GAY clubs will risk prosecution if they deny entry to heterosexual customers under new laws intended to protect homosexuals from discrimination.

Under regulations to be published next month it will be illegal for a gay bar or nightclub to exclude anyone on the grounds of sexual orientation.

The full implications of the new law have caused alarm among gay rights activists, who are surprised at the perverse effects of a measure they believed would advance their civil rights.

They are also worried that it could erode the atmosphere of homosexual clubs and expose gays to homophobic customers.

“A lot of people are very anxious indeed about having to open their doors to what they perceive to be hostile straight people,” said Haydon Bridge, a columnist for QX International magazine.

Department of Trade and Industry rules make it illegal to advertise for a “gay decorator”. It is already illegal to specify a “female” or “white” recruit. Now, for example, it could become unlawful for a lesbian bar to deny entry to a straight man.

Although many gay establishments are relaxed about their entry criteria, others refuse entry to people they believe are straight.

A DTI memorandum says: “Some gay bars employ door staff who may screen potential customers wishing to enter by asking them questions designed to establish their sexual orientation or familiarity with the local gay scene.

“If customers were turned away only because their answers to these questions indicated that they were straight, this could be discrimination.

“However, a gay bar would still legitimately be able to turn away customers who they believed might be disruptive, or might wish to enter the bar to cause trouble.”

There is irritation among many gays that the change will lead to an increase in “slumming it”, the practice of women patronising gay clubs and bars.

Bridge said: “Gay men are getting very annoyed because teenage girls on alcopops are coming to gawp at gay boys having a cuddle, and things are even worse in the sticks. I’ve talked to bar owners who have had to put security on the doors to keep straight people out because ‘lads’ are going in there to cause trouble.”

There is at least one benefit for homosexuals, however: it will also be illegal for a hotelier to bar gays from sharing double beds — a ban still common in bed-and-breakfasts.

Meg Munn, the women’s minister, is expected to publish the document shortly. The rules are being introduced under the Equality Act. They can be passed by a simple parliamentary procedure without having to go through the full legislative process.

The rules are designed to make discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation illegal in the same way as race or sex.

They were primarily drawn up to protect gays from being denied “goods, facilities and services” on the grounds of sexual preference.

Additional reporting: Yuba Bessaoud

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