Homophobia in Law Enforcement: Lethal Consequences

This incident became hailed in area and nationwide newspapers a modern day lynching, but it wasn’t the first attack of its kind and surely was not to be the last. Attacks similar to these continue to invade daily news stories around the world and expand to include violence against all minority groups, not just African-Americans, as these random acts of violence also spill over into the gay and lesbian communities as well. These occurrences have quickly been regarded as a re-emergence of one of America’s darkest periods in history where instances such as that of the James Byrd, Jr. case and many others like it came to be referred to as hate crimes.

The Stonewall rebellion has been considered the birth of a new wave of a liberation movement that changed the world for millions of lesbians, gay men, drag queens, and drag kings of all races, ethnicities, and ages. Yet, it was certainly not the first raid nor the first moment of protest for homosexuals. The raid at Stonewall was preceded by decades of police harassment of gay establishments. The first recorded raid of a gay bathhouse was in 1903, at the Ariston Hotel Baths at 55th and Broadway in New York where 26 men were arrested. Seven of them received sentences ranging from four to 20 years in prison (Chauncey, 1994). Countless raids, arrests, and imprisonments occurred in the decades that followed.

Homosexuals are no different than heterosexuals except for their sexuality. Lesbian and gay individuals are victimized by hate crimes and prejudices in our society. In the 1969 Stonewall Riots of gays in Greenwich Village, a lesbian and gay political movement against discrimination of their lifestyle led to homosexuals fighting for their rights (Carter, 2004). This movement and...

In 2011, The Heinz Foundation commission a study entitled, Portrayal and Perception and it found that media bias existed and concluded that a disproportionate amount of Pittsburgh news coverage of African American men and boys focused on crime. The information retrieved from the study is less about sexuality or crime but that a bias toward a race and or a culture exist in such a pervasive manner that influences behavior on a number of different levels. It’s impossible to ignore the connection between the media and societal bias, it can’t be overlooked or minimized. It’s no secret that within the queer community that biases exist that can be quite difficult for a non-white male to overcome. By acknowledging the struggle within the gay community is to admit decades of exclusionary practices that prohibit gay blacks from being socially accepted within a small segment of society that affords openness and acceptance of ones sexuality. However, to a larger more dynamic struggle with race and gender related issues in our society goes unanswered because we refuse to admit that a problem exist. It would go a long way in tackling the problems, it we would simply admit that something is amiss. Being a champion for fairness and diversity in this complex universe takes real courage considering that the atmosphere is dominated by white males. Whether gay, queer or straight these striking similar community is similar in this

The first gay rights organization started in the 1920’s, but the movement has made more of an impact in the last 20 years than ever before. The fight for equality really found it’s voice with the “Don't Ask. Don't tell.” policy in 1993. This policy allowed homosexuals to enter the military, but banned any homosexual activity. On April 25, an estimated 800,000 to 1 million rallied to show their displeasure. The March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay, and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation went down as one of the biggest LGBT community gatherings. The fight for equality in the military only sparked the fight for equality in other areas. The following year in 1996, the Supreme Court shot down Colorado’s Amendment 2, stating that homosexuals deserved equal protection laws.

...oldiers seek employment as police officers after their discharge. Due to this the military-police integration, it has the tolerance level toward gays and lesbians in law enforcement is similarly affected by how they are treated in the military. The “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy is increasing in strength; homosexual police officers are starting to obtain more recognition. “An important achievement that New York’s GOAL tries to create is one of their most important objectives is to protect gay and lesbian officers from being mistreated in the workplace. “We can benefit from gay and lesbian police officers because they represent more than just a human rights effort, they also represent a range or roles and skills that can enhance the flexibility of police work without forgetting the real mission are to fight crime and protect the people. (Miller, Forest, Jurik) 2003.”

There are two officers who need to be on patrol, recently Officer Jones and Officer James Davis, became partners and unfortunately Officer Davis asked to be assigned to another partner because Officer Jones is a homosexual. The moral dilemma in this situation, is that Officer Davis wants to switch partners with Officer Jones based on sexually, not on the basis that his partner is a bad police officer. This is unethical and morally wrong, what if for instance a person switch with someone else based on the content of their skin? This would be a concern, like the scenario above it would be feeding into this notation that police officers are bias or unwelcoming to people from all walks of life. The supervising officer’s duty is to lead by example, to make his subordinates understand that people are people, and remaining unbiased is an important characteristic as officer. In this situation, it’s important to think about the backlash that this police department would receive for removing Officer Davis from being Officer Jones partner, it would make it seems as if it’s fine to discriminate based on sexual orientation. There are no laws that specifically state that you can’t or can remove some from a partner who is from the homosexually community. An officer in this

Homophobia has been a problem for a very long time, all across the world. For example, during the Holocaust, in which homosexuals were forced to wear the “Pink Triangle”, a pink, upside down triangle, on his or her coat for identification. Of course, the pattern of homophobia is not only shown throughout world history, but American history as well. For example, sodomy laws, laws that rule certain sexual acts as crimes, were established as early as 1963. The penalty for these laws varied from state to state. Some of the punishments include: two to ten year imprisonments or two thousand dollar fines. The cruelty of these homophobic actions should not be accepted any longer. It encourages bullying, denies human beings their civil rights, and continues to foster a mentality of indifference and intolerance towards our fellow man.

In the article, “Homosexuals in the Armed Forces”, Paul Cameron, (Family Research Institute), Kirk Cameron (Stanford University), and Kay Proctor (University of Louisville) argue the concerns that members of the armed forces have with serving along side a homosexual member. The hypothesis of the study is trying to prove that heterosexual military members were concerned that if homosexuals were allowed to serve in the military, those heterosexual members serving in hostile areas with homosexuals would be placed in harms way. In support to the law more commonly known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” passed by then President Clinton requiring gay members of the military to keep their orientation to themselves. In addition, the military would not request the sexual orientation of those members who were homosexual. The concern was centered with the belief that homosexual members were unable to fight or defend in deadly force situations based on the sexual orientation of the member. There was fear within the ranks of the heterosexual members that if a homosexual member were placed in a unit that would experience combat the heterosexual would be more at risk because the homosexual could not fight as well as a member who was not gay. The authors address concerns with homosexuals serving in peacetime missions. Concerned heterosexual members believed that they would be the targets of sexual hazing and harassment by heterosexuals. This journal was written as a result of cluster sampling from metropolitan areas of Los Angeles, Denver, Omaha, Louisville, and the District of Columbia. Two small samples were taken in Bennett, New England and Rochester, New York. The authors requested feedback from the first adult who answered the door after ...

According to Dr. Carl S. Taylor, the relationship between minority groups and police in the United States has historically been strained. Some cities have a deep and bitter history of bias and prejudice interwoven in their past relationships. The feeling in many communities today is that the system pits law enforcement as an occupying army versus the neighborhood. Dr. Taylor wrote about easing tensions between police and minorities, but stated “If there is any good news in the current situation, it is that the history of this strain has found the 1990’s ripe for change.