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Texas AG’s Office says city of Fort Worth must ‘out’ witnesses to Rainbow Lounge raid
February 9th, 2010Not surprisingly, the Texas Attorney General’s Office has ruled that the city of Fort Worth must release the names of witnesses to the Rainbow Lounge raid as part of its investigative report into the incident. The city had sought to withhold the witnesses’ names, arguing that releasing them would amount to an invasion of privacy and cause people to speculate about their sexual orientation, given that the Rainbow Lounge is a gay bar. But in a decision dated Feb. 3, the AG’s Office rejected the city’s argument:
“Because of the nature of the incident that occurred at the Rainbow Lounge, the involvement of law enforcement personnel, and the ensuing internal investigation, the public has a legitimate interest in the identities of individuals who were present at the scene of the incident; therefore, the identities of the individuals must be released.”
As we’ve noted before, most if not all of the witnesses’ names had already been released by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, in its report about the incident, so this ruling doesn’t have much practical impact. Given that the law clearly wasn’t on its side, I view the city’s attempt to withhold the names as little more than a symbolic gesture, an olive branch to the LGBT community. In that respect, perhaps it was a good sign.
Tags: FOI, Fort Worth, Rainbow Lounge, Texas Attorney General's Office
February 9th, 2010 at 2:26 pm
“I view the city’s attempt to withhold the names as little more than a symbolic gesture, an olive branch to the LGBT community. In that respect, perhaps it was a good sign.”
That’s probably what they want everyone to believe. I see it as a PR move, maybe it worked. But on the otherhand, why would anyone be okay with Fort Worth “singling” these people out like this… making something out of nothing, stating not all public members value the LGBT community (Implying that the Police Department expects and accepts violence and hatred toward the LGBT community). IF THESE PEOPLE DIDN’T HAVE “GAY PRIDE” THEN THEY WOULDN’T HAVE BEEN AT A PUBLIC GAY NIGHTCLUB, PROTESTING IN THE STREETS, TALKING TO THE MEDIA!!!!!
It is ironic because that is exactly why the LGBT community revoked in the first place… lifestyle discrimination by Fort Worth.
February 9th, 2010 at 3:22 pm
Oh, please. I don’t think withholding Todd Camp’s name really was a gesture to the LGBT community. Todd’s a big old queer and proud of it. I don’t think blacking out a name, followed by “owner of 651 S. Jennings” protected anyone. J.R. owns the bar. Keeping his name private just gave us a good laugh.
If I ever gave testimony about anything related to a straight bar, would my name is withheld? Because I would certainly not want anyone to speculate about MY sexual orientation and think I was there because I was straight.
However, I wonder what the motivation of the AG is. He probably thinks he can hurt some people by revealing their names, just like the Times Herald used to do when the downtown and Oak Lawn bars were raided. Their goal was to get people fired from their jobs.
If anyone asked that their name be redacted, I hope that request is honored.
February 9th, 2010 at 7:52 pm
huh? sounds sorta homophobic to me, but maybe that was your point. I don’t totally get it though.