Pub sparks sexism debate by banning children

A London-based pub has sparked a debate over its latest rule: no children allowed.

A customer – who goes by the name Kyle – took to X, formerly known as Twitter, on Sunday to share a snap of the sign outside of the restaurant. As pointed out in the responses to the tweet, the sign appeared to be at The Lower Red Lion in St Albans, which is north of London.

While Kyle bent down, he posed next to a chalkboard that listed a rule for the establishment: “Dog friendly, child free.” In the caption, Kyle added: “Found my new local.”

The tweet has quickly gone viral on X, with more than 25.8m views, as of 15 April. However, there have been mixed responses to the sign in the comments, with multiple people criticising the restaurant for not letting children in. Others claimed that the restaurant was discriminating against women, specifically those who are with their children.

“Banning children is banning parents. This disproportionately affects women,” one wrote. “If you are more okay eating next to an animal than a human baby and family you’re an ugly person idc.”

“I may be humourless and overthinking this but banning small kids from public spaces is misogynistic because it also limits their mothers,” another added. “What if a new mum wants to meet her friend for a drink or coffee?”

“‘It takes a village to raise a child’ but instead we have single moms locked up in their apartment to satisfy the selfishness of dudebros and child free girl bosses,” a third wrote.

Multiple people also criticised the fact that animals were allowed into the restaurant over children.

“We need to ban pets from places where food is sold and I don’t care who disagrees with me,” one wrote.

Another added: “As a person with five dogs and no kids, this sucks actually. Kids are real entire human beings and should be treated as such rather than like little inhuman homunculi the way lots of ‘child-free’ people treat them.”

However, other people found amusement in the sign and hit back at the outrage, with some claiming that parents could go to different restaurants with their families.

“A lot of people don’t want to acknowledge that The Pub is not a child-friendly space anyway, if you’re a child, The Pub is a boring place with rules you don’t understand and nothing to do,” one wrote.

“It’s really not that deep - if your child is that gasping for a pint surely you can take them to one of the many pubs which do allow families?” another wrote.

“I don’t see an issue with this?” a third wrote. “It’s exactly why I stay in adult only hotels so I don’t have to listen to some annoying f***ing iPad game.”

The Independent has contacted The Lower Red Lion for comment.