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Loading ...Letter from Atlanta: What’s happened since the gay bar raid
10.08.2009 4:22pm EDT
In the month since the Sept. 10 raid on the Eagle Atlanta, it is now clear the raid was not only homophobic in nature, but a violation of patrons’ Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights. Over 20 formal complaints have been filed with the Atlanta Police Department and an equal number are expected to be filed with the Atlanta Citizen Review Board over the next weeks.
The eight staff members arrested during the raid have had their arraignment postponed for the second time, now set for Nov. 3. The Atlanta LGBT community is calling for a hearing sooner than election day as fear runs high that the new mayor and chief of police may try to sweep public outcry into the political closet.
Charges against the eight arrested rely solely upon whether or not the the Eagle is determined to be an adult entertainment venue. The Eagle currently holds all appropriate licenses for a nightclub. An adult venue requires club owners to hold a special license and all dancers to have an adult permit.
Many Atlanta nightclubs regularly hold underwear, lingerie and wet t-shirt nights without resulting APD raids and permit arrests. Similar club venue raids in the past year all followed typical protocol, where suspected violators were issued a simple fine. So far, the Eagle is the only venue to have resulted in arrests for such license violations. Community questions revolve around why the Eagle singled out, and why staff and dancers were arrested and detained for over 19 hours without bond.
Police Chief Pennigton seems to think his police officers’ documented accounts of male dancers in their underwear is a valid reason to declare a venue adult entertainment. The police department, however, does not make those decisions, the permit and licensing board does, further making the arrests appear extreme. Many in the community are calling for a drop of the permit and license charges altogether.
Deputy Chief Carlos Banda made an official statement at the Sept. 15t City Council Public Safety meeting that was met with criticism by not only the 20 community members who voiced concern about the raid, but also council members themselves. In defense of APD actions during the raid, Banda referred to persons who were at the Eagle that night as “people who chose this lifestyle.” These kind of inflammatory statements have increased the already-concerned LGBT community.
The APD appears to be wrought with biased LGBT stereotypes, despite the fact that Atlanta has an LGBT community liaison, Officer Dani Harris, who was not brought into the investigation or subsequent raid.
The community is also concerned that Chief Banda, who has been the most vocal voice of the APD regarding the raid, could be a potential candidate for chief of police come November. This concern has pushed community members to plan a mayoral community discussion similar to the one held with the APD on October 5th to discuss what changes will be made after the election, and who will be in charge of the police department.
LGBT residents have vocalized that the behavior of the APD the night of the Eagle raid should not be tolerated anywhere in the city toward any member of the Atlanta community. Midtown residents are standing alongside all Atlanta communities and unanimously demanding a full investigation into current APD practices, especially within the Red Dog unit which has come under strong criticism over the years.
Hundreds of gay and ally community members have turned out to public rallies and community meetings to show support for the 62 patrons that were targeted the night of the raid, simply for being in their local neighborhood bar.
Atlanta will not tolerate any further homophobic and bigoted treatment by the police. This year’s Atlanta Pride is the last weekend of October, and hopefully thousands will continue to stand up for the message that equality is not an option, it is a right that will be fought for.
Laura Gentle is a community activist in Atlanta.
I’m sorry. Who are you Laura? Having lived in Atlanta for years, I’m not certain that I’ve ever seen your name listed before. Certainly not listed as someone recognized as a community activist?
Really Trace? What exactly did that comment accomplish? Do you disagree with her in some respect, is she trying to gain some sort of due that she doesn’t deserve in this article?
Also if you had done a cursory Google search you would see from the following links that she was one of the speakers at one of the protests following this raid, and helped to organize protest. Even if she only began dong organizing because of this raid then the title fits, and attacking people who are working for our cause and probably part of our community doesn’t do anyone any good.
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=146318808872
http://www.washblade.com/2009/9-18/news/national/15184.cfm
Not meaning to attack. Simply asking a simple question. I think that pretty much any of us could have put 365gay in touch with a dozen people that had first hand knowledge of the situation. Heck, even put ya’ll in touch with the owners of the Eagle.
This is not an ongoing situation that the gay and lesbian community of Atlanta have with the ADP. We have many, many, many gay officers that are on the APD and the APD is usually a friend of the gay community. This incident was and is a serious situation that needs to be and is being addressed.
Just an observation.
Trace,
No offense taken. Give people my email address and tell them to contact me.
jwithers@nyc.rr.com
Sincerely,
James
Eagle Atlanta is- if I am not mistaken- a leather bar serving the Atlanta area. Sounds like the APD are bigoted,I guess it from eating too many donuts…”That chosen lifestyle” said one bigoted Atlanta cop. I would be shocked if it happened to Boston’s Ramrod. Someone got to educate those bigoted APD cops. It shouldn’t happen that those cops raid bars…that’s so 1960’s! I hope it don’t have to happen to any other Leather/Levi bars in other cities; and condemn the APD raid of Eagle Atlanta.
It doesn’t matter that she used a Sharpie marker to write “ORGANIZER” on her arm; Laura Gentle-Guerry was NOT an organizer of the fantastically successful rally on September 13 at the Eagle. Everything since then has been an ego-boosting ploy to take the issue and turn it into something that moves away from the terrorized and violated patrons of the Eagle, who need personal and legal assistance.
As a point of data, I was in fact the person who did all the legwork for the September 13 rally, and I was also one of the community panel who addressed the APD’s actions and possible Constitutional violations head-on at the community forum organized by Kyle Keyser. Laura Gentle-Guerry is in this for herself (demonstrated by systematic efforts to exclude those same patrons, and previous organizers, from additional demonstrations), NOT to help those who were traumatized by APD’s asinine — and possibly illegal — policies and actions.
We’re still in contact with some national organizations who are getting ready to pick up the human rights violation torch, so expect more news to come soon. This story isn’t over yet.
(To address the previous commenters wondering who this letter writer is…)
It doesn’t matter whether she used a Sharpie marker to write “ORGANIZER” on her arm; Laura Gentle-Guerry was NOT an organizer of the fantastically successful rally on September 13 at the Eagle. I was in fact the person who did all the legwork for the September 13 rally. I was also one of the community panel who addressed the APD’s actions at the community forum organized by Kyle Keyser, asking APD’s leadership in public about their possible Constitutional violations.
Everything Laura has done since September 13 has been part of an ego-boosting ploy to take the issue and turn it into something that is about midtown Atlanta, not the terrorized and violated patrons of the Eagle who need personal and legal assistance, not the Constitutional issues at stake here, not the important things. This attitude was well demonstrated by systematic efforts to exclude those same patrons, and previous organizers, from additional demonstrations; and more recently, a major blow-up with other community activists in DC at the March for Equality.
…I mean really, who makes a flyer like this to publicize a rally that should have an action-oriented tone? It’s shameful:
http://resource.glbtatl.org/events/eagle-press-20090919/laura_flyer.jpg
=====
Those of us who are actually in it to make real actions happen are currently in contact with national organizations, some of which are getting ready to pick up the human rights violation torch. So expect more news to come soon; this story isn’t over yet.
Weird, the site published a draft of my comment and then the real one. Doesn’t change the meaning, anyway.
Trace, I simply a community member of Midtown. I’m curious as to why the comments about an Eagle raid article are revolving around me as mere individual. Who cares who I am. This is about what happened at Eagle & how the City of Atlanta and APD are continuing to deny the severity of the raid.
I suggest anybody concerned with community actions on behalf of the Eagle raid speak to the Eagle owners and patrons themselves, this is a community effort, I am but one small voice of many.
Focus your energies on holding APD accountable & changing the policy & structure that allowed the raid to take place!
i really wish Todd would stop speaking out against Laura.
Laura has done more for anyone else for those of us that were at the raid.
Tell me Todd – do you have my number?
Have you called to check on me or the others?
Have you done anything since the raid other than whine about Laura?
Do you see Todd – that you are making this issue about yourself and not those of us there the night of the raid?
Don’t you see you are dividing our community when we need the strength of it now more than ever?
A true community activist would put this behind them and move on to the bigger picture – the way Laura has.
As one of the eight people who were arrested that night…no one knows what this is like more than me. I am very proud to have Laura speck for me. She is motivated only by what is right and equal for all…not just getting her name in the paper or sitting on a panel wasting time. I would much rather march with her at my side than someone who wants their name in the paper…we need to be heard. Let’s all stand together and not fight for king or queen of the sand box.
We are men, woman, gay, straight, lesbian, fags, queers…but we are also americans. I WANT THE RIGHTS I WAS BORN WITH…(sorry just stepped on my soap box)
That should have read:
*i really wish Todd would stop speaking out against Laura.
Laura has done more than anyone else for those of us that were at the raid.
:p