ATLANTA—Blake’s on the Park, Atlanta’s most popular gay nightclub, has been hit with accusations of discrimination for a new dress code posted last week. Among items outlawed at the mixed club: hoodies, oversized tank tops or T-shirts, sweat pants, dew rags, sunglasses, backpacks, oversized chains and medallions, slippers, athletic wear, saggy pants, headphones and “weapons and bad attitudes.”
“To me I took it as ‘We prefer blacks not to be here’ without saying ‘No blacks,’” Gee Session-Smalls told the Georgia Voice. Session-Smalls was at Blake’s last Thursday evening and posted a picture of the sign to social media, which in turn flooded his Facebook account with comments, and the controversy it caused. “Even though many of us do not dress like that, I still take offense to it because I know you’re trying to eliminate a group of people.”
That Session-Smalls would be the one to identify the snub and post it online is ironic, since the biracial man and his husband Juan are the founders of The Gentlemen’s Foundation. GF not only celebrates love, but also hosts an annual black-tie event in Atlanta that caters to the African-American LGBT community.
Of the black-tie event, Session-Smalls has been quoted as saying, “Black gay men wear such shame. We are proud of who we are. When you walk away, I want you to be wowed, take away a sense of pride and feel a sense of energy in the room. Just be proud.”
But Session-Smalls felt no pride last Thursday. He was told by the doorman that the dress code was posted about half-an-hour before his arrival, and while Session-Smalls got admitted to the club/restaurant, he worried about how many of his community would be turned away.
“I think that in Atlanta, especially amongst the black community, there is an overall feeling that we aren’t really welcomed in a lot of the gay bars and establishments,” Session-Smalls told the Georgia Voice. “Blake’s being one of them, but we don’t have many choices of where to go.”
In response, the management of Blake’s posted the following explanation on its Facebook page:
In an effort to improve the safety of our customers at Blake’s on the Park, the management team met to discuss measures that might be taken to curb the presence of unidentifiable individuals within the establishment. The primary concern was the wearing by some of hoodies and dark glasses so as to make oneself unidentifiable. When we have had to review videotape for security reasons, the perpetrators have consistently been wearing such attire. Our customers must feel safe and the banning of hoodies and dark glasses, especially at night, will be enforced.
The recent posting of a laundry list of banned dress was not developed by management of Blake’s. The dress code is a standard code adopted by many local clubs and bars. Our intention was to post an edited list to address our specific needs, but the code was prematurely posted in error prior to the appropriate edits having been made.
We apologize to anyone who was offended by the error. We welcome ALL at Blake’s, and we will continue to make efforts to ensure the safety of ALL our customers.
There were over 1,000 comments about the explanation, many of them labeling the post “backpedalling.”
Photo Credit: Facebook
