Toward the end of the article one member of the force states:
“You don’t just leave law enforcement — it’s one of those jobs where it becomes a part of your life, and after you spend time at an organization you build up your internal résumé,” DeFreece says. “To me, I’ve gotten
to the point where I’m an investigations sergeant, so for me to leave my organization and start over somewhere else as a patrol officer with no seniority — it’d be a huge hit. ... I have more money invested in my
retirement and pension that I’d be eligible for in 10 years than this case would ever be worth. It’d make more financial sense for me to shut up.”
Many of you know I was a police officer for several years of my young life.
I didn't have 10 years on the force, I only had a little over 2 and a half. But I walked away.
It didn't have anything to do with being gay. I was still in the closet back then (it was the 70s).
But in this day and time I can only think about the recent words of Dan Choi. He asked "what are you willing to give up?"
We can not just sit on our asses in front of the TV and expect everything to work out.
What kind of message does it send when our own are not willing to sacrafice?
What kind of message does it send when our own say "it's better for me to just shut up"?
It sends a message that our cause is insignificant. It sends a message that our cause is not important enough for us to take risk.
It sends a message, if it's not important enough to some of us then why should it be important to anyone outside our group.
I walked away from law enforcement after almost 3 years. I was blackballed and never able to obtain another law enforcement job.
When it comes to doing what's right you do not concede. You do not give in becuase doing so belittles you, those like you and the movement as a whole.
Sometimes you just have to draw a line in the sand and damn the consequences.
Is our equality negotiable?
We only want equality as long as it doesn't impose on us to much? Goodness honey I can't do a thing that day because steel magnolia's is on.
We only want equality if we get to keep our job?
We only want equality if we don't have to suffer at all for it?
No wonder we still don't have equality!
So again I ask. How many more must die in the streets before you are willing to sacrafice? How much more LGBTQI blood must run down the gutters of our streets before equality becomes important to you?
This is a question I usually reserve for those who are not within our community.
It seems that question is just as valid for members within our own community.
I've heard it said if you put a live frog in a pan of water and increase the heat slowly the frog doesn't even realize it's being killed/cooked.
Are we like the frog that is boiled to death?
They just keep slowly turning up the heat and we think it's a wonderful hot tub!
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