Young people danced and music played. But when two of them kissed, a staff member stopped them, saying they were "disgusting" and threatened to remove them.
Five years later, I visited a similar club. Cathy, a 17-year-old member, introduced me to her boyfriend, Toby. They started kissing. Five minutes later, she came up to me again, this time with a different young man in tow. "This is Bill, he's my boyfriend," she announced, as they proceeded to explore each other's mouths. During the the evening this happened several times, with different members changing partners.
I asked the youth club leader how she felt about this. "Everyone has the right to have relationships, and these people are exercising choice," she said.
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