The Raid
The incident occurred at the Commerce Club, Flinders Street, Melbourne at which the Tasty event was regularly held (patrons typically entered and left via a rear entrance in the more secluded Flinders Lane for their own security).
During the raid, which began in the early hours, no patrons were permitted to enter or leave the venue for approximately seven hours. Full nudity was enforced and the searches were performed in full view of other patrons. The strip search, whilst distressing for all attendees, was particularly humiliating for the transgender patrons.
The exact police motivation for the raid is unclear. The predominant sexuality of the events' clientele was well known to police, leading to intense speculation that the club was specifically targeted for reasons grounded in homophobia.
The raid resulted in two drug-related arrests, but all charges were later dropped.
Read more about this topic: Tasty Nightclub Raid
Famous quotes containing the word raid:
“John Brown and Giuseppe Garibaldi were contemporaries not solely in the matter of time; their endeavors as liberators link their names where other likeness is absent; and the peaks of their careers were reached almost simultaneously: the Harper’s Ferry Raid occurred in 1859, the raid on Sicily in the following year. Both events, however differing in character, were equally quixotic.”
—John Cournos (1881–1956)
“Each venture
Is a new beginning, a raid on the inarticulate
With shabby equipment always deteriorating
In the general mess of imprecision of feeling.”
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)