Fairness? In Ft. Worth

In case you haven't heard about it yet, an incident in Ft. Worth has recently galvanized the lgbtq community there into some action - check here for the "official" news. Apparently police officers raided the Rainbow Lounge, a local gay bar, and used excessive force to arrest some of the patrons, landing one man in the hospital with a concussion and fractured skull, and two others with a broken rib and a broken thumb. LGBTQ people in Ft. Worth have responded with rallies and demonstrations, and have created an organization called Fairness Ft. Worth to monitor investigations into the incident. You can even learn more and show your support through their Facebook group!

It's easy for a young'un like me to, well, not forget, but just not think as much about the days when this used to be the norm for how police interacted with queer establishments. Thankfully, most of my frolicking about the community has been free of such harassment and violence. But this is a powerful reminder to me of a couple things: Firstly, those days are not that far behind us! And secondly, police brutality and harassment is still a very real threat to lgbtq folks and many others. It's so crucial to stand in solidarity with other groups to resist this kind of abuse.

I think it is awesome how the Ft. Worth community has organized, and unlike in those days of yore, it seems at least possible that there will be some kind of appropriate official response. But the bottom line is that people were harassed and injured. They won't get back the nights of their lives that they spent in jail or in the hospital, and no kind of redress will stop the pain and the long healing process of their broken bones. In the end, what we really need is for this kind of thing not to happen in the first place to anyone - not someone who's having a drink in a gay bar, not someone who's "driving while black," not anyone. And for that to be realized, we'll need broader changes for a police force that protects people's safety rather than threatening it.