I was reached by some very disturbing news earlier today.
The Swedish BDSM club Whipclub, in Stockholm, is being discriminated by their building owner and had to cancel their planned party today.
Whipclub have been locked out by the buildning owner even though Whipclub has a contract and has been using the place before, but the building owner has for some reason decided on their own that the activities are illegal. BDSM and the lifestyle is by no means illegal in Sweden and it has never been tried in court with a ruling saying that it is.
This is the message that was sent out by the organisers of Whipclub, translated from Swedish:
“Hello all members
We have unfortunately been subject to a lockout!
The building owner claims that we are carrying out illegal activities, which we are of course not doing. We have started a judicial process but we don’t have access to the premises until we have an outcome from this process in terms of a ruling. Our landlord wont help us as their decision has been to backup the building owner. We have been in contact with the police in order to investigate if we can get some help from them to gain access to the premises as we have a legal contract, but they cannot do anything without a court ruling. And it is impossible to get hold of a ruling within 24 hours.
We are really sorry for the last minute message and we hope that you will all help us through your networks. Call, send textmessages and inform everyone through facebook
At this moment our hope goes out to our angel Camilla at Eve collection who has to refund all the tickets. We haven’t had the time to ask her before we went public with this information.
We have been trying really hard to find another venue, pub or a restaurant where we could gather and talk through the latest events or just hang out with your friends, but we haven’t been successful in this effort as we wanted to rent the place for just our members due to the short time frame.
We are prepared to fight for the club and we are asking for your support, understanding and help.”
It seems like things are getting harder in Sweden when it comes to alternative sexualities outside the norm of society.
My initial thoughts, which are a no brainer, is that the building owner is using the “illegal activities” excuse to actually pass a moral judgement.
Even if you don’t live in Sweden or never heard of Whipclub, please show them your support – Give them some supporting comments.
And I am asking you all for one big favor, spread the news. Let everyone know about what is going on as discrimination should be stopped where ever it happens.
I will keep you all posted about the events as they unfold.