Customers of King William IV Upset By Intention to Attract Straight Customers
By Jesse_Custer | Tuesday, March 22, 2011, 12:19
Controversy has hit Hampstead’s pub scene recently due to the owner of the King William IV admitting that she is trying to attract more straight customers to boost the business.
The King William is known around Hampstead as being the only gay pub in the area, although the fact isn’t exactly advertised and to the trained eye it is not obvious.
Gay customers of the pub, which according to Ham&High has been a gay-friendly pub since the 1930s, are upset by the revelation. They are concerned that the pub’s history will be tainted and it will lose its identity.
The owner is one Elaine Loughran, a gay woman herself, was quoted as saying ‘We are running a business and if people think you can run a business purely on your sexuality, they don’t understand business. There’s not enough support in the area to run a gay bar.’
It’s an understandable point of view and you can’t really argue with the economics of the situation. But is there anything else that could be done? Is it a necessity for The King William IV to become an ‘everyone friendly’ or is there another option? Or should exclusion in any form be discouraged?
Comments
WTH...I only wanted to say 'B-u-g-g-e-r' :D
By janestclair at 01:26 on 06/04/11
Report******!
By janestclair at 13:21 on 02/04/11
ReportIt's a gay pub? Really? I hadn't noticed... if the venue is struggling as a traditionally gay-friendly pub then it's in the regular clientele's best interests that the owner diversify- if it closes as a result of lack of patronage then it'll be the regulars who lose out. By all means push it more as a gay venue, see if you can tempt anyone up from Soho or Kings Cross (you'll be lucky), but a pub with some straight people in it is better than no pub at all.
By kirjava at 12:52 on 22/03/11
ReportTo be honest I always thought the King William had already taken this step. It seems a pretty mixed bunch whenever I go in there, and I don't even know it was a 'gay' pub until I'd been there a couple of time. I think any regulars there who are worried about this should chill out a bit, I don't think there's anything to worry about, little will change.
By Simon__Lee at 12:41 on 22/03/11
Report