I don’t recall child free pubs being particularly controversial when I was young (which wasn’t all that long ago, honest).
I do accept that for businesses reasons some pubs will allow them but equally if they choose not to, as is their right, then bloody well go somewhere else if you have kids and stop criticising them, there are plenty of other options. The entitlement of some parents is staggering.
I live in an area with a lot of young families so the nearby pub doesn’t really have a choice but thankfully it’s quite large both inside and out and one half inside seems to, at least unofficially, be reserved for adults which works well. Doesn’t seem to quite work like that outside which is annoying in summer when there are kids running about or sat there with a phone or tablet on loudspeaker.