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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