The Seattle Police seem to have developed a sudden hard on for erotic gay ads and porn. Bar owners and managers say they have been repeatedly hassled just in the last two months.
"[Police] have been in twice this week already making sure we're not showing penis or pubic hair," C.C. Attle's manager Scott told alternative weekly The Stranger. "It's just ridiculous."
At Seattle Eagle, which admittedly takes things to extremes by showing explicit gay videos on its big-screen TV, the story is similar.
"I've run this bar for over 10 years, and I've been showing hardcore porn on this screen for over six," manager Keith Christiansen told The Stranger. "[Lately] the police come in and see two guys kissing, they freak out."
The gay community said the new attitude coincided with Capt. Paul McDonagh's April 2007 ascension to the position of Top Cop for the East Precinct, but the "porn raids" have become much more noticeable since March. Although they feel running videos in the clubs adds to the ambience, they wouldn't mind being more selective in the material they display...if they could figure out what line not to cross. According to the bars, mixed messages are emanating from the cop shop and the other regulatory entity with which they must contend: the Washington State Liquor Control Board.
Seattle Municipal Code prohibits displaying images of sex, masturbation or genitalia in view of "a public thoroughfare." Regulations adopted by the alcoholic beverage watchdog prohibit images that depict sexual touching or intercourse. Bar staffs say the porn they show consistently passes muster with LCB enforcers, but not with the police.
For the time being, the bars have vowed to change as little as possible about the way they currently operate. If police continue to upset patrons and employees with frequent visits, however, they may give in and ban porn altogether.
"If they keep harassing us, we'll stop [showing porn]," Scott told The Stranger. "It's just not worth it."
One has to wonder if they are showing this much attention to the str8 clubs and all the “Titty Bars”.
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