Category Archives: Right Wingers
Jesse’s Journal
As long as gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people gathered together in urban areas, there have been gay bars. And as long as there have been gay bars, there have been bar raids. Since the beginning, governments have used their power to regulate businesses that sell liquor to go after sexual or gender minorities who they considered to be sick, immoral and/or illegal. Until the 1960s, it was against the law for taverns to employ or serve homosexuals, which made gay bars illegal. Even after the laws were abolished, law enforcement agencies continued to find excuses to raid gay bars. Sometimes, GLBT people fought back, as we did 40 years ago at the Stonewall Inn.
organized bar raids. Though the various raids have nothing to do with one another, they indicate that, at least in the Southland, homophobia is alive and well and often wears a uniform. On June 28, the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, the Rainbow Lounge in Fort Worth, Texas was raided by agents of the Fort Worth Police Department and the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC). Though the raid was described as a “routine check,” it led to seven arrests for public intoxication and a patron in intensive care with a head injury. Later the Forth Worth police explained its behavior by claiming a “gay panic” defense to sexual harassment on the part of the Rainbow’s gay patrons, a ridiculous response that no one took seriously.
Why so many gay bar raids? Some critics claim there is more than meets the eye. Andrew Sullivan thinks the raids are part of a recent wave of conservative attacks against the Obama Administration and all the changes that it brought in its wake. I don’t agree. Gay bar raids remain popular because GLBT people and our social hangouts continue to be despised by a large segment of our population. To a hard-working police officer, raiding a gay bar is relatively easy, Stonewall notwithstanding, and relatively violence-free. Unlike “straight” bars, where fights are an almost nightly occurrence, gay bars are notorious for their lack of violence. In spite of this, gay bars continue to be raided at a higher rate than their nongay counterparts. But the law is the law, police spokespeople continue to tell us, and the cops are only trying to enforce it. They may be right. I only wish that police officers would crack down on antigay violence with half of the zest that they employ to enforce liquor license violations.
‘What do you think we fought for at Omaha Beach?
Testimony given for and against Maine’s marriage equality bill on April 22, 2009. Nearly 4,000 people attended the hearing, with marriage equality supporters out-numbering the opposition 4 to 1.
GET A TICKET!
Gavin Creel…from Broadway's HAIR…sings about Going to D.C. for the GLBT March
WE’RE #37! USA! USA! USA! Woo Hoo!
Just Two Gay Folk Sitting Around Talkin’…
http://embed.crooksandliars.com/v/OTgxNi0zMTEyMQ?color=173466
His Dark Materials
Philip Pullman, the irrepressible agnostic author who scandalized Christians for portraying the church as evil in his His Dark Materials series and for bragging that his books are about "killing God," is, thankfully, at it again.
Sinead’s Hand
With thanks to Franklin Abbott, a perfectly concise picture of marriage equality, from Ireland.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=6ULdaSrYGLQ
Top Chef
Like any self-respecting Gay Foodie, I’m a long time fan of Top Chef…and I must admit to a crush on Tom Colicchio (both a culinary crush and a flat he’s-hot-crush). Now I have another reason. An upcoming episode of the show has one of the Lesbian chefs balking at a “wedding challenge”. Kudos to her. But to add complement to spine, Colicchio had this to say in a blog post of his own: