Jun 29 ’09

Stonewall ‘09- a litany of sorrows: Rainbow Lounge Raid, Anti-Queer Assault, and the SF Pink Triangle Arson

Category: Queer

Yup, I said 2009, not some date plucked from the past. Read ‘em and weep.

Happy fucking Stonewall 40 everyone.

(I’ve been doing some of my “brighter” or “happier” writing about the Stonewall anniversary primarily elsewhere, but wanted to pull these three sorrow and rage inducing events out and document them over here.)


The TX cops celebrated the Stonewall anniversary by raiding Fort Worth Bars- including the (Queer) Rainbow Lounge


rainbow lounge raid

(picture taken by Chuck Potter, from the Dallas Voice “Instant Tea” blog section)

The DallasVoice.com “Instant Tea” blog section has ongoing coverage, including a number of accounts and some pictures. Their coverage begins with Raid on Rainbow Lounge. Then, in chronological order, see this page and this second page.

Rather than trying to write a summary, I’m simply going to point readers to articles, blogs, and first person accounts (here, An eyewitness account from the Rainbow Lounge raid, for example)

The blog section also contains an Update on Chad Gibson, injured in Rainbow Lounge raid.


Mainstream ‘news’ coverage-

For what it’s worth here are several Star Telegram articles- Upset Fort Worth residents protest raid on gay nightclub

Witnesses say that police arrived at about 1 a.m. at the Rainbow Lounge on South Jennings Street and arrested seven people. They said one of those arrested suffered a fractured skull during the takedown and is at a Fort Worth hospital.
and
Fort Worth police released a statement Sunday that the Rainbow Lounge was not the only bar targeted by six Fort Worth police officers and two agents from the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission and a supervisor. The group first went to the Rosedale Saloon and Cowboy Palace on Rosedale Street. Nine people were arrested, police report.
Demonstrators protest police raid on gay bar

WFAA-
Dozens protest ‘violent’ raid of FW gay bar

rainbow lounge
wfaa-tv

Queer Media-

On Top Magazine-
Patrons Allege Abuse In Ft. Worth Gay Bar Raid
Statements-

Fort Worth Police Statement Concerning “Rainbow Lounge” Raid

Councilman Joel Burns Statement Concerning “Rainbow Lounge” Raid

From the Blogs-

kenneth in the (212)-
Stonewall Revisited?
The patron said: “It felt so very Stonewall, but without the standing up for ourselves.”

Towleroad-

Gays in Texas Arrested for Public Intoxication in Stonewall-Style Raid

The Petrelis Files-

Cops Raid Texas Gay Bar on Pride Sunday; Protest Planned in Ft. Worth

The Stranger/SLOG-
“It felt so very stonewall, but without the standing up for ourselves.

America Blog-

Fort Worth Gay Bar raided — on 40th anniversary of Stonewall

There are also a few diaries on the Daily Kos, this one has made the rec list-

Breaking: Raid on Fort Worth Gay Bar (Update x6)

Facebook-

And naturally, what passes for fucking “Activism” these days is a group on facebook-

Facebook page: Rainbow Lounge Raid.


Vicious Anti-Queer Assault in NYC Leaves Joe Holladay Bloodied, Beaten

Village Voice-
Gay-Bashed on Pride Weekend on the Upper East Side (Updated)
Joe Holladay

Towleroad-
Pride Weekend Anti-Gay Assault in NYC Leaves Man Bloodied, Beaten


The arson at Twin Peaks (San Francisco)

KPIX-
SF’s Pink Triangle Burned, Possibly Vandalized
(see connected video with the segment at the right hand side of the page)

burnedpink triangle

pink triangle close up
(photos KPIX CBS channel 5)

Also be sure to see the Pink Triangle homepage explaining the meaning behind the annual display, it serves as an

annual commemoration of the gay victims of the Holocaust and a reminder of the on-going inhumanity to repressed minorities going on now around the world
The Petrelis Files-
SF Pink Triangle Burned on Pride Sunday

Perhaps when so called “Gay Rights Advocates” meet with Obama tomorrow they might care to mention the (literal) burning hatred we still face, and 40 years on, the violence and bullshit we still endure., not that I expect anything out of this White House, but those with access have a moral obligation to hold his feet to the fire, (so to speak.)

2 comments

2 Comments so far

  1. stormcoming June 29th, 2009 1:41 am

    From-
    Gays, lesbians rally in Fort Worth over bar raid

    The statement also said that “an extremely intoxicated patron made sexually explicit movements toward the police supervisor” and that person was arrested for public intoxication.

    A second “intoxicated individual” was arrested for public intoxication after making “sexually explicit movements towards another officer,” and a third person assaulted a TABC agent by grabbing his groin. That man was escorted outside and arrested for public intoxication, but was released to paramedics because of his “extreme intoxication” and the fact that he was vomiting repeatedly.

    The statement said that while some officers were outside dealing with the vomiting suspect, another officer inside requested assistance in handling an intoxicated patron who was resisting arrest, and that this person was “placed on the ground to control and apprehend him.”

    This person was apparently Chad Gibson, who was knocked unconscious and is now hospitalized with a brain injury.

    Eyewitnesses to that incident said Gibson, who is “maybe 160 pounds soaking wet,” did not resist arrest but that he did stumble after the first officer grabbed his arm.

    Rainbow Lounge owner J.R. Schrock said claims that patrons made sexual advances to the officers and that one patron groped an officer were lies.

    “The groping of the police officer — really? We’re gay, but we’re not dumb,” Schrock said to the crowd that gathered at the bar Sunday afternoon. “That is a lie, and I am appalled by it.

    “They treat us like outcasts. But even outcasts have a time to shine, and this is it,” Schrock said, pledging that he would not be “scared away” or intimidated into closing his bar.

  2. stormcoming June 29th, 2009 2:05 am

    Also see One last update for the night for pictures from today’s protests.

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