At an Opelika bar Jan. 29, fists and accusations flew, raising questions about whether a bar fight was actually a hate crime.
Laura Gilbert, a 25-year-old gay woman, claims she was attacked at the Villa bar on Highway 169 because of her sexual orientation.
According to the police report filed the next day, Gilbert and her friend Sheila Siddall were at the bar when they were involved in a fight. Police were called to the scene, and Gilbert was eventually arrested for disorderly conduct and public intoxication.
Both Gilbert and Siddall sustained injuries, but declined treatment the night of the incident. Sheriff Jay Jones said they sought treatment the next day at East Alabama Medical Center.
Although Gilbert and Siddall refused to comment, they told WRBL News 3 Feb. 3 that they were assaulted because of Gilbert's sexual orientation.
Gilbert told News 3 that she and Siddall were involved in a fight with about a dozen people. Siddall called 911, but by the time the police arrived, the fight was over.
"They didn't take our side of the story," Gilbert told News 3. "They took their side of the story, and then all of a sudden, they come up behind me and tell me to put my hands behind my back, that I'm going to jail."
According to Jones, Gilbert and Siddall were too intoxicated to complete the police report that night, and Gilbert became upset and was arrested.
"During that exchange, Ms. Gilbert acted in a disorderly manner," Jones said. "It led finally to the point where the deputy was put in a position that he felt it appropriate to make an arrest."
Jones emphasized that Gilbert's arrest had nothing to do with her claim of being assaulted, but instead was a result of her behavior after the police arrived.
The sheriff's department took the assault of Gilbert and Siddall seriously, Jones said.
"She's still a victim, regardless," Jones said. "That arrest was not associated with the other offense that the deputies were originally called there for."
The identities of the individuals involved in the assault are being sought, and if they are identified, the sheriff's department will assist Gilbert and Siddall in pressing charges, Jones said.
As for Gilbert's accusations that she was assaulted because of her sexual orientation, Cindy Hollinger, the bartender working the night of the incident, said she does not believe the women were attacked for any reason other than their own belligerence.
Hollinger said although she didn't know the women's names, she could confirm that Gilbert and Siddall seemed to be the instigators of the fight.
"The girl with the longer hair was telling the girl with the cap on that she didn't like the way the other girl was looking at her and mean-mugging her and everything," Hollinger said. "And I told her, I said, 'Ladies, there's not gonna be no shit. If that's what you're here for or that's what you're planning on doing, you need to go ahead and leave."
The two women told Hollinger they were not trying to start any trouble.
"No sooner than I come through the door back behind the bar, the girl in the cap was jumping another girl that was coming toward the bathroom, and she swung at her, and it was just a bunch of women there in a free-for-all," Hollinger said. "She made the first maneuver--and I know this to be fact because I witnessed it with my own two eyes--at another woman. She had gotten very belligerent."
Hollinger said she did not witness anything that happened in the parking lot, but the woman with longer hair came back into the bar, threatened her and said she was calling the police.
Although the cause of the fight has not been proven, Jones said the sheriff's department is treating the fight as an assault and will strive to help Gilbert and Siddall find justice.
"We're not gonna treat them any different than we would treat anybody else," Jones said. "I mean, that's the whole point--a victim is a victim."
Jones said if any arrests are made, the case will go to district court, where evidence will show if the assault was a result of discrimination based on Gilbert's sexual orientation.
Tonya Hankins, the Villa's manager, was not at the bar the night of the incident, but stressed that the Villa has never had any problems with discrimination based on sexual orientation.
"We have several gay couples, lesbian couples and some interracial couples that come out here regularly, and we've never had any kind of discriminatory issue," Hankins said. "The only issues we've ever had is people being intoxicated. We've never, ever, ever have had anybody say anything out of the way to anybody like that or to just jump on somebody because they happened to be same-sex oriented or anything like that."
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
