A straight woman has settled her human rights complaint against Bar Le Stud, a Montréal gay bar.

Audrey Vachon sat down in the bar last spring to have a beer with her father, but was promptly informed that women were not welcome and was escorted from the establishment. (You know, because us gays would never complain if someone kicked us out of a straight bar just for being who we are, apparently.)

While it’s great that the two parties have settled, it sounds like the bar may not have learned its lesson. When the Globe and Mail contacted Le Stud following the settlement announcement, staff refused to clarify whether or not they’ll serve women now.

As a gay Montrealer, I can’t imagine what the bar management is thinking. The notion that a woman enjoying a beer with her father in the afternoon would somehow make other patrons uncomfortable is not only downright nutty, but continuing to eject patrons based on their sex is a hypocritical violation of our Charter rights. As part of Montréal’s vibrant gay community, surely Le Stud’s management has once felt the sting of exclusion themselves.

I said it before, but it can use repeating: Gay-friendly doesn’t mean gays only.

• Gay bar settles complaint [Montréal Gazette]
• Gay bar settles human rights complaint [Globe and Mail]

Stop me if you’ve heard this one: A woman walks into a gay bar and sits down for a beer. The waiter comes up to her and says: “This establishment is for men only; please leave.” (rimshot)

Not busting a gut? Neither was Audrey Vachon, who filed a human rights complaint after she was asked to leave Bar Le Stud in Montreal’s Gay Village.

Now, I’m a gay Montrealer and I’ve never felt uncomfortable having women frequent the gay bars here. Last year, I walked into a bar with a group of gay friends. We ordered drinks, were talking, laughing, and having an all-around great time when someone noticed something peculiar… The place was packed to the rafters with lesbians. (Our theory: As gay guys, we’ve been genetically wired to not notice women, so it was perfectly natural for us to not realise we were in a lesbian bar.)

My bottom line: Gay-friendly doesn’t have to mean gays only. If a group of gay guys can enjoy a drink in a lesbian bar, a straight gal should be able to do the same in a gay bar. Why not?

• Woman lodges human rights complaint after being evicted from gay bar [Canada.com]
• Can minorities discriminate? [Globe and Mail]
• Woman bounced from Montreal gay bar [Toronto Star]