'Le Stud' ruling lacking in 'le logic'

Here's the recap for those unfamiliar with the situation: Audrey was in the Gay Village with her dad, when she decided to have a drink at "Le Stud's" terrace. She was promptly refused service and asked to leave. Insulted and mortified, she lodged a complaint for gender discrimination against the management before the Quebec Human Rights Commission.

Never mind that, as one of my gay friends stated, "the terrace is just big enough to hold one table, two chairs and a bag of pennies to throw at the male prostitutes that walk by", Audrey insisted this discriminated against her right to drink cheap beer in a raunchy gay bar.

Thanks to its many vibrant clubs and restaurants, I've been going to the Village for years, and I can assure you, it has a plethora of bars and cafes that are much more hetero-friendly than "Le Stud".

This is a place that promotes itself as a "manly meat market" where "men love men" and where TV screens display gay porn around the clock. THIS, Audrey, is where you decided to take your dad for a drink? You're fighting for your right to drink here, and dragging your dad along for the ride as well? Rosa Parks would be proud!

I, more than anyone you'll meet, adhere to the "live and let live" philosophy. I believe it makes sense and prevents needless grief in the world. But I also adhere to the belief that common sense has gone out the window lately and it takes a special kind of "idiot savant" to know and understand the law, yet be unable to interpret social cues that clearly indicate your presence may not be desired.

Is it illegal to discriminate on the basis of gender? If we're just following the letter of the law, then yes! Is it ironic that Ms. Vachon invoked the very same section of the provincial charter that was created to defend the rights of homosexuals in 1977? Immensely! But, at the end of the day, we must have the common sense to ask: "What does such a complaint accomplish and what rights were actually trampled on?"

Does the bar's refusal to allow a woman to be on its premises violate her freedom or status as a female in any way or does it simply annoy her that she can't have a beer in the presence of a bunch of men who are only interested in other men? As human rights lawyer, Julius Grey, asked: "Does it devalue her as a woman?" I feel that it doesn't.

Pay inequity, which is still alive and well in this country, female circumcision, systematic rape as a weapon of war, honour killings, these atrocious practices (abundant in the world today), devalue me as a woman. My inability to enter "Le Stud" in the Gay Village, a stone throw's away from tons of other gay bars that will gladly take my money for a drink, does not.