Police Brutality and the LGBTQ Community
and the evolving relationship between law enforcement and the community
It was Summer 2020: The call for police reform as it relates to the black community met the 5oth Anniversary of Pride. Besides a study of the topic this section will contain personal experiences members of the LGBTQ community have had with police. I have started this section out with some of my own experiences. If you have your own story you would like to share please do. All submissions are treated with total confidentiality and noted as “annonymous” (unless you don’t mind having your name attached) . Noting your age would be appreciated as a generational perspective may also come into play. You can also Private Message through our Facebook page.
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“The advances made by LGBTQ activists began with communities defending themselves against hostile police practices. “
A 2013 Williams Institute survey found that 48 percent of LGBTQ victims of violence reportedly experienced police misconduct. The 2015 US Transgender survey found that 58 percent of respondents who interacted with police who knew they were transgender experienced mistreatment, including verbal harassment, persistent misgendering, physical/ sexual assault and being forced to perform sexual acts to avoid arrest. Nearly half of transgender survey respondents said they feel uncomfortable seeking police assistance. Some people probably wouldn’t be surprised by this. Others may feel shocked or dismissive. It’s a frightening prospect to accept if you trust the police to keep people safe.
Interconnectivity and Intersectionality
Today, the Black Lives Matter movement leads the national conversation about police brutality. This is no coincidence; a study by a University of California professor found that unarmed black Americans are 3.49 times more likely to be killed by police compared to unarmed white Americans. The deaths of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown and Tamir Rice, as well as hundreds of others ignited protests and calls for accountability. Research collaborative, Mapping Police Violence, analyses data which show that 69 percent of black people killed by police last year were allegedly unarmed and not suspected of a violent crime. Black Lives Matter and the LGBTQ rights movement may seem unrelated. However, sociopolitical issues are all interconnected. Discrimination and family rejection lead to poverty and impoverished people may live in heavily-policed areas or work in illegal economies to survive. And of course, LGBTQ people aren’t all white. But even those who are should care about police accountability. When some people lack civil rights, others’ rights are threatened. In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
Startling Data on Police Harrasment and Abuse
Police officers are charged with serving and protecting the public—all of the public. Yet lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people and people living with HIV have often been given good reason to be wary of whether that responsibility includes them. Police have targeted LGBT people and the places they congregate and socialize, including certain bars and parks, for unwarranted searches, arrests and raids. Some police officers have also demonstrated prejudice and hostility based on actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity or HIV status.
Read the full Lambda Lgal story and statisitcs here
If you’ve recently been harrased, physically assulted or even sexually abused by law enforcement check the link to PRIDE LEGAL on this page.
My Own Cop Experiences
From the editor
Twice I had encounter with cops that was beyond uncomfortable when they ordered me to the the front seat of their cruiser. The first one being during my initial coming out process, when a county sheriff deputy who caught me and my boyfriend parked on a dark rural “lovers lane” road. I had my head on my buddy’s shoulder and on the verge of tears because he was leaving on a family vacation for two weeks. We were holding hands if I recall. Other than that nothing was happening. Out of nowhere this fat deputy had snuck up on us and shown his flashlight in the car and saw that. He asked questions, checked IDs and THEN asked me to join him in his cruiser. I was sitting next to him, scared as shit, and he tried to confirm my age as 15. I said no, that I was 17, he checked my ID again. He then took his gun out of his holster and laid it on the floor under his feet. He then said he needed to check pubic hair and see if I had an erection and had me pull my pants down. I remember i was so petrified there was no way i was going to get hard – but then he grabbed me and started playing with me. When i didn’t respond he finally said “well I guess there’s nothing going on here”. He said I could zip up and could go back to the car to my boyfriend. On the way out he said we could stay for awhile and he’d be down at the end of the road to make sure nobody bothered us.
I got back in the car with my boyfriend and he asked what the hell happened and that it looked really strange and asked why he was shining a flashlight the way he was. I said never mind- lets just get the hell out of here. I was so scared I think i was going into shock. On the way home I told him what had transpired and he was furious. He wanted to go back and find the cop and confront him but then we decided that would probably not end well.
June 2019 I made a trip back home to take part in their local Pride and stopped by our old house. (My ex has had a new partner of 35 years). The three of us had a drink and started chatting and that event came up in conversation. He’s in his mid 70s now but still remembered it with total clarity. His partner asked why he never related that experience. He said at first he didn’t feel comfortable and then had forgotten it until it had just come out in that conversation- almost 50 years later. That incident was back in 1970 so we are pretty certain that closeted, teenage molesting deputy had met his maker years ago.The whole experience makes me think on just how many cops are out there that are closeted but “good old boy” self deniers, causing them to be especially hard wired to be homophobic and using their authority to get what they want, when they want it.
Then there was the night in November 2016, Trump was elected. I had a run in with a redneck who yelled out his pickup window “all your faggots are gonna get yours now” as he threw a beer can at my head. I noted that to neighbors but when the local community officer said he would write up a report on it I said absolutely not. When he pushed it I only got angrier. As a gay man from the era of Stonewall I wasn’t about to have a police report on on my own safety become the subject of ridicule to an entire force of good ol boys with guns; especially when the majority of the cops themselves were Trump supporters and would have been gleeful at the incident. So, just as their homophobia is hard wired in them; based on these types of experiences so is my distrust of cops. Even though in community work I have often worked hand in hand with local police agencies, when it comes to my own protection I will never trust a cop. I’ve protected myself physically twice in the past and never though about getting police involved.
I’m sure many gay men from my generation feel the same.
A personal experience- The Editor.
age at the time: 17
current age: 71