j u s t o u t ▼ ju n e 2 1 . 1 9 9 6 ▼ 19
local news
Undue process?
I
n many ways, writing this story is like
writing an obituary. In this case, however,
the figure at the center, Mike Garvey, has
Allegations and hearsay have damaged the career and
been silenced not by death, but by his
diligent esquire.
reputation o f the nation ’s highest-placed gay cop
The thought of approaching the relatives cre­
Portland’s Commander Mike Garvey
ates a sense of unease, as nosy reporters intru­
sively inquire: “What was he like as a kid?” “How
is the family taking it?” during what is clearly a
by Inga Sorensen
turbulent emotional moment in a family’s life.
And the parallels don’t end there. Some of
1992,” says the
Police
Chi ef
those making the most damaging allusions elect
lesbian activist,
Tom Potter, who
to remain in the shadows, at least for now, serving
who was part of a
retired in 1993.
up a variety of rationales. On the other end, allies
group of sexual
She has been
trumpet tales that depict the subject in almost
minority citizens
with the Portland
superhuman proportions.
who met regu­
Police Bureau for
As you probably know by now, Garvey, 42, is
larly with police
11 years, serving
to discuss issues
the Portland Police Bureau official who is under
the past seven-
investigation for possibly hiring male prostitutes
of particular con­
and-a-half years
via an area escort service.
cern to the queer
as an officer.
Garvey, a 20-year police veteran and lifelong
community.
She came out
Oregonian, was recently placed on administra­
“P reviously
publicly as a les­
tive leave and removed from his post as com­
he had said things
bian in a Just Out
like ‘the gay
mander of Central Precinct, the Portland Police
cover story in the
community’ but
Bureau’s largest precinct. He has handed over his
early
1990s,
badge and his gun.
one day he said
which in turn
Police investigators will not comment on the
‘our com m u­
prompted an on­
scope of their examination, which has reportedly
n ity ,’ and we
slaught of main-
looked at each
taken them to Washington state and California,
| stream media at-
but KOIN-TV recently aired a report featuring an
other in that co­
| tention. Her fa-
anonymous figure who charged that some years
vert way. That
g ther, who was the
ago Garvey pulled him over for drunken driving.
was the first real
^ city’s top cop at
connection,”
The man says Garvey failed to give him a ticket,
“ the time, was also
but did show up on his doorstep a few hours later
says Red Wing,
O featured as a lov-
to demand oral sex.
adding that she
a ing and support­
subsequently had Mike Garvey
Garvey is gay, a fact that—contrary to main­
ive parent.
stream media accounts— was not widely known
more open dialogue with Garvey about “the gay
Katie Potter, 3 1, concedes that the presence of
in the sexual minorities community. An Orego­
thing.”
out sexual minority officers may make some
nian article went so far as to claim that Garvey
“We talked about very personal things, and I colleagues uncomfortable. She says soon after
“pioneered gay rights.”
think we connected on some profound levels,” going public, the bureau received calls from re­
Within the past couple of years Garvey has
she says. “I’m not going to judge Mike.”
porters who asked: “Did Potter shoot at her girl­
mentioned his sexual orientation during meetings
Just Out has been courting Mike Garvey for a
friend at a party in Beaverton?”
‘They said they heard that from sources within
with the Sexual Minorities Roundtable, a citizens
couple of years. We’ve repeatedly requested that
the Portland Police Bureau,” says Potter. “It was
advisory group.
he appear—as a cover feature—in our publica­
absurd, but there are a lot of officers who have a
tion. We also requested an interview with Garvey
“He made mention of it at least on one occa­
problem with the sexual minorities community.”
via his attorney, Stephen A. Houze, for this story.
sion a bit over a year ago,” says William Warren,
Potter also says that upon her father’s retire­
A little more than a year ago, I sat for a couple
who represents the Sexual Minorities Roundtable
ment
announcement, a reporter approached the
of
hours
in
Garvey’s
office
at
Central
Precinct
to the C hiefs Forum. “We were talking about the
chief and asked him how is health was.
where we talked about the difficulties of being an
community’s view of the police. At one point he
“He was perfectly fine, so it seemed like a
out
gay
cop.
said something like, i can understand [those
weird question,” says daughter Katie. “My father
Garvey expressed reservations about a cover
views] as a cop and a gay man.’ No one said,
later learned that someone within the bureau had
story
because
of
the
torrent
of
media
attention
that
‘Hey, did you say what I think you just said?’ but
said that he had AIDS and that’s why he was
would likely follow. He told us he would be the
that was the feeling.”
retiring.
The source also questioned my father’s
highest-ranking
openly
gay
police
official
in
the
Warren recalls a previous instance a couple of
sexuality.”
country and feared he would wind up on 60
years ago when the hunky gay couple Bob and
According to Sgt. Michele Lish of Portland’s
Minutes
before
he
was
ready.
He
also
said
he
was
Rod Jackson-Paris stopped in Portland to pro­
Northeast Precinct, an organization called Vision
working on a business venture and didn’t want
mote sales of their book, Straight from the Heart:
was
established in 1993 for sexual minorities
that
plan
placed
in
jeopardy.
Every
few
months
A Love Story.
working in the fields of law and justice.
we would make another request, to no avail.
“I had made mention of the fact that Bob and
The statewide group acts as a support network
Rod Jackson-Paris were coming to town [for a
for
sexual minorities and is dedicated to creating
eing an openly gay, lesbian, bisexual or
book signing], and Mike said he was interested in
a positive work environment. Members may in­
transsexual cop has got to be tough. After
seeing them,” recalls Warren.
clude, among others, police officers, prosecutors,
all, the law enforcement field largely re­
“He wondered whether he should go in [civil­
criminal justice support personnel, and parole and
mains a militaristic world soaked in machismo.
ian clothes] or in uniform,” he says, adding that
probation officers.
Some queer officers say they have been left
Garvey opted for the latter. “At that point we did
Confidentiality is ensured, though some mem­
without backup in potentially life-threatening situ­
not discuss his being gay directly, we talked
bers,
among them Katie Potter, are fully out of the
ations because other cops knew or assumed they
around it.”
closet.
were gay. Others report being the target of harass­
This past March during an event cosponsored
“I think we all collectively feel more of a
ment by other officers. Some simply get the cold
by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defa­
burden,” says Potter, alluding to the recent Garvey
shoulder, which still is a painful snub given the
mation, a media watchdog organization, Garvey
brouhaha. The sentiment is also echoed by Lish,
clubby sentiment among many cops.
publicly stated he was a gay man. GLAAD was
Red Wing and other members of the sexual mi­
Marc Goodman is an openly gay sergeant with
hosting a gala for “The Long Road to Freedom,”
nority community.
the Los Angeles Police Department and is co-
a traveling exhibit detailing lesbian and gay his­
“When you’re a part of an ethnic or sexual
founder of Law Enforcement Gays and Lesbians
tory.
minority
group and something negative happens,
International,
an
organization
of
sexual
minority
“Mike was there to talk about bias crimes,”
it reflects on the entire group,” says Potter. “It’s
law and justice personnel.
explains Donna Red Wing, a Portland resident
also unfortunate that some officers who may have
“Many states still have sodomy statutes on the
and GLAAD’s national field director. “At one
been considering coming out will instead say, ‘No
books. If you’re gay, it’s assumed you’re engag­
point he said: ‘This will probably be more rel­
way, it’s too risky.’ ”
ing
in
sodomy,
and
therefore
breaking
the
law.
If
evant to you if you know this— I’m a gay man.’ I
you’re a gay cop in this situation, you may be
knew he was gay, but I don’t think a lot of people
alk about your relationship,” l ask Charlie
more inclined to stay in the closet,” says Goodman,
in the room did. It probably stunned some folks.”
Makinney, now the assistant city manager
Red Wing says she first met Garvey in 1991 who frequently speaks with gay and lesbian offic­
for
the city of West Hollywood, Calif.
ers about their concerns. “Gay cops also fear not
when she was a member of a budgetary advisory
Makinney met Garvey 20-odd years ago when
being one of the boys and not getting backup.”
committee.
Garvey
was applying to become a Portland police
Katie Potter is the daughter of former Portland
“But my gaydar didn’t start to buzz until early
,
B
T
officer and Makinney, who is openly gay, was
involved in administering the exam.
Off the bat, Makinney responds robustly: “Are
you asking me if we were lovers? No we were not,
but we are close friends.”
Friends, says Makinney, who vacationed to­
gether over the years, traveling to destinations
such as Palm Springs. “And no,” he volunteers, “I
never saw him hire a prostitute—ever.”
Makinney, who previously served as the Port­
land Police Bureau’s director of management
services, adds: “Mike is the consummate cop. His
job means everything to him.”
He also says that he worried for Garvey’s
well-being when his friend started going more
public.
"I was in Portland about a month ago, and
Mike was just so open about being gay. I told him
that I thought he was kind of throwing it in
people’s faces. He said he didn’t think he was,”
says Makinney. “I believe Mike is viewed as a
threat by some people in the Portland Police
Bureau. He is so openly gay and it offends people
within the organization.”
Makinney also believes the allegations against
Garvey “are too convenient, too coincidental.”
That hypothesis has been sounded by other
supporters. Rumors are circulating that someone
angry over Garvey’s involvement in the City of
Portland’s ongoing attempt to shut down The City
Nightclub, a Portland hot spot catering to sexual
minority youth that police say is saturated with
illicit drug and predatory activities, has played a
role in this saga.
“I have heard that rumor,” says club owner
Lanny Swerdlow. “All I know is that this whole
thing seems to be getting weirder and weirder.”
City Nightclub patrons have indeed voiced
resentment toward Garvey for what they view as
an unwarranted crusade to close Swerdlow’s es­
tablishment.
When I spoke with queer youth for Just Out's
June 7 cover story about the club controversy, I
was told by two sources that Garvey contacted
them and requested assistance in “getting dirt” on
The City in order to close it down.
One source, a gay man in his early 20s who
asked not to be identified for fear of police retali­
ation, says Garvey showed him a “three-ring
binder full of information about The City.”
“He said The City was an unhealthy place,”
says the source. “He also said he’d like to have the
resources to open his own club for gay youth.”
Goodman, who works in the LAPD’s internal
affairs division, says his police department “would
not remove an officer from their post unless there
was considerable evidence [of wrongdoing].”
“I couldn’t say what the deal is up there in
Portland,” he says, “but for us to do something
like that there would have to be pretty over­
whelming evidence.”
Potter, however, says she is aware of situa­
tions in which officers have been placed on ad­
ministrative leave—also known as the “ l0-to-2
plan” because those placed on leave (including
Garvey) must call in to the bureau daily at 10 am
and 2 pm— and the allegations were “totally un­
substantiated and unfounded.”
eat rows of tank tops, caps and heavy-
cotton sweatshirts in forest greens, deep
maroons and faded grays line the shelves of
Garvey’s Crew House, a casual clothing store on
Portland’s trendy Northwest 23rd Avenue. An
espresso bar sits in one comer. It is one of three
such stores that Garvey owns in Portland and
Arizona.
“So many people have come in, especially
when this all first broke, to show their support for
Mike,” says the amiable store clerk. Tanned, lean,
and pony-tailed, he looks like he enjoys a good
wind surf every now and then. “We’ve had some
reporters come in,” he says with a grimace. "Those
television reporters are the worst, the phony way
they say, ‘Have a great day.’ ”
N