Judge says Birmingham can close gay club that was the scene of double homicide

A judge in Alabama has lifted his restraining order against the closure of a historic 24-hour LGBTQ+ bar that had its license revoked following a double homicide in May and other acts of violence over the past year, AL.com reported.

Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge Marshell Jackson Hatcher issued an injunction on September 18 after the Birmingham City Council had revoked the business license for The Quest Club following a contentious council meeting a week earlier.

Hatcher lifted that order on Saturday, finding the Council had given proper notification to the historic bar on Thursday.

The Quest Club had been operating as an LGBTQ+ bar since 1982 but before that was a popular dance club since the 1970s. The club operated 24 hours a day and has been accused of lax security. Police say the club has been the scene of repeated acts of violence in recent years, including multiple homicides.

The club’s owner, Don Sparks, blamed loose gun laws for the reported incidents at the confrontational City Council meeting on September 10.

“You can buy a gun and carry it, but you can’t buy a pack of cigarettes,” Sparks said at the fiery council meeting.

“I believe that you all are very unserious about this situation,” City Council member J.T. Moore angrily responded to Sparks and his attorneys. “Your establishment is a serious hazard. People take a risk every time they step inside it that they will possibly be killed.”

Moore said he visited the club in August and found no security screening for guns, and two police officers also reported a lack of security when they paid a recent visit.

Police said they have been called to The Quest Club 109 times in the past year, and 44 times in the last six months.

Police were called to the club on Friday, May 24, for a reported shooting. Once there they found two men shot and mortally wounded outside the club. The men reportedly got into a fight, pulled guns, and shot each other. Terrell Brown, Jr., 32, died at the scene. Shane Gady, 32, was taken to a local hospital where he died the following Sunday.

“In less than three years, at this establishment, we have had a Birmingham police officer shot, a homicide inside the nightclub where two people were shot, an officer had to fight with an individual at the nightclub with a max officer emergency put out because that individual was armed and fast forward to this morning – we have another homicide where someone was killed inside the club,” Birmingham Police Officer Truman Fitzgerald said the day of the shooting and before Gady died, AL.com reported.

Sparks and his attorneys pleaded with the council at the meeting, saying the club has taken steps to quell the violence and ensure the safety of patrons. They also said the club was a historic legacy for the LGBTQ+ community in Birmingham, but the council was fed up with Sparks and the club’s safety track record.

“You should be a good steward in making sure you protect that legacy,” council member Valerie Moore told Sparks at the time. “It is a shame that a place like this is going to have to go away because you all were negligent in being able to create the safety that people need.”