Auckland gay bar renamed after protest
COMPLAINING customers have forced a New Zealand gay bar to change its name from Poof to Pop.
Poof on Ponsonby, located on Auckland’s “gay strip, will become Pop on Ponsonby this week.
The bar’s Facebook site is still officially called Poof bar but has already changed its logo to the new name.
Wayne Clark, owner of the bar as well as the night club Family, said the name was dreamt up to match the comic book theme of the bar.
“’Poof’ to me is a word that means fun and vibrant and sums up pop art perfectly,” he told Fairfax Media.
However, after three months trading under its controversial name, Clark decided to pull the plug on Poof.
The owner citied negative comments from customers who found the name to be offensive.
A customer, Codee MacDonald, was pleased with the management’s decision and took to the bar’s Facebook page to declare: “Love the name change”.
MacDonald had earlier told Fairfax that far from empowering him, terms such as poof and queer pushed him further into the closet when he was growing up.
The bar’s name was a “kick in the face to those who had fought so long for people stop using such terms as ‘poof’,” according to MacDonald.
On the other side of the Tasman Sea, the not dissimilar sounding Poof Doof is well-established in Melbourne, declaring itself to be “gay club for homos”.
Poof Doof management declined to comment to the Star Observer about why they decided to use the name and if they had received any complaints about it.
I think that complaining about this could be a slight overreaction and possibly even counterproductive – how people interpret or feel in response to a word is their own choice. I feel that terms and phrases are evolving, and, like a lot of words over time, are changing meaning. I see “poof” as a jovial reference and not offensive – I actually think it reflects the environment and emotion that the bar was trying to create.
Isn’t it true that what once was a massively derogatory term (i.e. queer), is how some people in our community would now choose to refer to themselves? I think it is actually productive in breaking down barriers and negativity that surrounds such words.
I also think that being so blatant and obvious further supports awareness and discussion that previously may have been absent and awkward.
Any word can come across derogatory if said in a derogatory way.
Fuss over nothing I reckon
Bring back Poof bar :)