There’s been a lot of palaver about a group of people allegedly being refused service in a Punch Taverns pub on the grounds of being gay. Now, obviously nobody should be turned away purely because of their sexual orientation, but I can’t help thinking there’s more to this story than meets the eye. The customers concerned were from the Labour Party’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) group. Might it be possible that some of them have a teeny chip on their shoulder and go around looking for offence where none is intended? Just because someone is gay doesn’t mean they’re incapable of behaving in an offensive and obnoxious manner. According to the report, “the incident stemmed from a customer taking offence at an LGBT banner.” It would be interesting to know what that particular banner said. And a licensee might entirely reasonably feel uneasy about a large and boisterous group suddenly descending on his pub regardless of who they were.