Gay police officers

Officer Retsinas says she hopes her work and contributions as a co-producer of the documentary bring awareness to the situation and promote reforms in policing, corrections, and criminal justice, and change the system for the better by breaking down barriers.

A day in the life of a queer cop A new documentary, Coming Out Copsaims to bring awareness about the lives of queer-identifying cops. Uniformed police officers can be viewed as a threatening presence at pride events. Lt. James Tracy worked at the Englewood Cliffs police department for 10 years before he revealed to his colleagues that he was gay.

LGBTQ police officers protest : Although the diversity message was good, the person presenting it was ineffective, divisive, and agenda driven

History of LGBTQ people in policing Vehicle of the Chicago police with an LGBTQ branding The presence of LGBTQ officers in law enforcement has a history of controversy. She felt acceptance from the community as a police officer and as a queer person. The first time Officer Patty Retsinas marched in uniform in the Toronoto Pride Parade, it was a turning point for her.

Starting inPride Toronto disallowed uniformed officers to march in the parade, citing harrowing tales of police brutality and harassment of marginalized groupsspecifically people of color and the transgender community. My lived experiences as a police officer, as a women, and as a queer person have helped shape who I am today.

The Gay Officers Action League (GOAL), is a first-of-its-kind organization that was formed in to address the needs, issues, and concerns of gay and lesbian law enforcement personnel and has since expanded to a nonprofit tax-exempt civil rights organization.

Police officers come with lived experiences and we want to do our part to make things better as a whole. But not everyone feels the same. Coming out of the closet in the s when an officer begins his or her career, is different than it is today. Gay officers stayed closeted for fear of discrimination, homophobia, and potential marginalization from their families and community at large.

One aspect of being being visible for Officer Retsinas is to regain the ability to march in the pride parade to show both the police force and the public that gay cops stand up to discrimination. Officer Patty Retsinas Coming out of the closet in the s when an officer begins his or her career, is different than it is today.

A new documentary, Coming Out Copsaims to bring awareness about the lives of queer-identifying cops. There were almost no openly gay officers on the Toronto police force. This was a liberating moment for someone who had dedicated most of her life to fighting crime and fighting for acceptance.

Building public trust Officer Retsinas acknowledges that there is work to be done. Officer Retsinas acknowledges that there is work to be done. How do you humanize the person behind the badge? GOAL was founded by Charles Henry "Charlie" Cochrane, Jr.

(August 5, –May 5, ) a sergeant of the New York City Police. At a moment when tension towards the police is running high, what is it like to be both gay and a cop? Part of humanizing the people behind the badge is hearing their coming-out stories featured in the documentary.

And that means having a lot of conversations through personal interactions, listening, and being visible. She brought a formal complaint against that colleague even though she knew that she could face ostracism and criticism for breaking a code among officers.

The ability to choose when and how to come out was robbed from Officer Retsinas by one of her sergents. For Officer Retsinas, being a cop is an important part of her life, but it is only one aspect of her.