Around 8 pm, on the 29th of April, my friend Ashley Andel and I tried to find a place to have a drink and catch up. Being a Tuesday in downtown Edmonton, there were a dearth of possibilities, and we ended up at The Bank, on Jasper at 107th. We were looking for quiet, since we wanted to have a conversation, and the place seemed empty enough to facilitate this.

Instead of a cocktail and kvetching session, we were forbidden entrance. Instead, five bouncers made homophobic jokes, threatened Ashley with psychical violence,called him a faggot, told him he was not welcome, and pointed him to the gay bar down the street.

We were calm, and left without incident. Instead of a pleasant night out, we had yet another example of power tripping security gaurds acting way outside their jurisdiction.