settlement from anti-LGBTQ+ liquor inspectors following emotional testimony”/>
A lawsuit filed by the owners of a gay bar and a gay guide in Hawaii against the Honolulu Liquor Commission (HLC) ended Tuesday after seven hours of damaging and emotional testimony from one of the plaintiffs, Hawaii Now News reported.
The Scarlet Honolulu gay bar and the Gay Island Guide filed a federal discrimination lawsuit against the Honolulu Liquor Commission and the City of Honolulu in 2021. They claimed they were the target of years of harassment by the commission due to of the investigators’ obvious anti-LGBTQ+ bias. , and that abuses have worsened during the pandemic.
Joseph Luna, co-owner of the Scarlet Honolulu and a plaintiff in the case, spent seven hours on the stand Tuesday discussing a variety of topics, including growing up in the closet. Luna described the years of anti-LGBTQ+ bigotry he endured from the HLC, including an incident in which he was shoved by an inspector.
Many people in the courtroom were in tears after Luna’s testimony, and HLC quickly decided to settle the case, the outlet reports.
As part of the settlement, HLC agreed to randomly assign inspections and require body cameras for all investigators. They also agreed to federal court oversight with quarterly monitoring and reporting, as well as a separate independent review conducted by the city. HLC also agreed to pay $670,000 to Scarlet Honolulu and Gay Island Guide.
The suit contained testimony alleging years of anti-LGBTQ+ abuse by commission investigators, with testimony from a whistleblower initially hired by the commission. Other people not parties to the lawsuit have also made damning complaints against the HLC.
Steve Haumschild, founder of Lanikai Brewing Company, who was not a plaintiff, said his bar was unfairly targeted during the pandemic after becoming an outspoken critic of the HLC. Haumschild said he received nine visits in three months and was shut down several times after expressing his complaints.
“One can only think that there is some sort of underlying corruption or blatant incompetence,” Haumschild said. HNN.
The commission was also accused of making death threats in the form of graffiti against a witness of the complainants, Civil beat reported. Baldwin associate Robert Sobieralski has filed hundreds of public records requests with the city in the case. In late October 2021, Sobieralski said he saw “Rob is dead” written on the side of a building that he frequently passed by to pick up files. The graffiti appeared shortly after the complaint was filed.
An investigator hired by the commission became a whistleblower for the complainants, HNN reports. Jhumar Ray Waite resigned from his position after uncovering illegal, unethical, and anti-LGBTQ+ behavior during his investigation. He said investigators slowed down several times and pointed to the building where Baldwin and Sobieraski lived.
He later wrote in his statement that “the repeated nature of these incidents and the context in which they occurred led me to feel destabilized.”
Baldwin summarized his views on HLC at the height of the legal proceedings in 2022.
“It’s just becoming obvious that this organization is completely rotten from the top down,” Baldwin said.HNNat the time.
