The owners of Pink Pony, a new gay nightclub in Sydney, have apologized and vowed to change the club’s name following backlash from the local LGBTQ community.
Kevin Du-Val and Michael Lewis — the owner and manager of the popular gay club Palms — had planned to open their new multi-level venue on Oxford Street, the main drag in Darlinghurst known for its vibrant LGBTQ nightlife, in early December.
But the club’s name — which the owners said in a since-deleted social media post was “unashamedly inspired by its namesake song that resonates so profoundly within our community,” referring to lesbian singer Chappell Roan’s hit “Pink Pony Club” — sparked controversy after they described the type of patrons they hoped to attract, seemingly at the expense of others, according to 9News.
“In line with our experience and our passion, Pink Pony is being created specifically for 18-35 (state of mind) gay men who love to dance and get sweaty to high-powered dance music in a safe space that is theirs to enjoy,” Du-Val and Lewis wrote in the now-deleted post.
Speaking with Gay Sydney News, Lewis said women would be welcome at the club, but added that “our desire is that [the crowd] is predominantly gay boys, and when I say predominantly, I’m sort of talking 90 percent plus.”
“Obviously, we’ve got legal hurdles…in terms of how much we can vet the crowd while still complying with the law,” he added, referring to Australia’s Sex Discrimination Act, which prohibits exclusion based on gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation.
The Australian Human Rights Commission can grant temporary exemptions to the law, but it’s unclear whether the club would qualify.
The club owners were quickly roasted on social media over Pink Pony’s name and proposed door policy, with many calling it ironic and accusing the pair of being exclusionary.
“Appropriating lesbian culture for your own money/benefit for gay men,” wrote Heaps Gay, a queer events organizer, in response to the club owners’ post. “This had the potential to be so great for our community and for Oxford Street. Sad.”
Heaps Gay later addressed the controversy in its own Facebook post, calling the situation “disappointing” and labeling the Pink Pony owners “tone deaf.”
“Imagine calling it Pink pony club when the song clearly says ‘where boys and girls can all be queens every single day.’ They’ve really not read the room on this one,” one user responded.
“Gay guy misogyny is a helluva drug,” another user wrote in response to Heaps Gay.
Commenters on the owners’ since-deleted post were equally critical.
“So it’s gay men only, but the name of the club is a song by a female lesbian pop star? Oh, I fear they missed the mark with this one,” a user wrote.
“Why would you name a club after a hit song by a lesbian pop star, and it’s not a lesbian bar?” another user wrote.
This week, Du-Val and Lewis changed their social media handle to “new name coming soon” and posted an apology on the club’s Instagram page.
“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,” the post reads. “In hindsight, our communication was clumsy and very poorly worded. Clearly the choice of ‘Pink Pony’ as a name was also an error of judgement given Chappell Roan’s well deserved reverence with queer Women…. [W]e are sorry.”
The post reiterated that all members of the queer community will be welcome at the yet-to-be-named club. It emphasized that there was never an intention to impose a door policy excluding any group.
“In hindsight we can see how our nomination of a preferred mix was tone deaf and hurtful and once again we sincerely apologise,” the post concludes. “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.”
A video shows a Burger King manager -- who also owns the franchise -- ordering an irate female customer to leave after she tried to get an employee disciplined for allegedly misgendering her, despite the fact that she had repeatedly misgendered the worker first.
It’s unclear when the video was recorded, but it has been circulating widely in recent days.
The video, filmed from the customer’s point of view, opens with her at a Kansas Burger King demanding to speak with the manager. A male employee goes to get the manager, prompting the customer to demand the manager’s full name. The employee tells her he doesn’t know the manager’s last name.
A Texas grand jury has indicted 57-year-old Sigfredo Ceja Alvarez in connection with the June 1 killing of actor Jonathan Joss. Police say Alvarez confronted Joss and his husband as they were picking up mail at their San Antonio home, which had burned down in February.
The 59-year-old Joss -- whose legal name was Jonathan Joss Gonzales -- was best known for his roles on the animated series King of the Hill and the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation.
The Bexar County District Attorney’s Office said in a Nov. 19 statement that Ceja Alvarez "is charged with murder, the most serious charge applicable under Texas law." The office added that, because the case is still pending, no further details could be released.
U.S. Rep. Julie Johnson, one of several Democrats targeted in Texas's latest gerrymander, says she will seek reelection after a federal three-judge panel blocked a Republican-backed congressional map that would have drawn her out of her Dallas-area district for 2026.
The lesbian congresswoman is one of five Texas Democrats whose districts were reshaped to give Republicans a 2026 edge, and among several Democrats who were effectively drawn out of the seats they currently represent.
In Johnson's case, the proposed map would have stretched her Dallas-based 32nd District into Republican-leaning Rockwall County and rural East Texas, while shifting her hometown of Farmers Branch into GOP Rep. Beth Van Duyne's 24th District, a seat Trump won by 16 points in 2024.
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