Decades ago, an early morning raid at the Stonewall Inn in New York sparked violent protests among gay patrons who fought back after police burst in and tried to arrest them for daring to drink and dance with members of the same sex.<\/p>\n
Nearly 50 years later, officers armed with assault rifles stand guard outside the historic bar, protecting patrons after a gunman in Florida staged a massacre at a gay nightclub and spread fear of more attacks.<\/p>\n
The irony isn\u2019t lost on the gay community that used to see police as the oppressor and counts the 1969 Stonewall Inn raid as the start of the gay rights movement.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce upon a time they hit us with nightsticks, and now they\u2019re our protectors,\u201d said Gil Horowitz, 80, a retired research psychologist in New York who took part in the riots at Stonewall.<\/p>\n
At gay pride parades this weekend, that evolution will be on display in cities like Denver, where the first parade in 1975 was in response to police raids on gay bars and arrests of gay men. On Sunday, police will march in solidarity and will have a robust presence among the crowd of 300,000 plus people.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a snapshot of 40 years of progress,\u201d said Jason Marsden, executive director of the Matthew Shepard Foundation, named for the University of Wyoming gay student who died after he was beaten and tied to a fence by two men in 1998.<\/p>\n
Living an open gay lifestyle was unheard of across most of the U.S. just decades ago, and police routinely raided private gay clubs. During the raids, vice officers would beat the patrons \u2014 sometimes the targets were those not wearing sex-appropriate clothing \u2014 and arrest them on morals charges. The persecution reflected views in society at large: Until 1973, the American Psychiatric Association classified homosexuality as a mental disorder, and it was only in 2003 that a Supreme Court ruling declared state sodomy laws to be an unconstitutional violation of personal privacy.<\/p>\n
The change in attitude didn\u2019t happen overnight, and it doesn\u2019t mean echoes of the past don\u2019t resurface, even in places seen as progressive.<\/p>\n
In San Francisco, the police department has been shamed by the recent discovery of racist and homophobic text messages traded by officers. And a long-standing undercover police tactic in the Southern California city of Long Beach was dealt a blow last month when a judge dismissed lewd conduct and indecent exposure charges against a man arrested in a public bathroom. The judge said police improperly targeted gay men in the sting operation.<\/p>\n
Numerous studies in the past six years have shown there is still a strong distrust of law enforcement, especially among LGBT people feeling bias, harassment or being assaulted by law enforcement, said Jeremy Goldbach, assistant professor at the University of Southern California School of Social Work.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe relationship has changed in some ways, but I don\u2019t know it has changed as much as we would like to think,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
But in cities across the U.S., police officers who once were criticized for enforcing outdated laws are instead undergoing robust LGBT cultural sensitivity training.<\/p>\n
Atlanta\u2019s police department has two full-time officers assigned as LGBT liaisons. Officer Eric King, one of the liaisons, said they try to regularly visit and keep in touch with businesses that focus or draw LGBT customers. King, who is gay, said building a direct line of communication is important to build trust.<\/p>\n
He hopes LGBT leaders, working with city and police officials, can develop a plan that makes people feel secure but not \u201clike big brother is watching.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI wouldn\u2019t want there to be an overconcentration of police where people are always in fear, but I do want them to know we\u2019re present if you need us,\u201d King said.<\/p>\n
While large departments for years have been more welcoming to the gay community and many have gay officers on the force, rural, conservative states are trying to catch up, too.<\/p>\n
In the Idaho communities of Boise and Pocatello and in Missoula, Montana, officers are assigned as liaisons to the gay community.<\/p>\n
More people are openly gay and demanding they be treated as just another part of the larger community. Montana state Sen. Diana Sands said that is driving the shift in attitude.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat change has been revolutionary in the last decade,\u201d said Sands, who is gay.<\/p>\n
In Anchorage, Police Chief Christopher Tolley will march in the city\u2019s parade, and has ordered extra officers to be on scene, not because there\u2019s been an identified threat but to show support for the LGBT community. And in Juneau, at a gay pride festival last weekend, a woman wearing a pride T-shirt asked a police officer if her shirt made her a target.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am here to put myself between anyone who would hurt you and that T-shirt,\u201d Lt. Kris Sell told her.<\/p>\n
Looking back over nearly 50 years of progress, Horowitz, who was arrested during the second night of rioting at the Stonewall Inn, said even if things haven\u2019t come as far as they need to, the changes in society have meant there is at least the appearance of acceptance.<\/p>\n
\u201cPolice were homophobic at that time, maybe still a little bit. They understand now they\u2019re not supposed to exhibit it,\u201d Horowitz said. \u201cIf they act as if they accept us, whether they do or not, that\u2019s all we can really ask.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2022 Thiessen reported from Anchorage, Alaska. Associated Press writers Michael Balsamo in New York; Kathleen Foody in Atlanta; Janie Har in San Francisco; Rebecca Boone in Boise, Idaho; Matt Volz in Helena, Montana; and Ben Neary in Cheyenne, Wyoming, contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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