A gay man from London claims he was ejected from one of the capital's most popular pubs, last night – because he kissed another man.
Jonathan Williams, 26, claims he and his date were removed from the John Snow pub in Soho purely because of their sexuality.
They announced details of the incident this morning via micro-blogging site Twitter, sparking considerable anger.
According to Williams, a female employee at the pub – who refused to give her name – apparently asked them to leave after another patron complained, but the pair refused.
The said customer then allegedly grabbed Williams by his shirt collar and threatened to remove him himself, before a plainclothes police officer broke up the situation.
Williams and his date both left the pub "shaking with anger".
Speaking to PinkPaper.com, Williams said: “Since I still don't know the woman's name, I plan to go back tonight and find out who the on duty manager was and write a letter of complaint to head office as soon as I can, asking if they really think it's wise to be removing people for harmless PDAs [public displays of affection] in a bar that is right in the heart of the city's gay district."
When PinkPaper.com called the John Snow pub this morning to offer them a right to reply, they refused – hanging up twice.
We also contacted the brewery, Samuel Smith's, but – at the time of setting this story live – they had offered no response.
“I felt incredibly, incredibly angry I will probably remain angry for
quite a while. I pity anyone so small-minded who cannot comfortably
share a pub with two men kissing,” Williams added.
The
Equality Act makes it illegal for businesses including banks, estate agents,
hotels and bars to turn away gay customers or discriminate against them
when providing goods or services.