West Hollywood : Council OKs Law Banning Bias in Bars

The City Council has given final approval to an ordinance designed to prevent taverns and restaurants from discriminating against patrons because of their sexual orientation.

Prompted by complaints from women that they were being barred from some West Hollywood clubs by doormen demanding as many as three different forms of identification, council member Stephen Schulte proposed a law requiring patrons to produce only one identification card to verify their age.

The new law--passed unanimously by the council last Thursday--also prohibits liquor-licensed establishments from barring women and others because of their dress. Some women had complained they were not allowed into some clubs with a predominantly male clientele because they wore open-toed shoes.

The complaints surfaced not long after the council ordered Barney’s Beanery, a West Hollywood bar and restaurant, to stop dispensing matchbooks that bore the phrase, “Fagots Stay Out.” The restaurant complied, also removing a sign with the same message.