Brit pub ousts gay kiss couple
Source: Agencies |
April 17, 2011, Sunday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
TWO gay men say their first-date kiss got them thrown out of a London pub - and turned them into a Twitter sensation.
Jonathan Williams says he and his date, James Bull, were asked to leave after sharing what they described as a "hands-on-the-table" kiss at the John Snow pub in London's Soho, normally known as one of London's gay-friendliest neighborhoods. Anger snowballed after Williams tweeted about the incident late Wednesday, and within 24 hours, the story was on the front page of Britain's Guardian newspaper and the pair were describing their ordeal on national radio.
A number for the John Snow - named after the 19th century English physician - rang unanswered Friday. Its owners said they had no comment on the controversy.
The pub closed its doors Friday afternoon after hundreds signed up to a Facebook group promising a three-hour "kiss-in" at the Snow. That didn't stop the protesters. A raucous crowd of about 300 mostly gay men joined Williams and Bull outside the pub Friday evening, many kissing each other in front of a large media presence, and a rainbow flag was draped outside the closed door.
The kiss-in's organizer, a 50-year-old manager named Paul Shetler, said he first heard about the incident through Twitter. Shetler said the incident "struck me as the kind of thing I would see in a small town in the States, not in the capital of the UK."
In a series of messages posted to the Web, Williams expressed wonder at the speed with which the gay community had rallied to his defense.
Wednesday night "was my first 'The Power of Twitter' moment," he wrote. "Thank you very much everyone."
Jonathan Williams says he and his date, James Bull, were asked to leave after sharing what they described as a "hands-on-the-table" kiss at the John Snow pub in London's Soho, normally known as one of London's gay-friendliest neighborhoods. Anger snowballed after Williams tweeted about the incident late Wednesday, and within 24 hours, the story was on the front page of Britain's Guardian newspaper and the pair were describing their ordeal on national radio.
A number for the John Snow - named after the 19th century English physician - rang unanswered Friday. Its owners said they had no comment on the controversy.
The pub closed its doors Friday afternoon after hundreds signed up to a Facebook group promising a three-hour "kiss-in" at the Snow. That didn't stop the protesters. A raucous crowd of about 300 mostly gay men joined Williams and Bull outside the pub Friday evening, many kissing each other in front of a large media presence, and a rainbow flag was draped outside the closed door.
The kiss-in's organizer, a 50-year-old manager named Paul Shetler, said he first heard about the incident through Twitter. Shetler said the incident "struck me as the kind of thing I would see in a small town in the States, not in the capital of the UK."
In a series of messages posted to the Web, Williams expressed wonder at the speed with which the gay community had rallied to his defense.
Wednesday night "was my first 'The Power of Twitter' moment," he wrote. "Thank you very much everyone."
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