NPR’s StoryCorps wants to record stories of Atlanta Eagle raid

StoryCorps has a studio in an Atlanta and has recorded dozens of stories from Atlanta’s LGBT community as part of a project to ensure this particular history is preserved.

For the past two years, StoryCorps has also held an Out & OutLoud project as part of Atlanta Pride’s Stonewall Week to record and share stories of local gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender residents.

StoryCorps can be heard on WABE 90.1 FM on Tuesday during Morning Edition at 7:35 a.m., Tuesday during City Café between 12-1 p.m., and Friday during Morning Edition between 6-7 a.m. and 8-9 a.m.

The Atlanta Eagle, a Midtown gay bar, was raided by the Atlanta Police Department on Sept. 10, 2009, after the city received anonymous tips that there was illegal sex and drug use taking place in the bar. Nobody was arrested for illegal sex or drugs but the APD charged eight employees with permit violations.

More than 60 men in the bar that night were forced to the floor and illegally searched and detained by officers. Patrons sued the city of Atlanta in federal court saying their constitutional rights were violated and eventually the city settled for more than $1 million in December 2010.

However, two more lawsuits have been filed against the city that remain pending — one by other patrons of the bar and one by a former bartender. The city also settled in October with employees of the bar for $120,000.