Texas gay bar
torched

Police in Denton, Texas, are investigating a fire that started early Wednesday at a gay nightclub. According to The Dallas Morning News, Mable Peabody's Beauty Parlor and Chainsaw Repair was vandalized and then torched. Owner Kelly Sanders said she has owned the club for 13 years.

"I wonder if it could have been a gay-bashing deal," Sanders told the News. "I have no idea."

Denton fire marshal Rick Jones said the fire was reported about 5:30 a.m. and that forensic evidence would be tested at a lab. The nature of the fire indicates it is an arson case because several fires were started in different areas of the bar.

The club was opened 27 years ago at a time, Sanders said, when it was brave to open a club in that area for gays and lesbians. (The Advocate)