ORLANDO, Fla. – The City Beautiful is a place full of warm weather, beautiful scenery, theme parks, great restaurants-- but it’s so much more. Orlando is also a place for pride.
“We’ve always been a very progressive, inclusive city,” Orlando Police Department lead LGBTQ+ Liaison Sgt. Amanda White said. “It’s always been an LGBTQ+-friendly place. I love it.”
Within the Orlando Police Department, there’s no exception.
“October would be the Coming Out with Pride Parade, we’ll be there,” said White. “But also just being a part of the community, being a part of the parade and letting everybody know that police department is here with you.”
But LGBTQ+ support goes well beyond attending festivals and parades.
They have an LGBTQ+ Liaison team that works to ensure fair and respectful treatment of community members, a program that’s been around for years.
“Deputy Chief Young was the initial liaison, and he was for many years. And then it was transferred over to a retired sergeant. I took over in 2019 when she retired,” said White.
For White, the mission and supporting LGBTQ+ neighbors is personal.
“Because I am a part of that community,” she said. “I want to let people know that we’re here for them. They aren’t going to be brushed aside, that we offer training to our officers and to community members to ensure that the LGBTQ+ community is heard.”
So far, it seems they’re doing a good job.
According to the Human Rights Campaign, Orlando scores amongst the top when it comes to their municipal equality index. It’s a series of criteria that looks at things like whether the city offers protections and benefits to LGBTQ+ employees, city leaders and their commitment to equality, and fair, equal, and respectful enforcement of the law.
That part is where liaisons like White come in.
“We provide training for new recruits coming in to the police department, they receive a block of instruction on LGBTQ+ competency, and resources that the city offers,” said White. “Terminology, pronoun usage, what people are referring to themselves as or, you know, what to look for if somebody’s describing a scenario where they were victimized, things like that..”
Some of those resources include Safe Places. That initiative started back in 2016, and is a collaborative effort with 208 businesses in the city.
“It’s just a network of businesses that agree to provide a place for people to go to if they’re victims of anti-LGBTQ+ crime, or if they’re a victim of any hate or bias-motivated crime,” White said. “But it’s more important than just having a sticker on their window. There are still people who are afraid to come to the police for various reasons, but particularly transgender, gender non-conforming, or non-binary people who have been victimized, are feel fearful still. And they don’t know whether it’s because they don’t think that we will believe them, or that there will be judgment in their reporting, that they’ll be outed or they’ll be disrespected, or judged, whatever the case is. This initiative is so important to keep putting the message out there that we are supportive, that we do hear them, there is no judgment here.”
Being in it together is even more important with ever-changing laws and uneasiness in the community.
“We don’t have control over the legislature, but our job is to have that balance between enforcing the law and hearing our community’s needs and responding to the community,” White said. “The main purpose for us is to make people feel safe, to create a safe place for the whole city, for everybody.”
And, on occasion, being a part of the community means having a little bit of fun.
“There’s so much to law enforcement, it isn’t just enforcing the law. It’s being a part of these other organizations, being a part of the community. It’s having fun, it’s showing the humanity, it’s just responding with compassion,” said White. “But, you know, there’s a time and a place for everything. So it’s a balancing act. And it’s something that I don’t think you can get when you first start, it’s something you have to learn as time goes on. And that I’m proud of. I’ve learned a lot in my 14 years.”
If you have a business and would like to participate in Safe Place, click here.