Stuart WoodA court has ruled that LGBT nightclub brand G-A-Y’s challenge of the government’s 10pm curfew does not have permission to go ahead.
The decision was reached after the court inspected papers submitted by G-A-Y and the government. G-A-Y says, however, that it can still argue before a judge at an oral hearing why the challenge should be allowed to go ahead, and that it intends to do so.
If the oral hearing is unsuccessful, G-A-Y says it will be “game over as far as our court action is concerned. However, if we win it then we get to go to a full court hearing and we get to fight for hospitality and removal of the nonsensical 10pm curfew.”
G-A-Y announced its intention to legally challenge the government’s 10pm curfew earlier in October, with owner Jeremy Joseph commenting that “it does the opposite of protecting people by pushing them onto the street at the same time.”
G-A-Y is supported in its legal case by the Night Time Industries Association. NTIA CEO Mike Kill said: “We are disappointed with the initial decision from the Court, but feel very strongly that the case that the G-A-Y Legal team has presented is the right argument, and that it is one that a Court needs to hear. At present we are still not satisfied that we have received anything that even remotely substantiates the supposed benefits of the 10pm curfew.”