Lopez Blogs

It's weird that this is my 500th post within the fizzypop domain, having only been open a couple of months. Still, the collection of my "back catalogue" and indexing system means indeed this is number 500... And I'd planned it carefully so that this would be a jolly review of Same Difference live, followed by a lovely chat with my favourite brother-sister duo known as Smudge. Or Stiff as I like to call them. However, that was not to be (though hopefully the chat will be rearranged) as events of Saturday night turned things a deeper shade of sour... (please note that names have been changed not to protect the guilty, but with a court case pending, I don't want to write anything I'm not meant to...)

The night all started off so well. DazPecs was showing off his new buff physique in stomach muscle showing abercrombie muscle top. I looked quite delightful in a formal-casual jeans, white shirt, black tie ensemble. We were both having lots of fun with our friends Bernice and Harona as we made our way to the nightclub. It wasn't particularly busy inside, but busy enough that every where you turned on the dancefloor you were accidentally elbowing someone in the face or treading on their delicate toes. As Same Difference came on the stage, you could barely move and that's when I heard a bit of a fracas behind me. Two guys were yelling at Harona because she wouldn't (actually literally couldn't - she was sandwiched inbetween people) let their friend through to get a better view. I didn't catch what they were saying, but did catch that they shoved her out of the way, grabbed her glasses off her face and threw them across the crowd. While Darren went with Harona to retrieve them, I started yelling at the guy asking him why he thought he could do that sort of thing. His response was "she was being vile". I was yelling that you couldn't treat people that way and that's when he said it. "She's a vile paki". I (and people around me) were literally stunned. I was literally shaking with anger (I would later learn that he was calling Harona that to her face during the fracas). I called him a f***ing c**t and went to get security. I explained to the security guard what had happened and he asked me to point the guys out. I did so and at this point I found Darren and Harona, and we were all told to go back and enjoy our evening. I found it a little bit strange that we were to expect that to be an end of the matter, but all of us (particularly poor Harona) were a little bit stunned and wandered shell shocked back into the bar. I then went out to see whether the two guys had been thrown out, but they walked straight by me - one looking decidedly miffed and the other with a smile on his face...

We went again to find security to ask what had happened. It was then they told us that the two guys (assuming Harona was straight) had said that she had called them gay and that justified their actions (the guys words not the security guards). When we said that hadn't happened they said we were now being aggressive and that the solution was to either have us go back to the club to enjoy the evening or have us all thrown out. We decided on having us all thrown out. Our evening was ruined - why should those guys think they can get away with it. When we explained this to the security guard, they changed their tune - oh it would take too long to find them, it's a big club, we can't prove anything... The more we tried to state our case, the more we were classed as being aggressive and asked to step outside. Then a black security guard came up to Harona and told her that he had to put up with being called names all the time and that she should just get used to it. Quite honestly, all of us felt that no one should have to put up with that and not only was it an actual attack on someone, it was the ferocity of which they spat out the racist slur. But it was like talking to a brick wall...

Eventually we decided to call the police. It's a scary thing to do in reality. Are you overreacting? Should we be dealing with the situation differently? Would they just brush it off? But Darren and I felt that they shouldn't get away with that behaviour and Harona agreed. By this point Darren and I were both shaking with anger at the whole situation - the apathetic attitude of the club staff (more on that later), the grinning face of the boy who threw the glasses and used the slur, it just all seemed so unfair. And honestly, it didn't seem to change much when the police came. At first, an Irish policemen told us he had to put up with insults daily and you just had to get used to it. Really? No one should stand up for themselves and try and make the world a better place? That may sound twee but i refuse to believe that we live in a country or world where anyone should have to just put up with any form of abuse... Finally, the police talked to the two guys who told them they wanted to apologise to Harona. I was quite proud that Harona decided that it had gone beyond that and she wanted to press charges. They were arrested and we all went to the police station to make a statement.

I have to commend the police who took our statements. We were all made to feel very relaxed and go through the evening events carefully. At no point were any of us made to feel that we were overreacting or dramatising the situation. We finally got home at 5am exhausted but too emotional and shocked to sleep...

Harona called today to say that the two lads had to spend a night in the cells and that they would be formally charged in the next few days, with a court date to be set. It may not come to anything, but it's a start and I am proud of Harona for taking a stand and following up what she believed in.

I did feel I had to write to the club's manager and address some of their lack of tact in handling the situation. I wasn't really expecting much, but what came back was a very carefully and corporately worded email that suggested our version of events were very different to theirs, we were the aggressive ones and that their staff were taught to distance themselves from situations like this. They felt it was in the best interests of everyone to get back and enjoy their evenings. Even if they believe their own version of events (that we were being aggressive and Harona had called these boys gay), they basically acknowledged that it was ok for people to use homophobic (false) and racial (true) slurs as long as they avoided each other after. Hardly in line with their "reassurances that they promote equality and diversity"... Do we now pursue it with the club and argue with them about their attitudes? I feel we would get nowhere and perhaps be more infuriated as a result, but if anyone has suggestions I'd be happy to forward the email sent and received for further advice.

Sorry this is a bit of a downer post, but I feel very strongly about what happened and wanted to get some of my anger out by writing it down (with Harona's permission). Back to normal tomorrow...