Gay bar apologises for telling photographers: Only shoot ‘hot boys’
Melbourne gay bar Poof Doof sparked outrage with the brief, which was posted online on January 16 (Pexels)
A gay bar in Australia has apologised after giving photographers guidelines asking for pictures of “hot boys” and “boys with muscles” only.
Melbourne gay bar Poof Doof has said it no longer uses the brief, which surfaced online on Wednesday (January 16), Australian LGBT+ publication Star Observer reported.
The guidelines banned, among others, photos of women, “skinny boys,” “boys with bad skin” and “messy boys.” The latter were described as “anyone who looks like they’ve poked down a 10-pack is OUT.”
Poof Doof prompted anger from people who saw the guidelines (diy rainbow/facebook)
Photographers were also told to limit their pictures of drag queens to “ONLY the BEST. And never more than 3-4. And once they’ve had their photo taken once, that’s it. Forever.”
Gay bar Poof Doof apologises for photography brief
The general manager of Poof Doof, Susie Robinson, has confirmed that the brief is real, but explained it was handed out during a meeting in 2011 and claimed it was “kept to use against us.”
“It’s a shame that this particular photographer felt he had been so wronged [by being terminated] that he really wanted to have as much negative impact on our brand as possible,” she told the Star Observer.
“Just in case you were in a cave tonight. We made a mistake”
— Poof Doof
She also apologised for the guidelines, saying that they were “no longer part of our identity.
“But that doesn’t change the fact that those words were written, and for that we absolutely, unreservedly apologise. We absolutely don’t stand by it.
“We’re devastated that we would ever cause harm to anyone.”
Poof Doof has also apologised to its followers on Facebook, writing: “Just in case you were in a cave tonight. We made a mistake.”
The gay bar added that it saw this moment as “a fantastic opportunity to learn. For everyone who has ever felt discrimination in any capacity, we all know that feeling.
Poof Doof apologised for the brief on January 16 (poof doof/facebook)
“If you have ever felt discrimination in our space, that’s not good enough and we are taking full responsibility to fix it.”
Poof Doof promised to “write a new set of policies, duh,” which it said “will all be shared publicly.
“We have taken your feedback very seriously and if you want to be involved in helping us write it, you can,” the statement continued, above a link to fill in a survey.
“Finally, from the bottom of our hearts, thank you for expressing how you feel, it means we can reflect and improve,” the gay bar added.
“We know we have made some big mistakes and we are committed to working together as the fabulous community we are to fix them.”
