2 lesbians kicked out of Chennai hotel for hugging, holding hands

Chennai: Accusing a Chennai hotel of homophobic treatment, two young women in their early twenties said they were forced to leave the premises late on Saturday night.

The hotel, however, denied the charges and alleged that the girls were indulging in 'inappropriate behaviour', according to The Hindu.

The couple, Rasika Gopalakrishnan and Shivangi Singh, told The News Minute that they were not doing anything that can be termed as inappropriate and yet were targeted – perhaps because Gopalakrishnan calls herself "visibly queer'', which does not go with the conventional gender norms.

''As far as we knew, we weren’t doing anything different from how other heterosexual couples were dancing – occasionally holding hands, hugging, etc. We were very well aware that we were in a public space, and made calculated efforts to remain as decent as possible,” Gopalakrishnan told to The News Minute.

Taking the matter to social media to narrate the incident, Gopalakrishnan wrote:  "My friend and I decided to go to a bar called The Slate Hotels on a Saturday night. While dancing, there were 4 to 5 men who were standing at the bar and were constantly staring at us, making us very uncomfortable".

"As far as we knew, almost everyone else was enjoying themselves as much as we did, yet why did we draw such unwarranted attention? Why was it so hard to digest that two people of the same sex were dancing together? I was appalled at the way in which we were immediately fetishized by the people around us (sic.)," Gopalakrishnan wrote.

According to her, the two went into the washroom.

"Moments later, we hear frantic knocks on our door, ordering us to step out of the washroom,'' Gopalakrishnan said.

When they opened the door they saw one female and two male bouncers standing right outside the washroom.

Gopalakrishnan told to The News Minute that one of the male bouncers shouted at them and asked, ‘What were you doing in there?’ Rashika replied, ‘I was helping my friend out, she was feeling sick.’ Responding immediately bouncer said, ‘Were you helping your friend or were you doing something else?’”

The staff warned them about 'several complaints' they had received from the guests and insisted the couple leave immediately.

According to Gopalakrishnan, she and her friend were not interfering in other guests affairs and were minding their own business.

Shivangi said that it was five minutes past midnight when they were thrown out of the hotel club and one of the staff accompanied them or ensured their safety.

A hotel management representative, however, claimed the girls were not discriminated on the grounds of homosexuality but they acted to the complaints received from customers regarding the girls’ conduct. The hotel also denied that bouncers entered the women’s washroom, The Hindu reported.