Marching into a gay bar to issue citations feels a bit vintage in 2024. Nevertheless, over the weekend, the Joint Enforcement Team (JET), which is a coalition of Seattle Police, Fire, the state Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB), and others, entered The Cuff Complex and started looking around. LCB officials entered The Seattle Eagle and did the same thing.
And what did they find? A bartender’s exposed nipple and a few people wearing jockstraps, offenses that law enforcement can cite you for in Washington if you’re also selling alcohol.
At 12:30 on Saturday morning, a 10-member JET crew filed into Cuff, according to owner Joey Burgess. They came in with flashlights, scaring some patrons who left in a hurry. Inside, they saw the offending nipple, a violation of state law the JET may penalize in some way.
Saturday night, two LCB officials entered the Eagle at 11:30 pm and inspected the premises, owner Keith Christensen said. He’s waiting on a call from them about the jockstraps and a potential citation.
According to a “JET Agenda,” officials hit Neighbours on Friday and “observed” a “lewd conduct violation.” They hit The Lumberyard on Saturday and registered no violations. Of the 15 places enforcement inspected over the weekend, four were gay clubs, two were hookah lounges, one was a college bar, one was a hot dog stand, one was a music venue, one was a dive bar, another one was a bowling alley, another was a bar & grill, one was a roller rink, another was some weird lounge that has no internet presence, and they strafed the people who sell clothes on Pine Street.
The City created the JET to address nuisance businesses and criminal activity in Seattle, but neither Cuff nor The Eagle had ever been cited for alcohol- or violence-related offenses. In this case, clothing was the sole issue. An open letter both owners signed calls for a thorough investigation into why the JET inspected two gay bars in as many nights.
Both bars have been cited for similar reasons before. Christensen said the LCB chased out 70 percent of his business over citations in February 2008.
Burgess has dealt with this problem since Pride of 2022, when the LCB cited Cuff for a customer wearing a jockstrap. Since then, Cuff staff have hall-monitored fashion choices, banning jockstraps and asking patrons to pull up their pants to hide exposed cracks.
He said he’s seen a decline in business because people assume Cuff wants to regulate their bodies, despite signage he’s put up explaining the pressure they’re facing from the state. It’s a difficult conversation to have late at night in a crowded bar.
It’s also a frustrating conversation to have in general. People can play kickball in their jockstraps at nearby Cal Anderson Park, but they could risk a citation for walking into a Capitol Hill bar.
“You’re allowed to be who you are in Seattle as long as you don’t go into a gay bar,” Burgess said. “They’re not going into the other bars the same way as this.”
“I hate to feel like [it’s discrimination],” he added, “But to me, there is no other answer.”
The Stranger asked the LCB about the incident, and the agency said it was still gathering information. On Tuesday, a spokesperson released a statement saying the agency wanted to acknowledge the alarm and concern its enforcement actions caused but also to assure the LGBTQ+ community that it does not target their spaces. The spokesperson added that the agency contacted letter-signatories to clarify its actions and intent. “There is no emphasis on patrolling activity at LGBTQ+ establishments or any crackdown on lewd conduct violations,” read the statement. “The actions of the weekend were the result of routine work by LCB and other agencies.”
At a Tuesday caucus, LCB Board Chair David Postman disagreed with use of the term “raid,” but he could understand how JET’s entrance to Cuff looked, considering the history of law enforcement busts on queer bars and the LCB doling out citations at the Eagle years before. He called photographs taken as evidence “unfortunate.”
The Seattle Police Department said someone filed a complaint about the situation with the Office of Police Accountability, and so they can’t comment while it’s under investigation. The Seattle Fire Department and Bruce Harrell’s Office did not respond to requests for comment.
State Sen. Jamie Pedersen wrote in a text message that the LGBTQ Caucus will be discussing the incident at its next meeting and “developing a plan.” State Rep. Nicole Macri said she would look into the matter urgently.
Though enforcement agencies choose how rigorously they crackdown on the laws, we do not have to live in a world where cops bust into gay bars and start citing bartenders for showing nipple.
A bill in Olympia right now could set a precedent that may loosen restrictions on places that mix adult entertainment and booze. The worker-led group Strippers Are Workers (SAW) drafted a “Stripper Bill of Rights,” which would add security for and cut fees on dancers. Last year’s version of the legislation legalized alcohol service in clubs, but some lawmakers clutched pearls and killed the bill. This year’s legislation removed alcohol legalization, but, if passed, the law mentions that LCB could be asked to draft new rules for strip clubs. So while the bill does not address the problems Cuff and The Eagle are having, it would be a first step and good vehicle for further action.
“These regulations that are so paternalistic, that control people’s bodies and sexualities, pretty much only affect marginalized communities and non-conforming people,” said Madison Zack-Wu, who directs SAW. “I do see the thread here of queer venues being raided and strip clubs being prevented from having a sustainable business model as ultimately authoritarian judgment on how queer people and sex workers are trying to move through the world… Both of our communities should have the right to speak up against this.”
LCB Board Chair Postman said the agency does not oppose SAW’s bill and would welcome changes the Legislature approves, including revisiting this butts and booze law in some way. Lewd conduct is not a priority action for the board, he said.
“When there’s laws on the books, it is really hard to say, ‘Well, we’re just not going to enforce that one,”’ he said. “The Legislature doesn’t like that, and for good reason. We have to figure out how we can do this.”
Board member Jim Vollendroff agreed that the law should be revisited, and thanked people for tuning in.
“This is not a new situation,” he said. This happened 15 years ago. And so here we are 15 years later, unbelievably, in an environment where the LGBTQ+ community is being faced with trans rights issues, issues where the Supreme Court is talking about looking at gay marriage. So put it in that context, and you can really see why there’s a lot of concern about this.”
We updated this article. Also, this post originally incorrectly stated that former Mayor Ed Murray created the JET Team, but, as it turns out, Murray only claimed to have created the JET team in a 2014 speech. According to a 2009 report, the City created the JET team under former Mayor Greg Nickels.
So glad there’s nothing more important for any of the participating agencies to enforce. Carry on, boys! Put every titty in the clink! Every jockstrap gets 30 days! Also, it would be funny if Catalina Vel-DuRay was one of the jockstraprovocateurs…
Is this the Seattle Police department that is constantly whining that they have no money or officers to do even the basics of their jobs, anymore? Gosh they sure found some time and money to do this, didn’t they? This is a priority?
Correction: the problem wasn’t that patrons were wearing jock-straps. The problem is that they had their bare asses hanging out, which is against the law. That said, sending in the JET was ridiculous. One WSLCB agent could have simply walked in and written the bar up.
Honest question here…is this liberal, nanny-state overreach or conservative, pearl-clutching, think-of-the-children overreach?
Either way, horrible use of resources and priorities. Thanks Inslee!
Surprised the Seattle Police component of the JET didn’t have better sense then this when their Union is so close to a new contract and they’ve been asking for money, opening a 1967 style clearly targeted shit show of a controversy right next to their precinct is brain dead.
C’mon Lads!
how Hard
can it
Be?
ditch the
jockstraps
and Acquire
some Thongs*
*Borat’s
was pretty
Impeccable
c’mon Boys!
mock them
Slippery
Po-Po!
half of ’em’re
likely Jealous
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1u4CXlIYjyE
Ok now this is the coverage that I haven’t seen reported by the Stranger in a long time. And that’s such a stupid law. So basically if I’m a patron with a loose fitting tank top exposing either or both of my nipples, I can be cited? That’s fucked up?
I guess all nipples and ass cracks matter to the WACLCB…
Though I question the wisdom of going out this time of year in a jock, and maybe with a smidge of envy that I never was the kind who could wear one and people would say, “Yeah, that looks about right,” this all sounds kinda 1960s Banned in Boston to me.
Maybe The Eagle and The Cuff could go private, charge a low membershiop admission. Would that negate the issue?
On the other hand, gay men are notorious for keeping their asses clean, but allowing exposed butts to just hang out to sit on barstools, etc. could pose a health issue. And really, would you go visit a friend and sit on their sofa bare-assed?
@9 yes we gay men are known to keep our asses clean and if it isn’t we know when it’s not a good time to expose them 🙂 unless dirty asses is what you’re into…
So 4 out of 15 places the SPD inspected this weekend were gay bars. And no one was arrested at the gay bars and no citations have been issued yet. Hmm.
One of the reasons I voted for the privatization of the liquor stores was the misguided assumption that it would kill off the WSLCB, which is a relic of WA state’s puritanical past. Instead, they just put a vice tax on booze and kept up their nonsense.
Time to end the WSLCB and relax a lot of the laws surrounding nudity and alcohol. Just look to Oregon and copy what they do.
@12: The WSLCB have been a boil on the bare butt of Washington State for a long, long time. Their absolute insistence on 2am closing times routinely created hazardous conditions for us late-night type residents in the Pike-Pine corridor, as crowds of now-belligerent drunks would pour onto the sidewalks, just as the midnight movie ended at the Egyptian.
The WSLCB is an authoritarian anachronism, and should have been ended back in the last century.
Obviously we have too many cops.
An here I though the city government was pro-business now.
As #11 says, enforcement was not directed at gay bars, gay bars were a minority of the establishments checked. WSLCB has enforced rules against “lewd” conduct and dress for decades and without any connection to who is on the city council. The rules are arguably silly but nothing new. SPD does not direct the WSLCB whose citations are limited to establishments with liquor licenses and this does not include patrons of said places. The Stranger may hate the new city council but the council has nothing to do with WSLCB actions.
@12 is once again the voice of reason – let’s relegate the LCB to the dustbin of history (going so far as filing an initiative if our liberal representatives don’t want to back it themselves).
I guarantee wide electoral support – shut down the LCB now!
I had a part-time, seasonal job at The Cuff for almost ten years, under the original owners. I remember the stupid WSLCB rules and how we would take everything right to the edge just to irritate the WSLCB agents. One time we all went shirtless, but with black electrical tape over our nipples. The owners would show extremely softcore gay “porn” that was mostly guys making out against gauzy backgrounds.
There were a few times when bitter customers would call in fire department complaints, but the people from SFD were always good-natured, and the SPD always appreciated how the security staff took care of problems before they became problems. We’d even get the Military Police in from time to time, but we knew where to hide people if need be.
However, there is a long and shameful history of the Seattle Police Department and the WSLCB agents shaking down owners of gay and minority owned bars. The GSBA (Greater Seattle Business Association) was originally a collection of gay businesses who united to fight the corruption of the WSLCB and the SPD.
“we have to enforce the laws” bullshit you fucking hypocrites. People are shooting up in public parks, dealing drugs, starting fires, robbing stores/houses/cars, and yet the SPD doesn’t have the will or manpower to enforce laws. 4 of 15 bars were gay (27%). Less than 10% of the population is gay. You bet your fucking ass it was targeted. And a team of 10 people?! With flashlights?! Taking pictures?! Holy fucking shit. Wish there was some drag queens who would’ve taken them down like Stonewall. Outrageous. Next meeting is tomorrow and there is public comment. I think it will be a mob scene.
Seattle Times, 6/1/2022:
Seattle police’s sexual assault and child abuse unit staff has been so depleted that it stopped assigning to detectives this year new cases with adult victims, according to an internal memo sent to interim police Chief Adrian Diaz in April.
Seattle Times, 10/23/2023, with regard to armed robberies of students in Ballard:
[SPD’s] Weismiller said police have been in contact with the victims and that the department will provide additional police presence in the area when staffing allows.
Mayor Harrell’s Police Recruitment and Retention Plan, 2023:
Police follow-up investigations of serious crimes are essential for holding people accountable and improving long-term public safety. These investigations have been negatively impacted because of the need to transfer detectives back to first-response patrol units.
Yet in in 2024 Harrell and Chief Diaz are assigning cops to cite wearing a jock too close to a brewski.
This place is getting really stale with the bullshit.
So many good comments. You know things are fucked up when the Seattle Times writes basically the same article criticizing the police (quoting Dan Savage no less). Even Bruce Harrell was like, What the Fuck?
“The problem is that they had their bare asses hanging out, which is against the law.”
Who gives a fuck. Seriously, someone driving way too fast, endangering your kid (or grand-kid) walking home from school, versus some dude with a tight ass exposing it in a bar that only those 21 and over can attend?
Priorities, assholes.
Just when you think the police can make a case for themselves, they do something really fucking stupid, validating every dipshit anarchist out there. Fuck the Police? Yeah, OK. This time. And the last time. Oh, and the time before that. But, you know, some of them are good, and want to do good things and criminals suck too …
Come on cops, get your shit together.