Swingers club to be shut down after complaint about disabled access

The owners of the only registered swinger's club in Brisbane, Australia, say they are being forced to close after a complaint about disabled access. The notice to close Couples International by June 26 will leave the city's "thriving" swinging set with nowhere to go and has pushed owners Bryan and Leesa Horn to the brink of financial ruin. They say the move will push "the scene" back into the seedy underground of dodgy hotels and suburban homes. Mrs Horn, 48, said a Brisbane City Council inspector turned up at their Holden St address, in Woolloongabba, and notified them of the complaint last November.



The long-time couple, who are mild-mannered building designers by day, began making plans to ensure their "BYO nightclub" complied with disability requirements, including a lift and wheelchair access throughout. "The problem is we couldn't get a building permit for the changes," Mrs Horn said, adding the cost of making the building compliant under the Town Planning Act was not economically viable. Mr Horn, 62, said Couples International, which holds paid parties from Thursday to Saturday nights, had hosted several guests in wheelchairs "with no complaints".

Mrs Horn said: "They came quite a few times, actually." The couple, with five children and four grandchildren between them, enjoy an unorthodox relationship involving her longtime boyfriend and have been part of Brisbane's swinging scene since the 90s. They took it on as a business 10 years ago and are not only saddened by its imminent demise but also concerned about what will become of the city's scene. "You've got to have it in a venue that is right, and council approved and so on," Mrs Horn said.



"We've got single ladies that are crying . . . I mean, we're talking a 20-year-old single lady just crying here the other night because she's got nowhere to go that feels safe anymore. They go to nightclubs, they get touched up by guys. They try to dance on the dance floor and guys come up behind them and start grinding. Here, if anybody touches somebody without permission they're evicted. We've never called the police here in 10 years." She said only 30 per cent of guests "played", and most were just there to enjoy the friendly, relaxed atmosphere. "People think it's going to be orgies everywhere but it's not, it's like a nightclub. It's nothing like people think."