Letters to The Editor
Police Raid at the Daily Grind
By Dr. Kreimild Saunders, Nassau, Bahamas
Nov 13, 2013 - 2:26:41 PM

In the early morning, around 12: 15 am on Saturday November 9, 2013 several plain clothes police officers entered the Daily Grind to the bewilderment of the patrons. The Daily Grind is a gay friendly establishment. Before entering the establishment around 12:00 am I noticed about twelve to fourteen police officers mainly in plain clothes in a circular formation outside the police station which is next door to the Daily Grind. I thought it was rather odd, I took a mental note of it and proceeded to my destination.

Several plain clothes police officers entered the establishment and were immediately recognized as such by the patrons. The patrons were unnerved and many individuals made audible comments about the presence of police. The plain clothes provided the police officers with a level of anonymity. They were not identifiable by a serial number or badge.  Patrons commented about the fact that the police did not identify themselves, nor did they apprise the patrons of what was taking place. This created a tense atmosphere.

One female patron used a profanity in frustration and a police officer close by threatened to arrest her if she uttered another profanity.  Another patron raised a cell phone to take a picture and was told to put the phone away. The police officers proceeded to search the establishment for the next twenty minutes. After searching the establishment and coming up empty, they then took pictures of patrons throughout the establishment. Most patrons turned their heads away when faced with the police cameras. This was a direct act of intimidation in a heterosexist society. The police officers were demonstrating in no uncertain terms that not only the establishment but the patrons themselves were under surveillance. As a consequence most of the patrons who were present during the raid left.

After the policemen left Mr. Coakley, the proprietor of the establishment informed some of us that the establishment has been repeatedly subject to arbitrary searches and harassment over the past six months. It is my deduction the The Daily Grind is being targeted because it is a gay friendly bar that is visibly situated on Bay Street next to the Police Station. On lookers can clearly see the bar and its patrons from the road. It is the visible presence of gays that is seen as threatening to the dominant straight community. Rather than harassing a vulnerable population, police ought to be protecting sexual minorities. These acts of harassment are both immoral and unlawful. Hence, I call on the police commissioner, Mr. Greenslade to direct his officers to act honorably and refrain from harassing gay people. The Bahamas has a long history of police harassment of gay people, and gay friendly establishments specifically dating back to the1980s. There should be no place for police harassment in a democratic society, and the Bahamian public should not tolerate it. We have constitutionally protected freedom of assembly and expression that extends to everyone in the Bahamas.

 

In the United States police raids of the Stonewall Inn (owned by the mafia) in Greenwich Village, New York City a popular bar for gays in 1969 resulted in riots by patrons especially drag queens (many of whom were black). Their frustration had reached a boiling point. Those riots continued for days and were a catalyst for gay activism and a liberation movement that spread throughout the United States and the world. All freedom loving Bahamians, gay or straight should come out and support the Daily Grind. It is a gay friendly establishment supported primarily by working class gays and bisexuals. We want more freedom in the Bahamas not less.

Earlier this year Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson publically announced that she does not recommend that anti-discrimination reforms to the constitution be extended to gays. In 1987 Ms. Maynard initiated a bill to criminalize homosexuality and lesbianism rationalized on a perverse sense of equity (buggery was a crime), a profoundly unethical position. Hence, the current incarnation of her anti-gay stance is in keeping with a long history of oppressing sexual minorities. Clearly, gays, bisexuals and transgender persons ought to be explicitly included within such legislation. Such protections would demonstrate a commitment on the part of the state to the protection of the liberties of all Bahamians rather than the use of the state apparatus to harass and punish gays and gay friendly establishments for their visible presence.

Dr. Kreimild Saunders

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