Gay man turned away from London club for wearing high-heels
Image courtesy of Pavel Vacek
A gay man has alleged that he was turned away from a London gay club for wearing high-heeled boots because his choice of shoe was “too feminine.”
33-year-old Pavel Vacek has never experienced any issues getting into clubs before, so he was taken aback when the bouncer at XXL London turned him away for what he was wearing.
Speaking to PinkNews, Pavel suggested the club was “femme shaming,” and wondered why the bouncer had a problem with men wearing high-heels.
“I’ve been to XXL before, so I was quite surprised,” Pavel said. “They say on the website that it’s a bear club, but you see all kinds of guys there – twinks, young guys, older guys – anyone.”
He now says he is done with the club and doesn’t plan to go back, as he wouldn’t be able to relax and have fun.
Pavel normally doesn’t wear high-heels when going out, however he is currently preparing for a performance with the Gay Men Dance Company, of which he is a member, where he will have to dance in heels. He wore the heels to the club on Saturday night as a part of his preparation and to help him get used to wearing them.
“It was only my second or third time wearing the boots because I don’t have many places to wear them, and I thought, ‘why not?’ Where else should I take them other than a gay club?
“It shouldn’t be about what you wear. That doesn’t define you. If you feel comfortable wearing high-heels or pink, if you feel good and you don’t hurt anyone, what’s the problem?” he added.
After Pavel and his friends were denied entry to XXL, they went on to another London club where he says his heels attracted “a lot of fans.”
“People were admiring me and everybody loved the shoes.”
Since making his story public, Pavel has received support from other members of the LGBT+ community in London, particularly younger people.
PinkNews reached out to XXL for comment, however no response had been received at the time of publishing.
