A new PSA created by comedian Michael Henry makes a comment about the ways that straight people can dominate queer spaces, and a little advice on how they can have fun at gay bars respectfully.
The clip—entitled ‘Gay guys love me’—shows a conversation that happens between three passengers and an Uber driver on a shared ride in West Hollywood.
The driver brags about how many gay guys hit on him commenting, “My friends keep saying I should get a job at a gay bar, I’d make so much money.”
While a young girl in the passenger seat chimes in, “Gay guys love me, too.”
“They love the way I dress, they love my hair,” she says before noting that she didn’t attend the bar with her gay friends, “No, it was my friend Jenny’s birthday”.
Henry jumps in and says: “I don’t think that either one of you two straight people should be going to gay bars."
He points out the difference between straight people who go to support their friends and those who are there to “stroke their own egos and gawk at us”.
When they protest that bars are a public place, Henry exclaims, “The public is your place, do you even know what a gay bar is?”
“It’s a place where gay men and women go to feel safe, welcomed and flawless because they don’t feel that same way outside of the gay bars and clubs, the same way that you both do."
Henry told HuffPost that he made the video because he loves straight people but wanted to give them a bit of an education.
“…So many are clueless to the fact that gay bars and clubs are more than just places for us to get a vodka soda,” he says.
“I would love for the take away to be that gay people love women and straight people.
“Just know that these bars and clubs do belong to us. LGBTQ people have the feeling that the rest of the world belongs to straight people, so we’re very protective over our venues.
“We would love to have you there, just be smart and follow my rules. Lol.”
