Following the barring of transgender San Diego Police Officer Christine Garcia from attending the recent Transgender Day of Remembrance event at The Center because she was in uniform, the president of The Log Cabin Republicans of San Diego, Gina Roberts has issued a statement describing the LGBT community as exclusionary, and that the community should, “… stop acting as we accuse others of being.”
Nov. 17, 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.
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.
Gina Roberts’ statement in full follows:
In light of the recent exclusion and marginalizing of San Diego Police Officer Christine Garcia, the Log Cabin Republicans would like to make the following comments. It is time for the LGBT community to stop making unfounded accusations and assumptions on the “fitness” of various people with views that may not entirely align with your own as to whether they should be part of The Center and the community. To believe that Officer Garcia represents anything but a wonderful supportive person is to show a close mindedness that we often accuse our “enemies” of possessing. Officer Garcia, whom nearly everyone in the community is aware, was recently awarded a Nicky award for her service to the community. She is a champion of inclusion and concern for the safety and well-being of everyone in the community. To automatically discount her contributions because she wore her uniform to the Transgender Day of Remembrance, an event she helped organize, was an action that displays the discrimination that we as a community have fought to change. The fact that the San Diego Police Department assigned her and allowed her to attend and participate in this event is an indication of just how far we have come in bringing equality and inclusion to San Diego. The fact that we have a Republican mayor in San Diego that is a huge supporter of the LGBT community shows just how far we have progressed in changing the dialogue within other organizations that have been perceived as being hostile to our community. The automatic dismissal and exclusion of people that may have different views than your own does not acknowledge the long and hard work that some of these people are doing to advance true equality in outside communities. As the president of the Log Cabin Republicans of San Diego, I cannot count the number of times I have been “shamed” for belonging to a non-traditional “supporter” of the LGBT community. As a gun owner and self-defense proponent, myself and many others are immediately being dismissed as being anti LGBT community, where we are actively attempting to teach LGBT people the skills required to protect themselves in a violent encounter, and many in that same conservative community have fought long and hard against the marginalization of the LGBT people by laws and efforts to belittle us.
It is time that we as the LGBT community stop acting as we accuse others of being. We are seen by ourselves as being “the inclusionary good guys” when in actuality we are pursuing an agenda which requires a “purity” of thought that we accuse our enemies of having. It is time to recognize that not all people work the same way to improve our community; some of us continually support the efforts of The Center, even though those efforts seem to not be appreciated by our LGBT peers. For myself, I intend to keep working with other “non-traditional” supporting organizations to improve the well-being of the LGBT community and The Center.
Gina you are delusional. Yes there were a few but heads, not unlike yourself, who caused a bit of a ruckus. And you know very Christtuna is lived and respected as one of our sisters. But you don’t give a shit about truth do you. Know why? You’re a Republican and will say and do anything to get your way. I had a child do that but he stopped around 5 or 6 when he began to able to reason and start making legitimate expressions. Shame on you.