Village Station police raid
The Village Station police raid was a police raid that targeted the Village Station, a gay bar in Dallas, Texas, United States. The raid occurred on October 25, 1979, and saw several bar patrons arrested for public lewdness while performing a bunny hop dance. The raid and the subsequent court cases involving those arrested are considered an important moment in the LGBT history of Dallas, with the impact it had on the city compared to that of the Stonewall riots of 1969. By the 1970s, Dallas's Oak Lawn neighborhood had become the city's gay village and was home to several nightclubs that catered to the LGBT community. The Village Station was one such bar, having relocated to its present location in mid-1979. Like many of the clubs in the area, it had been the target of repeated police raids and other forms of discrimination, including an arson attack in 1976 that had destroyed its then-location. The 1979 raid, which occurred just before 1 a.m. on October 25, led to the arrest of about ten patrons on charges of public lewdness. While the people who were arrested in similar raids tended to plead guilty to avoid publicity, the Village Station raid was notable in that several of the arrested individuals opted to fight their charges in court, with several either being found not guilty or having their cases dismissed. The events coincided with an increased push among Dallas's LGBT community for greater rights and against discrimination Background In the 1970s, the Texas city of Dallas saw a growth in its LGBT community, primarily in the neighborhood of Oak Lawn, and with this growth came a number of entertainment venues that catered to them. During this time, many gay bars were founded in the area, with one of these being the Old Plantation, a disco bar located on Cedar Springs Road that had been established in 1976. By the late 1970s, the club (renamed Village Station in 1979) was one of the most popular venues in the city, with D Magazine calling it "the hottest bar in town". However, the club had also faced a number of problems, including legal issues, harassment from police, and an arson attack that had completely destroyed the club in 1976, leading it to reopen at a new location at the intersection of Cedar Springs and Throckmorton in mid-1979. For several years, the bar was targeted by the D. L. Burgess, head of the Dallas Police Department's vice squad, who often led police raids on the club. However, by 1979, Burgess had left the police department, and, regarding the relationship between the club and police, an article in D Magazine said that the club "has maintained generally good relations with the police, who make spot checks regularly; the beat cops will occasionally stop in, chat with the bartenders, and take in the sights". Police raid Shortly before 1 a.m. on October 25, 1979, several members of the Dallas Police Department entered the building, ordering the doorman not