Homophobia in Law Enforcement: Lethal Consequences :: Free Essays Online

Homophobia in Law Enforce manpowert Lethal ConsequencesThe penning guarantees life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness to all Americans, yet there is a pigeonholing who endures a life without total liberty, restrictions on their choice of lifestyle and happiness, and unsporting treatment which may even result in the untimely red ink of their lives. This group of people currently facing discrimination and mistreatment is the fearless and homosexual community of Washington D.C., and the perpetrators are the very people whose jobs are to fit their safety. The law enforcement is non entirely protecting gays and lesbians in D.C., nor are they ensuring that they ready basic human rights. The effects of discrimination or even that insensitivity in the law of nature department can have blasting negative effects on the victims, the gay and lesbian community, and the city of D.C. as a whole. When people of certain minorities are not enured evenly by the law, something mu st be done to improve this dangerous situation. In Washington DC on July 9th, 2001, an openly gay man, Alexander Gray, put down victim to two separate hate crimes. The first happened when several men made derogatory remarks about Grays sexual orientation, and consequently attacked and beat him with a shovel and a tire iron (Wilchins). Gray, both mentally and physically wounded, was then escorted home because he refused to go to the infirmary for treatment of his injuries. The police drove him to his apartment, and friends say Gray was handcuffed in the backseat of the police car when he arrived (Fahrenthold Gay Activists). Alexander Gray was a victim of a brutal and traumatizing crime, yet the police treated him as if he were the criminal, by handcuffing him in the back of the car. The D.C. police officers responding to this hate crime were not able to treat the victim with gentleness and sensitivity he intemperately needed at such a time, but instead they treated him as a threat.Throughout its history, the Washington, D.C. police department has had troubles dealing with the gay and lesbian community. There has been much bigotry and discrimination in the steering some officers handled matters concerning those who are homosexual. During the 1980s many police officers held the stereotype that all people who were homosexual had AIDS, and some occasionally wore rubber gloves when they knew they would be dealing with gay individuals (Fahrenthold Blue and Gay).