I’m trying to think of something to say about how in a few years we’ll look back on this and say, “Remember when it was controversial?” but I don’t see much sign that it’s controversial now.
Oh, I’m sure it is controversial with some people, but not anyone whose opinions I’m interested in.
“Homo nest raided”
It was the only way the Cops could deal with the rejection, so glad they have evolved.
finally got to make a pilgrimage to the Stonewall a couple years ago to buy a t-shirt as a memento of my trip, and part of what was so great about it was that it was CLEARLY a hole-in-the-wall locals bar, like so many i’ve been to in my own city. it was small, dark, and full of old locals. you could see that after so much oppression the regulars just got FED UP. i’m not a 20- (or even 30)-something gay boy any more, and it was kind of funny to get hit on by the older gents at the bar. “oh, honey, you need to try that shirt ON before you leave, to make sure it fits. here, i can help you with it…” haha.
yep, they’d never do anything like raid a gay bar now!
In other news:
Canada’s only clinic providing sex reassignment surgeries suffers $700,000 in damages in arson attempt
The June 28, 2009 raid on the Rainbow Lounge in Fort Worth and the aftermath also said a lot about how much things have changed. And how much they haven’t.
Wait. There is one clinic in all of Canada that does sex reassignment surgeries? In a country of 35 million? Huh.
Do people all just fly down to the US to get them done? A click google search shows there are at least 8 places in my city that do them.
One of the interesting things about the Eagle is that it’s in a gentrifying part of town, and many of the other gay or hole in the wall clubs have already closed down, but the Eagle soldiers on (along with the Clermont, which is a seedy strip club that’s a tourist attraction, and the Masquerade a street over and down). I’m sure that there are people who would love to tear down the building it’s in and build high-end condos (although the city council just passed a new ordinance about affordable apartments - they new builds within the city limit HAVE to include some). The relationship between locations like this and gentrification is an interesting one to me.
Do you know if that’s true about the Rainbow Lounge, in terms of its location in FW? I don’t know much about that area, as I haven’t been to Texas.
I’ve been to Texas but never to that part of it, so I don’t know if it’s true about the location of the Rainbow Lounge. I’ve just never forgotten reading about that particular raid because not only was there so blatantly illegal, unjustified, and even unethical behavior on the part of the cops the timing of it, on the 40th anniversary of the beginning of the Stonewall riots, seemed clearly intended to send a message.
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