10 April 27–MAy 3, 2023 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents afraid to report things out of fear of back- lash.” Wilson says that one of the objectives of the task force is to “create a safe way for peo- ple to report possible hate crimes in their community.” The attack on the Congrega- tion Beth Israel last year made headlines across the country, but Wilson says the city keeps an eye on things that might not always grab such a large amount of attention. “Our office, in collaboration with other city departments, really looks at information on what happens in the community on a daily basis,” she says. “If something happens in Dallas, like it did in Colleyville in 2022, we will use that information to find ways to ed- ucate the city on our anti-hate message and also support the community.” Formalizing a definition in this way is a great way to bring attention to a cause, Wil- son says. City residents and those working for the city need a better understanding of what antisemitism really means. “Resolutions are typically action-ori- ented and they allow for greater awareness,” she says. “The city of Dallas is a pretty large organization with around 13,000 employees, so this is really about creating awareness for our anti-hate efforts both internally and also externally.” ▼ LEGISLATURE MISINFORMATION IS A DRAG SEN. ROYCE WEST OF DALLAS RETRACTS SUPPORT FOR ANTI-DRAG BILL. BY JACOB VAUGHN I n just a matter of days, Dallas Democrat Sen. Royce West went from defending his vote in favor of anti-drag legislation Sen- ate Bill 12 to retracting his support of the bill altogether. West recently met with LGBTQ advo- cates and residents in his district to talk about his vote in favor of SB 12. The bill, filed by Mineola Republican Sen. Bryan Hughes, would impose a $10,000 fine on business owners who host drag performances at their establishment in the presence of people un- der the age of 18. West was the only Democrat to vote in fa- vor of the bill on April 5, sending it to the House with the support of 19 Republican senators who also voted “yea.” SB 12 redefines sexually oriented perfor- mances to include “a male performer exhib- iting as a female or a female performer exhibiting as a male, who uses clothing, makeup, or other similar physical markers and who sings, lip syncs, dances, or other- wise performs before an audience.” West’s vote in support of the bill sur- prised his supporters and LGBTQ advocates who say it criminalizes drag performances. So they organized a meeting this weekend with West to discuss his vote. Lee Daugherty, the owner of Oak Lawn bar Alexandre’s, told the Observer he didn’t have high expectations going into this com- munity meeting with West. He thought West would just get a stern talking to from his voters and be sent on his way. He found that he was wrong. “I walked in and every- one’s yelling at each other, and I’m like ‘Hell, yeah, let’s go,’” Daugherty said. The meeting was packed when Daugh- erty got there, he said, and everyone was fu- rious. Daugherty was there to share his thoughts as a bar owner but started to feel like he didn’t have to say a thing after mem- bers of the Stonewall Democrats of Dallas, the State Democratic Executive Committee and others began to grill West. “He’s sitting up there going ‘Yeah, I’ve al- ways been an ally,’” Daugherty recalled. “People were like ‘Listen, the war’s on right now and you’re making mistakes. The fight’s at the door right now and you’re leaving the door open.’” It was contentious, Daugherty said. At one point, he thought West was going to walk out of the meeting. Eventually, Daugh- erty got brought into the conversation when the discussion turned to how SB 12 could af- fect bars. He asked West if he realized that banning drag shows would have a serious impact on the economy. Daugherty told him that doing so would blow a huge hole in tax revenue and employment in his district. “You’re going to kneecap an economy that sits right in the middle of your district that generates a lot of money for the state,” he said he told West. “You’re talking about un- employing people in your district all over this boogie man that’s been created.” West asked Daugherty if he had read the bill. Daugherty said he had. Then the sena- tor referenced a part of the bill that would ban different forms of sexual conduct from taking place in front of minors. Simulated or actual vaginal or anal sex, as well as mastur- bation are just some of the sexual acts de- fined in SB 12. It also defines sexual conduct as “the exhibition of a device designed and marketed as useful primarily for the sexual stimulation of male or female genitals.” This is the stuff West wanted to draw people’s attention to. Sure, maybe the bill had bad implications for drag performers and the LGBTQ community at large. But it was about more than that to West. It was about the children, as he explained in a statement on social media on April 14, and as he tried to explain to the attendees of the community meeting the following day. In his April 14 statement, West pleaded with people, asking them to see his side of things. “I am fully aware of the importance of drag to the LGBTQ Community. I am further aware that drag is not an inherently sexual performance the vast majority of the time,” West wrote in the statement. “However, Sen- ate Bill 12 was not entirely about drag.” He explained that the bill would make it a crime to perform sex acts in front of a mi- nor, and that had nothing to do with drag. “I could not in good conscience agree with allowing children to witness the activi- ties in question when you look at exactly what is specified within the bill,” West wrote. At the community meeting the next day, Daugherty asked West if he thought the sexual acts described in the bill were actually taking place at establishments like his. Daugherty said West then asked him if people had sex in bars in Texas. That’s when Daugherty told West that bars are bound by Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission lewdness laws and the state penal code, which prohibit nudity and sexual intercourse. “I was mortified that a 30-plus-year Democratic state senator had this notion that, at least for LGBTQ-dominant bars, that we were just sucking and fucking in there,” Daugherty said. By the end of the meeting, West realized he’d been duped. He put out a statement two days later saying as much. “The vote I cast on SB 12 was a result of misinformation,” West wrote in an April 17 statement. He said some of the bill’s language is not based in fact. “The type of sexual performances artic- ulated by Senate Bill 12 simply do not occur in front of children,” West wrote. He added: “I encourage my colleagues in the House to talk directly to people in their districts before voting on this bill, because you will find that the type of sexual conduct described by SB12 is simply not happening at drag shows. Instead, this is another back- handed attack on the transgender commu- nity and the LGBTQ community at large.” He said he’s stood with the LGBTQ com- munity since his earliest days in office, and promised to work with them more when considering legislation. “I tell my staff and law firm colleagues when they make a mistake, I don’t want ex- cuses,” West wrote. “I just want it acknowl- edged and fixed, and I am big enough to admit that I made a mistake with this vote.” Daugherty is happy West learned some- thing and that he’s retracted his support for SB 12, but said he wishes the meeting had happened before his vote in favor of the bill. “I’m always happy for someone to learn something even if it’s maybe 30 years too late,” Daugherty said. “But what I’m not happy about is that the vote is still there and this bill is now listed as bipartisan.” He’s worried that House Democrats may take West’s vote for SB 12 as the green light for them to support it. If it gets bipartisan support and is enacted, Daugherty worries other states will follow suit. “That’s the game the right wing down there wants you to play,” Daugherty said. “That will be a monumental success for them to go around the nation and say ‘We’ve actually got Texas Democrats on board be- cause they know this is wrong.’ “We’re playing their game and we shouldn’t be doing it.” ▼ ANIMAL WELFARE MABEL’S ODYSSEY INTERNET SLEUTHS ACCUSED HIM OF STEALING A DOG. HE ACTUALLY SAVED HER. BY SIMONE CARTER L amar Chamberlain had just finished doing some volunteer work at a minis- try on March 31 and was walking home when he encountered a small black dog. Mabel, a French bulldog mix, had bolted into traffic and nearly been struck by several cars. The 32-year-old joined other onlookers in trying to rescue Mabel as she zig-zagged throughout the streets of Lakewood and East Dallas. As someone who runs 10 miles a day, four days a week, Chamberlain is fast — but so is Mabel. The high-speed chase lasted 45 minutes to an hour, Chamberlain said, but the tale was far from over. What started as a feel-good story about a community coming together to save a loose dog culminated in Chamberlain getting pegged as a thief by internet sleuths and an “aggressive” confrontation. “It’s not every day that this happens,” Chamberlain quipped during a call with the Observer. The way Chamberlain tells it, he and sev- eral others finally cornered Mabel in an alley between Swiss and Gaston avenues. She ran back and forth to evade capture until eventu- ally running out of steam. Mabel didn’t have tags, Chamberlain said, so he took her home to give her food and water. A friend later told him that if Mabel had a microchip, a veteri- narian could retrieve her owner’s informa- tion. He planned to take her on Monday. But unbeknownst to Chamberlain, who is Black, someone had posted to social media a photo of him carrying Mabel, writing that “it look[ed] suspicious.” The picture showed Chamberlain with dirt stains on his gray hoodie, holding a wide-eyed, panting Mabel. Mabel’s owner, Andrew Sibley, saw the picture, which he shared on social media. “This is a photo of my dog being stolen,” he wrote in part. Shane Meaney Lee Daugherty, owner of Oak Lawn bar Alexandre’s. Unfair Park from p8
