SEATTLE — Community members expressed concern over recent inspections of prominent gay bars by the Washington Liquor and Cannabis Control Board (LCB) on Wednesday. The LCB was looking for evidence of "lewd conduct" during the inspections over the weekend.
Bar owners were advised Friday and Saturday that LCB enforcement officers observed violations of the law, which requires that certain body parts of patrons and employees be covered. A coalition of gay bar owners and several prominent LGBTQ+ activists from Seattle, including Dan Savage and Terry Miller, issued a statement on Instagram expressing concern about what they referred to as “raids” at the LGBTQ+ nightlife venues, noting they agitate decades-old tensions between the community and the LCB.
“These were raids. Stop calling them visits. If everyone in a bar leaves when you show up, 10 of you in uniform with flashlights, they are not experiencing your presence as a social call,” said Dan Savage during public comment at Wednesday’s state Liquor and Cannabis meeting. “The message sent was if they are raiding gay bars in Seattle if they are harassing gay men for being shirtless in gay bars in Seattle, we are winning -- the bigots are winning.”
Raids by police and enforcement bodies were historically used to violate safe spaces, compromise the safety, and further police the expression of those in the LGBTQ+ community.
"The community recalls generational trauma and homophobia-driven policies of the not-so-distant past, making the recent actions particularly distressing," the statement read.
A common concern among speakers during public comment at Wednesday's meeting was the taking of photographs inside several bars that appeared to show "lewd conduct."
“Taking pictures without consent of gay men and then posting those pictures as evidence is immoral,” said another speaker who provided comment during the meeting.
Savage spoke at the Wednesday meeting and said that since the photos are subject to the state's public disclosure laws, they can be released after the investigation.
"That is not a visit that is a violation,” said Savage.
At another meeting on Tuesday, LCB Director David Postman denied that the agency conducted raids, saying the potential violations were observed over the course of the LCB officers’ typical enforcement duties that also addressed eight other establishments. He also emphasized that no enforcement action had been taken. He went on to acknowledge that there is a fraught history of interactions between the LCB and historically gay venues and how last weekend’s events had a particular impact on the LGBTQ+ community. Postman and two other board members agreed they would take action to make sure there wasn’t a repeat of what happened.
The law which the LCB is tasked to enforce is intended to prohibit strip clubs from serving alcohol in Washington state. It specifies that body parts like nipples and buttocks must be covered. Postman acknowledged that the law has potentially outlived its usefulness and is currently up for discussion at the state Legislature.
“The lewd conduct law, it’s problematic, just talking about my personal point of view here,” Postman said.
However, Postman said, the LCB is still required to enforce the lewd conduct law while it remains on Washington’s books. Postman said the agency should focus on education as opposed to enforcement and emphasized that they were not targeting the LGBTQ+ community.
“When there's laws on the books, it's really hard to just say 'Well, we've decided not to enforce that one’ - the lawmakers, the legislature doesn't like that, and for good reason,” Postman said. “I can tell you; there is no crackdown on lewd conduct right now, there is no crackdown on gay clubs, there's no crackdown on clubs in Seattle or anywhere else. We're doing our normal business here."
Postman noted that some of the clubs where owners were notified of potential lewd conduct violations are known to be strict enforcers of Washington state’s alcohol regulations and have reputations for being serious about public safety.
“These are not places where they don’t care about the law,” Postman said. “They are important parts of the community.”
Board member Jim Vollendroff, who said he had been to several of the bars at issue, said the LCB was having internal conversations about training with staff and enforcement members, particularly around historically marginalized communities. He also agreed that the lewd conduct law is “problematic” and should be reviewed.
Vollendroff said given the recent attacks on the LGBTQ+ community on a federal and state level across the country and the LCB’s own history with the community in here in Washington, it’s natural for these recent actions to have sparked worries from the community.
"Put it in that context and you can really see why there's a lot of concern about this," Vollendroff said. “I think whatever we do, we need to address it in such a way that this doesn't happen again."
On Friday night in particular, LCB enforcement officers were out as part of the City of Seattle's Joint Enforcement Team, which includes representatives from the Seattle Police Department, Seattle Fire, code enforcement, finance and transportation. There were reports that as many as ten people went into establishments at the same time. Postman acknowledged how that group of people, particularly law enforcement, may be intimidating to patrons of gay bars especially.
On Tuesday in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, residents were reacting to what happened over the weekend.
"If we are afraid, we are going to get harassed by cops, we don't want to go out, I don't want to go out. I don't want to deal with that," said Willow Gavette. "Hopefully, they back off and let Capitol Hill be Capitol Hill."
Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell released a statement Tuesday acknowledging the upset, saying "Under my administration, we will not target people or communities based on their sexuality," going on to say "We understand concerns raised by the community based on a perception of violating this principle."
Watch: KING 5's Top Stories playlist