Glasgow’s most popular LGBTQ+ nightclub is facing multiple allegations of discrimination.
Hillhead Review has spoken with two students from University of Glasgow who wish to remain anonymous. Both women claim to have experienced discrimination at the hands of staff within the past year and a half.
One attests that she and her friend experienced harassment from a man. She reports that he made inappropriate and unsolicited sexual advances towards her. Despite expressing concerns to bar staff and asking for the man to be removed, staff allegedly denied the women any assistance.
Another student recounts her experience from April 2024, during which the door staff asked her group if they “knew this was a gay safe space”. After which the group was denied entrance into the club.
“You’re not eligible to come in. Like he used the word eligible,” she tells me.
When complaining to a second member of staff, she was told it was just the club’s “policies”- though it was never made clear which policies these were. “You’re not eligible to come in. Like he used the word eligible,” she tells me.
This experience made the group feel that they were being profiled by the bouncers working for the Polo Lounge.
These allegations emerge just weeks after a TikTok was posted by a trans creator who goes by the username lobotomyjodie. The TikTok directly addresses the Polo Lounge, requesting comment from Stefan King, director of the Scotsman Group.
The bathrooms in the Polo Lounge are not marked male and female, nor have any gendered markings, instead they are labelled “stand up” and “sit down”.
The creator accuses Polo staff of telling them that they were using the wrong bathroom, calling it the “men’s bathroom”, and going as far to call security to remove them.
When security arrived, they allegedly informed the creator that they should have used the “gender-neutral” bathroom. This was despite the fact that there were, and often are, cisgender gay men present in the “sit down” toilets.
While allegations of mistreatment from Polo Lounge staff appear to be common knowledge, demonstrated by the hordes of negative reviews online, the extent of these complaints have not been taken further, and remain absent from Glasgow news. Public reviews online have branded bouncers “horrible” and “rude”.
This is not the first time that the Polo Lounge finds itself embroiled in controversy. In 2014, the establishment lost a lawsuit filed by two charity workers, Nathan and Robert Gale, after denying the men entry due to their mobility aids.
Hillhead Review have contacted the Polo Lounge for comment.
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