Dallas Police Dept. (DPD) LGBTQ+ liaison throws tantrum when critically questioned.
Gay people asking questions and expecting real answers and pointing out when the relies aren't real answers is something the Dallas Police Department doesn't expect and the Liaison gets really upset.
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This was the final reply from the Dallas Police Dept. LGBTQ+ Liaison.
Notice the capital letters in boldface. So what led up to this tantrum?
This was the start of this when I asked the DPD LGBTQ+ Liason about the 2010 raid.
I think this correspondance shows what the role is of the DPD LGBTQ+ is to not seriously deal with our concerns, but be a sort of theater to feed us happy talk. When there are tough questions the fangs are shown.
A review of the emails from the DPD Liaison
The correspondance with the DPD follows this section past a double line. What I want to do is review the key points.
[1] The comments made by DPD liaison when contacted after the bath house raid and the arrest of eleven men.
The critical quote is:
“We’ve done operations in that club since the lat ‘70s. There just hasn’t been one in a while becaue there hasn’t been a complaint,” Martin said.
“They [officers] were in there for a legitimate reason, and obviously there was illegal activity going on or that many arrests wouldn’t have been made.”
Eleven men were arrested, jailed and bialed and we get this smug, smirky answer from Laura Martin. Is there a fainting couch in the office of the DPD LGBTQ+ liaison?
So what does the current DPD liaison think of that comment? I think it is fairly critical to understand the current DPD liaison’s view of what Lauren Martin said.
The response of Megan Sykes, current DPD LGBTQ+ liaison is an evasion of the question.
This incident occurred 14 years ago and I am not comfortable speaking for a different Chain of Command and/ or undermining any statement made by then Liaison, Laura Martin.
I bet it was very uncomfortable for the eleven men who were arrested and jailed.
Fourteen years ago isn’t ancient history. I bet for the eleven men who were arrested, it is still vivid in their minds. But, Megan Sykes is “uncomfortable.”
[A] There are multiple components in this evasion. First note that somehow she can’t comment because it was fourteen years ago, as if that is some obstacle or issue. This is just pulled out of the air to be a made up problem.
[B] Then it is a matter of “undermining any statement made by then Liaison, Laura Martin.” This reveals that when the issue is injustice towards LGBT, Sykes’ priority appears to be police covering for each others misdeeds. If some police officer beats up a Gay person, don’t bother asking the DPD Liaison questions, because the Liaison won’t want to be “undermining” the other officer.
[C] The biggest issue is the excuse, “I am not comfortable speaking for a different Chain of Command.” The City of Dallas is a governmental unit, not a spa or social club and officer Sykes is a public official not a social director. Officer Sykes could have reasonably said, “I am not authorized to speak on that,” “I am not informed enough to review her statements,” or some other technical reason.
Then the question would be who is authorized or who can speak about it. I asked Officer Sykes whether she asked the Dallas Police Chief about Martin Laura’s comments.
What the DPD thinks of Laura Martin’s comments is rather important, but I got this response.
Thank you for critiquing my email and advising me on how to respond to your email. I wrote what I know to be true about this department as I sit in this position.
She feels picked upon, and this response is another evasion.
[2] About the possibility of a raid in the future.
In response to the possibility of a raid I got this reply.
I can say with certainty, the Dallas Police Department is not targeting Gay establishments or clubs.
This sounds good, but doesn’t really say anything about a raid in the future. It just says that they aren’t targeting Gay establishments now.
The raid on The Club Baths on Oct. 8, 2021 was supposedly the results of a citizen’s complaint made on Oct. 5, 2021. You could say that on Oct. 4, 2021 the DPD wasn’t targeting Gay establishments. Even police departments that are raiding Gay establishments weren’t targeting Gay establishments all the time.
What does “targeting” mean exactly? Does it means that there is no current activity underway to go after Gay establishments? It doesn’t mean that there is a policy not to be going after LGBT establishments.
I pointed out the problems with this statement and got this reply with large bold face capitol letters.
I WILL NOT comment on the future- not because lack authorization or knowledge but because I feel it is irresponsible futile talk. The department WILL respond to crime, whether it is an illegal game room or bath house, and we are NOT targeting the gay community.
This is a misdirection and a misrepresentation of the issue. If at a Gay club they are violating the Espionage Act, planning on smuggling plutonium in violation of an embargo, illegal wildlife trafficking, insider trading on the stock market or forging old Dutch masters paintings, by all means do a raid.
The issue at hand is raiding Gay establishments because Gay people are being Gay and doing Gay things.
The final statement, “… we are NOT targeting the gay community,” just means she doesn’t comprehend how that isn’t an answer.
[3] Doesn’t comprehend what a public official is.
This was the final section in her response:
Please send any further inquiries and concerns to the PIO office, since you are not receiving the answers you desire from me.
Sykes is a public official whose job is to be a liaison with the LGBTQ+. It isn’t always going to be happy talk. LGBTQ+ citizens might review your answers and if they nothing answers they might say so.
Citizens criticize public officials in expectation of better behavior in the future. Sykes works at City Hall, not a social club. Public officials get criticized.
Liaison means to be facilitating the working between two parties, not shoving individuals off to other offices.
Liaison as pacifier
It seems that the role of the Dallas Police Dept. LGBTQ+ Liaison is to communicate happy thoughts, and when there are substantiative questions or critical review of nothing answers to get cranky.
The Time line of the investigation is at this post.
Correspondence with the Liason and one other police office.
The series of email exchanges follows in the order they occured.
[1] Sent to Ed Sebesta by Dallas Police officer Lea Hutchings. 1/19/2024
Dear Mr. Sebesta,
I wanted to follow up with you so you can have my personal email. I know we talked about some of your concern's last night at the meeting. I would love for you to send me some of those concerns through email. It was a pleasure meeting you last night!
Best Regards,
[2] Sent 1/19/2024 from Ed Sebesta to Lea Hutchings in reply.
Dear Officer Hutchings:
The Dallas Voice got a copy of a letter sent by the City of Dallas Assistant City Attorney J. Middlebrooks to then Hon. Greg Abbott Attorney General of Texas dated Nov. 10, 2010.
The subject was about responding to an information request by then Dallas Voice editor John Wright freedom of request for information concerning a police raid on Oct. 8, 2010 of The Club, a Gay sauna.
Attached are the two pages of the letter as published by the Dallas Voice. You can see it is on City of Dallas letterhead. The address for The Baths appears to be wrong. The Club baths used the address of 2616 Swiss Ave. in an advertisement in the Dallas Voice of Oct. 8, 2010, Vol. 27, Issue 21.
The point of interest is indicated by the red arrow. I quote the section of interest
“The requested items provide detailed information regarding the incident beyond that considered “first page” information, such as detailed investigative notes[.] Release of this information at this time would interfere with the ongoing criminal investigations or prosecutions. Consequently, the Dallas District Attorney’s Office, the prosecuting agency for pending cases, and DPD request that the information be protected at this time. Otherwise, the cases may be hindered. The Attorney General’s Office has consistently held that information pertaining to a pending criminal matter can be withheld under Section 552.108 of the Government Code.”
What this section establishes is more than wanting the ability to prosecute the specific cases of the Oct. 8, 2010 The Club police raid, is that it is as of Nov. 10, 2010 the policy of the Dallas Police Department to want to make such raids, make arrests in such raids and prosecute them.
No documentation exists that the Dallas Police Dept. has reverse a policy of wanting to do such raids, arrest people, and support their prosecution.
Further, Dallas Police Officer, Laura Martin, titled “Liaison to the LGBT Community,” endorsed the raid on The Baths as quoted in the Dallas Voice, Oct. 15, 2010, Vol. 27 Issue 22. She is quoted as saying:
“They [officers] were in there for a legitimate reason, and obviously there was illegal activity going on or that many arrests wouldn’t have been made.”
The report is still online at the Dallas Voice.
https://dallasvoice.com/11-arrested-public-lewdness-charges-raid-club-dallas/
With “liaisons” like Laura Martin, the Gay community doesn’t need enemies.
The article is also in the online print issues provided by the University of North Texas, in their Portal to Texas History. It is page 4 in the print edition at this link.
https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth239138/
Subsequent statements, 1/24/2011, by the Dallas Police Dept. supported doing the raid and said it was their policy and after the dismissal of the persons arrested, they planned to meet with the Dallas County District Attorney for the following reason:
“The Dallas Police Department recently learned that many of the charges involving activities at The Club Dallas in October 2010 were dismissed. The department plans to meet with the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office as soon as possible regarding these cases. The purpose of the meeting is to determine the cause of the dismissals, and to determine what, if any, procedural changes may be needed. An update will be provided following the meeting.” [Dallas Voice, Jan. 20, 2011]
https://dallasvoice.com/dpd-determination-future-enforcement-club-dallas/
The Dallas Police Dept. wants to know from the Dallas District Attorney how their procedures need to be changed to avoid future dismissals. The Dallas Police Dept. wants to be able to arrest and have successful prosecutions in the future.
So at this time there is no record or published policy change that the Dallas Police Dept. would not raid The Club or another Gay establishment upon citizen complaint. There is no record that if such a raid on an LGBT establishment did occur that the Dallas Police Department would not want prosecution. At the meeting of the Cathedral of Hope regarding public safety of the immediate neighborhood of what is known as The Strip, a section along Cedar Springs were there are LGBT businesses, and Cathedral of Hope, the idea was that a police visit was necessarily going to be bringing security, whereas the record shows that this may not be true. A Dallas Police Dept. visit might be the cause of insecurity instead.
My interests includes more than the security of the LGBT in the City of Dallas today and in the future or writing the history of The Club raids in 2010. Incidentally, the raid is considered of world historical importance. The last time a major raid had occurred on a Gay bathhouse in the United States was in 1981 according to The Advocate.
https://www.advocate.com/politics/2018/2/02/30-infamous-police-raids-gay-bars-and-bathhouses
The world soccer games of 2026 are to be held in Dallas and Houston. I have gotten inquiries about the security of persons visiting Texas and Dallas specifically during the games. To the British public, the difference between Texas and Qatar is not that much. That is they are both seen as fundamentalist states.
One of the issues for the world soccer games in Qatar was that it wasn’t a safe place for LGBT. The question asked me was Texas a safe place for LGBT.
At this time I would have to say there is a possibility that there could be a raid on a Gay establishment.
I prefer communication in writing in such matters. I like to have things on record.
Further, all the Dallas Voice online articles, were submitted to the Internet Archive. So even if the Dallas Voice online website vanishes, the material is at the internet Archive. https://archive.org/ You merely have to put the URL into the WayBackMachine form and press Enter.
Regards,
Edward H. Sebesta
These were the two images sent with the email.
[3] Email from Megan Sykes to Ed Sebesta dated 1/29/2024
Edward Sebesta,
Thank you very much for sharing your concerns with us. This incident occurred 14 years ago and I am not comfortable speaking for a different Chain of Command and/ or undermining any statement made by then Liaison, Laura Martin.
I can say with certainty, the Dallas Police Department is not targeting Gay establishments or clubs. I am a black, female, lesbian and I understand how past incidents of perceived and real prejudice coupled with the unfavorable history policing marginalized communities can make some people fearful of their safety. The Dallas Police Department is committed to fair and equal treatment of all citizens.
For further assistance with the incidents in 2010, please submit and open records request (this in no longer and active case). For more in-depth answers to policy updates and procedural changes please contact our PIO office at PIO@dallaspolice.gov.
Thank you,
Meg
[4] Sent Monday 1/29/2024 from Ed Sebesta to DPD Officer Sykes
Dear Office Sykes:
My question was about the possibility of a future raid. You reply:
“I can say with certainty, the Dallas Police Department is not targeting Gay establishments or clubs.”
That states that the Dallas Police Depart is not “targeting” now. My question is about the future. For example, had you said, “I can say with certainty, the Dallas Police Department will not target Gay establishments or clubs,” that would be a statement about the future, that the Dallas Police Dept. will not raid Gay establishments or clubs in the future.
The Dallas Police Dept. isn’t a social club nor is the City of Dallas. You might reply you are not authorized to comment on something, lack the information to comment on something, or are not competent to comment on something, which would all be acceptable responses. However discussing comfort or what you are uncomfortable with means that you can invoke the issue of comfort when it is opportune for yourself.
For the eleven who were arrested that night, it was very uncomfortable. I wonder if their lives ever recovered? Due to your discomfort, did you refer the question of Laura Martin actions to the Dallas Chief of Police?
You letter refers to these events being 14 years in the past, as if we are talking about archeological time periods. I am sure in the arrestees’ perceptions it isn’t that long ago. It likely affects their lives as long as they are living.
I said at the meeting that I had a Freedom of Information Act request already underway. So I am not sure why you recommended in this reply.
Not having any information to offer on whether a raid might happen in the future, you refer me to an email for a PIO department to ask questions about policy. I would think a “liaison” rather than push an inquirer off to another official, would have forwarded my email to the PIO office themselves and would facilitate getting a reply.
In the end in your reply isn’t substantiative in regards to the question whether a raid on a Gay establishment would occur in the future.
Using bright green highlight with black text is not a good combination for legibility. Yellow is used for highlighting. Or a light color.
Edward H. Sebesta
[5] Sent from Megan Sykes to Ed Sebesta 1/31/2024.
Sebesta,
Thank you for critiquing my email and advising me on how to respond to your email. I wrote what I know to be true about this department as I sit in this position. I WILL NOT comment on the future- not because lack authorization or knowledge but because I feel it is irresponsible futile talk. The department WILL respond to crime, whether it is an illegal game room or bath house, and we are NOT targeting the gay community. I hope your request yields the answers you are looking for. Please send any further inquiries and concerns to the PIO office, since you are not receiving the answers you desire from me.
Best Regards,
Meg
[6] Sent Wednesday 1/31/2024 from Ed Sebesta to Sykes.
Dear Officer Sykes:
I can not abide with misdirection and misrepresentation of my inquiry. The issue is about raids where the targeting is because the individual is Gay. However, if at a Gay club they are passing documents in violation of the Espionage Act, or transferring plutonium for sale to Iran in violation of the embargo, or perhaps conspiracy to violate the Sherman Anti-Trust Act you go right ahead and conduct your raid. I think the issue is about raiding a place because it is a Gay place.
Texas State Rep. Matt Shaheen sent in a set of pictures and letter asking for an investigation of the Texas Latino Pride event. His letter and pictures were sent to the Dallas District Attorney, all the members of the Dallas City Council, and the Dallas Chief of Police. It isn’t irresponsible to wonder whether in the future that the Dallas Police Department would decide to act on such like input or complaint and conduct raids or investigations. Given the tone of your reply, I can’t rule out it being futile.
There was a raid of Gay bars in Seattle last weekend, and the local alternative press article about it, has a subtitle, “What Year Is It?” This raid is being reported on nationally and has been reported in the British “Pink News.”
Finally when I get a reply from a public official, I am certainly entitled to review it and point out any deficiencies in what response I might have gotten. Just because you find the questions and critical review of your response as an liaison officer difficult isn’t a basis to prohibit me from asking future questions.
I don’t think the job description for LGBTQ+ Liaison restrict your responsibilities to easy questions.
Edward H. Sebesta
No repy was forthcoming to my last email.
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