In the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, New York City policemen raided The Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in Greenwich Village. Outrage over the raid resulted in a series of riots that are widely considered the beginning of the gay-rights movement. The outcry and defiance of the Stonewall Riots are to the gay-rights movement what Rosa Parks was to the civil rights one - a symbol to be rallied around.

The Stonewall Riots are an event celebrated in the gay community. In Fort Worth, Texas, members of the gay community were remembering The Stonewall Riots by attending a documentary screening about the event at a local gay bar, the Rainbow Lounge.

The Fort Worth Police Department thought they'd mark the occasion by reenacting the NYPD raid that sparked the Stonewall Riots. In the early morning hours of June 28, 2009, Fort Worth policemen raided the Rainbow Lounge.

The incident began about 12:30 a.m., when police officers and ABC agents arrived for a routine check to ensure the bar wasn't serving underage patrons and to stop potential drunk drivers.

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At the Rainbow Lounge, witnesses said, officers forced their way through the crowd and grew physically and verbally aggressive. They claim the officers arrested people at random, never asked for identification and didn't check blood-alcohol levels on site.

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Seven people were arrested, and witnesses said one man had his head slammed into a door by law enforcement officials. Chad Gibson, 26, was hospitalized with a brain injury and released Saturday.

When asked about the incident, Fort Worth Police Chief Jeff Halstead remarked that the upon arrival to the club, officers were subjected to lewd gestures and taunting - as if the sight of gyrating homosexual pelvises justified the actions of his officers. By making this comment, Chief Halstead unwillingly implied his officers were unable to handle such a situation without going on an arresting spree and bashing somebody's head in. That sort of lack of discipline comes from the top down.

Perhaps the police chief should have been asked, "What in the hell were his officers doing there in the first place?" Apparently the Fort Worth Police make routine sweeps of local bars and clubs making sure nobody underage is being served and that nobody drives home drunk. Sounds reasonable, but why this bar on this night?

Each and every time an incident like this occurs, the tolerant masses in the community are given a black eye by a few bigots who are unable to get over their own insecurities. Fort Worth was beginning to be known as a place that blended conservatism and tolerance. Now the community has taken a step back. It's up to members of Fort Worth's progressive majority to take a stand and vocally condemn the actions of these officers whose behavior tarnished the reputation of tolerance they've created.

Silence, complacency and apathy on their part would be an even greater shame.