PIN PALS

Did An Oregon Bowling Alley Kick Out A Bowling League For Being Gay?

Towleroad is reporting on a Portland, OR, bowling alley that seems to have a problem with LGBT pinheads. A reader wrote to complain that Hollywood Bowl has been “increasingly unfriendly” to the Portland Gay and Lesbian Bowling League:

We received notice through our league administrator that bowling leagues do not fit Hollywood’s new business model and thus we are being asked to find a different alley. We were sad at the news but accepted the scenario as we were assuming that all leagues were being asked to leave. Recently, we became aware that the only leagues that were being asked to leave were the two gay leagues and a league that is administrated by two lesbians. All other leagues are being allowed to stay as they fit into Hollywood’s new family-friendly business model.

This has not gone over very well in the league at all. We feel really alienated as we have families too and brought a lot of revenue to the alley both during and outside league meets once a week.

Hollywood Bowl owner Mark Frank denies the accusation, telling the Portland Mercury that the venue removed all league games from the busy weekend schedule and that PGLBL was offered a different time slot:

“The industry has changed. It’s gone from primarily league bowling to mostly open play bowling. This has nothing to do with who they are, it’s a business decision to have lanes open when people are wanting them,” says Frank. “There’s a couple people in the Friday night league who are trying to sabotage this.”

But his accuser says Frank is just looking to pick up a spare:

This offer was presented to us after we contacted the local media. It feels like a ploy to save face. We are a league of 26 teams with four people each. There’s no way that we could be accommodated in that time slot and the owner knows that.

We’re kind of stumped by this one—mainly because after watching a Portlandia marathon last weekend we didn’t think Oregonians got into such heated disputes.

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