A naked speed dating event in the U.K. came under fire this week for only allowing men under 35 through the doors.
The event is being hosted by Date in a Dash this Valentine’s Day and has a strict “no one under the age of 35” policy.
The event’s description reads:
On arrival … eager speed daters will be given dressing gowns to change into. From here on in, all guys in attendance will line up facing one another and then reveal themselves to each other.
After the big reveal its time to get dressed and compose yourself, grab yourself a well earned drink just before the speed dating begins! The fun begins here as you get to mingle, chat and flirt with the gorgeous bunch of guys you’ve just seen naked.
Admission to the event is £20 ($25 U.S.) plus a $2 processing fee. In addition to maintaining an agist policy, promoters say there is “100% no guarantee” you’ll actually find anyone you like.
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Of course, this is hardly the first time a gay party has come under scrutiny for having tone deaf promotional material or inequitable behind-the-scenes policies.
Scroll down for other gay bars and parties that have been outed for discriminating against their own patrons…
Poof Doof
The popular Australian circuit party came under fire earlier this month after a photography brief with guidelines detailing which types of people should not be photographed at its events surfaced online. Among the list of undesirables: “messy boys”, “skinny boys”, “boys with bad skin”, and all women.
After the document leaked, a spokeswoman for the party said “no brand is squeaky clean and perfect” before claiming organizers had since updated their policy, though she couldn’t confirm when the update happened or provide the new policy in writing.
Related: Gay party under fire over leaked doc banning “women, skinny boys, boys with bad skin”
That discriminatory anonymous gay sex party in Brooklyn
Organizers of a gay sex club in Brooklyn were criticized for charging vastly different admission prices for “tops” ($25) and “bottoms” ($65) at a popup event last summer. Promoters tried explaining the enormous price disparity by saying they had to do it for “obvious safety reasons”, though they didn’t actually list what those obvious safety reasons were.
Related: Sex club under fire for charging vastly different admission prices for “tops” and “bottoms”
Drek
This one is less discriminatory and more, well, cringeworthy…
In 2014, Drek, a gay bar in Tel Aviv, promoted an event by sexualizing a string of recent Isis beheadings. One of the promo images featured a half-naked man in a desert kneeling before another man, dressed in black, who loomed over him with his hand on his shoulder. Promoter Amiri Kalman said the images were meant to be satirical. “This is satire,” he said, “and our way of showing our contempt of [Isis] and their videos.”
Related: Gay Club Promoters Sexualize Terrorist Group ISIS In Deeply Disturbing New Ads
Monster Bar’s racist manager
New York’s legendary Monster bar received some unwanted publicity last October when a racist text exchange between bar manager and a DJ leaked online. In the exchange, the manager criticized legendary drag queen Honey Davenport, saying she turned the bar into “black night” and that it was “bad for business.”
In response to the leak, Davenport took to the Monster stage and informed a packed crowd of the behind-the-scenes drama. She then dropped her microphone on the floor and stormed off stage, prompting several other drag queens and the house DJ to follow suit.
Related: Leaked texts reveal racism at NYC gay bar and the queens are not going quietly
BONUS: Tox-Masc
OK, so this “party by men, for men” never actually existed, but a faux-advertisement for it began circulating on social media last year. The flyer bore an uncomfortable likeness to many you’ve likely seen plastered around any gayborhood, advertising “only the straightest gogo dancers taking your gay dollars” and “no drag queens, women, or anything that represents them.”
Related: Hilarious nightlife poster exemplifies the very worst of the gay community
Chrisk
Kind of how I felt going with my younger friend to a bathhouse one time. I had to pay double what he had to to get in. Apparently this is a standard at bathhouses. 🙁
Catholicslutbox
It’s done to try to entice young men to come.
1. They’re more popular
2. Hook them while they’re young/impressionable
It’s the same with sex parties. “Under 25 get in for free.” They NEED new faces to stay relevant.
I 100% support the “NO WOMEN” rule. Or at least No bachelorette parties. The worst.
Heywood Jablowme
So did he like it? The idea is just to get them to try it.
MarathonBoy
lol. An old man going to a bathhouse. No husband. No family. Just a ghost in the world, pursuing hookups until he croaks. What a basket case.
Vince
@MarathonBoy. Wow. So a guy going to a bathouse = old man without husband/family and a basket case to boot. All that venom for someone that just made one visit with his friend?
Speaking of basket case. What’s happened in your life to make you so freaking hateful is what I’d like to know?
Chrisk
I guess. After he got done laughing at my expense. 🙁
I don’t think they’re missing anything and I don’t see them catching on with the young folks even if they offered free nights to them. We did that when we didn’t have anything else. You either went to the baths, the bars ,or you went home and were alone.
Catholicslutbox
No, but that’s the whole idea behind the pricing structure/promotions.
I don’t go to those events but I’ve read reviews of them and most people say that “it’s the same people you saw in the last one.”
Why would any rational person want to go to these events anyways? they’re just sti breeding grounds- some even host “conversion” events……………….or did?
most fit guys these days just go to private events hosted by “sponsors.” sure you HAVE to bang a creepy old gay dude or two, but you get a free trip and $$$.
honchojock
#stopbodyshaming I know that club promoters use beefcake to sell events. If I am going to a leather event, I always see a hot guy on the promoter’s site or on the flyer. Hoping promoters learn from this backlash and be more inclusive of who attends their events by showing a wide sampling of their attendees on any promtions
Creamsicle
Do those promotion materials affect your ability to find eager partners during the leather events that you attend?
Do you find that guys are disappointed that the whole event is not strictly attended by guys with instagram-perfect bodies?
I’m sincerely asking, because I would like someone with insight into these sort of events to weigh in on how it effects their experience. If the truth is that these are dwindling communities promising something that they cannot deliver, then I can understand why actual attendees might want these events to change their marketing strategy.
MarathonBoy
So one of these examples isn’t real. The rest involve advertising choices. None are examples of a business “trash talking their patrons.” Well, one of them does involve degrading patrons. The event which describes its attendees as “cum dumps” is vile. But Graham Gremore has no problem with the event itself, just the pricing.
William Ferreira
Hsh
Izabella78
I m Izabella I am playful person. I would like to make your dreams and hidden fantasies comes true. Check the link sexualoo.com
Creamsicle
I actually think that the Poof Doof thing is a non-issue. They gave instructions to a photographer that they hired in order to get pictures to use in their own promotions. They’re just instructions to get pictures that they will actually use, and it’s not like people being photographed get anything out of it besides maybe a shortly lived ego boost.
And the speed dating controversy is also kind of dumb. It’s a private event. They’re free to be discriminatory, and if you want to prove that they are wrong to enforce an age cap, then organize a similar event without an age cap and prove that removing the age restriction makes for a better and more profitable event.
Personally, I have no interest in speed dating in general. This event in particular just sounds like the prelude to an orgy and fodder for anti-gay zealots.
eric
Blame the construction of society. Even with gay marriage being accepted in most of the developed world. There will always be a negative stigma attached to being gay, being that one does not naturally reproduce in that type of construct. That will never go away, it is unnatural .For the most part what these parties represent is the standard accepted practice of being a manly man and being popular. No gay man is that, or else they would not be gay. So of course, the men at these parties are not really like that. Sure, some physically may look that way but it is a facade, they don’t act like that everyday. Chalk it up to a fantasy, say like dressing up for Halloween and leave the parties be.
MarathonBoy
Your comment tells us nothing about any of the people your wrote about but tells us a vast amount about yourself.