Jen Maguire, the co-owner of the Midtown lesbian bar My Sister’s Room (MSR), was arrested early Sunday morning after officers received a noise complaint.
Atlanta Police Department (APD) officers arrived at MSR at 1:13 a.m. on the morning of Aug, 16 after receiving a call regarding a noise complaint. According to the incident report, arresting Officer Jaylen Joseph “did not hear or witness any loud music” coming from MSR or Seven Midtown, the neighboring bar, but did hear “several patrons [who] were inside [MSR] projecting their voices loudly.”
This behavior was in violation of City of Atlanta ordinance Sec. 74-131, according to the report, which deems it unlawful for people to yell in a manner that can be heard from a distance of 100 feet or more between the hours of midnight and 7 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.
While attempting to make contact with Maguire, Officer Joseph alleged that she refused to provide identification, which led to her arrest.
In an Instagram post, Maguire said that she questioned why she needed to provide identification before she was arrested.
“We knew where our 100-foot marker was, and we had been following those requirements very carefully, especially on Fridays and Saturdays,” she said. “…I was asked to show my ID. The officer already knew who I was, and I questioned why I needed to provide identification when we had not done anything wrong. I was willing to show the video footage demonstrating that the noise was not coming from MSR. Instead, I was arrested.”
According to both Maguire’s statement and the incident report, she was transported to Grady Hospital because she has a heart monitor and was then transferred to the jail. Maguire said her friends and family were not notified of her whereabouts during this time.
LGBTQ+ community members and advocates took to social media in support of the establishment, which has been a beloved nightlife space for LGBTQ+ Atlantans since 1996, questioning why the situation was escalated into an arrest and if anti-LGBTQ+ bias played a part.
“This is the kind of stuff that can make people who feel unsafe other places feel worried about going to their safe place,” Noël Heatherland, the Statewide Organizing Director at Georgia Equality, said. “It also can harm the business of one of the few remaining lesbian bars in the country. I have made sure the City of Atlanta’s LGBTQ+ affairs are aware and that they will be investigating what occurred.”
This is an ongoing story. Updates will be published as they become available.
