing should have left earlier after being told to stop, a former LVA boss has claimed.
James Bull and Jonathan Williams said they were thrown out of the John Snow on Broadwick Street in London's Soho.
Mr Williams, 26, said they were kissing but it "wasn't anything indecent".
But Daniel Griffiths, ex-president of the Federation of Licensed Victuallers Associations, said: "If he doesn't like the house rules, don't use the pub."
Mr Bull, 23, said a man claiming to be the pub's landlord first objected to their kissing shortly after 2145 BST on Wednesday, but they were asked to leave an hour later after a "quick peck on the lips".
'Orderly fashion' The John Snow pub and Samuel Smith's brewery, which owns the central London venue, have not commented on the incident.
Continue reading the main story "Start Quote

We make the house rules and we stand by those house rules"
​

End Quote Dennis Griffiths Ex-president of the Federation of LVAs
Mr Griffiths, owner of the Miners Rest in Barnsley, said every pub landlord was free to make in-house rules which show "respect to the rest of the clientele".
He said: "From a personal point of view, whether they were gay, whether they were lesbians or whether they were heterosexuals, I would still have thrown them out.
"It's very, very hard times and we have got to keep as many people in the pub [as possible].
"We make the house rules and we stand by those house rules. If he doesn't like the house rules, don't use the pub."
He added: "When he was asked at quarter to 10 to leave or to stop doing it, if he intended to carry on he should have left them premises, in an orderly fashion, and gone to premises where the matter is accepted and stayed there."

Mr Williams said: "We had been kissing but my hands and James's hands were above the table so I don't think it's really a problem.
"Should I be stopped from kissing my partner in public just because I am not in a supposedly gay area?
"That is just utterly wrong, surely. We shouldn't ghettoise people.
"If they want us out then there's a better way of doing it and a polite way of doing it and a way that doesn't make us feel like we have just been kicked out purely for being gay."
The Metropolitan Police is investigating the incident.
Meanwhile, hundreds of gay rights' protesters are planning a "kiss-in" at the pub in response to the alleged ejection.
More than 700 people said they would attend the demonstration, mobilised on Facebook, on Friday evening.

 

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Gay couple 'removed from Soho pub for kissing'

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James Bull, 23, said he felt "belittled" and was "shaking" after the incident
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A man has told of how he was ordered to leave a central London pub after a staff member objected to him kissing a man he was on a date with.
James Bull, 23, said he and Jonathan Williams, 26, were thrown out of the John Snow on Broadwick Street, Soho.
Mr Bull said he was "shaking" after a woman claiming to be the pub's landlady removed them for being "obscene".
The Metropolitan Police are investigating the incident, while the John Snow pub is yet to comment.
Samuel Smith's brewery, the owner of the pub, declined to comment on the incident.
'Felt dirty' "I felt belittled. I felt physically sick and we were both shaking," said Mr Bull, a charity worker from Kentish Town in north London.
"It made me feel dirty. I've never experienced anything like this before."
Mr Bull said a man claiming to be the pub's landlord first objected to their kissing shortly after 2145 BST.
"We were kissing and a guy who claimed to be the landlord came over and told us to stop. I don't want to see that. It offends me," he said.
"We had just kissed. It was nothing obscene. He said if we didn't tone it down, we would have to leave.
"We were going to finish our drinks and leave but another person at the bar said the man had no right to do that."
'Venom and anger' Jamie Morton, 23, from Canary Wharf, who witnessed the incident, said: "I was really shocked. I said: 'That's outrageous - you can't say that.'"
Mr Bull said: "We had another drink and, getting up to leave, I gave Jonathan a quick peck on the lips."
"A woman claiming to be the landlady came over and said: 'You need to leave, you're being obscene.'"
"The man who said he was the landlord grabbed Jonathan by the collar before we left."
Mr Morton said: "It was shocking and aggressive. There was a lot of venom and anger inflicted on these polite guys who were genuinely doing nothing wrong at all."
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: "Police are investigating an incident which occurred at approximately 2250 BST on Wednesday at a venue in Broadwick Street, W1.
"There have been no arrests and inquiries are ongoing."

 

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Gay 'kiss-in' protest outside pub

Apr 15 2011
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A gay "kiss-in" planned at a pub accused of booting out two men for their public display of affection came out into the street.
Several hundred protesters gathered outside the locked doors of the John Snow in Soho, central London, in a noisy display of solidarity.
They joined Jonathan Williams, 26, a financial journalist, and James Bull, 23, a charity volunteer, who said they were ejected on Wednesday by a woman claiming to be the landlady and accusing them of being "obscene".
The crowd staged a mass kiss at 7pm, followed by the spontaneous locking of lips by same-sex and heterosexual couples as the evening wore on.
The demonstration, organised on Facebook, had been intended to take place inside the pub, but its doors were closed after news of the kiss-in broke.
Standing outside the John Snow pub where his and Mr Bull's first date was allegedly cut short, Mr Williams said the turnout was "magnificent and overwhelming".
He said: "It's fantastic so many people actually came. I think it will at least make people reconsider their prejudices and remember that everyone has feelings."
He vowed that he would never return to the John Snow in the future.
Asked whether he was planning to pursue a claim against the pub, he said: "I haven't considered legal action. I don't know what the plans are but I haven't closed the door yet. I haven't spoken to the police officially."
Thomas Paget, the licence holder of the pub, refused to comment on the row. Asked whether the pub had been the victim of a "misunderstanding", he said: "I don't have anything to say."

 

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Philippians 3:19 "...............Whose glory is in their shame............."

 

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