Jul 29, 2005   | COMMENTS     

said the Parascandolas were accompanied in their picture-taking sessions by gay ANC Commissioner Ramon Estrada and Estrada’s domestic partner, Elwyn Ferris,

In past ANC meetings, Estrada has argued that Cada Vez was in violation of a section of the liquor law that requires restaurants to promote themselves primarily as a place for dining, and has charged that Cada Vez promotes its events through advertising — including the Fuego event — as primarily non-dining establishment that crosses the line as a nightclub.

Cada Vez supporters say they believe the establishment meets the criteria as a restaurant, but argue that opponents have vowed to block applications for any new nightclub in the U Street area as a matter of policy.

Veteran D.C. gay activist Frank Kameny said the report of photo surveillance is the first time he can recall anyone attempting to systematically videotape or photograph gay people entering or leaving a gay bar or gay event.

He noted that an anti-gay, fundamentalist minister succeeded in forcing a gay bar to close in a rural Pennsylvania town in the 1990s by videotaping the customers as they entered and left and by photographing, at close range, the license plate numbers of their cars.

“I would advise the Cada Vez management to hire people to stand in front of the people doing the videotaping or picture taking,” Kameny said. “If they have the right to take pictures on a public side, the management of the establishment has the right to have others stand in front of them on a public sidewalk.”