Police back transgender recruits rejected by Trump
In the week since President Donald Trump declared that transgender Americans would no longer be allowed in the military, some municipal officials have responded with an invitation: Join our police force instead.
Several cities — including Houston and Austin, Texas; Aurora, Colo.; and Cincinnati — have encouraged transgender people to apply to their police departments. In Austin, San Diego, Seattle and other places, transgender officers already serve openly.
“If you are dismissed from our military because of who you are, know that you are welcome in the city of Cincinnati and our police department,” Chris Seelbach, a city councilman, said at a protest last Wednesday in response to Trump’s announcement.
Trump revealed his ban in a series of three tweets from 8:55 to 9:08 a.m. Eastern time on July 26. By the evening, two cities in Texas — where state lawmakers have been engaged in a highprofile debate over whether transgender people should be allowed to use the public bathrooms of their choice — had declared themselves in opposition to the ban.
Mayor Steve Adler of Austin, a Democrat, posted his own series of three tweets, inviting transgender people dismissed or rejected from the military to apply to the Austin Police Department.
“If you’re qualified to keep our country safe, you’re qualified to keep Austin safe,” he wrote, adding, “Austin is the safest big city in Texas partly because we know our differences make us a stronger community.”
In fact, Austin already has a transgender police officer, Gregory Abbink, and city employees’ insurance covers transgender health care.
Abbink, who was featured in the New York Times’ “Transgender Today” series in 2015, said then that the Austin Police Department had been “extremely supportive.” “I knew that I would be safe in my transition,” he said, adding, “The responses that I have gotten from my ‘brothers and sisters’ here at APD have been amazing, and I continue to be treated with dignity and respect.”
Chief Art Acevedo of the Houston Police Department weighed in soon after Adler.
And the morning after Trump’s announcement, Chief Nick Metz of the Aurora Police Department in Colorado tweeted, “If US Military wont take U, @AuroraPD will!”
Across the United States, a series of transgender law enforcement officers have come out in recent years.
Tori Newburn, who came out to his colleagues in 2016, is believed to be the Seattle Police Department’s first openly transgender officer, and Christine Garcia is believed to be the first in the San Diego Police Department. Rebecca Storozuk is an openly transgender sheriff ’s deputy in Orange County, Fla., and Jaime Deer is out in King County, Wash., home to Seattle.
Sgt. Eric E. Franz of the Cincinnati Police Department said his department, too, “previously had a transgender employee as a member of our staff and would welcome any applicants.”
In an interview, Acevedo said the public response to his Twitter post had been heartening. Even though social media makes it easier than ever for people to express discriminatory ideas, he said, “I haven’t had any negative feedback that I’m aware of from the community.”
Before taking on the top police job in Houston late last year, he led the Austin Police Department for nine years, including the period in which Abbink transitioned.
“We were able to do it almost seamlessly,” Acevedo said. “It was something near and dear to my heart because I lived it through Greg and the Austin PD.”
“His appearance might have changed on the outside, but on the inside, he was the same ethical, committed, hardworking, respected police officer as his entire career,” he added of Abbink. “He continues to serve with distinction and honor.”
“If you’re qualified to keep our country safe, you’re qualified to keep Austin safe. Austin is the safest big city in Texas partly because we know our differences make us a stronger community.” Steve Adler, mayor of Austin, Texas