opinion

by tommi avicolli mecca

Badlands: What's next?

IT'S TIME FOR two things to happen in the case of Badlands, the Castro bar the city's Human Rights Commission says discriminated against African Americans in carding and employment practices: Owner Les Natali should immediately sit down to mediation with the complainants, and the Entertainment Commission should proceed with a formal hearing on the matter of a suspension or revocation of the bar's entertainment license.

A little background: After a thorough, almost yearlong investigation involving more than 60 interviews, on April 29 the HRC released a 24-page report concluding that the popular nightspot discriminated against people based on race. Natali maintains the charges are false. For the past four months, And Castro for All (AC4A), with the support of countless LGBT groups, civil rights organizations, and even the San Francisco Labor Council, has organized pickets outside the bar every Saturday night to ask people not to patronize the establishment, to call on city and state agencies to take action against the bar's license, and, more recently, to demand that Natali enter mediation with the complainants.

On July 4 Natali told the San Francisco Chronicle that he agreed with a plan put forward by Mayor Gavin Newsom that former Mayor Willie Brown act as mediator and bring the two parties to the table. However, a couple of days before the first session, Natali pulled out. His reason? He didn't want community members observing the mediation, though he had previously agreed to it.

Natali's counsel told the complainants' attorney, Julius M. Turman, that the bar owner was angry at comments made by complainants and queer leaders at the Entertainment Commission's Aug. 2 informal hearing on the Badlands situation. Almost 30 people, complainants and LGBT community leaders alike, asked that the bar's entertainment license be revoked or suspended. Only a handful of people, mostly Badlands employees, testified for the bar. From comments made by commissioners at the end of the meeting, it was obvious that they were moved by what they heard. Many called for further investigation. "I think a hearing should proceed," said Bruce G. Lorin, a retired police lieutenant. Procedurally, the commission must now hold a formal hearing before deciding on any possible action against Natali. At press time, no date had been set for a formal hearing, and mediation was still up in the air.

Whatever the outcome, AC4A has accomplished what no one other single queer organization has done: It's brought the issue of fighting racism to the forefront of public discussion in the Castro.

Unfortunately, racism is nothing new in the queer community. More than 30 years ago, I helped organize pickets in my hometown of Philadelphia against two gay bars that were discriminating against blacks and women. We got no media attention, and city and state agencies ignored us. The kind of publicity the struggle against Badlands has generated is unprecedented.

The issue is even bigger than that. The eyes of history are indeed watching to see if the city by the bay will actually put its money, or in this case its enforcement power, where its liberal mouth is. The Board of Supervisors has already issued a resolution calling on city and state agencies to take appropriate action. Local politicians, including the mayor, should continue pressuring Natali to come to the mediation table. Since mediation may not happen, or may not succeed, they should also push the Entertainment Commission to hold a formal hearing on possible action against the bar.

A suspension or revocation of Natali's entertainment license would send the right message: that here in San Francisco, a city that prides itself on celebrating diversity, we do not tolerate racism.

It's a message that will reverberate throughout the decades to come.

Tommi Avicolli Mecca is a southern Italian queer writer, performer, and activist. He is a member of AC4A who participates in the weekly pickets.