NYC Pri para bans police; Gay officers 'disheartened'

Contents:

• POLICE AT PRI? GAY PS, LGBTQ ACTIVISTS STGGLE TO SEE EYE-TO-EYE
• PRI SAID GAY COPS AREN’T WELE. THEN CAME THE BACKLASH.
• COMG OUT AT WORK: WHAT 'S LIKE TO BE A GAY P NEW JERSEY
• 10 THGS I LEARNED AS A GAY PRISONER BEHD BARS
• HE WAS ONE OF THE NATN’S MOST REVERED GAY PS. HIS ARRT CHANGED EVERYTHG.
• NYC PRI PARA BANS POLICE; GAY OFFICERS 'DISHEARTENED'

POLICE AT PRI? GAY PS, LGBTQ ACTIVISTS STGGLE TO SEE EYE-TO-EYE

Jt before members of the Gay Officers Actn League (GOAL) marched past the Stonewall Inn, the fish le of last year’s New York Cy Pri March, a small group of activists slipped past the barriers and chaed their hands together to prevent the officers om passg, a prott technique lled a “lockdown.

”Dozens of ps workg secury at the march surround the protters, and, over shouts of “f--k the police” and “racist, sexist, anti-gay, NYPD, KKK, ” began to break through what appeared to be chas and bber tub the protters had ed to lock themselv together. Pacific Prs / LightRocket via Getty Imag fileThe irony of the cint was not lost on many the crowd — ps arrtg gay people ont of the Stonewall Inn, the very place where homophobic police btaly sparked the morn LGBTQ rights movement nearly five s years prr. In fact, New York Cy’s first gay pri march, which was held on June 28, 1970, was anized to memorate the one-year anniversary of what has bee known as the Stonewall Rts — when 1969 patrons of the now-inic gay bar fally had enough after yet another police raid.

PRI SAID GAY COPS AREN’T WELE. THEN CAME THE BACKLASH.

Nohels, protters say they’re dog so to take a stand agast police btaly and harassment of margalized groups, namely people of lor and the transgenr DAYS OF GOALThe relatnship between the police and the lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and queer muny has long been ght, but for LGBTQ ps, the right to march pri is a hard-fought civil rights the after that first pri march on June 28, 1970, New York’s gay rights movement ma so much progrs that by 1981 the police force self was facg LGBTQ activism om wh.

Gay ps New York Cy, for example, led by Officer Charl Cochrane, sought to form their own employee rource group, like the on that existed for Hispanic, Irish-Amerin and Ain-Amerin Rodriguez, now a retired NYPD sergeant, was still the New York Cy Police Amy when Officer Cochrane entered his classroom 1982. Cochrane told the rooki his new group was lled the Gay Officers Actn League, or GOAL.

COMG OUT AT WORK: WHAT 'S LIKE TO BE A GAY P NEW JERSEY

A few months earlier, Cochrane had bee the first NYPD officer to publicly e out when he announced that he was gay at a cy uncil meetg November 1981. Courty Edgar RodriguezLater that day, a woman om Rodriguez’s Police Amy class asked him which room the gay officers’ group was meetg .

10 THGS I LEARNED AS A GAY PRISONER BEHD BARS

”Rodriguez, who kept his sexualy to himself his early days as a p, relled overhearg on several ocsns racist, sexist and homophobic ments om his largely straight, whe and male lleagu back he was posted to New York Cy’s 6th Precct, which vers Greenwich Village, he relled a senr officer askg him, “So you work wh all the fags? ” Rodriguez rrected him, rpondg, “You mean lbians and gays?

’”Tryg to make change om wh was a slow procs for Rodriguez, who said homophobia was rampant the NYPD the ‘80s. He relled a particularly dntg cint when a fellow officer who had been patrollg Mabs Dam Park, where the new Yankee Stadium now stands, enuntered a well-known gay cisg area.

He was still closeted to most of his fellow officers, but when he was off duty, he lived openly the gay neighborhoods of New York Cy.

HE WAS ONE OF THE NATN’S MOST REVERED GAY PS. HIS ARRT CHANGED EVERYTHG.

C., to Sacramento, a number of progrsive LGBTQ activists, some of them too young to remember the gay police activism of the ‘80s and ‘90s, view ps to be an unwele — and even threateng — prence at pri addn to gettg ps out of pri, many of the different activist groups also have an array of social jtice mands.

New York and Gays Agast Guns. However, this year members of the Gay Officers Actn League will march, as they have every year sce 1996, uniform wh their guns FORWARDRodriguez said while he knows where the protters are g om, he disagre wh their tactics.

NYC PRI PARA BANS POLICE; GAY OFFICERS 'DISHEARTENED'

Rodriguez said when he was policg the 6th Precct, which vers much of Manhattan’s gay neighborhoods, he once saw a transgenr woman wh blood streamg down her cheek nng away om a group of men.

”NYPD Detective Brian Downey, the current print of the Gay Officers Actn League, said imagery of uniformed LGBTQ ps marchg proudly “is powerful, ” and he hop will prevent people the muny, like the trans woman Rodriguez scribed, om beg aaid of ps. ” On a rooftop at the end of the day, after some drks, he lled home and told his father that he was gay. So I uld see the Herage of Pri para as this thg for whe gay men, mcly, glter.