A gay club in Helsinki has closed it’s dark room. According to my newspaper the authority that issues licour licenses had contacted the club after a newspaper story that featured the dark room. in the beginning of May. It seems that some civil servant has taken the stance that a dark room is against good manners and so has threatened the club with pulling it’s licence.
It is understandable hat a the owner of the club doesn’t want to challenge the authority. Even if the decision would be overruled it might well be a pyrrhic victory as the club would be closed meanwhile.
This is not just an isolated incident: previously a gay bar in Tampere also closed the dark room it had just opened because of the same authority. Even if I don’t think a dark room were such a big deal this case shows there is legal loophole that allows an arbitrary decision and creates an opportunity for discrimination.