Gay bar raided in sex shows probe
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The Q Bar, a pub on the Bund popular with the gay community, was raided by Shanghai police early yesterday after complaints that it was staging sex shows.
More than 60 people, including customers, DJs and bar staff, were taken to Huangpu District's Xiaodongmen police station after police officers burst in at about 1am, according to a security guard.
Police said the bar was staging pornographic shows when they arrived and that their investigations were continuing.
By 3pm yesterday, all the people held in custody had been freed, police said.
Police didn't release details of the sex shows.
Migrant workers living in a temporary shelter on the rooftop of the building told Shanghai Daily that they often saw naked men on the roof, drinking beer, chatting loudly, and even having sex.
They didn't appear to notice that the migrant workers were living there.
On the Q Bar's microblog on t.sina.com.cn, a promotional advertisement said the bar was holding a "table dance party" on Saturday night. It had pictures of a man, nicknamed "GoGoBoy," dancing on a table, wearing only his underwear.
Located on the first floor of the building at No. 1029 Zhongshan Road S., the bar is just one street away from the police station.
Security guards said it was not the first time police had conducted spot-checks on the bar, but no one had been taken away for questioning previously.
Steven Bao, a DJ at the bar, claimed on his microblog that he "was kept in custody like a dog with no food and drinks."
But in response to online claims that those held had been "rudely treated" and left without food and water or heating for more than 10 hours, police said they had offered everyone clothing, food and hot water.
Bao said he believed the raid was the result of fierce competition among local bars, suggesting that it was other bars who had complained to police that the bar was staging sex shows.
Another man who said he was a customer in the bar said on the microblog that even customers who had been leaving the bar when police arrived had been stopped and taken to the police station.
