Lesbian couple told 'tone it down' after complaint for kissing and cuddling in north London Wetherspoon pub

Leoni and Hannah say they were victims of homophobia when they went for lunch at a Wetherspoons in London
Bronwen Weatherby18 October 2019

A lesbian couple said they left a north London Wetherspoon pub in tears after a staff member asked them to "tone it down" when another customer complained about them kissing and cuddling.

Hannah Clifford and Leoni Malbon-Barker met for lunch at The Coronet in Holloway Road, Islington, on Wednesday.

As they were served their drinks, the 21-year-old graduates said they were told by a waitress that someone had reported them for "snogging each other's face off".

They said they were asked to "tone it down" before deciding to leave the pub feeling "vulnerable and embarrassed".

The girlfriends say they were and shocked and upset by the complaint

As they left the pub, three men, who they suspected to be the complainants, were said to have made sexual gestures towards them and shout: "Bye darlings."

The pub chain, which is investigating, said customers had complained of "intimate, inappropriate touching". Ms Clifford vehemently denied this.

Ms Clifford told the Standard: "When I got outside I burst into tears. I was more upset than angry.

"I had my arm around Leoni and had given her a cuddle and a kiss when we arrived because we hadn't seen each other all day. But it was nothing raunchy because we were in public.

The women were offered a free breakfast as an apology for the incident

"I had my arm around her when the lady came up to us and gave us our drinks and said she didn't mean any offence, but someone had complained about us 'snogging each other's faces off' and said could you please 'tone it down'.

"At first we didn't understand what she meant but then we both got really angry. We looked around to see who could have complained but everyone seemed fine. Then we saw three men staring and smiling at us.

"We decided to leave and the lady rushed back over and said we didn't need to go, but we really felt too uncomfortable to stay.

"Then the men started making sexual gestures and blew kisses at us, and called after us shouting 'bye darlings'."

"When I got outside I burst into tears" said Ms Clifford

Ms Clifford added: "I turned to the lady and asked how she could ask us to tone it down for cuddling but could allow them to make sexual gestures towards us?"

The women said they returned to the pub with a friend to complain to the manager, who was said to have claimed he would try and get the men banned. They also said they were offered to come back the next day for a free breakfast - which they did not accept.

Despite being regular customers since studying at nearby London Metropolitan University, they said the incident had made them feel so uncomfortable and "unsafe" - and that they would never go back.

Ms Clifford, who works in the underground mini golf club Swingers, added: "I work in hospitality and that's not how we handle these situations."

Students' Union co-ordinator Ms Malbon-Baker said she was concerned with how the complaint was handled and believes "homophobic" complaints should not be tolerated by establishments.

Speaking of the men in the pub, she said: "We were young enough to be their granddaughters and they wouldn't appreciate it happening to them, so why did they think it was okay to do it to us?

"Why couldn't they have got on with their day and left us alone? We were in a corner seat and they literally chose to look at us, watch us and went out of their way to complain about us."

The could said they would like Wetherspoon to train their staff to "deal better" with similar situations.

"Whether the pub will take it further or not," Ms Clifford said, "I'm not sure. But I just want something better to come out of this.

"I want to raise awareness that this is not an OK way to treat people, it's frankly homophobic.

"What happened to us was on the small scale but we wouldn't want it to happen to anyone else."

Wetherspoon spokesman Eddie Gershon said: “A member of staff asked the couple to stop because they had received complaints from customers saying there was intimate, inappropriate touching under the table.

“They were fine with this at first and then decided to leave.”

Mr Gershon went on: “As far as we are concerned, if a woman wishes to kiss a woman, or a man wishes to kiss a man in our pub, or any combination of that, that is fine by us.

“We are not sure of the background to this situation at The Coronet and it will be investigated.”

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