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Rainbow Lounge raid wasn’t 1st time TABC has been accused of using excessive force

July 20th, 2009
The owner of a bar in East Texas sued TABC and recently settled after he said he got this bruise from being kicked during a raid in 2005.
The owner of a bar in East Texas sued TABC and recently settled after he said he got this bruise from being kicked during a raid in 2005. (Austin American-Statesman)

Anyone who’s been following the Rainbow Lounge saga needs to take a look at this story published Sunday by The Austin American-Statesman (you may have to register). The story is about how the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission at one time routinely conducted raids similar to the one that occurred at the Rainbow Lounge on June 28. However, in response to public outcry a few years ago, TABC effectively shut down its program known as Sales to Intoxicated Persons (or SIP). Such operations today are reserved for establishments with a clear record of violations, which didn’t exist in the case of the Rainbow Lounge. Check out this chart:

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— John Wright


This entry was posted on Monday, July 20th, 2009 at 10:56 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

3 Responses to “Rainbow Lounge raid wasn’t 1st time TABC has been accused of using excessive force”

The following comments were posted by readers and were not edited by Dallas Voice. When you comment, stay on topic and treat others with respect. Posts deemed offensive will be removed.
  1. Rick Wagner Says:
    July 20th, 2009 at 1:34 pm

    I’m really curious about a couple things.. If the authorities have the ability to arrest you for public intoxication.. and bars can’t show erotica video with nudity.. But they can if the area was classified as “private” why don’t the bar owners put up a wall inside the establishment and make patrons pay $1 to get into the private area??

    In New England many of the gay bars have a “basement” they you pay an extra $5 to get into and when down there you have a second bar and nasty videos playing along with low dim lights.. You don’t pay.. you don’t get in.. simple as that and what goes on down there doesn’t get raided by the local police either.

    I guess something like this has never occured to bar owners around here besides Club Dallas and Midtowne Spa?

    Hey, every double edged sword is capable of cutting both ways.. Maybe this should be investigated further..

  2. Brian Says:
    July 21st, 2009 at 8:18 pm

    You mean the TABC has raided straight bars and behaved badly? Really?

    So, the Rainbow Lounge incident WASN’T because it was a GAY bar?

    Gee, that seems to negate the whole angry protest thing. Now, what will Queer Libations do?

  3. Greg Says:
    July 22nd, 2009 at 12:31 am

    The Baptists have been kicking in doors since they lost Prohibition. Go get ‘em, & burn their religious police to the ground.

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