After reading D’Emilio and Freedman’s brief account of the beginnings of the gay liberation movement, I was particularly struck not by the giant changes in acceptance of queer lives, but rather by the similarities that can still be seen between now and the 60s. Although the currently focuses mainly on gay marriage with brief sideline jaunts into gays in the military, many of the issues focused on by groups like the Gay Liberation Front and Gay Activists Alliance are still problematic.
For example, raids on gay bars were an enormous issue in gay life of the 50s, 60s, and 70s. Many gay bars were run by the Mafia, which had the resources to pay off the police. However, raids were still a common occurrence, with the attendant fears of police abuse and arrest. Early gay groups fought to end these raids, the most public of which culminated in the Stonewall Riots in 1969. 30 years later, gay bars are still being targeted by police, as evidenced by the raid of the Atlanta Eagle, a popular gay men’s leather bar on September 10th.
According to witnesses, patrons at the bar were forced to the floor and searched repeatedly. In addition, patrons report hearing police officers use both anti-gay and racial epithets. There seems to be little concrete information available on the rationale behind the police raid, but organizers of a rally to protest the police action describe it as harassment, and a police spokesman indicated that they had received tips that sex was taking place inside the establishment.
Here’s more information on the raid and its aftermath: http://www.sovo.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=27160
and an article about another raid in Fort Worth this June: http://www.dallasvoice.com/artman/publish/article_11499.php
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