'Gay Dog' Refused Entry To Australian Restaurant

'Gay Dog' Refused Entry To Australian Restaurant

An Australian restaurant has been forced to apologize and pay compensation after refusing to let a blind man enter because they thought his dog was gay.

In May 2009, Ian Jolly, 57, was attempting to dine at the Thai Spice restaurant in Adelaide, when he was refused entry after staff misheard his female companion, and thought his "guide dog" was a "gay dog."

"The staff genuinely believed that Nudge was an ordinary pet dog which had been desexed to become a gay dog," the owners said in a statement to South Australia's Equal Opportunity Tribunal.

Jolly is now set to receive a written apology and $1,400 compensation.

However, Jolly said that the situation had made him embarrassed about going to restaurants.

"I just want to be like everybody else and be able to go out for dinner, to be left alone and just enjoy a meal," he told Australian press.

Popular in the Community

Close

What's Hot