TALLINN — On Wednesday it was revealed that a prominent Estonian veteran’s group is suing a Tallinn gay nightclub and the city government, alleging the club’s noise has caused their tenants to cancel the contracts.
The Estonian Association of Injured Soldiers owns a four-floor building at Tatari Street in the center of Tallinn. The veterans’ office is in the basement and four luxurious apartments located on the upper floors are rented out, from which the profits are distributed to association members, which include former members of the Waffen SS. In January the gay club X-Baar opened in the neighboring building, and the association claims three tenants canceled their contracts due the loud noise coming from the club at night.
The association then turned to the police and the city health board, and as a result the municipal government restricted the club’s hours of operation to 11 p.m. beginning April 13. Like a British pub, the club is not allowed to sell anything after that time, even water.
Meanwhile in the middle of April the association filed a lawsuit against the club, claiming the establishment caused 100,000 krooni (€6,400) in losses from unreceived rent and requesting compensation. The association has also filed a lawsuit against the city government for not revoking the club’s license to operate on the grounds that it would have prevented the business losses.
Reimo Mets, an attorney representing X-Baar appeared on the “Pealtnägija” television show Wednesday night that the club has not violated any laws.
“If one neighbor does not like the person next door it is not a reason to satisfy a lawsuit and ask for unreasonable sums of money,“ said Mets.
The association claims that they are fighting against the noise, not against the sexual minorities. Yet Jüri Teras, the director of the Association of Estonian Injured Soldiers said in one of his letters to city authorities that X-Baar is a “pedophile-producing” club.
Teras was also on “Pealtnägija” on Wednesday, where he argued that an entertainment place for sexual minorities is not fit for the city center nor the vicinity of a school.
Mets said that this kind of declarations are discriminating.
A few years ago, a similar case was held against gay nightclub Angel that was sued for large noise by the neighbors in the opposite building. The court overruled and said that people living in the city center should accept the noise coming from the entertainment institutions and should also be more noise-tolerant.
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