Jackbooted pigs in Texas raid gay bar on Stonewall 40th anniversary

[Scam of God]

Think Progress

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The Rainbow Lounge incident came on the 40th anniversary of the famous Stonewall uprising that sparked the modern LGBT movement, when police also raided a gay bar in New York City. Today, protesters rallied in downtown Forth Worth over the weekend's raid. (HT: Pam's House Blend)[/quote]

All hail the State! Texas Über Alles!

[exopolitician]

Gotta love Fort Worth...

[Associate Justice PiT]

     Once again the government behemoth abuses those individuals that it dislikes.

[Landslide Lyndon]

     Once again the government behemoth abuses those individuals that it dislikes.

One more reason to secede from the US!

[Magic 8-Ball]

     Once again the government behemoth abuses those individuals that it dislikes.

One more reason to secede from the US!

No, no, it's only a gay bar.  That's not enough to rile Texans into a secession frenzy.  Now, were this a rodeo...

[Lunar]

eye witness accounts, from 3-4 sources, were all fairly conclusive that the police were being ridiculous

and, of course, the "gay panic" defense used by the police chief should result in his automatic firing and any other police chief that chooses to use it this side of 30 years ago.  If a police officer was actually touched or what have you, why was nobody charged with assault? 

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

     Once again the government behemoth abuses those individuals that it dislikes.

Disgusting.

No, no, it's only a gay bar.  That's not enough to rile Texans into a secession frenzy.  Now, were this a rodeo...

Amen, Bro.....it would be a war.

[Holmes]

Well, the police are doing an investigation... of themselves. That'll be fair and I'm sure they'll find shocking conclusions.

[Scam of God]

Well, the police are doing an investigation... of themselves. That'll be fair and I'm sure they'll find shocking conclusions.

But the cops are so morally superior to you and I! How dare you question their actions!

[opebo]

No, no, it's only a gay bar.  That's not enough to rile Texans into a secession frenzy.  Now, were this a rodeo...

Amen, Bro.....it would be a war.

Absolutely not!  You fellows totally misunderstand Texans and Americans in general - they are NOT rebels, they are not freedom-loving or 'brave'.  They are simply boot-licking conformists.  They love, love, love authority.  They love its fascist trappings, they love its violence and misbehavior.  They love to see people abused.

I'm quite sure they would find a way to label any rodeo thus busted as 'redneck lowlifes' or some other convenient craven justification.

[The Mikado]

Sigh.  Yes, judge the entire state by a few yahoos in the Ft. Worth Police Department.  Go ahead.  Hell, judge the entire city by that standard.  Ignore Ft. Worth's world-class Kimball Art Museum, the truly amazing Bass Performance Hall (with its fantastic opera and symphony), and that the town in general is clearly the regional cultural hub.  No, because a couple redneck homophobe cops screwed up, condemn the whole town and the whole state.

I have to deal with enough ignorant bigots doing the whole "You're from Texas!" thing in real life, it gets really annoying having to deal with it here, too.  The place really is a fantastic state, and always gets a bad rap by people who look at stupid things like this and judge the entire state by it.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

How about judging the state based on who was Governor from 1994-2000, launching his political career?

[The Mikado]

How about judging the state based on who was Governor from 1994-2000, launching his political career?

Should we hold Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon against California?

[opebo]

How about judging the state based on who was Governor from 1994-2000, launching his political career?

Should we hold Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon against California?

Absolutely.  California is clearly far, far inferior to a place like, say, Massachusetts or New York.  The reasons produced RR and Nixon..

Your state however is much further below CA in the scale than that state is below the semi-civilized East Coast states.

Please take this in good spirit - its coming from a man who considers his own state as something akin to The Hills Have Eyes.

[The Mikado]

Good ol' opebo, always good for some perspective.

I prefer the East Coast as well (hence why I'm here now), but it aggravates the hell out of me that a fair number of people think that I came from some sort of backwards tumbleweed land where cops beating gay kids nearly to death is an ordinary occurrence.  The event mentioned above was a tragic anomaly.

[Platypus]

Sigh.  Yes, judge the entire state by a few yahoos in the Ft. Worth Police Department.  Go ahead.  Hell, judge the entire city by that standard.  Ignore Ft. Worth's world-class Kimball Art Museum, the truly amazing Bass Performance Hall (with its fantastic opera and symphony), and that the town in general is clearly the regional cultural hub.  No, because a couple redneck homophobe cops screwed up, condemn the whole town and the whole state.

I have to deal with enough ignorant bigots doing the whole "You're from Texas!" thing in real life, it gets really annoying having to deal with it here, too.  The place really is a fantastic state, and always gets a bad rap by people who look at stupid things like this and judge the entire state by it.

Texas might have a nice museum, a great ballet, world-class symphonies...but it's still Texas, and I can go to a museum or ballet or symphony in SF or NYC, without as many ridiculously cruddy elements as Texas has.

[Alcon]

but it's still Texas, and I can go to a museum or ballet or symphony in SF or NYC, without as many ridiculously cruddy elements as Texas has.

I just don't get this.  There's cruddy elements that exist solely by virtue of being in Texas?  Politics really affect life that directly, or is the water quality bad?  I've always found that differences exist much, much more drastically between neighborhoods and cities than between states.  The idea of one state or region being inherently "cruddy" to the point of complete un-livability (weather issues aside) does not match my experiences at all.

[k-onmmunist]

Another action symptomatic of the moral bankruptcy of social conservatism.

[Ban my account ffs!]

This is exactly what is wrong with this country and why the police forces should face much more intense scrutiny in their acts in cases such as these.

In a situation like this, the police officers involved should be fired and barred form ever doing police work again.  If it is bad enough, they should be charged, tried, and convicted with sentences even stronger than for normal citizens since they are clearly in a position of authority and they have abused that authority.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

but it's still Texas, and I can go to a museum or ballet or symphony in SF or NYC, without as many ridiculously cruddy elements as Texas has.

I just don't get this.  There's cruddy elements that exist solely by virtue of being in Texas?  Politics really affect life that directly, or is the water quality bad?  I've always found that differences exist much, much more drastically between neighborhoods and cities than between states.  The idea of one state or region being inherently "cruddy" to the point of complete un-livability (weather issues aside) does not match my experiences at all.

Yes, it does make a huge difference. Note this thread. This sort of thing does not happen in Minneapolis. Texas is also a prudish strip club hating state.

[exopolitician]

Texas actually has some pretty decent areas. I loved living in Dallas and it's probably one of the gay friendliest cities Ive ever been too actually. But obviously Texas has it's horrible places. Like any other state I would imagine.

[John Dibble]

Texas is also a prudish strip club hating state.

Really? Considering they have more strip clubs than Minnesota does, in terms of both quantity (192 TX vs 31 MN) and per person, it would seem to me that your state is the one that is more strip club hating and prudish.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Uh, Minnesota has a lot more than 31 strip clubs. My source gives over 50, though a few are probably closed now.

And Minnesota's are mostly unregulated. Texas has all sorts of prudish restrictions, plus I think it charges a $5 tax on entry now.

[Scam of God]

The point here isn't whether Texas in particular is a bad State (though I certainly have no use for its culture, or the culture of the Southern United States generally), but whether the police of any State ought to have the power to suppress a legal place of business and its customers this way.