Thursday, Nov. 17 The San Diego LGBT Community Center held the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) ceremony to honor members of the trans community who lost their lives to violence this past year.
San Diego Police Officer Christine Garcia, the first openly transgender police officer in the San Diego Police Department, had played an active role in this ceremony by being part of the planning committee for this event.
Following a march from The Center down University Avenue to 10th Street, and back again, for which Officer Garcia had been part of the San Diego Police Department’s security detail, Officer Garcia entered The Center to attend the TDOR event. As she entered the building Officer Garcia was stopped by a member of The Center’s staff and told that she would have to leave the building as she was in uniform and that would potentially upset some members of the audience at the event.
Commenting on the situation, City Commissioner and LGBT activist Nicole Murray Ramirez told San Diego LGBT Weekly, “In my over 45 years of activism, I have never heard of such an outrageous and disgusting act against one of our own at our community center, period. What makes this worse is all Officer Garcia wanted to do was to attend the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance and honor the many transgender Americans who have been killed or committed suicide.”
Dr. Delores A. Jacobs, chief executive officer of The Center told LGBT Weekly that the situation had all been a misunderstanding and that San Diego police officers are always welcome at The Center in uniform.
“Officers Garcia and Myer are often here at The Center, sometimes at our request to help us untangle a situation where someone needs help, sometimes for meetings and other times to attend community events,” said Jacobs in a statement to LGBT Weekly. “When they are attending events, they are not here to “police” The Center – though they may be in uniform or on-duty. They are community members attending events on their lunch or dinner hours. They are welcome to be here in uniform. They are a part of our community.
“Unfortunately, there was a misunderstanding of our policy of inclusion the night of the Transgender Day of Remembrance event. This has been discussed with all staff members and the above policy re-clarified for all. We sincerely regret our miscommunication and error; direct apologies for our miscommunications were made to Officer Garcia and Chief Zimmerman. We do not wish to ever make any community member feel unwelcome at The Center – these officers are valued members of our community.
“Further, it is also important to understand that some other community members are uncomfortable with officers in uniform present at Center events. While we need to support those that are uncomfortable and honor their reactions to valid and understandable difficult previous experiences; we also need to explain that Officers Christine Garcia and Dan Myer are our LGBTQ San Diego police liaisons and are a valued part of our community. This education is particularly important now when so many in our community, especially some of our youth, are afraid.”
Another shining example of how toxic the TG community really is, that they will turn their back on one of their own just because of a uniform.
Reminds me of a similar situation involving a close friend who was involved in the same TG community in the early 2000s. She proposed the radical idea that TG people belonged in the greater society and should work to integrate into that society. She was barred from the same event in 2004 for her progressive and healthy idea that TG people should get out of the LGBT ghetto, and experience life on life’s terms.
Liz
PS;
She (that friend) is living a happy and mentally healthy life in another state.
WTF.
All should and must be welcome.
I haven’t been this infuriated in a long time. Officer Garcia is a highly, highly valued member of the trans community. Who is the numbskull that told her she couldn’t participate in the TDOR? What an embarrassment to the Center. They are lucky this ridiculous travesty hasn’t gone viral. I’ve no doubt Christine was absolutely professional and deferential to this unbelievably misguided person, but if I had been there I would have lost my mind. She’s a credit to our trans community and to the SDPD. How often can you say that about someone?
I know of at least one member of the trans community who has been very outspoken about Officer Garcia’s presence at past events. You can’t ask t one treated fairly and then treat one of your own with such hatred.
That has always been a problem with the TG community, if you don’t look, act, or follow their political ideologies you are hated and forced out of the community.
Nothing has changed in the last 16 years, still the same left wing authoritarian attitude, “toe the party line or get the F out, because you are not one of us”.
Liz
Wow, just wow. Whoever did that wasn’t trained right. I’ve served in law enforcement and on occasion I’ve had to “pull rank” and tell “staff” to move over I’m coming through.
Discriminating against a group of people because of who they are? At a time we should be reaching out and working with the police to educate them some are putting up barriers and building walls. That will solve nothing. If Officer Garcia had come to our memorial in Charleston, South Carolina she would have been warmly embraced and invited in.
It is really nice to see the progress in the police and greater legal community acceptance of transgender people lately, to the point that I have read several stories online about transgender people being accepted as police officers in the United States! This is far from my own experience as a transgender person transitioning in South Carolina in 1996! I was brutalized by the police and legal community. My life was completely destroyed!
I have been forced to deal with the carnage or road kill completely alone without support from family or community! Even worse, I meet with almost complete incredulity or a complete lack of concern when I just vaguely speak about my experiences transitioning in the state of South Carolina. It is politically incorrect to mention in polite company! And when all is said and done, my veracity or even sanity is put in question!