Well how about gay/lesbian members?

[Concerned]

I was wondering if anyone has had contact or experienced any situations involving gay or lesbian members in policing, esp. RCMP. I am in my late stages of hiring and am wondering what sort of resistance to expect. I am by no means a sissy, and most people are quite shocked when they find out I'm gay but I do not hide and am not ashamed of who I am.
I do not intend to flaunt my homosexuality and probably won't even mention it at Depot, but I am in a long term relationship and my partner will be moving with me. We are like any other married couple so he would attend events and such as my spouse. This means that once I'm posted, I'm "out."
If anyone has seen or experienced this before I'm just looking for fair warning if there is some sort of shit storm to come.
...I just hope I don't end up in Alberta!!

[phatcatca]

Hey there,

My partner is in the RCMP and was out while at Depot and in the workplace. She's never had a problem, but the reality is that typically people don't see lesbians as as threat to the same extent that they do gay men. She has encountered some homophobia in terms of off-hand comments and jokes among the odd guy, but I think this statistic is applicable in just about every job situation.

[guest]

I know several members of the RCMP who are either gay or lesbian. For these members, it was not an issue at depot. RCMP made it clear in my application process that everybody get treated equal despite their sexuality. Good luck.

[journey2cps-redux]

I think for the most part it won't be an issue, however keep in mind (as I'm sure you're well aware) that there are still quite a few "Good ole boys" out there that have issues with anyone who is not a white male, 6'3", 210lbs, tough guy, being a cop...You may find its more of an "issue" in smaller towns/det than it would be in say Burnaby, or other larger municipal setting.

[YC]

I have talked to the recruiter with the RCMP and they are pretty good about it. But as Journey said, you just can't expect everyone be that open even we're in the year of 2005! From my understanding, gay officer will have a harder time than lesbian officer. But afterall, your own performance is the most important thing~ Don't worry and work hard at DEPOT, you'll be fine.

[Back in E]

Totally depends on where you go. A shitty morale detachment where they eat recruits for fun since there's no crime to fight will probably prey even more on a gay male member. Hopefully you'll go to a high morale detachment with a progressive boss who makes it clear there won't be any bullshit.

[Guest]

Hey Concerned,

I'm a gay male applicant in the late stages of my process with the RCMP. Like you I'm quite masculine, no one can tell tha tI'm gay. I've been thinking about it more and more since my Depot date is soon approaching, if I'll be out or not, what it'll be like, if I'll get razzed etc. I know a couple gay male members of the RCMP, one of whom when he came out in his small detachment was readily accepted by his co-workers and never had a problem.

I know about 20 years ago the RCMP would actively search out and fire gay members as it was considered a "blackmail risk", but that is most definitely not the case anymore.

Good luck to you.

[sometime soon]

I worked as an auxiliary with a member who turned out was a lesbian. To be truthful I was shocked cause this is the first homosexual I've ever met/known. But it quickly became a totally non-issue.
What I'm getting at it is fine. I personally would want to know, like if I was at depot and we're taking about a troop mate, etc.

[dotbar]

My dh works in a detachment with at least one gay person. She doesn't seem to be having any trouble over it. Dh says they get along famously and he's a christian. So there goes that stereotype

"Homophobia" is a very convenient word but I personally don't find it very accurate. Most people who do not embrace homosexuality as an acceptable lifestyle are not phobic (just as those who dislike/disagree with Christianity are not). And it doesn't mean that the homosexual person is rejected or even disliked. People are just people first, deserving of common courtesty and dignity...the rest is secondary.

[dotbar]

On the other hand (after reading over the posts more carefully!) I have to admit that some people are just jerks, saying hurtful and ignorant things. I don't want to defend them!!

[AnonEMouse]

Sexuality isn't the issue, but command presence is... You can't deny that if you give a bad guy the idea that you are weak (a common stereotype of gay men), they'll want to kick your can. However, this is not unique to gay folks... give a bad guy and opening, and they'll take it.

So, don't give anything away in your behavior, speech patterns, etc... and you'll get challenged just as often as a straight guy... no more, no less.

[bob]

i would be very careful if i were a gay male appilcant if i were you. they may say that it doesn`t matter that your gay, but i can tell you that todays rcmp has not changed as much as they say they have . gay men put themselves in a very dangerous postion in this job. my experience has been yhat they can get rid of a gay officer very fast and do it in such a way that he cant fight back. male police officers seem as agroup to be very insecure with themselves when it comes to their sexuality. most of the men i trained with came to this job to meet girls and to get laid . most screw around alot on their wives and girlfriends and is the reason police officers have such a high divorce rate. there is a doulble standard when it comes to issues of morality in this job. as a gay man i would advise you nto stay in the closet if you want to advance in this job. it is still very much a"straight boy`s jock club with boozing and womanizing the norm for alot of guys and if you don`t fit in they will find any reason they can to get rid of you. i have even heard from senior officers that if they do hire a gay man,because of course people would ask questions if none were hired at all,that his detachment is warned that their is a " faggot on the way" and to see to it he does not make it past his probationary period. i have known several fine gay male officers in my career from various police forces across canada and i can say in all honesty as a straight male that they were the finest officers i ever worked with. so i would tell any young gay man to watch his back at least until you are well established in your career and finished your probation. good luck to you.

[Richee]

Wow, this is scary...thanks for the info. Sounds like it might be better to stick with a larger municipal force whose use to gay/lesbian members rather than with the rcmp. Any thoughts?

Richee

[Marcus]

I guess it completely depends on your perspective... I have also been with the RCMP for years in BC and I find Bob's post to be completely false. No problems with ANY gay members and I haven't worked with married members that cheat on their wives either! As for an old boys club running their agenda not friggin likely, very professional (even the old dudes).

Either Bob is full of it, or he is working in some VERY strange division and detachments.

[RyanSales]

I agree with Marcus....I have no idea where Bob is coming from on this one.

To date, I have never personally witnessed any sort of disciminatory behaviour targetting homosexuality. I have met several openly homosexual members of the force, and they are all doing very well with their careers.

Some members have prejudices against homosexuals. We are a cross sample of society, we are no different from anyone else. HOWEVER, I have never witnessed one of those officers EVER move from a personal prejudice to discrimination.

If a new applicant or recruit wishes to keep their sexuality to themselves, that is fine. Because honestly, an individuals sexuality has nothing to do with this job. However, if doing so requires you to lie or omit critical information during your recruiting phase, this could be fatal to your career. I would much rather see a recruit be open, honest, and roll with the punches than see a recruit break under the pressure of the job at the 5 year mark because they are bottling everything up inside.

Feel free to PM me if you agree/disagree.

Cheers,
RY

p.s. Alberta isn't as bad as it's made out to be. Sure there are rednecks out here, but it's about the same as every other province. We just happen to have a premier who is very outspoken. That's my "politically correct" statement of the day.