Gay bar near cedar point in texas

Others contemplated checking out the Hidden Door, a new bar holding its grand opening the next night. Then, a little before 1 a. Joined by undercover cops inside, they began making arrests, eventually charging 10 men for public lewdness and a bartender with a liquor violation.

Even though the LGBT community had made progress toward equality since the Stonewall Riots in New York a decade earlier, persecution of gay people was commonly accepted in In weeks before the Village Station raid, harassment of gay men in such liberal bastions as New York, Boston and San Francisco made news.

Two months earlier, a series of arson fires at Houston gay bars had put the community there on edge. They ought to be locked up. The Dallas gay community had had enough. It was time to fight back. He posted signs at the club asking for witnesses to the raid to come forward. In November, Dallas schoolteacher Don Baker, backed by the Texas Human Rights Foundation, filed a federal class action suit challenging the state sodomy law.

Club Dallas filed a federal suit against city and county law enforcement, citing harassment of its patrons in December. In February, Dallas Criminal Court Judge Chuck Miller found two more defendants not guilty after five of the undercover vice cops at the Village Station that night could not corroborate their testimony and it was revealed that they could not even agree on the layout of the club.

The Dallas Bar Association concurred.

Cedar Creek Lake

By the end ofthe remaining Village Station cases were decided, mostly with guilty verdicts, although at least two of those were later dismissed. Thanks to Dallas attorney Don Maison, who represented two of the defendants — in one notable trial, Bible-toting citizens were countered with disco-dancing men in the courtroom — the names and badge numbers of questionable cops were publicized.

Gay citizens began appearing at city council meetings, demanding an end to harassment. And politicians began to listen. It later led the police department to assign a liaison officer to the gay community. It changed the whole relationship between the community and law enforcement.

Adair had condemned just a few years before had arrived. Skip to content. Leave a comment. Cancel reply Your email address will not be published.