Pittsburgh raid on gay bar

A gay bar in Pittsburgh was raided for a compliance check by police officers in bulletproof vests. Performers were forced off stage while police emptied the bar and carried out their checks — all while Donald Trump continues his assault on queer rights. One witness said :.

Dozens of state police, geared up with bulletproof vests, flooded the bar and told us to get out. None of the officers would explain what was happening. We stood in the rain for maybe 30 minutes or so until most patrons were let back in. Whilst waiting outside, patrons at the bar were joined by Indica, a drag queen, who rallied the crowd as they waited for police to leave.

Indica told Qburgh :. Queer people banded together and showed we are so much stronger than an attempt to make us scared or comply with their rules. It was not so long ago that police raids on gay bars were routine, and it was one such raid, at the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, that sparked the modern movement to establish safe places for people to be open about their gender and sexuality without fear of arrest.

It is my intent that our actions as a city build upon, rather than undermine, that legitimate desire for safety. Officers found that at the time of the raid, the bar had people inside.

Pittsburgh police raid LGBTQ+ bar during drag show featuring Amanda Lepore

But, the establishment only has an occupancy permit for 70 people due to overcrowding regulations. However, we need to be thoughtful about the fear that the sudden appearance of multiple armed officers can cause. Famously, the Stonewall uprising was one of the prominent examples of patrons at queer bars resisting pressure from police.

Officers would pour in, threatening and beating bar staff and clientele. Patrons would pour out, lining gay on the street so police could arrest them. This routine is so familiar that as far back as 19th century London, an example can be found of police raiding queer spaces:. In London, a bar called the White Swan was raided pittsburgh laws against sodomy.

In total, 25 men were arrested, eight were convicted, and two were hanged one of whom was 16 years old, while neither were even present at the White Swan on the night of the raid. The bar would overturn a decision by the local police department to revoke their licence when the supreme court ruled that :.

There are numerous existing lists and archives of American and British bars that were raided by police in attempts at state intimidation and surveillance of gay, lesbian, and transgender people. Being policed in public places is part of being queer, whether gay, lesbian, transgender, non-binary, or otherwise queer.

Ansley Baker described how a security guard barged into the stall she was using :. I pulled my shorts up. And, Baker described how other people in the public bathroom jeered and insulted her and her partner as they were removed. It was a very scary raid, but trans women experience this every single day in the U.

Both Trump in the US and UK more broadly are barrelling towards more policing of queer people, and trans people in bar. As the government fans the flames of a culture war, both police and members of the public are emboldened in persecuting and vilifying queer people.