He was charged with assault and released on his own recognizance.īut when police looked into Sleeper’s background, they discovered that he had sent multiple emails, phone texts, or Facebook messages threatening to carry out violence at Sidetrack and at Roscoe’s Tavern, another gay bar. 3 for “making a shooting gesture” at a manager of Sidetrack, a popular gay bar. Sleeper first came to authorities’ attention after he was temporarily taken into custody on Feb. Whatever the reason for the miscommunication, law enforcement officials realized their mistake, and sent out an alert seeking to enlist the public’s help in locating and re-apprehending Sleeper. His involvement as a volunteer includes the Tavern Guild in the 1970s, Chicago Metropolitan Sports Association ( formerly Gay Athletic Alliance ), and Gay. Johnston is co-owner of Sidetrack bar in Chicago, and a long-time activist on GLBT and AIDS issues. State Of Ohio Sued Over Anti-LGBTQ “Conscience Clause” Categories: Politics Civic/Community Business Arts/Entertainment. It appears that the Sheriff did not follow its normal procedures for all of Shane Sleeper’s cases.” The Office of the Clerk of the Court agrees with that assessment, releasing a statement to ABC 7 News stating: “It is the Clerk’s Office’s understanding that the Sheriff’s Office’s normal processes and procedures are to do thorough reviews of judge’s orders on ALL OF A DEFENDANT’S CASES prior to a defendant’s release. Any questions about what happened with the paperwork should be directed to those two agencies.” Absent any additional information, the sheriff’s office released Sleeper.īut the State’s Attorney’s office maintains that the sheriff’s office is responsible for the custody of defendants, releasing a statement that it “does not play any role in the transfer of paperwork between the clerk and sheriff. She also told NBC Chicago that the Clerk of the Court’s records did not reflect the new charges. Sophia Ansari, a spokeswoman for the sheriff’s office, said that the office had only received notification about the dismissal of the misdemeanor charges and not about the felony indictment. However, there was a miscommunication between the sheriff’s office, the state attorney’s office, and the Office of the Clerk of the Court. We prefer to think of this as yet another reason to drink local spirits.At the hearing, Sleeper was ordered to be held without bail. We'll see if this spreads to other bars, gay and straight, in Chicago. Dozens of members of Chicago Gay Men's Chorus & Windy City Performing Arts, 1000s of other men, women and children in the Chicago region. All submissions will be added to the as quickly as possible. So starting immediately we will not sell Stoli or any other Russian products at Sidetrack. Many more names have been added to this list since it was first published on May 30, 2001, along with Windy City's AIDS AT 20 cover story. Very soon the Russian government itself, which bans positive portrayals of LGBT people, may be the beneficiary of the goodwill earned by Stoli's distributors and bars over the years. The Stoli story is complicated by decades of lawsuits whereby the actual Government of Russia has laid claim to the Stolichnaya brand name. Sidetrack cannot support a brand so associated with Russia at a time when Russia is implementing (against strong world criticism) it's anti-gay law that bans gay "propaganda". Tonight you might notice that Sidetrack has removed Stolichnaya Vodka from our shelves. Dan Savage was the first to call for a boycott on Russian vodka, inventing the hashtag #dumpstoli and #dumprussianvodka.Īt least one gay bar, Chicago's own Sidetrack Video Bar, has taken up the call.
The first tourists arrested under the law were thrown in jail three days ago.Īs a result, gay groups and activists throughout the United States have been calling for action. A violation of this law, which could include anything from marching in a pride parade to just wearing a gay-themed t-shirt in public, can result in a jail sentence followed by deportation. The latest law: a ban on "LGBT propaganda" that affects tourists as well as citizens was signed into law on June 30. Logo via Slog.In case you haven't been following international LGBT politics lately, Russia has been getting progressively crazier and crazier in its attempts to repress all attempts at gay activism within its borders.