Protest kiss-in to be held in aisles of Brighton Sainsbury’s

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/oct/15/protest-kiss-in-aisles-brighton-sainsburys

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A group of students are to stage a mass kiss-in on Wednesday in the aisles of a Sainsbury’s store in Brighton, in protest at the treatment of two gay women who were told a customer found them “disgusting” and threatened with ejection when they shared a brief kiss.

Annabelle Paige, 22, an English literature student at the University of Sussex was “deeply hurt and upset” when a security guard asked her and her female partner to stop kissing or leave the supermarket’s New England Street branch on Saturday, saying a customer had complained at their show of affection.

In response, her university’s student union has now organised an event it is calling the “big consensual kiss in” at the store, “to show Sainsbury’s we won’t accept homophobia in our society, and that we demand they do more”.

Sainsbury’s has apologised for the incident which it says should never have happened. “It is clear that Miss Paige and her partner were not behaving inappropriately and we are very sorry that they were treated in this way.

“We have called Miss Paige to apologise and will be making a donation to a charity of her choice.” The security guard was employed by a third party, said a spokeswoman, and had a senior manager been alerted to the incident, no action would have been taken, in line with the company’s guidelines.

But Michael Segalov, the University of Sussex’s NUS communications officer, said the company’s response was inadequate. “If Sainsbury’s say they are committed to tackling inequality that’s not going very far,” he said. The student union is calling on the company to apologise publicly, make a more substantial donation to charity than the £100 already given, and “inform customers and the community of what equality and diversity training they give their staff, to make sure this never happens again”.

He said there had been “an incredible response” to the Facebook post about the event, with almost 1,000 people replying within 24 hours to say they planned to attend. “Remember, all kissing must be consensual,” reads the notice. “You are welcome to attend and not kiss anyone, kiss a butternut squash, etc.”

In response to the event, Sainsbury’s said: “We have always welcomed everyone into our stores and will do so as usual on Wednesday.”

The company said all its staff received training about its commitment to be an inclusive employer and that it works with the gay rights charity Stonewall to promote equality in the business. Sainsbury’s had also supported Brighton Gay Pride in August, said a spokeswoman, who added that Paige had been satisfied with the amount of the company’s donation.

Paige said she had been approached by the guard after giving “a very brief, light kiss” to her girlfriend while the pair were shopping on Saturday, which by coincidence was National Coming Out Day. “In no way was it like we were standing in the middle of Sainsbury’s making out,” she told the Times.

The guard had apologised for asking them to leave, she said, but had told them that a customer had complained, “saying what we were doing was ‘disgusting’ and had claimed they were worried for the safety of their child so the security guard felt she had to come and say something to us. That word, disgusting, it really resonated and shook me”.

Segalov said Paige had given her backing to the kiss-in, and that she had spoken out about the event “not to get sympathy but hopefully to ensure that it will never happen again”.