The Seattle Police Department is hot on the case of a big gay menace
on Capitol Hill. Employees of several Capitol Hill gay bars and
nightclubs say officers assigned to nightlife duty in SPD’s East
Precinct have shown up at their doors repeatedly in the last two months
to demand that they stop displaying porn.
“[Police] have been in twice this week already making sure we’re not
showing penis or pubic hair,” C.C. Attle’s manager Scott, who did not
want his last name used, told The Stranger last month. “It’s
just ridiculous.”
For years, Capitol Hill gay bars have used porn as a warning to let
homophobes know they’re not welcome, and bar employees say they haven’t
been hassled by SPD until recently.
“I’ve run this bar for over 10 years, and I’ve been showing hardcore
porn on this screen for over six,” says Keith Christiansen, manager of
the Seattle Eagle. “The police come in and see two guys kissing, they
freak out.”
Officers have reportedly told staff at the Eagle and C.C.’s that
playing porn is a violation of city laws regulating the “display of
erotic material.” According to the Seattle Municipal Code, public
venues are prohibited from displaying images of sex, masturbation, or
genitalia that are “easily visible from a public thoroughfare.”
C.C.’s manager Scott says the latest crackdown has coincided with
Captain Paul McDonagh’s takeover of SPD’s East Precinct in April 2007.
To make matters worse, bars say they’re getting mixed messages from the
state and the police.
Scott says the Washington State Liquor Control Board told him he
couldn’t show videos with touching or intercourse, which, he says, he
doesn’t. According to liquor-board spokeswoman Anne Radford,
enforcement of antiporn regulations is a “low priority.” Nevertheless,
Scott says, SPD officers are visiting his bar two or three times a week
to tell him to turn off the porn.
While C.C.’s and the Eagle are attempting to push back against SPD’s
renewed porn crackdown, they may not hold out forever. “If they keep
harassing us, we’ll stop [showing porn]. It’s just not worth it,”
C.C.’s Scott says.
McDonagh did not respond to several requests for comment. 
http://www.theonion.com/content/opinion/…
How many members of the SPD are openly gay?
Answer that, and you have a start on the answer for why they are so concerned about gay porn in gay bars.
Does it really violate a law in this city? How hard would it be to get such a law repealed?
the cop that’s going around to the gay bars and giving them a hard time is Gay. he just wishes he could come out of the closet but he’s married has kids and is a cop. it’s sad
I’m glad to hear the SPD has erraticated crime in Seattle, since they have time to hassle the queers.
cops are fags – look at their mustaches
Maybe they will cover this in Southland with the blonde daddy bear cop the show has?
What a waste of the taxpayers dollar. McDonagh is either a hater and needs to be removed or admit to his true orientation and come out. From dealing with people like him in the past-I have found the latter to be true nearly all the time.
This is infuriating. I live in the C.D. and see drug dealing on street corners, parks, everywhere in plain sight at all times of the day. And the SPD is worried about gay porn being shown inside a gay bar? It’s their stupidity that should be illegal.
I’ve gotten out of two assault charges on the hill because I’m sleeping with a cop.
This is fucked up. The porn makes me feel at home. And it keeps out assholes.
And really, pubes? Like that’s the biggest concern? How do you make that illegal? Is a happy trail a misdemeanor? Where do you shave the line?
You made my day, Bomb.
1. There’s no way anyone can see ANYTHING that goes on in The Eagle from “a public thoroughfare.”
2. Everyone in a bar in Washington State is 21. It’s legal for those same people to schlep it down the hill and watch hardcore at Fantasy Unlimited with a bunch of dirty old men, why can’t they do it in a bar?
3. Why do we still have the Washington State Liquor Control Board? This is a classic example of the cops saying one thing and the WSLCB saying another. However, a third opinion could probably be gotten from whatever Barney Fife they have assigned to the hill right now.
anyone checking out the victory lounge on eastlake, where women’s bare breast are on the screen constantly? i’m want to be sure that we’re equally repressed about all genitalia.
Even though I’m a cop, I find this ridiculous. Put a couple of those guys down in Pioneer Square, where citizens and club owners are complaining about overt drug dealing every day and night!
I know Paul, I’m surprised by this.
And TrueStory, that’s not a true story.
So, it sounds as if a video of a totally shaved man jacking off would be just fine….