Subject: DC meeting with Police productive
From: [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 17 Jul 1997 17:24:07 -0400 (EDT)

The AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power
ACT UP Washington DC * 409 H Street NE
Washington, DC 20002 * 202.547.9404  * July 17, 1997
Gay activists & business owners meet with DC Police Chief 
Meeting  productive

Washington, DC  Representatives of several DC activist organizations and Gay
business owners met with Police Chief Larry Soulsby at Metropolitan Police
Department headquarters on Wednesday, July 16, to discuss an ongoing series
of raids, harassment, and other forms of regulatory abuse targeting Gay
businesses.  Participants included Paul Waters, representing the Department
of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, the owners of the Crew Club, Badlands,
JR's Bar and Grill, Bachelor's Mill, the Edge, among others, in addition to
representatives of the AIDS activist group ACT UP, the Gay and Lesbian
Activists Alliance, Gays and Lesbians Opposing Violence, and members of Mayor
Marion Barry's Gay and Lesbian Advisory Committee.  

 During the at-times heated discussion, business owners chronicled for Chief
Soulsby a series of incidents in which armed police officers, accompanied by
inspectors from the DCRA, raided their establishments, terrorized patrons,
and harassed the owners/managers.  

 In one instance, DC government regulators are threatening to shut down the
Crew Club, a health club/gym catering to Gay men, because the facility
provides HIV/AIDS prevention education materials.  Activists are alarmed that
such prosecutions threaten AIDS prevention efforts throughout the District.
 A representative present from DC's Agency for HIV/AIDS confirmed that at
least one Gay bar has pulled out of an ongoing HIV prevention campaign as a
result of the Crew Club raid.

 Eric Little, owner/manager of JR's Bar and Grill, described how 911 calls
made from pay phones outside his establishment have been used against his
efforts secure a permit to operate a sidewalk cafe, which has been tied up in
the DC bureaucracy for 36 months now.  Activists urged Soulsby and DCRA's
Paul Waters not to classify establishments as 'nuisance businesses' based on
calls for assistance, noting that victims of street crimes often seek
sanctuary within Gay establishments.  

 Soulsby denied that there was any concerted effort by the police department
to target Gay establishments, though he expressed concern regarding the
numbers of officers used, and the possible anti-Gay overtones of enforcement.
 Soulsby agreed to maintain open channels of communication with Gay activists
and business owners, and to include a representative from the Gay and Lesbian
Business community at meetings of Soulsby's citizens advisory group.

 The general consensus that developed among Gay business owners and activists
was that officials with the DCRA were a greater problem in regulatory abuse.
 Representatives from the Mayor's office committed to arrange a similar
meeting between Gay business leaders, community activists, and DCRA head
Hampton Cross. 
 
 Activists emphasized to city officials that as the most visible components
of the Gay community, businesses are frequently targeted by "crackpots" who
lodge complaints with police and city regulatory agencies.  "The MPD and DCRA
are being used as attack dogs by the city's most notorious homophobes,
including ex-Gay ministries." states Wayne Turner from ACT UP Washington.
 "It's 1997, and yet JR's still hasn't gotten its permit for a sidewalk cafe
because these people want us back in closet and out of sight."

 Activists recalled comments made by DCRA inspectors that Gay bars are safer
to visit.  JR's Eric Little stated, "The city needs to admit there is a
problem, because that's definitely the perception within the Gay community.
 The city must take proactive steps to correct this."

Chief takes interest in Gay bar attack

 Activists also discussed with Chief Soulsby a recent attack on the Capitol
Hill Gay bar Remingtons.  Unknown assailants appearing to be military
personnel tossed tear gas canisters into Remingtons last Friday night.  ACT
UP's Steve Michael charged that the police response was inadequate, and that
MPD officials failed to warn other area businesses of the attack.  Soulsby
said he was unaware of the tear gas incident, which has since been classified
as a 'hate/bias crime.'  Michael also pressed Soulsby for assurances that HIV
prevention and education materials will no longer be used to prosecute Gay
businesses.  Michael said he will push Mayor Barry to issue a similar,
executive order.

 Gay rights attorney Mickey Wheatley, who also attended, commented that he
went into the meeting with skepticism.  "What started as a confrontational,
almost adversarial tone (with Soulsby) turned into a surprisingly productive
meeting.  We have plenty of work to do, but this meeting was certainly a good
fresh start toward improving relations between the Gay community and the
Metropolitan Police Department."

 ACT UP's Steve Michael concludes, "These problems aren't going to be
resolved by just holding meetings.  Its time for Mayor Barry to step up to
the plate, and prove his commitment to Gay equality.  DC government must put
an end to these regulatory abuses."