Screening for Straights: Aspects of Entrance Policy at a Gay Disco.

The gay disco has an important function within the gay cornmunity. It is a place where lesbians and gay men can meet and socialise with other rnembers of the gay community, in a fairly closed environment that offers seclusion and sheher from the outside (mainly heterosexual) world. This paper examines the way in which potential patrons of a gay disco, that is, those who were not known as regular patrons to the doorman and bouncers, were screened in an attempt to determine sexual identity. to ensure that as few heterosexuals as possible were allowed entrance into the club. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]