CRJU final (Week 10-13)

LGBTQ+ police officers

LGBTQ+ officers have been historically rendered invisible within police culture despite them always being present

“Police” is imagined as heternormative, reinforcing exclusion

LGBTQ+ police are in dual positionality= enforcers of state power, members of a historically criminalized group

Shared values, norms, and practices within the police institution that shape behavior, attitudes, and expectations — e.g., masculinity, loyalty, silence.

organizational culture

Strategies LGBTQ+ officers use to navigate, protect, or perform their identities within the workplace (e.g., passing, compartmentalization)

identity management

The ways officers’ or civilians’ dress and behavior express gender and sexuality, and how These expressions are interpreted, policed, or surveilled by others

embodiment or gender presentation

historical context of LGBTQ+ police officers

Morality clauses used to exclude LGBTQ+ applicants in recruitment

Until the 1990s, openly gay officers were often fired or forced out

Workplace discrimination:LGBTQ+ officers faced pressure to conceal their sexual orientation (“dual identity”).
• Risk of social isolation, harassment, or career limitations if disclosed.
• Heterosexual coworkers often held negative stereotypes or biases against LGBTQ+ officers.

Due to this LGBTQ+ affinty groups began forming (e.g GOAL)

LGBTQ+ officers in dual identity originates from psychology literature

splitting personalities can be a coping mechanics, in environments that are hetero-normative

officers often conceal their LGBTQ+ identity to

avoid harassment

protect personal safety

maintain career opportunities (promotions, assignments, evaluations)

LGBTQ+ officer disclosure challenges

• Officers weigh personal safety, social relationships, and career advancement when deciding whether to reveal their LGBTQ+ identity.
• Sometimes officers are involuntarily “outed,” requiring rapid reassessment of strategies

Heteronormative culture

Policing has historically been male- dominated and heteronormative.
• Officers are expected to conform to traditional masculine and “law-and-
order” norms.
• LGBTQ+ officers often face pressure to suppress or conceal
orientation to fit in

LGBTQ+ officers workplace bias and shared perceptions

Negative stereotypes about LGBTQ+ identities persist among some
heterosexual colleagues.
• Shared perceptions of discrimination or exclusion can decrease morale,
commitment, and workplace engagement.
• Intersectionality matters: experiences differ when LGBTQ+ identity intersects
with race, gender, or other marginalized identities

Gay police officers

pressure to confirm to hyper-masculinity; fear of teasing or exclusion

Lesbian police officers

face sexism and homophobia; assumptions about capability and toughness

Bi and Trans officers

erasure, skepticism, and policy barriers (bathroom policy)

LGBTQ+ career implications

Decisions to disclose sexual orientation are tied to promotions, assignments,
and evaluations.
• Officers may experience social isolation, harassment, or limited opportunities if
their identity is known

LGBTQ+ positive shifts and inclusion efforts

Familiarity with LGBTQ+ colleagues tends to reduce animus (Lewis 2006).
• LGBTQ+ inclusion aligns with broader moves toward community policing and
organizational diversity

impact of LGBTQ+ police associations

Provide peer support, mentorship, and safe spaces for LGBTQ+ officers.

Reduce isolation and stress associated with concealment or
discrimination.

Push for inclusive workplace policies and protections against harassment.

Influence recruitment, promotion, and evaluation practices to be more
equitable

Push for inclusive workplace policies and protections against harassment.

Influence recruitment, promotion, and evaluation practices to be more
equitable

Promote positive representation of LGBTQ+ officers in policing.

Offer networking, training, and leadership opportunities.

Help officers navigate challenges related to dual identity and workplace
culture.

what we do not know about LGBTQ+ police officers

trans and intersectional experiences, longitudinal impacts of dual identity stress, departmental variation (Urban vs. rural), and impact on community relationships

LGBTQ+ communties experience with police

structural violence against queer individuals has deep roots (e.g morality laws, policing queer spaces, enforcing gender norms)

The stone wall riots

Sparked by a police raid on the Stonewall Inn, a popular LGBTQ+ bar in Greenwich Village, NYC.
Patrons and community members fought back against repeated police harassment and arbitrary arrests.
Considered a turning point in LGBTQ+ activism; galvanized the modern gay liberation movement in the U.S.
Highlighted systemic brutality, discrimination, and criminalization of queer life, contributing to long-standing mistrust of law enforcement.
Inspired Pride marches, advocacy for LGBTQ+ rights, and the creation of community organizations focused on legal protection and social support

Key issues today with police-LGBTQ+ dynamics

visibility linked to perceived deviance

stereotyping based on gender expression, appearance, and identity

transgender and radicalized queer people face disproportionate risks

Girardi findings in invisible visibility and overpolcing

Performing non-heteronormative identities in public → perceived as risky or deviant.
• Leads to police harassment and criminalization.
• Emotional/mental health impacts, especially for LGBTQ+ youth.

Girardi findings in stereotyping and misrecogintion

Appearance-related factors (clothing, tattoos, hairstyle) influence police perception.
• Gay men often stereotyped as promiscuous; lesbian women pressured into gendered norms.
• Misrecognition fuels discrimination and negative police interactions

Girardi findings in reporting challenges

Underreporting due to fear of secondary victimization.
• Police often dismiss incidents as “ordinary” rather than hate crimes.
• Mistrust reinforced by past negative experiences.

Strategies for Navigating Policing

Passing as heterosexual/cisgender to appear “respectable.”
Avoiding contact with law enforcement when possible.
Community support and alternative reporting mechanisms

Many police departments now employ LGBTQ+ liaison officers to improve community relations.

Serve as point of contact for LGBTQ+ victims of crime.
• Educate officers on LGBTQ+ issues and reduce bias.
• Build trust with communities historically mistrustful of law enforcement.

LGBTQ+ Sensitivity / Cultural Competency Training

Often delivered or coordinated by liaison officers or external advocacy groups.
• Focuses on correct terminology, pronoun use, respectful interactions, and awareness of bias.
• Can increase procedural justice when interacting with LGBTQ+ civilians.
• More effective when ongoing and embedded into academy + in-service training (rather than a one-time workshop).

Limitations to the reforms

Symbolic representation may not change systemic policing practices.
• Officers’ personal biases and department culture can still influence outcomes.

Expansion of Research areas for queer crimonology

Calls for more nuanced studies on underexplored
topics, including the intersections of queerness with race, class, and ability
within the criminal legal system.
• Focus on diverse identities within LGBTQIA+ communities, such as
nonbinary, intersex, and asexual individuals.

Global perspective on Queer Criminology

• Advocates for examining queer criminology in non-Western contexts to
understand global variations in the criminalization of queerness.
• Challenges the field to engage with colonialism and its impact on LGBTQIA+
populations globally.

The challenges queer criminology is up againist

Policy rollbacks and anti-LGBTQ+ legislation
Reduce support for inclusive data collection
Reduced academic freedom and funding opportunities
Heightened surveillance and policing of the LGBTQ+ community

Abolition calls for …

Calls for transforming, not reforming, the criminal legal system.
• Emerged from critiques of policing, prisons, and punitive logics.
• Focuses on addressing root causes of harm rather than punishment.

Goals and practices of abolition

• Building community-based systems of safety and accountability.
• Investing in housing, healthcare, education, and support networks.
• Imagining futures where prisons and police are unnecessary

Why Queer Criminology Fits Into Abolition

• Queer criminology challenges the normative foundations of punishment.
• Highlights how policing and prisons disproportionately harm LGBTQ+ people.
• Shares abolition’s commitment to imagining alternatives to liberation and freedom
• Prioritizes community, chosen family, and transformative approaches to safety.

Walker et al. (2023): History and origins of Queer and Trans Abolition

Emerged from 1960s–70s uprisings challenging prisons as racialized and
class-based control.
• Abolition grew alongside critiques of prisons as harmful and ineffective
(Davis, Mathiesen).
• Movements like Critical Resistance and international abolition conferences shaped the field.
• Black Lives Matter expanded abolition as a practical response to state
violence.

Walker et al. (2023): Queer and Trans
Resistance and Early Organizi

• QT abolition rooted in anti-policing uprisings: Stonewall, Compton's
Cafeteria, Cooper’s Do-Nuts.
• Led by Black and Latinx trans women resisting police harassment and
violence.
• Sylvia Rivera & Marsha P. Johnson founded STAR to protect QT youth and fight police repression.
• Collaborated with groups like the Black Panthers and Young Lords

Walker et al (2023) abolitionists critiques prison industrial complex

Critique #1: The PIC harms QT people
• Long history of criminalizing QT identities and survival.
• QTPOC face the harshest policing and punishment.
• Prisons enforce rigid gender binaries and deny affirming care.
Critique #2: Prisons can never be safe
• QT people face extreme violence inside (staff + peers).
• “QT-only” units don’t fix the inherently violent nature of prisons.
• Abolition—not reform—is needed to create real safety.
Critique #3: Hate crime laws don’t keep QT people safe
• Treat violence as an individual problem, not structural.
• Ignore state violence (police, prisons, welfare systems).
• Don’t prevent harm; expand the PIC and increase punishment.
• QT abolitionists push for non-carceral, community-based safety

Queer functions as both:

a political/activist tradition and a framework challenging normativity within criminology

Queer Criminology as Activism (Ball, 2016)

Stevenson’s principles for justice-oriented work apply:
• Stay proximate to communities.
• Challenge fear-based narratives.
• Maintain hope for change.
• Embrace discomfort in advocating for justice.

Anger has historically fueled queer movements and may continue to be necessary
for confronting ongoing harms.

Unprecedented anti-LGBTQ laws

there is an alarming surge in anti-LGBTQ laws, targeting rights realted to education, healthcare, public expression, and bodily autonomy

these laws disporttionately affect trans, especially youth

these legislative push reflects growing political and cultural background, fostering stigma and increasing the vulnerability of LGBTQ people to discrimination and violence

Youth and Migrant vulnerability in the correcitonal system

queer youth in juvnioe systems face targeted vctimization and isolation under the guise of protection, leading to emotional distress

LGBTQ+ migrants endure victimization in detention centers, struggling to prove their identity, compounding their marginalization

post-release challenges and cycles of incarceration

LGBTQ people often lack housing, employment, and social support after release, increasing their vulnerability to homelessness, survival work, and substance use

supportive polices like housing Trans inmates by their gender identity and offering comprehensives reentry services, are essential for breaking cycles of Marginalization and recidivism