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It's been almost a week since the Fort Worth police and TABC decided to raid the Rainbow Lounge on what was reported to be a "routine" inspection. A few days since police chief Jeff Halstead told folks he was "happy" with the force used by his staff in the raid. An interesting (and recent) update to Halstead's comments reveals that he is suspending all operations with the TABC until he learns more about the relationship between his own department and the TABC.
What about the relationship of these two bodies with queer communities? Somehow, I don't think Halstead would stop operations to consider that history…
Joel Burns, an openly-gay council member in FW, stated "It's my hope the fact that this is a gay bar and the violence that happened there are not in any way tied. Obviously, as someone who loves Fort Worth, as someone who is gay, I don't want those two things to be connected."
Burns and Mayor Pro Tem Kathleen Hicks have been vocal and supportive voices in this fracas – speaking at rallies and almost immediately releasing statements expressing their concern about the raid. Burns and Hicks have also been replying via email to those who have contacted them about the incident through the Equality Texas website (and if you haven't done this yet, please do so now… NOW). The upshot: Both Burns and Hicks are calling for investigations.
But Burns' statement has been driving me wild! Especially that part about gay bars and violence not being tied/connected.
I understand his sentiment; he cares about his hometown, and Burns may be perturbed that the raid is getting the national media attention it has. His office has most certainly been flooded with calls and emails to take action. And yet if Burns stepped back from the fact that these events took place in our backyard, I think he could turn this into a teachable moment.
It's never too soon to reflect on the meaning of such things, and so let me proffer a try:
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Paint me with Vermillion! Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code is no more! Rejoice Southeast Asian brothers and sisters! The highest court in India struck down the law which made it a criminal act to have homosexual sex, because the law was brought into being by British colonial powers and not by a sovereign Indian government. Postcolonialism, I heart you.
Waitaminnut…
You mean they're not decriminalizing gay sex because they realize that such a law is homophobic and unjust? You mean the law only applies in New Delhi and not the rest of the country? You mean the decision doesn't actually make homosexuality legal, just decriminalizes the sex?
Hmm.
"Too Slow"
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Okay, sweetietarts. It's time once again to put out for our local lovely. Austin's own Glamazon Simone Riviera, 2008 Empress of the United Court and all around gorgeously great gal NEEDS your vote right now to get on RuPaul's Drag Race!
It takes just a minute of your time! Come on, y'all, let's have some A-Tex represented on this season's RDR! You know our gal has the UMPH! to go all the way.
Do I have to say it again? VOTE FOR SIMONE! And when you do, bookmark the page. You can vote once every 24 hours!
Vote early; vote often! Don't make us remind you!
Here is an off-the-cuff vid I shot of Simone years ago at a Kings N Things show. (Sure, I may need help as a cameraperson, but Simone doesn't lack for anything but your vote! GO VOTE!)
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Equality Texas is calling for a full investigation into what eyewitnesses are calling a "brutal" raid on Fort Worth gay bar, the Rainbow Lounge.
Our ever vigilant pals at ET have launched a page to encourage supporters to get active and send letters to Fort Worth's mayor and council. The ET Take Action page features sample letters and easy ways for you to make your voice heard in this struggle.
DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT
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Uh. Maze. Eeng.
So when a call for "bear" models started to circulate this past Spring, we knew something great was in the works.
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As more reports and eyewitness accounts surface, the more we know about what happened on Saturday night when Fort Worth Police and TABC officers raided the Rainbow Lounge, a newly-minted gay bar.
According to a statement released by the Fort Worth police, the Rainbow Lounge roundup and inspection was one of three that occurred Saturday evening. What is not clear in the statement, however, and this seems to be more than a small point, is how many patrons were arrested. Was it seven? Was it nine?
The statement is full of gay panic (again, to reference history, not an uncommon feature found in reports about prior raids on gay bars), with intoxicated patrons allegedly making sexual gestures and groping officers.
Here's what's funny/depressing:
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A protest is scheduled outside the Tarrant County Courthouse in downtown Fort Worth tonight, 7pm. Why?
Last night in Fort Worth, police raided the Rainbow Lounge, a week-old gay nightclub. Reports coming out of the Dallas Voice (DFW's excellent queer newspaper) are terrifyingly close in tone to all of the documents I've been reading about bar raids in the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s.*
Bar raids are so passe. So 1950s. The paddywagons, the ridiculous brutality, gay folks scared shitless. So very pre-Stonewall. Right?
What prompted the Fort Worth raid?
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It's over! The Anytime Fitness Media Challenge is over! Six weeks of every day at the gym, three times a week personal training, is finally (and sadly) over.
And we won!
And by we, I mean me.
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A King and an Angel, gone today. Rest in Peace, my lovelies.
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Go ahead. Search "Gay," "Lesbian," "Queer," or "Transgender," and (no pun) a rainbow bar appears!
See, it doesn't show up for "Homophobe," "Missionary," or "Jeff Foxworthy."
Is it forever, or just for Pride?
UPDATE: They seem to have taken this feature down as of Monday, June 29.
Sad. It was nice to find a rainbow at the end of a search.
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