Brighton: Gay club defends ‘chav-themed’ night
Revenge, Brighton’s largest gay night club, has defended its “chav night” following complaints that it could be offensive.
A flyer advertising the event, which was held last Thursday, showed Little Britain character Vicky Pollard accompanied by a pram of five children.
The flyer promised “chav anthems all night” and asked punters: “How chav will you go?”
Alex Foley, 22, from Brighton, started an online petition calling for the club to apologise and to axe the event.
The Argus reports he said: “It’s a shame that a club that has an obligation to be inclusive and welcoming towards all sorts of people decides to mock the working class.
“There’s a lot of literature as to how chav is detrimental to the working class as a whole. The Top Gear supporters of the world will say that whenever Jeremy Clarkson has delivered his latest gaffe that it is just tongue-in-cheek and we’re oversensitive.
“But the club has to ask itself where it would be if the PC bullies hadn’t cracked down on homophobic remarks decades ago. It’s apparently fashionable to bash the poor now.”
However, several punters have defended the night on Facebook, with one saying the disgruntled are looking for a “reason to whine”.
In a statement Revenge said: “Our theme for January 22 was never intended to cause any offence whatsoever and we are genuinely sorry if this is the case.
“Since announcing the chav theme, we have made it very clear it is tongue-in-cheek by using images of pop stars and comedy characters, focusing on the fashion and music associated with the identity and certainly never adhering to social class.
“Revenge is an entertainment venue and we strive to give people the best possible night in a safe environment.
“We pride ourselves on raising funds for charities and LGBT groups including Sussex Beacon, Mind Out, THT, the University societies and the Rainbow Fund.
“We put on events that appeal to a diverse audience and are one of the most welcoming venues in the city.”
Chav is a pejorative epithet used in Britain to describe a particular stereotype. The word was popularised in the 2000s by the media to refer to anti-social youth subculture.
