Continued from Page 1
4
“Kroeker Repent.” A nother sign
read, “Stop Supporting Sodomy.”
The forum’s sponsors hoped the
meeting would spur constructive
dialogue between Kroeker and the
community. T he encounter was the
first for him since he took center
stage in the controversy spurred
when the Portland Alliance released
several tapes it discovered during a
background check containing his
controversial com m ents about
homosexuals, A ID S, women, abor­
tion, the justice system and the dis­
cipline of children.
The recordings were of several
speeches Kroeker made to conserv­
ative Christian police organizations
while he was employed by the Los
Angeles Police Department. T he
chief, a Christian fundamentalist,
called homosexuality a perversion
in the tapes and blamed the A ID S
epidemic on society’s unwillingness
to legislate morality.
Sin ce O ctober, Kroeker has
insisted the comments were made
in a religious context and therefore
are private. Because o f that, he has
refused to make any remarks about
the recordings.
Some in the community imme- <
diately asked for Kroeker’s resigna- o
tion when the tapes became public; *
others wanted him fired. His boss, *
Mayor Vera Katz, came out in S
strong support of him just days after |
the comments hit the television air-
^
„ .
,
.
Caught in
waves and newspaper pages in the
^ # , , ”^4
refused to
City of Roses.
T h e statem ents and ideas presented at
the forum will be .turned over to th e Sexual
M in o rities R o u n d tab le, w h ich plans to
review the inform ation, devise an action
plan in hopes o f rebuilding trust betw een
the gay com m unity and Kroeker and consid­
er future meetings. T h e m onthly roundtable
serves as a bridge o f co m m u n ica tio n
betw een the police bureau and th e sexual
m inorities community.
Although the forum’s organizers hoped to
stay focused on issues and consequences sur­
rounding Kroeker’s anti-gay comments, many
who showed up were intent on addressing him
about a litany o f other issues: police account­
ability, excessive force used by officers, the May
Day protest and the bureau’s new dress code,
among others. Others wanted to ask him about
his views on women, his description o f using a
boat oar to discipline children as well and his
disparaging comments regarding the judicial
system.
O ne person criticized the forum’s organiz­
ers for attempting to focus the forum on gay
and lesbian topics, saying the issues can ’t be
separated.
he chief attempted to answer the question
“W ho is Mark Kroeker?” before taking on
the audience’s questions and comments. He
outlined his decades-long service to others, list­
ed awards he has received as a result and spoke
of events in his life that helped shape him as a
man.
But Kroeker also spoke more directly about
his personal beliefs than ever before. In the
weeks after the tapes were uncovered, he
adamantly defended his right to his personal
and religious views and refused to answer the
media’s questions about his present stance con­
cerning gays.
T
S orry S eems to B e
the H ardest W ord
condem n in toleran ce and
bigotry among his officers
when they have heard his
own intolerant words? O th ­
ers worry about the fallout.
W hat will this crisis lead to
in the daily lives of Port­
land’s sexual minorities? Is
the city as safe today as it
was before the taped remarks
were revealed?
w
said as the crowd groaned in disapproval.
In an earlier interview with Just Out,
Kroeker said that if one of his officers espoused
anti-gay, racist, sexist or anti-Sem itic rhetoric
in a public setting that it would be problemat­
ic and that disciplinary action would be taken.
However, he was uncertain what the bureau’s
legal options would be.
“I’m restricted, I’m afraid,” Kroeker said
when Just Out pushed him to explain to the
forum’s attendees how he would handle such
public comments like those made by Blanck.
“W hen a police officer uses an epithet, dis­
plays bias in his work or so forth...w e have
steps we take.”
Kroeker declined to elaborate on those
steps. |[ 7 ]
7 hile scores o f P ort­
landers con tin u e to
ask for Kroeker’s resignation,
others have sensed the co n ­
troversy is dwindling. But
just before his scheduled
appearance at the forum, the
W hat’s next? A MULTI-ISSUE PUBLIC F orum
bureau experienced the first
w ith P olice C hief M ark K roeker starts
consequence th at can be
7 p.m . Jan . 9 at Lutheran Inner-City Ministries,
traced back to his tapes, pos­
4219 N .E . Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. For
sibly adding more energy to
more information contact LM Family@teleport.
the ongoing debate about
com . The forum is sponsored by Love Makes a
his appropriateness as police
Family, which spearheaded the Police C h ief C on ­
chief.
cerns G roup, a consortium o f organizations and
Portland officer R ob
individuals concerned with the K roeker tape
Blanck blasted gays in the
recordings.
D ecem ber edition o f Rap
The next S exual M inorities R oundtable
Sheet, the police u n io n ’s
meeting, open to the public, starts noon Jan. 9 in
m onthly p u blication . His
the C h ie f s C onference Room on the 15 th floor o f
colum n, “Poyntblank Per­
the Justice C enter downtown.
the cross fire, Portland Police Chief Mark Kroeker repeatedly
spectives,” explained th at
answer questions involving his religious views
the city would be violating
JONATHAN K ipp is a Just Out staff reporter
“I have changed substantially in my life in
Title V II if it required diversity training that
who can be reached at jkipp@ teleport.com .
the way I view the world,” Kroeker said, stop­
con flicted with em ­
ping short of speaking specifically about the
ployees’ religious b e­
issue of homosexuality.
liefs, and he called for
He said he recognizes that trust has been
officers to protest by
broken because of the comments he made on
refusing to attend.
the tapes. “Trust is very delicate, very precious
But Blanck’s piece,
and very fragile.”
titled “Cultural Diversity
T h e chief added: “As one solitary man,
for Everyone,” was more
charged with the leadership of Portland, I ask
about his disdain for the
that you invest in me your trust. I want your
gay and lesbian commu­
trust, and I ask you to hold me accountable for
nity— referring to one
my actions as a police chief, as a neighbor and
gay
man’s
“deviant
as a fellow Portlander. This is all I ask.”
lifestyle”— than for his
Kroeker then fielded questions ffom the
dislike of sensitivity
training. "The militant
audience for almost two hours. But many at the
forum thought he avoided the very account­
gays and lesbians...have
gained power by intimi­
ability he requested minutes earlier. He repeat­
edly refused to answer questions, stating he
dation and rhetoric like
would not discuss issues involving his religion
no other group in the
history of our nation,” he
or his religious views.
Some acknowledged and even supported
wrote. “We, as employ­
Kroeker’s right to his personal and religious
ees, are being indoctri­
nated into the so-called
views. But others said the rules about privacy
diversity.”
changed when the taped comments, made in
what one called a “quasi-private setting,”
Blanck encouraged
became public.
Kroeker, “Chief, stand
up for your faith and
“You started it,” Mitch Gould said to Kroek­
don’t apologize for it.”
er. “Your tapes are out in the world.”
T he tapes were discovered to be for sale on
W hen Just Out asked
the W eb site of a conservative Christian police
Kroeker to respond to
organization in the United Kingdom. Kroeker
the column, likely read
has said he didn’t know his comments were
by hundreds o f union
recorded or for sale. He requested that the orga­
police officers in Port­
nization remove the tapes ffom the Internet
land, he refused. "I have
after they were discovered.
asked the city attorney
for advice and instruc­
For some in the community, the issue isn’t
tion. It has been asked
Kroeker’s decade-old comments or his religious
of me that I specifically
beliefs. T h e issue, they say, is the consequences
not discuss this because Forum participants lined up to tell Kroeker how his words have
of his words.
How can Kroeker lead a police force and
it’s a civil matter," he affected the sexual minorities community