The owners of a new LGBTQ+ venue in Sydney, Australia have revealed its new name, a week after backlash for originally naming it “Pink Pony” after lesbian singer Chappell Roan’s anthem “Pink Pony Club”.
Earlier this month, the venue’s owners Kevin Du-Val, 80, and manager Michael Lewis, 57, drew a fierce response from members of the LGBTQ+ community for naming the venue after a queer song by a lesbian artist, and then stating that their “preferred clientele” would be young, gay men.
In an interview with Gay Sydney News, the owners stated that the name “Pink Pony” would appeal to community members across the LGBTQ+ spectrum, but highlighted that the venue would “unashamedly be targeted at the boys, pretty much 18 to 35”.
“Of course the girls will be welcome, but it would certainly be our desire that it is predominantly gay boys, and when I say predominantly, I’m sort of talking 90 per cent plus,” Lewis added.
“Obviously we’ve got legal hurdles … in terms of how much we can vet the crowd while still complying with the law … but it is our intention for it to be predominantly gay.”
The owners were condemned for the “tone deaf” approach, and they later issued a lengthy apology on Instagram. They agreed that the name “Pink Pony” was “an error of judgement” considering “Chappell Roan’s well deserved reverence with queer women”.
It was confirmed that the venue – which is situated on Sydney’s historic Oxford Street, where many of the city’s LGBTQ+ spaces are located – would be rebranding and changing its name.
Writing in a statement on Instagram on 21 October, the owners revealed that the venue would now be called ‘TRIBE @ 231’ and would be a nightclub “created by members of the LGBTQI+ community for the LGBTQI+ community”.
‘TRIBE @ 231’ will feature a range of music across three floors, including “anthemic queer classics”, as well as live drag shows and rotating DJ sets. The venue will also offer “gender-neutral facilities”.
Probed on the venue’s LGBTQ+ inclusion in the comment section under the announcement post, the management team confirmed that it would “welcome all members of our community”.
“At the end of the day the vibe of [the] venue, the music and those it resonates with will dictate the crowd,” they wrote.
In their apology post on 15 October, the venue reiterated that it was not their “intention o have a door policy of exclusion targeted at any particular group”.
“In hindsight we can see how our nomination of a preferred mix was tone deaf and hurtful and once again we sincerely apologise,” they added.
Chappell Roan’s LGBTQ+ anthem “Pink Pony Club” was inspired by her experience of visiting queer bar The Abbey in West Hollywood, Los Angeles.
Speaking to The Daily Shuffle in 2020, when the song was released, Roan said that she was “completely changed by the entire experience”.
“I was enthralled by the go-go dancers and thought about how amazing it would be to be one, so I wrote a song about it,” she said.
She later told Headliner Magazine in 2021 that she was sober during her trip to the venue, and that it made her realise she could “truly be any way I wanted to be, and no one would bat an eye”.
“It was so different from home where I always had such a hard time being myself and felt like I’d be judged for being different or being creative. I just felt overwhelmed with complete love and acceptance, and from then on I started writing songs as the real me,” she said.
“Pink Pony Club” finally hit number one on the UK charts in March 2025, almost five years on from its release.
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