Emmy nominated Meredith Baxter narrates
a documentary exploring a 2009 police raid on a gay bar in Fort
Worth, Texas.
The June 29 bar raid on the Rainbow
Lounge resulted in the arrests of six people for public intoxication
and sent one man, Chad Gibson, to the hospital with a severe head
injury.
The raid sparked a loud outcry from the
city's gay and lesbian community, which called the raid police
harassment. A police report which suggested officers and agents
turned violent because they faced sexually aggressive patrons – a
claim eye-witnesses denied – and an initial icy “take a deep
breath” response from Police Chief Jeff Halstead exacerbated the
situation.
In Raid of the Rainbow Lounge,
director Robert L. Camina traces what went wrong that night and
documents the lessons learned in the months that followed.
“I think it's important for people to
realize that events like what happened at the Rainbow Lounge are
still happening in our lifetime,” Camina said. “This is the kind
of world members of the LGBT community are forced to live in: a world
flourishing with fear, homophobia and intimidation. However, in the
wake of the raid, Fort Worth city leaders and members of the LGBT
community ultimately took significant steps to create a better world
for all its citizens.”
(A trailer for the film is embedded on
this page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)
The documentary premiered in March and
continues to tour on the gay film festival circuit. A list of
upcoming engagements can be found at the film's
website.