TABC Raids Dallas Gay Club
Second TABC raid of a gay club in DFW
By OMAR VILLAFRANCA
Updated 5:37 PM CDT, Wed, Jul 15, 2009
For the second time in less than a month, officers with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission raided a gay club in North Texas. This time, they shut down the Dallas Eagle.
Gay activists said they feel like they're being targeted.
"It would be suggestive of harassment. And if that is the case, all eyes will be on TABC," said Blake Wilkinson, president of Queer LiberAction. "It's obvious selective enforcement. I think we're setting a pattern of selective enforcement."
Repeated calls to the TABC were not returned.
The Dallas Eagle had its grand re-opening party just a few yards from the club's old location.
A guard at the club said TABC officials entered at about midnight and may have had an issue with the club's license. The address of the liquor license might not have been changed to the new club's address, the guard said.
Rick Vanderslice, an activist with Queer LiberAction, said the gay community wants to know what's prompting the raids.
"We are outraged," he said. "And we hope that this is not an indication of a tactic that's going to be applied to even more in the Dallas area."
The raid at the Dallas Eagle comes just a few weeks after TABC officials went in the Rainbow Lounge in Fort Worth. One bar patron was sent to the hospital after that incident.
First Published: Jul 11, 2009 3:55 PM CDT
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