NYC IS CLEAN ENOUGH!

Join the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center and the New York City Anti-Violence Project for the first event in our MOVE for Social Change series!

NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the NYPD’s vice squad are waging war on gay men and sexual freedom. Gay City News has covered this extensively. Here’s a link to one of the articles: SHUTTERING PORN SHOPS, CITY FAKES ARRESTS.

HERE'S AN EXCERPT WHICH OUGHT TO OUTRAGE YOU:

Eight of the 12 men arrested in Blue Door were between 42 and 54. Four were from out of state.

It is possible that Blue Door hosts prostitutes who are mostly middle-aged and have managed to avoid getting busted, but that seems statistically unlikely.

Equally unlikely is that a 54-year-old hustler from California or a 20-year-old one from Virginia would incur the time and expense of traveling to New York City to sell their bodies when they could do so in their home states.

Most implausible is the notion that a 37-year-old from Europe and his 44-year-old partner would obtain a US visa, travel to New York City, and check into the Astor on the Park Hotel so they could earn $20 each for having anal sex with a stranger in a Lower East Side porn shop.

What explains these scenarios is Pinter's arrest. He was approached by a younger man who was aggressive and charming in getting Pinter to agree to what he thought was consensual sex outside of the store. It was only as the two were leaving Blue Door that the undercover cop said to Pinter, "Oh, I want to pay you $50 to suck your dick."

Pinter said nothing in response and was arrested outside the store, as were all the men. It appears police targeted older men, who might be more likely to respond to a younger man. The cops could not know where these men lived until after they were busted; some of the arrests were of men from out of state.


Here’s a cry that ought to be heard at the meeting and around this great city: Why does NYC still have a vice squad in the 21st century?

-Bill Dobbs


Date: Thursday, January 15, 2009

Time: 7-9 p.m.

Place: The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center 208 West 13th Street, between 7th Ave. and Greenwich Ave.

This town hall meeting will explore what many activists now consider a pattern of police entrapment and false arrests of gay men as a strategy to shutter Manhattan porn shops.

Elected Officials:

Tom Duane, New York State Senator, Opening Remarks.

Rosie Mendez, NYC Councilwoman.

Panelists:

Sienna Baskin, Equal Justice Works Legal Fellow, Urban Justice Center/Sex Workers Project.

Joey Nelson, Coordinator, Queer Justice League.

Duncan Osborn, Gay City News reporter who “broke” the story.

Robert Pinter, community activist and organizer of the newly formed "Coalition to Stop the Arrests".

Jennifer Ramírez, Local Organizer, New York City Anti-Violence Project.

Andrea Ritchie, Project Director, Urban Justice Center/Sex Workers Project.

Moderator:

Jared Ringer, Coordinator of Hate Violence and Police Relations Programs, New York City Anti-Violence Project.

The Center’s and AVP’s MOVE (Mobilize, Organize, Visualize, Educate) for Social Change series provides the resources to actualize social change: through education, debate, civic engagement and innovation, we each have the power to envision and create lives and communities that center safety, peace and equity for all.

For more information, please contact: The Center 212-620-7310, AVP 212-714-1184,
Joey Nelson/Queer Justice League 973-464-0112 or Urban Justice Center 646-602-5695.