New York City
council speaker Christine C. Quinn, the city's most visible
gay official, has come under fire from her gay constituency
after she proposed last week that the city's 250
nightclubs be required to install security cameras at
their entrances and exits, The New York Times
reports. Several gay leaders have said the cameras
would be an invasion of privacy and pose a particular
threat to those who are not open about being gay.
''It smacks of
Big Brother,'' William K. Dobbs, a longtime gay activist,
told the Times, adding that the
cameras could keep some people away from the clubs.
''It will have an impact on everybody who enjoys New
York nightlife.''
While the details
of the proposal have yet to be worked out, it would
apply to nightclubs that operate with city-issued cabaret
licenses that allow dancing. If the nightclub owners
refused to comply, their licenses could be suspended
or revoked.
Recent crimes in
and around nightclubs, including the separate murders of
two young women, have officials in the city calling for
action. Quinn contends that the owners should install
the security cameras to protect their patrons. Quinn,
who also wants to require nightclubs to install
identification-checking machines to curb underage drinking,
plans to convene a nightlife conference next month for
club owners and city agencies to discuss other ways to
improve club safety.
The backlash over
security cameras illustrates the political pitfalls
facing Quinn, who was elected speaker in January. Allen
Roskoff, president of the Jim Owles Liberal Democratic
Club, a citywide political organization formed by gay
activists in 2004, told the Times that Quinn is
now in the position of ''having to please a more
diverse constituency than the progressive constituency
that elected her.'' (The Advocate)
