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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (June 5, 1998)
funai1 rTTTÌTlnews gOing to be a tough one,” speculates William Warren, an openly gay man who works close ly with the Portland Police «JL, Bureau. For four and a half years, Warren served on the Chiefs Forum representing Portland’s sexu al minorities community. That stint ended this past December, though he currently serves on a police budget advisory committee. “There are going to be some people in the [queer! community whose trust will be very rat tled by this,” says Warren, referring to a federal civil rights lawsuit filed June 1 by gay police Capt. Mike Garvey, who alleges Chief Charles Moose and Mayor Vera Katz discriminated against him because of his sexual orientation. Moose and Katz are named defendants in the lawsuit, which does not specify monetary dam ages but says Garvey will pursue general, special and punitive damages. Garvey, 44, is the Portland Police Bureau official who came under investigation two years ago following allegations he hired male prosti tutes via an escort service. In August 1996, after hearing evidence on the prostitution allegations, a Multnomah County grand jury refused to indict Garvey, who for months was on administrative leave, forced to hand over his badge and gun. In early 1997, Moose demoted Garvey, a 20- year-plus veteran, to captain from his post as commander of Central Precinct, the Portland Police Bureau’s largest precinct. Moose alleged Garvey had used city cellular phones for personal use and was running a per sonal business from the bureau. In his lawsuit, Garvey charges Katz with being aware of “Moose’s discriminatory animus towards gay males,” and says she failed to do anything out of "deliberate indifference.” Garvey also claims he was mistreated during an internal affairs investigation, saying he was grilled about his sex life—not only about who he had sex with, but how he had it. The suit says the probe was designed to “greatly embarrass and humiliate Garvey.” In a written statement, Katz responded by heralding the city’s work on gay and lesbian rights issues. She touted the Portland City Council’s 1991 passage of an ordinance prohibiting sexual ori entation discrimination, and said: “Given the city’s track record on civil rights issues, it’s dis appointing that Capt. Garvey has decided to take this action. The city of Portland, our bureaus, and our bureau managers are recog nized as leaders in protecting civil rights, includ ing the rights of gays and lesbians.” David Butzer, assistant chief for the Portland Police Bureau, says he hopes the Garvey situa tion does not negatively impact the sexual Metropolitan Community Church of Portland and a roundtable regular. He says he doesn’t view the Garvey incident as a systemic problem, but rather as an employ ee-employer conflict. Cole adds he has “full confidence” the mayor and police will “continue to interface well with the community.” “1 think [sexual minorities] are on very solid ground when it comes to our relationship with the city,” he says. G arvey G oes to C ourt A recently filed civil rights lawsuit points to homophobia that may still plague the police force by Inga Sorensen Mike Garvey in 1994, before the brouhaha minorities community’s relatively good relation ship with police. “It is my hope that we continue to have dia logue around the community’s issues and con cerns. The bureau is very much interested in that,” says Butzer, the department’s liaison to Portland’s queer population. "I think it’s important we take seriously any claim of discrimination brought by a sexual minority person,” says Bonnie Tinker, executive director of Love Makes a Family Inc., a group that promotes gay and lesbian families. “We should take this as a wake-up call. While there are people in the bureau working to eradicate homophobia, the problem has not gone away,” she continues. “I mean, here we have a decorated, respected officer who had a good reputation, yet if he feels homophobia undid him, you have to wonder how the queer homeless youth are being treated.” Tinker is involved with the Sexual Minorities Roundtable, a monthly gathering of sexual minorities and members of the Portland Police Bureau. Its purpose is to allow partici pants the chance to exchange information and share concerns about law enforcement interac tion with sexual minorities. The roundtable has recently undergone some structural changes to make it a more efficient, purposeful entity. “[The Garvey case] is something the round- table should discuss in terms of exploring what steps the bureau can take to weed out homo phobia,” Tinker says. “We should continue to strengthen the roundtable so we have a solid systemic response.” The Rev. Roy Cole is pastor of the P artnership A greement R e - signing S et for J une 9 In 1994, the Sexual Minorities Roundtable crafted a partnership agreement, signed on October 11, National Coming Out Day, which called upon the Portland Police Bureau and queer community to continue meeting on a regular basis. It also asked the parties to “work to increase the personal safety” of queers and included a commitment by police to recruit and retain sexual minorities. The document was hailed as a landmark because so few law enforcement agencies nationwide had taken such action. The timing may seem ironic—given the Garvey lawsuit—but the Portland Police Bureau and Sexual Minorities Roundtable are hosting a re-signing ceremony affirming the agreement. Queer folk are encouraged to attend the event, slated for June 9 at 12:30 p.m. in the Lovejoy Room, Second Floor, Portland City Hall, 1221 S.W. Fourth Ave. For more infor mation, call 823-0000. ■ I nga S orensen t 1 hen the Garvey story first broke two years V V ago, Just Out ran a story that noted how difficult it can be to be an out queer cop. After all, the law enforcement field largely remains a militaristic world soaked in machismo. Some sexual minority officers said they had been left without backup in potentially life threatening situations because other cops knew or assumed they were gay. Others reported being the target of harassment by other officers. Some simply got the cold shoulder, which still is a painful snub given the clubby lifestyle of many in law enforcement. For that article, we spoke with Katie Potter, daughter of former Portland Police Chief Tom Potter, who retired in 1993. She has been with the Portland Police Bureau for more than a dozen years, serving most of that time as an offi cer. She came out publicly as a lesbian in a Just Out cover story in the early 1990s, which in turn prompted an onslaught of mainstream media attention. Her father, who was the city’s top cop at the time, was also featured as a loving and supportive parent. In the 1996 article, Katie Potter conceded the presence of out sexual minority officers may make some colleagues uncomfortable. She told us that soon after she went public reporters inquired, “Did you shoot at your girlfriend at a party in Beaverton?” “They said they heard that from sources with in the Portland Police Bureau,” she said. “It was absurd, but there are a lot of officers who have a problem with the sexual minorities community.” Potter also said that upon her father’s retire ment announcement a reporter approached him and asked him how his health was. “He was perfectly fine, so it seemed like a weird question,” said Katie. “My father later learned that someone within the bureau had said that he had AIDS and that’s why he was retiring. The source also questioned my fathers sexuality.” In other words, homophobia has not fallen by the wayside. Says Warren: “I applaud [Garvey] for stand ing up for his rights, and I applaud the police bureau for working with us in good faith. 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