Daijiworld Media Network - Chennai (SHP)

Chennai, Aug 1: Two women were asked to leave The Slate Hotels on Khader Nawaz Khan Road, Chennai, by the staff on Saturday. The victims Rasika Gopalakrishnan and her girlfriend Shivangi Singh claimed that they were targeted because they were queer. Over four to five men standing at the bar stared at the women while they danced, making them feel uncomfortable. Rasika and Shivangi stated that they did not do anything out of the ordinary which would deem indecent.

Few seconds later the women went to the washroom after which they heard people outside banging on the doors calling out to the two women. The couple opened the door to find two male bouncers and a woman questioning them on their intentions inside the washroom. Without any specific reasons, the couple was asked to leave the club as they were being a nuisance to the other people, by which they displayed strong homophobic reactions.

The action was looked down upon by Rasika and Shivangi, as the women were thrown out without any justifications. The wrongdoing was not prevented by anyone present in the club, neither the staff nor any good Samaritan.

Following the incident, Rasika detailed her experience on her Facebook page and tagged The Slate Hotels. In response to the post, the hotel apologized for the incident and asked for their contact number to reach out to them. Meanwhile, Shivangi sent an article to Youth Ki Awaaz about the incident.

Rasika and Shivangi entered into a con-call with Varun Ganeshan, working partner with The Slate Hotels, to resolve the issue. However, though the call reportedly began with an apology from Varun, the women stated that he was elusive throughout the call. The women claimed that he threatened to even post their ‘indecent acts’ on social media and that Ganeshan asserted that he had received complaints from multiple guests about the fact that the two women were making out after they had few drinks from the bar.

Shivangi added that Varun continued to defend the staff’s behaviour, stating that the incident could not have been homophobic since The Slate hosts several events for LGBTQIA + community to which the couple questioned as to why were they were targeted if the hotel was indeed queer-friendly.