UNITED KINGDOM – Hundreds of people gathered outside the locked doors of the John Snow pub in Soho, London last week and staged a mass kiss-in at 7 p.m. as a protest at the London pub after a gay couple claimed they were thrown out for kissing.
Several weeks ago two men were asked to leave the pub for kissing while on a date. 26-year-old Jonathan Williams was enjoying a quiet drink in the John Snow pub in central London with his date James when a customer complained about them.
Despite protestations from other patrons at the pub the couple said they were manhandled and forcibly removed from the premises.
Williams told the website So So Gay his account of what happened.
“Halfway through the first drink in the pub, a slightly drunken man approached us somewhat politely asking us to stop kissing. Because he had turned to face us to ask us to stop, I politely suggested he turn around instead. He then claimed to be the landlord, but since he was holding a pint, was visibly intoxicated and was standing on the customers’ side of the bar we took little notice.
“Later, when we were kissing – not in any confrontational way, but simply on the mouth – a uniformed member of staff approached us. She said she was the publican, but refused to give us her name, or to give her name to the people sitting next to us when they asked. She told us we had to leave, to which we replied that we had no intention to.
“After more arguing, raised voices and our repeatedly asking for the woman’s name, we relented when a person claiming to be a plainclothes officer showed me something that looked like a badge. I’m not sure if it was, looking back, but he also gave us what he claimed was his badge number and his name. At that point we left, me shaking with anger and James furious.
“From what I understand through Twitter, the people sitting next to us then challenged that we’d been kicked out and were also asked to leave.”
The outraged pair had vented their frustration on Facebook and Twitter and the protest was organized on Facebook. The protest was due to take place in the pub, but its doors were closed after news of the action broke.
The John Snow pub is right in the heart of London’s gay district.
