The Twilight Room Annex

for good tonight, owner Chris Penner said, after his bank accounts were seized in connection with a

judgment.

The bureau

to a group of transgender and crossdressing people whom Penner asked not to return to his bar. Penner appealed the bureau’s judgment, but the Oregon Court of Appeals has not yet reviewed his case.

“We have an enforceable judgment against Penner and the Twilight Room from when he discriminated against his patrons by denying them service based on gender identity,” said BOLI spokesman Charlie Burr. “To our knowledge, Chris Penner has not asked the court of appeals for a stay of enforcement to halt the payments that he owes. To date, we have not received any payment from Chris Penner. We are going to try to collect the money.”

Chris Penner owns a bar on North Lombard Avenue.

The

in 2012 for a member of the Rose City T-Girls. The group had frequented the North Lombard Street bar every Friday night for two years. They brought anywhere from a dozen to 40 people -- some who crossdress, others who have fully transitioned to female -- into the cavernous club each week. But their presence drove other customers away, Penner said.

"People think that A: We're a tranny bar, or B: We're a gay bar," he said in the message. "We are neither. People are not coming in because they just don't want to be here on a Friday night now."

The bureau's civil rights division began investigating The Twilight Room Annex, formerly known as The P Club, in 2012. The penalty was the first imposed under the 2007 Oregon Equality Act. The law protects the rights of gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgender Oregonians in employment, housing and public places. The order also requires Penner to pay a $5,000 civil penalty.

Penner said the Oregon Department of Revenue attempted to begin collecting payments for the fines last year. He called the office and said he was appealing the decision, and a clerk told him the department would hold off on billing him, he said.

Penner said he didn’t hear from the department again and assumed he was OK until he checked his LLC’s bank account Wednesday. Usually, his account sees a lot of activity on Wednesdays. That’s the day his lottery payments come in and his payroll checks go out.

“All my money was gone,” Penner said. “I raced to the bank, kind of having an idea what happened.”

Penner said he spent three hours on the phone, finally reaching a state department of justice employee who said the agency had seized his account and the roughly $13,000 Penner had in there. Thursday, Penner said, the agency seized his personal checking account as well.

“They don’t have to notify you,” Penner said. “They just sweep in and take the money.”

Phone calls to the department of revenue were not immediately returned. Burr, the BOLI spokesman, also could not be reached for additional comment.

Penner called in his five employees and traded their paychecks for cash, he said. The

turned his machines off. And he started telling customers the business would close Saturday.

“I lost sleep. I’m depressed, anxious and upset about what’s happening to my employees,” Penner said. “It just isn’t right. Why would they step in, put someone out of business?”

Penner said he regrets what he said in the voicemail.

“I know I misspoke. I said a couple of stupid things without thinking,” Penner said. “Now I’m put out of business. Employees are out of work. I can’t have a checking account, and there’s absolutely nothing I can do about it.”

Penner said he won’t stick around to watch the bar’s final night. His family has owned the spot for 26 years. It’ll be just a regular night, he said.

“It’s too late and too loud,” Penner said. “I’m 53-years-old. People my age don’t hang around that late.”

-- Casey Parks