Fighting Police Gay Bashing In Texas

I am sharing with you all a letter I wrote and sent to the Fort Worth City Council regarding the horrible and homophobic attack on a local gay bar.  One young man is in the hospital and could possibly die.  At first I thought it was just another sad case of excessive police force, but the Fort Worth police Chief Jeff Halstead has made it clear the officers actions were in response to alleged sexual hand gestures, comments, and groping.  Basically the police are using the gay panic defense for injuring several people and sending someone to a hospital.

Here is a link to the Towleroad page which summarizes this whole event:

http://www.towleroad.com/2009/07/fort-worth-mayor-pro-tem-kathleen-hicks-has-called-for-an-immediate-and-comprehensive-investigationi-join-with-councilman-jo.html

I felt something had to be done.  Below is the link for the Fort Worth government website.  At the top of the first page is a “contact us” link which takes you to a general form you can send them.  I hope everyone who reads this will take the time to write something, no matter how long or short, and send it to the City Council.  Without pressure, I worry things will just be covered up.

http://www.fortworthgov.org/

I am not a resident of Fort Worth or even Texas, but I am an American citizen and I believe any type of injustice in this country affects us all.

I have read with a creeping sense of sickness about the bigoted and violent actions of some in the Fort Worth Police Department.  The police performed a raid of a local gay bar, and proceeded to assault and arrest patrons for "public intoxication."

Firs of all, I thought the whole point of a bar was a safe space for people to drink alcohol.  People often call taxi cabs or bring along a designated driver so they can return home safely after becoming intoxicated at the bar.

Why the Rainbow Lounge was targeted for this raid is unclear.  No matter the reason, it is clear from the injuries of those arrested that police used excessive force in handling an issue of nonviolent public drunkenness.  One young man, Chad Gibson, is currently in the hospital with serious brain injuries from the violent actions of police officers on the scene.  Hopefully, this young man will pull through, but his blood is on the hands of the police officers who wrestled this boy to the ground and causing him to strike his head.

I would like to think all of this was just a case of excessive police action, which could be remedied with the appropriate reprimanding and better training.  However, I have now seen Fort Worth police Chief Jeff Halstead has said the officers involved in the incident were responding to sexually charged comments and groping.  It seems Chief Halstead made these comments in defense of his officers, but instead it has only made it clear that the way the arrests were conducted was spurred from heterosexual officers reacting violently to the alleged sexual advancements of the gay male patrons.

These accusations seem very unlikely since most people’s reactions to seeing a large group of police would be fear and concern.  Most people would see sexually harassing anyone as a bad idea, but particularly on-duty police officers.  Chief Halstead seems to be saying gay men are somehow unable to act in a sexually appropriate manner, particularly with armed officers performing arrests.  This is both illogical and insulting.

Far too many people through out our country’s history have been beaten and even killed by people claiming they were reacting to unwanted but non-threatening sexual advances.  From Emmitt Till, a young black boy murdered for whistling at a white woman, to Matthew Shepherd, a young gay man murdered for flirting with two straight men at a bar, there are far too many corpses as a result of overreaction to alleged annoying but non-violent sexual conduct. 

I can certainly sympathize with anyone who has experienced inappropriate, uncomfortable, and nonconsensual sexual touching; but killing someone, even accidental murder through excessive force, seems a disproportionate response.  I am hopeful that Mr. Gibson pulls through and recovers.  We do not need any more dead young men killed because of unnecessary violent retribution to alleged unwanted sexual conduct.  However, the fact remains this man and several others were by many accounts unfairly arrested and inappropriately treated by the officers at the bar.  I hope these officers do not reflect the whole of the Fort Worth Police Department.  I hope these officers’ misconduct is not covered up or excused.  I hope the proper training is given to officers and oversight is created to ensure this kind of incident never happens again.

I truly hope this terrible event is not a reflection of all of Fort Worth.  Gay people live in every part of this country.  Whether you are gay or straight, it should bother anyone to hear about the assault and possible death of people at the hands of bigoted and violent police officers.  I think the trust of the Fort Worth community can be restored in the police department if the appropriate actions are taken.  That must begin with official action by the Fort Worth government and police department.  No more excuses and no more bigotry.  No more spilt blood.