juna 16.2000 *
u m rm s in e w s
O n
the
T able
Information, announcements, surveys; affirmations, polemics, pleas—
Sexual Minorities Roundtable dealt with broad agenda by Jo n ath an K ipp
progress being made working side by side with
the Portland Police Bureau.
Progress is being made, and one could argue
that Portland hovers above most U.S. cities, a
roundtable member suggested, when looking at
the relationship the sexual minorities communi
ty shares with local police.
Portlands new police chief, Mark Kroeker,
attended the two-hour roundtable to listen to
nearly 25 community members and roundtable
regulars who chose the meeting over a frolic in
the unusual early-June sunshine.
Some would argue there is no better evi
dence of progress. The chief? O f a major U.S.
city’s police department? At a gay meeting?
F r u s t r a t io
From left: Lt. Jay Heidenriech, Lori Buckwalter, Assistant Chief Mark Paresi, Norm Costa
ortland’s sexual minorities communi
ty may he in its adolescence— no
longer young and naive, demanding
more, increasingly confident, a hit
cranky, wanting more and better of
everything.
And like most people’s experience during
adolescence, life for Portlands queers (the term
now preferred by many) is an amalgam of good
P
J ails S afer
P
for
and could he better; a blend of progress, frustra
tion, optimism, anger and, ultimately, hope.
P
n
his is a good start, but we have a long way
to go,” Derek Travers acknowledged
before launching into an impassioned speech
about his experiences living in Portland.
Travers said he doesn’t feel safe. A transsex
ual and gay man, Travers said he doesn’t feel safe
because of his own experience and what he’s
heard others have gone through when dealing
with Portland’s police. The young man had a
laundry list of complaints for Kroeker and the
bureau; gay youth being targeted by police
topped his considerable list.
O
p t im is m
L
rogress
S
ome of those who gathered at a special Sat
urday meeting of the Sexual Minorities
Roundtable on June 3 came to acknowledge the
positive aspects of the City of Roses and the
ori Buckwalter, an activist and co-chair of
the roundtable, said she agrees that so much
more needs to he done. But she also tried to give
encouragement to the concerned, and mostly
young, citizens.
N
orm Costa announced that Portland
police Chief Mark Kroeker is going to
march in the pride parade on June 18.
An invitation was sent to Kroeker, Costa
said, and the chief accepted.
Costa, who is involved in planning the
annual celebration organized by Pride North
west, made the announcement to more than
25 people who attended the Sexual Minorities
Roundtable on June 3.
Kroeker, who attended the meeting with
his wife, Diane, did not respond to the
announcement, neither confirming nor deny
ing his participation. In fact, he looked slight
ly surprised as he glanced at his wife and
grinned.
Kroeker joined the bureau late last year
after a 32-year career in law enforcement. He
had retired from the Los Angeles Police
Department in 1997; his last post there was
deputy chief.
So will he march or won’t he?
Portland Police Bureau public information
officer Sgt. Mike Hefley confirmed on June 5
that the chief will march in the parade.
Kroeker and his assistant chief, Mark Pare-
si, promised no tear gas or riot-gear-clad
mounted police.
“Just go and have fun,” Paresi said in
response to a roundtable participant’s concern
about her safety at the event.
■
Reported by JONATHAN
While few trans people are arrested and jailed each year in
Multnomah County (one or two per year, according to Heiden
riech), the sheriff department’s manual on harassment and dis
crimination does address this community. The manual requires
trans citizens to “be treated respectfully and afforded the same
privileges as any similarly situated inmate.”
But the special order outlining the new procedures goes even
further in protecting members of the trans community who are
in police custody. Following the arrest of a trans person, a
detailed protocol goes into effect, including the identification of
appropriate housing options. The protocol is lengthy and
involves multiple police, jail and health personnel.
Heidenriech said San Francisco averages 36 trans inmates in
custody. Yet the city, known as a haven for alternative lifestyles,
does not have a policy for the treatment of trans people during
the incarceration intake process. In fact, Heidenriech said, law
enforcement officials in San Francisco have discussed adopting
the Multnomah County policy after seeing one o f the earlier
drafts.
The recently adopted policy was authored over the past three
months, said Heidenriech, who is the sheriff’s representative to
the Sexual Minorities Roundtable.
“It’s something nobody else has in this country,” added Buck-
waiter, who is also executive director of It’s Time, Oregon, an
organization that advocates for the civil rights of trans people.
The guidelines are the result of extended negotiation and
collaboration between the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office,
representatives of the Sexual Minorities Roundtable and a com
munity-police advisory group.
The full text of the special order, including a downloadable
version, can be found at www.itstime.org/news/MultCoInmate-
SpclOrder.htm.
■ Reported by JONATHAN KlPP
Wc'x U c b i t
e **»
u H f*e fc
KlPP
Continued on P age 8
T rans C ommunity
ortland may have achieved something never before done in
this country, according to Lori Buckwalter, co-chair of the
Sexual Minorities Roundtable.
A t the June 3 roundtable meeting, Buckwalter and Lt. Jay
Heidenriech of the Multnomah County Sh eriffs Office
announced new booking, classification and housing procedures
for members of the trans community to be used in all county cor
rectional facilities.
The procedures are intended to protect the rights of trans
sexual, transgendered and intersexed people in custody by
addressing special concerns for their safety and general treat
ment by jail personnel.
For some trans people, Heidenriech said, there is a point in
their transition to their adopted gender at which they techni
cally could be placed in either male or female facilities. Because
of this issue, the new procedures were written.
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