Gay panic in Wollongong
Wollongong’s gay population can breathe a sigh of relief: drag entertainment is back at Castros nightclub after it was briefly merged with the less-than-gay Splashes earlier this month.
The two-night experiment by Promotions Inc. left regular patrons feeling they had to act straight in their own gay club.
“They said we were welcome but not allowed to do things like kiss guys or dress in drag as that is not ‘mainstream’,” one patron, who wished to remain anonymous, wrote to SSO.
One gay male couple reported being harassed by a security guard for kissing, which they said had never happened under the previous crew.
Paul Mccreanor, spokesman for RDL Group, which owns Castros, said there is no merger and that weekend was an interruption to the normal planned entertainment schedule.
“Castros remains a gay-friendly club,” Mccreanor said.
“Any communications or actions that patrons experienced or interpreted as negative or non-supportive of the gay community were not initiated by representatives of the RDL Group and are not supported by the RDL Group.”
Castros would continue to have gay-themed entertainment, Mccreanor said, and with even more drag shows being considered.
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