Calling it "an excellent first step," a leading voice in Fort Worth's gay and lesbian community Thursday praised police Chief Jeff Halstead's decision to indefinitely suspend joint bar checks between the department and state alcohol beverage agents.

The announcement by Chief Halstead came four days after a raid at the Rainbow Lounge by six Fort Worth officers and two Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission agents left one patron hospitalized with a head injury.

"I think it's an excellent first step," said Todd Camp, founder of Fort Worth's Q Cinema gay and lesbian film festival. "I'm glad to hear that both departments are conducting investigation. As a long-time resident of Fort Worth, I look forward to working with the police department to make sure something like this doesn't happen again."

The bar raid sparked national outrage over police treatment of gays and lesbians. It occurred on the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, regarded as the birth of the modern gay-rights movement, when several spontaneous protests erupted after patrons at a New York gay bar fought back against a police raid.

Chad Gibson, 26, remained in fair condition Thursday at John Peter Smith Hospital with a head injury, but his father, Don Gibson of Arlington, said he is scheduled to be released today . Chad Gibson was among six people arrested during Sunday's early-morning bar check at the club. At the time he was injured, Gibson was in the custody of TABC agents.

In a news release announcing the suspension of all joint operations with the TABC, Halstead – who took over in December after coming from Phoenix – also said that he wants to know more about the historical relationship between the TABC and Fort Worth police.

The chief also announced that he would make sure that all police officers receive multicultural training, with particular emphasis on dealing with the gay and lesbian community.

Neither Halstead nor department spokesman Sgt. Pedro Criado would expand on the statement.

"The [internal] investigation is ongoing," Criado said. "Right now, the investigation is in its infancy stages."

In a statement of their own, officials with the TABC said they backed the chief's efforts.

"TABC Administrator Alan Steen supports Chief Halstead in his efforts to determine how best to serve the community," the statement said. "Mr. Steen and Chief Halstead have been in contact with each other this week, and they share the same goals – to establish the facts surrounding the incident at the Rainbow Lounge, to hold accountable any employees who violated policy or the law, and to determine the best way to serve the people of Texas moving forward."

In a subsequent interview, TABC spokeswoman Carolyn Beck said the agency is conducting its own investigation and has placed the agents involved in the raid on the day shift, "which means desk duty."

Don Gibson said Thursday that he believes Halstead's decision to halt further joint efforts with the TABC is correct but said Halstead needs to go further.

"Honestly, the chief is still not bellowing up to the bar about the responsibility of the Fort Worth Police Department," said the elder Gibson, who complained that Fort Worth police initially denied their role in Sunday's raid. "Me and Alan Steen agree that Fort Worth police were there. I'd like for him [Chief Halstead] to say that publicly."

Also Thursday, State Reps. Wendy Davis and Lon Burnham of Fort Worth sent the TABC a letter calling for an investigation and for details of the incident. And gay and lesbian leaders and supporters nationwide are calling for scrutiny of the agency, the Fort Worth police department and the city itself.

But Camp, who has lived in Fort Worth since 1984 and was celebrating his birthday at the club when the raid occurred, said he wants to see cooler heads prevail.

"This is my neighborhood; these are my officers," Camp said. "I don't want to be afraid of them, and I don't want them to be afraid of us. The whole world knows about Fort Worth right now.

"I'm trying to get through to people that it's not a redneck place. Fort Worth is one of the most culturally aware places in Texas. Boycotting Fort Worth or boycotting Texas is not the way to go."