I know, nothing about the June 28 raid on the Rainbow Lounge in Fort Worth merits cheering of any kind. The report released yesterday by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission wasn’t very pretty either. An article that appeared in today’s Dallas Morning News had the headline, “TABC agents faulted in raid. Report: They didn’t have OK for move on gay bar.”

The article accounts how two TABC agents left their assigned post at the Fort Worth Stockyards, met up with the police and proceeded to ‘inspect’ three bars ending with the Rainbow Lounge. [Read the article.]

My “Hurray!” above has little to do with the report’s content and all about the process. On Sunday, June 28, Fort Worth Councilman (and Chamber Member) Joel Burns stood on the steps of the Tarrant County Courthouse and promised that there would be a full and thorough investigation. So far we have the TABC report, next will come the Fort Worth Police reports (two of them) and another by TABC.

So I say, “Hurray! The system works, so far.” Reports are great. Many of us write them or read them on a regular basis. If you read a report and do nothing with it the report has been a waste of everyone’s time, it’s worthless. Once we see that the reports have resulted in positive changes in procedures and attitudes at the TABC and Fort Worth Police Department we can add ‘Hip, hip’ to our hurray.

Something in today’s article concerned me, “What disciplinary action the employees might face is unclear. In general, punishments range from a verbal warning to termination.” While I’m fairly confident that most people in the GLBT community as well as many other would gladly shout, ‘off with their heads’ I wonder if termination is the best resolution. Sure, it sends a strong message to others that this type of behavior won’t be tolerated, but does it address the problem.

If the officers’ use of excessive force or even just their presence at the Rainbow Lounge was due to their personal attitude and prejudice against gay people then I don’t see how terminating their employment will help. If they believe the GLBT community is the reason for their firing they might blame us, deepening their negative feelings toward our community. What happens with they become members of the McKinney Police Department or Wichita Falls Police Department and encounter gay people or people that they assume to be gay? It stands to reason that there will be a repeat of the Rainbow Lounge incident or something worse. Maybe their ‘punishment’ needs to be education, real, serious diversity training as well as a term of community service in the GLBT community?

Is it possible to turn this lemon into lemonade or is throwing it out the only solution?

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