When the gay sports bar Boxers opened up in New York, it was an instant hit with sports on the TVs and bartenders in their — shocking, I know — boxers. If that isn’t a recipe for success….
Now the Philadelphia Boxers is suing the city for discrimination claiming the city mishandled a permit for a rooftop deck specifically because the bar caters to a gay clientele.
The case follows a history of applications and permits that dates back over two years. Essentially the city gave the bar the approval for a rooftop deck, then revoked it after the owners spent $50,000 on said improvements.
In levying the discrimination case, the owners claim that various other non-gay bars have rooftop decks and that they are being singled out because they cater to those rowdy gays (who, from my many years of experience, are far more polite in their rowdiness than the straights).
The case will be one to follow, and it’s great to see Boxers taking steps to make sure they are not being treated differently because they serve more cosmopolitans than the average sports bar.