'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.

Comments

[elan4444]

04:43 PM on 04/28/2010

Sigh.

[omobob]

03:49 PM on 04/28/2010

Apparently they have never seen two male dogs being "friendly"? Or they don’t spay or neuter pets or live stock in Australia? Hard to imagine that so-called Aussie outdoors man ship could be that clueless as to mistake a neutered dog for being "gay".

[Michanne]

01:14 PM on 04/29/2010

It was a Thai restaurant, after all.

[PWM]

02:44 PM on 04/28/2010

I guess they are rednecks after all.

[Twinkie]

08:01 PM on 04/29/2010

Most Thai people in Australia have only been here for 10-15 years, don't speak very good English and still live according to their own culture. Blame Thais for being anti-gay if you must and try being a little less ignorant in future

[imayes]

02:14 PM on 04/28/2010

Man! There has been a lot of dumb_$hit coming from Down Under lately, but this takes the cake!

[Staxx]

02:00 PM on 04/28/2010

I've always known that Australia is way worse than America or even Iran. Their rednecks are worse than 17th century sailors.

[Twinkie]

09:15 PM on 04/29/2010

and I've always known that people who generalise and make ridiculous assumptions based on nothing are idiots, go figure

[BackOfTheBus]

12:32 PM on 04/28/2010

OT, but... I once had a Chihuahua-mix that acted "gay" (not my description... I was told this by my gay friends). She was such an attraction, many would offer to buy her from me. She always lifted her leg to pee, she mounted every female she could find, she was extremely aggressive toward men, and she walked around like a bodybuilder with her little arms bowed out as if she was showing off her muscles. She was so cute! Everyone loved her. She was not "desexed" but never could have puppies because she was only interested in females.

[no8do]

01:29 PM on 05/01/2010

Oh I love your dog! I want a dog exactly like that!

[BackOfTheBus]

12:22 PM on 04/28/2010

Egads. I laughed out loud over how silly this is. What an idjit.

[JailNeoconVicts]

12:21 PM on 04/28/2010

Just goes to show, not all the idiots in the world are in the US.

[Twinkie]

09:22 PM on 04/29/2010

Yes, some of them are from THAILAND

[BabaLou7]

09:15 AM on 04/28/2010

How STUPID do people have to be to believe that about a dog?

[CBPatriot]

06:54 AM on 04/28/2010

The owner of the establishment NEEDS to find more competent staff...

[fridakahlofan]

06:52 AM on 04/28/2010

It seems there may be fellow American christian-homophobe tea baggers in Australia in the Thai restaurant business.

[BackOfTheBus]

12:23 PM on 04/28/2010

That must be it. I thought Australians were smarter than that.

[ibivi]

06:49 AM on 04/28/2010

If Australians keep acting this stupid we'll just have to send back their actors. This is the dumbest thing. How did this idiocy get on HuffPo and why am I commenting about it?

[BackOfTheBus]

12:24 PM on 04/28/2010

Because it's so stoopud that it's laughable. And the comments are hysterical, too!

[Twinkie]

09:21 PM on 04/29/2010

Try reading the article instead of acting like a F O X N e w s viewer. These are Thai people living in Australia. Di immigrants to American instantly take on all your cultural ways?

[B Kleitz]

12:37 PM on 05/01/2010

Oh, Twinkie, didn't you know? We "Americans" are not allowed to have any "cultural" ways or heritage. Americans that claim any kind of national "identity" or express any kind of national "pride" are simply racists and bigots and anti "immigrant".
Only every other country on the planet is allowed it's own "national identity".

[ZeraLee]

06:05 AM on 04/28/2010

"The staff genuinely believed that Nudge was an ordinary pet dog which had been desexed to become a gay dog,"

Why would they think that spaying or neutering would make a dog gay? Does Bob Barker have any reruns down under, or is it just the televangelists? They must really be missing Steve Irwin!

So what if the dog was gay?

Did the staff genuinely believe that a blind guy would bring a non-service dog to a restaurant?

[elemental775]

03:28 AM on 04/28/2010

Just because the dog ordered quiche and a tofu salad doesn't make him gay.

[KIVPossum]

03:22 AM on 04/28/2010

He can bring Nudge to my places...we accept straight or gay dogs. Do discriminate against pet monkeys and boas over 1 meter.