Rainbow Lounge Riots

As we posted yesterday, June 28th marked the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, which many credit as the start of the gay-rights movement. Forty years have passed since we gay folks had to fear for our professional careers and our general safety just by having a drink and identifying as homosexual in public.

As Alex said,"what a different world we live in."

Or do we.

It so happens that the same night many gay and lesbian Americans were celebrating this anniversary, and being thankful for how far we've come, that a little gay bar called The Rainbow Lounge in Fort Worth, Texas was raided by local police. June 28th, gay bar, police raid, paddy wagons, multiple arrests, injuries --- sounds a bit too familiar, doesn't it?

Like with the Stonewall raid, this lead to protests, but luckily more peaceful ones. Later on Sunday, several hundred protestors met on the steps of the county courthouse, protesting the raid and demanding an investigation.

So, now the police find themselves in a pickle, as more city officials are questioning their motives, and more and more newspapers are picking up the story. Their response: those gays were not only intoxicated and resisting arrest, but they hit on us while we were doing our job. This is playing on one of the most negative stereotypes out there: that all gay men are sex fiends, and even while being arrested all we can think about is sex.

Although what happened in Fort Worth is inexcusable, I have to focus on the changes of the last 40 years that DO make this different. Joel Burns, Fort Worth’s first openly gay City Council member, put in nicely stating “Unlike 40 years ago, though, the people of this community have elective representation that will make sure our government is accountable and that the rights of all its citizens are protected.”

Heck, the very fact that a town in Texas has an openly gay City Council member speaks wonders to the progress made in the past 40 years.

So, what now? As yet more states are contemplating the passage of laws that allow same-sex marriage (Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey), as the federal government slowly begins to grant rights, and as more people come out we need to recognize that we HAVE come a long way, while at the same time acknowledge that we still have to be on guard, and still have lots to fight for. As Alex said in a previous post, we'll be at that March on Washington in October. Not just to thank those who were at Stonewall 40 years ago, but for those that still face discrimination everyday.