OUT
AN INDEPENDENT VOICE FOR THE LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER COMMUNI-
Liquor Board Reverses Decision and the Drinkery Reopens BY JIM BECKER Last Saturday night, a crowd of customers ockd to th Drikry, a gay istittio i Mt. Vernon for more than 44 years, to celebrate its reopening after it had been shut down by the Baltimore City Board of Liquor License Commissioners on May 19th. The Commissioners reversed the earlier decision on June 2nd and voted to renew the bar’s liquor license. The Mt. Vernon Belvedere Associatio had ld a protst to th Drikry’s application for renewal and that protest led to the May 19th closure. Both the decisions to close and to reopen the bar were made by a divided Board in a two-to-one vote. The June 2nd decision came after the Drinkery’s attorney, Melvin Kodenski, allgd i docmts ld with th Board that one of the witnesses in opposition to the bar, Jason Curtis, owned a liquor license
Sergeant Kevin Bailey, Baltimore Police LGBT liaison
and should not have been allowed to testify. Mr. Curtis is a past president of the Mt. Vernon Belvedere Association and current chair of the association’s Safety Committee. In his testimony he said that the association received so many complaints in the area of the Drinkery that th b ts district spent $30,000, to install City Watch cameras in the area. However, Mr. Curtis did not disclose that he had a liquor license, which two of th Commissiors said disqali d him from testifying at the hearing. This new information persuaded Commissioner Dana P. Moore to change her vote. At the June 2nd meeting of the Board,
Iconic Mt. Vernon bar spared by city
BY BILL REDMOND-PALMER A diverse group of LGBT community members met with Sergeant Kevin Bailey, the Baltimore City Police Department’s (BCPD) new LGBT liaison, at Chase Brexton Health Services in Mount Vernon on June 1st, 2016. The meeting provided an opportunity for Sgt. Bailey to introduce himself to the community, and begin what he stated he hoped would be an ongoing dialogue. Those attending represented many constituencies, groups and organizations, incldig th Of c of th Mayor, ad th Baltimor Stat’s Attory’s Of c. Sgt. Baily is th rst fll tim polic mployee to hold the position of LGBT liaison, as part of the Community Collaboration Division. His portfolio includes his role as LGBT liaison, support for investigating LGBT-related crimes, some training for new recruits, as well as responsibility for the area of hate crimes. Previous LGBT liaisons have all only been tasked to
June 10, 2016 Volume XIV, Issue 3
Commissioner Moore said that she had been persuaded by Mr. Curtis’s testimony at the original hearing, he should not have been allowed to testify, and that fairness required her to reverse her decision to close the bar. Commissioner Aaron Gr ld, th oly commissioner that supported the bar at the May 19th hearing, agreed with her. Board The Drinkery – open again after serving community for 44 years Chair, Commissioner Albert Matricciani, Jr., was not persuaded to I’m forgetting the name of the hotel... but it’s change his opposition to the bar. The June 2nd nearby in the same area, Mt. Vernon neighdecision to reconsider was based upon writ- borhood – Hotel Indigo. And I know Mr. Curten documents in support and opposition to tis, I’ve known him for a number of years, and the motion without additional testimony. his testimony was very persuasive for me. In explaining her change of position, I feel that we should not have received that Commissioner Moore said, “... Mr. Curtis tes- testimony; per our rules that he was not perti d at lgth abot cocrs ivolvig th mitted to participate as a licensee but he did Drinkery and he’s not just a licensee, he’s a anyway. For that reason, I feel it’s only fair to competing licensee. He holds a license for... —continued on page 7
Meeting BCPD’s New LGBT Community Liaison
the position part time. The issue at the forefront of much of the discussion was how police interact with members of the transgender community. This includes concerns that police automatically assume that all trans women are sex workers; ongoing harassment of tras popl; ad th rfsal by of crs to use requested pronouns, gender and names. Sgt. Bailey made it clear that such behavior is inexcusable and should be reported to the department. Sgt. Bailey told the community members that wh of crs wr disrspctfl, ad for example, ignored requests to use requested names, pronouns and / or genders, that
they should contact the Internal Investigation Section of the BCPD, at 410-396-2300 and l a complait. H strssd th importac of following up on complaints when contacted by police detectives, to ensure that bad behavior is properly addressed. When asked what can be done when complainants did not feel safe following through with complaints, he recommended they contact him directly. Other concerns noted by those in attendac wr th lack of traiig of of crs i dealing with, and de-escalating situations re—continued on page 8