How prophecy got her queer back: (re)discovering the prophetic at the Rainbow Lounge, 40 years and eight minutes later

Abstract

On June 28, 2009, mere minutes after the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion, police in Fort Worth raided a local gay bar know as the Rainbow Lounge. When one of the patrons was critically injured that night, the anger that erupted among the LGBT communities raced through the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, eventually reaching around the nation. In the climate that followed the police raid, a new voice emerged among the protestors: that of the prophetic. The purpose of this paper is twofold: (1) to provide an historical account of events at the Rainbow Lounge on the night of June 28, 2009 and the following months, and (2) to examine the inherently queer nature of the prophetic tradition by considering the words and actions of individuals and institutions, both queer and straight, in the aftermath of the raid of the Rainbow Lounge. Composed of four primary sections, this paper begins with an introductory account of events at the Rainbow Lounge immediately prior to and during the police action. The second part engages in a consideration of what it means to be "prophetic," with the idea that the prophetic is inherently queer being explored in the third segment. In the final section, supporting examples of the words and deeds of ministers and theologians following the raid are considered.