L.A. Gay Bar Bans Bachelorette Parties Until Gay Marriage Is Legal

David Cooley, owner of The Abbey, says he'll be banning parties for soon-to-be-wed straight women until gays and lesbians are allowed the same privilege.

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No one likes watching people flaunt something they can’t have.  The Abbey—one of LA’s most popular and bustling nightclubs—has decided to ban bachelorette parties until marriage is legal for everyone.

“I just felt after seeing so many bachelorette parties…having our wonderful straight girlfriends having a special time, a special night, having fun that it’s almost a slap in the face to my clientele,” David Cooley, owner of The Abbey, told CBS. As a gay person himself, he added, it was “kind of slap in my face that I couldn’t have that same experience.”

The West Hollywood hot spot has twice been named “Best Gay Bar in the World,” NY Daily News reports, and was practically a second home to the late Elizabeth Taylor, who was a beloved patron. It’s become an increasingly popular destination among people of all sexual orientations.

“Over the past 22 years, The Abbey has been a place that accepts everyone, gay, straight, lesbian, transgender, bisexual and everything in between,” Cooley wrote in a press release announcing the policy on Thursday.

The decision to ban bachelorette parties has been prompted by the ongoing legal fight over California’s Proposition 8 and by the recent ban on gay marriage in North Carolina. Cooley writes that he hopes other gay-owned establishments nationwide will follow his lead until marriage equality is legal “everywhere for everyone.” As the statement says:

(READ: Obama’s Persuasive Powers on Gay Marriage Manifest in Maryland)

“Every Friday and Saturday night, we’re flooded with requests from straight girls in penis hats who want to ogle our gogos, dance with the gays and celebrate their pending nuptials. They are completely unaware that the people around them are legally prohibited from getting married.”

But, Cooley, clarifies, this ban is of no offense to the women who do frequent their bar:

“We love our straight girlfriends and they are welcome here, just not for bachelorette parties. It has long been a policy at The Abbey to deny admission to groups in costume, including Bachelorette regalia. Bachelorette parties had previously been allowed inside if they removed their costumes.”

So, until obnoxious parties of drunken, “woo!”-ing revelers of all sexual orientations have the right to show up at bars to celebrate their upcoming marriages, no one at The Abbey will.

MORE: Is It Possible to Become a Gay Icon?