Gay Bar accused of removing rainbow flags for private event attended by Scott Morrison

The Imperial Hotel is at the centre of a social media firestorm. Some in the LGBT community are calling for a boycott, while others are questioning the motives of the accusers.

Source: The Feed

Sydney band Stereogamous has accused Sydney gay bar The Imperial Hotel of removing rainbow pride flags from the venue for a private event attended by PM Scott Morrison last month.  

However, The Imperial refutes the claims, telling The Feed “Any accusation The Imperial Hotel, Erskineville recently removed our LGBTQI+ flags is simply NOT true.”

So what went down at The Imperial?

Here is what The Feed understands happened:

On September 25, Scott Morrison took this selfie with boxer Danny Green at The Imperial Hotel:

Today, Stereogamous made a Facebook Story that included a screen shot of Morrison’s selfie.

Soon after the Facebook Story was published, another DJ, Niveen Hoe, took a screen shot of it and uploaded it to her Facebook account where she rallied for “punters, artists and promoters” to boycott the venue:

Stereogamous refused The Feed’s request for comment, concerned staff members could be fired over the post.

Niveen Hoe hasn’t responded.

In response to a torrent of negative press under the Facebook post made by Niveen Hoe, The Imperial made this statement at 2:43PM:

Over the course of the day, various Facebook commenters questioned the reliability of the accusations against The Imperial.

Others in the comment section argued that The Imperial is a “safe space” for LGBT patrons and therefore should not have allowed Mr Morrison to enter the venue on account of his stance on a range of LGBT issues.

On its website, The Imperial describes itself as a “national treasure in the heart of the LGBTQIA+ community!” and states “There is plenty of love in our house.”

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