I was kicked out of bar because of my wheelchair
An 18-year-old woman from Oldham was asked to leave Club Tropicana in Manchester’s Gay Village after being told her wheelchair was a safety hazard. The incident occurred on Saturday night when she entered the nightclub with a friend, only to be confronted by staff within minutes. She shared a video of the event on Instagram, expressing her frustration over the experience.
“It’s not okay to be removed from bars because you are disabled and different to other people. If they can be in there, why shouldn’t we?”
Maddie Haining insisted the staff had initially allowed her and her companion to stay, even helping to carry her wheelchair inside. However, when her friend left to get a drink, security approached her and announced they had to ask her to exit. She demanded to speak with the manager, who was described as “horribly rude” throughout the exchange.
“I asked ‘how was I a safety risk?’ If I was a safety risk, they wouldn’t have let me in in the first place. They wouldn’t explain why, and then the story changed to that I was a fire risk.”
As a protest, Maddie displayed the 2010 Equality Act on her phone, highlighting that wheelchair users cannot be excluded based on fire concerns without proper evacuation plans. She asserted that the action was discriminatory, but the manager dismissed her argument, repeating his stance without acknowledging her point.
Club Tropicana stated in a note that an investigation is currently being conducted and that it “would be inappropriate to comment further.” Manchester City Council confirmed it is reviewing the incident after Maddie lodged a complaint with its licensing committee.
Under the Equality Act, venues are required to make reasonable adjustments to accommodate disabled individuals. This includes features like ramps and other measures that ensure accessibility. Refusing entry due to disability constitutes a breach of the law, as noted by Maddie.
She added that the manager threatened to assign any fines the venue incurred to her. Despite this, Maddie left after requesting staff names and contact details to pursue a formal complaint. “The whole thing was really embarrassing. I was in a bar with my friends and kept getting security sent over,” she said. “It was infuriating because I showed them the law, and they hadn’t taken anything on board.”
Maddie, who has lived with a disability for nearly five years, emphasized her awareness of her rights. “Being disabled for that long, you kind of just learn about this stuff,” she reflected.
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