raid at the dallas eagle...

[GL]

i just noticed this on the dallas voice website. evidently the tabc (texas alcoholic beverage commission) raided the eagle in dallas last night.

Raid at Dallas Eagle

what i've gathered so far is that the eagle was in the midst of a grand opening as they had moved a block from their original location. the tabc with the dallas police had closed the bar earlier in the evening for a discrepancy in their liquor license. once that was settled they re-opened. but later on that night they were closed again because someone sold alcohol to an under-aged person who was under cover for the tabc. just looking at the voice website i gather that there is still no hard proof so i would say the story is still forming.

now if its proved that staff did sell alcohol to a minor then shutting down the bar was probably correct. evidently there was another bar, a place called cherries in a nearby town that was closed due to overcrowding last week or so (unconfirmed by me). this is conjecture on my part but you have to wonder, considering the raid on the rainbow lounge in fort worth two weeks back if there isn't a movement going on to target gay bars by local authorities.

 

[Lukeee]

tabc sent a young person into a bar? Why are they allowed to do that?

 

[GL]

tabc sent a young person into a bar? Why are they allowed to do that?

i'll be honest with you, i have no idea why. my guess is that it gives them a legitimate reason to bust someone if they do sell alcohol to a minor.

i've been on google and i'm concerned and surprised to find a lack of information from any news sources regarding this incident. i did find this other post that seems to suggest a local tv station ran a story but has not posted it to their website.

curiouser and curiouser...

 

[StlKj]

Having read the other posts on that link, GL, it sounds fishy to me. I've never heard of a bar that has just opened having to deal with such a raid before. In the few areas where I've lived, they do such things after hearing complaints that underage sales are taking place.

With the recent history down there, this seems less like coincidence, and more like an aggressive targeting of gay establishments in the area.

Be careful when you go out down there.

 

[Corny]

i'll be honest with you, i have no idea why. my guess is that it gives them a legitimate reason to bust someone if they do sell alcohol to a minor.

don't know your laws, but this is illegal here .. but we don't have undercover cops trying to lure people into anonymous sex in bathrooms here either .. so maybe other "undercover" operations like that are legal?
once something similar was discussed here, but after much resistance from the population was dropped. however the fines are really high now, and the cashiers and barkeepers are getting touchy. a few days ago i was asked to show my ID in a supermarket while buying beer.

which you are here allowed to buy starting age 16.
i didn't know whether to feel complimented or insulted

while we are at this topic - in a bar like that, how they are supposed to check whether you are 21? check id for almost anyone at the bar? or only let 21+ people in?

 

[Jory]

tabc sent a young person into a bar? Why are they allowed to do that?

10 to 1 they are between the ages 18 and 20 years old By law you are an adult at age 18 but you cannot drink until you are 21

 

[StlKj]

Actually, Corny, in my area a bar has to check everyone's id, even if they are quite obviously not even close to underage. I'm betting it's that way in GL's area too. Some bars here have an underage night, or they have a way of tagging the underage versus the legal drinkers (often a wristband or a stamp), if they let underage people in at all, which some don't.

 

[GL]

Actually, Corny, in my area a bar has to check everyone's id, even if they are quite obviously not even close to underage. I'm betting it's that way in GL's area too. Some bars here have an underage night, or they have a way of tagging the underage versus the legal drinkers (often a wristband or a stamp), if they let underage people in at all, which some don't.

very true. and to be honest the bars each have their own procedure as to carding. i've been to clubs here where the staff just eye ball you and let you in. some will card each and everyone that walks up to the door.

 

[Corny]

so basically you cannot go out before the age of 21?
i always thought you would just not get booze.
what do the kids do then? you can't go to the cinema like every weekend
geez .. i hated the two years between 16-18 SO much, glad that there weren't another 3 years

 

[GL]

so basically you cannot go out before the age of 21?
i always thought you would just not get booze.
what do the kids do then? you can't go to the cinema like every weekend
geez .. i hated the two years between 16-18 SO much, glad that there weren't another 3 years

actually a number of the bars will allow people 18 years and up. once they're identified they're usually made to wear a wristband so that staff will not sell alcohol to them. and then there are some bars simply will not let them in.

 

[Lukeee]

That is disgusting. They make someone break the law so that they can charge someone else for the crime.

 

[treanir]

I know that in Holland, the police have sent (or still send) minors into a bar or petrol station to buy beer or cigarettes to see what happens. By minors I means 10-year-olds, btw.

But the bigger question here is, IMHO, the one GL asked: are the raids on the Rainbow Lounge, the Dallas Eagle (and Cherries) coincidence, is it just that this gets reported now. Or... are gay bars targeted in Texas?

 

[GL]

^ thank you. that is my central question/concern: are the gay bars in the dallas/fort worth area being unfairly targeted by the authorities? i guess i should have stated that from the get-go.

i did another search for any related news and still there is nothing. i find that really, really odd.

 

[Corny]

What if someone reported them? I guess if someone reports something they *need* to check it.
So if some asshat did report all the gay bars he could find, they would go out and test the gay bars - and eventually find something.

 

[GL]

^ there may be a great deal of truth to that. not to sound alarmist, especially as there is a very noticeable lack of information regarding the situation but its beginning to sound like a tabc witch hunt.

 

[Apollo]

tabc sent a young person into a bar? Why are they allowed to do that?

They do it to see if you are following the rules of the TABC.

If you sell liquir to a minor without looking at their license or even after looking at their license, then your in the wrong.

What would happen if a minor not under cover came in and got a drink?

 

[Apollo]

so basically you cannot go out before the age of 21?
i always thought you would just not get booze.
what do the kids do then? you can't go to the cinema like every weekend
geez .. i hated the two years between 16-18 SO much, glad that there weren't another 3 years

If your 18, you can go to a bar. But they are supposed to check your license and then tag you to say that you aren't allowed to drink in the bar.

If a bouncer catches you, they kick you out.

 

[Lukeee]

They do it to see if you are following the rules of the TABC.

If you sell liquir to a minor without looking at their license or even after looking at their license, then your in the wrong.

What would happen if a minor not under cover came in and got a drink?

It disturbs me that they go out of their way to put a child in that position. They could just as easily pay an adult to sit in the bar and make sure that the staff are checking, or they could have a police officer outside checking IDs as people leave.

If the law says this place is unsuitable for a minor then they shouldn't be sending them in there. It is stupid.

 

[Apollo]

^ there may be a great deal of truth to that. not to sound alarmist, especially as there is a very noticeable lack of information regarding the situation but its beginning to sound like a tabc witch hunt.

The TABC does these things regularly. They send undercover kids into bars (gay and straight), convience stores, restraurants. Pretty much anywhere liquer is sold to see if your complying.

Of course, considering recent events, this is suspicious.

Although, who isn't to say it isn't common practice for TABC to test bars on their opening night? Stop it before it even becomes a problem.

 

[Apollo]

It disturbs me that they go out of their way to put a child in that position. They could just as easily pay an adult to sit in the bar and make sure that the staff are checking, or they could have a police officer outside checking IDs as people leave.

If the law says this place is unsuitable for a minor then they shouldn't be sending them in there. It is stupid.

But how would that undercover adult know that someone is underaged or not? A lot of of people look younger than their age. To many factors to work through that way if the TABC is going to close down someplace, and if this goes to court.

I doubt they send the kid in their without someone else in their watching their back. And they could simply send 20 y/o's in there to see what happens.