Homosexual Police Officers 111that serves to protect its members by being invisible (M. Burke, 1994). In some
instances, these women are threatened by the attention to homosexual issues in law
enforcement (Buhrke, 1996).
Unlike gender or race, sexual orientation can be concealed, making it impossible
to actually know how many homosexuals are in law enforcement. In 1981, Sergeant
Charles Cochrane of the New York Police Department was the first gay officer to
come out while still in the police force (Griffin, 1993). Research has shown that
leading double lives creates an inordinate amount of stress on gay and lesbian police
officers. Fictional relationships are created by some officers to ward off suspicion
of their homosexuality (Buhrke, 1996). The Weinberg and Williams study (1974)
found that the fear of exposure was associated with psychological problems such as
anxiety and alcoholism.
In a study conducted by Doyle (1996), 58% of randomly selected law enforce-
ment officers in Southern California supported equal job opportunities for gays.
However, 71% believed that male homosexuals should not be allowed to claim then-
partner on employee benefits. The belief that gays should not be allowed to work
as police officers was held by 37% of the respondents. Practically half of the officers
viewed homosexual acts as deviant.
Cases like Mitch Grobeson's demonstrate the need to examine the willingness of
officers to provide backup to on-duty gay officers. Eight of 10 respondents (89%)
believed they would help a gay officer having difficulty with a police procedure.
Finally, 89% responded that they would check on the safety of a gay officer on a
routine traffic stop.
Homosexual officers are constantly bombarded with the heterosexual police of-
ficer's viewpoint of them. M. Burke (1994) describes the phenomena of "'identity
ambivalence." It is identified when these officers cannot embrace their own gay
subculture completely, yet they can not completely reject it. He further explains
that this phenomenon influences homosexual officers whose stigma is, on average,
less visible, to look upon more flamboyant homosexuals, with disdain. These homo-
sexuals, whose characteristics and behaviors embody those that lead to alienation,
are depreciated.
Overall, lesbian and gay officers have better experiences in larger agencies that
employ a number of openly gay officers (Buhrke, 1996). Locale is also important.
Typically, areas like San Francisco, California, would be more likely to tolerate
diverse lifestyles than Dallas, Texas. In general, harassment and discrimination are
less likely if the criminal justice employee has more power and authority.
Forensic Psychology and Policy Implications
The research and stereotypes that associate gay men with HIV/AIDS present many
implications for policy and forensic psychology. In Doyle's (1996) study 56% of