What outrage couldn’t achieve, flowers did. One of Mumbai’s high-end restobars Shiro, which DNA had reported was not accepting gay couples as part of their ‘couples-only’ policy, has changed its policy after social media blacklash. After the report carried in the December 18 2016 edition ‘No new year for gay couples as restaurants, bars shut their doors’, Shiro explained its stance on social media saying, “As a matter of precautionary measure of our female guests on the occasion of New Year, and to avoid any misbehaviour or unwanted issues at the restaurant where men pose as a couple to gain entry, the management decided that a man can be accompanied with a couple(s) or two men can enter with a lady.”
This only added to the ire of the community with reactions as varied as calling for a total boycott, shaming on social media, and bringing down their ratings on Zomato. Equal rights activist Harish Iyer started a Queer Rose for our Homophoic Dosts page on Facebook. “Since they are people who don’t seem to understand the power of the pink rupee and the radiance of the rainbow. We won’t call for a boycott. Hate is a disease. We spread love.
Homophobia is a disease. We ask for more love for them and we wish that they get well soon,” the DNA Sunday columnist said. The page asked people to call the establishments to express love and wish they get #GayWellSoon. “Don’t abuse, don’t hate, just spread love and drop flowers at their place,” Iyer said.
When winner of the Mr Gay World India 2014, model, singer-actor, VJ, TV host, and columnist Sushant Divgikar went with an entourage to drop a bouquet at Shiro, the management softened its stand.
Co-founder Jay Singh admitted that the policy was a mistake. “The woman staffer wasn’t able to adequately explain our position. This led to the miscommunication,” he said, “I can assure you that neither me, nor Shiro and even the woman staffer you spoke to, are homophobic in any way. It is only to ensure that other guests’ experience is not ruined that we have to be careful,” he said. “As long as the guys who come in don’t start scraps with staff at the door and are sober enough to be responsible for their actions and are decently dressed, we’ll allow them in.”
Lauding this, Divgikar said, “We will not rest on this. Every establishment which suffers from homophobia will soon be receiving our love and attention with flowers.”
