The television program embarrassed local leaders, who felt like they’d been made to look unsophisticated and bigoted by the media power structure based in Mexico City, the country’s capital. Canun heard about the incident at Paco Paco and interviewed Ruiz. Coincidentally, a national TV personality, Nino Canun, was in Puerto Vallarta at the time, taping his talk show.
The police left the club but returned the same night to arrest Ruiz for disorderly conduct. Sometime in 1991 or 1992, when police officers spotted two lesbians kissing at Paco Paco, the club owner refused to pay the bribe they demanded. But police and regulators often targeted gay-owned businesses for shakedowns because, without political connections or meaningful support in the broader local community, they were vulnerable. At the time, Jalisco didn’t have formal laws against homosexuality.
When Ruiz opened his club, it was one of only three gay bars in the city.
