Overt and Insidious Police Brutality subjected upon Women, the LGBTQ2+ Community and its impacts.
Introduction
Relations between law enforcement, women, and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Two-Spirit and plus (LGBTQ2+) community has historically been fraught with violence, discrimination, blatant sexism, and in some countries, is the reason for various human rights movements (United Nations, 2021). Police brutality and misconduct against women, generally racialized women, is well documented; ranging from horrific allegations of sexual abuse, rape, and violence by law enforcement (Human Rights Watch, 2015), to blatant sexism during investigations (Green et al., 2021). In countries like the United States of America, police brutality and misconduct against the LGBTQ2+ community–famously known as the Stonewall Uprising of 1969–is what ignited the American gay rights movement, which eventually led to the decriminalization of homosexuality a decade later (Library of Congress, 2020). Up North in Canada, despite Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau introducing Bill C-150 to decriminalize homosexuality in 1967 and the bill passing in 1969, Canada had its own ‘Stonewall Uprising’ during the bathhouse raids by police in Toronto during February of 1981, where 150 officers arrested 300 men, and 3000 protestors took to the streets the following day; this event culminated into what would become Toronto’s annual gay pride celebrations (University of Manitoba, 2019). Today, that brutality by law enforcement is still felt, despite Canadian advancements to respect human rights, exhibiting itself both overtly and insidiously, this literature review aims to analyze and compare these conducts, and the lasting effects they have instilled in women and the LGBTQ2+ community.
Analysis:
Research by Green et al. (2021) uncovers the blatant sexism displayed by police during raids upon homes in which the women who occupied these homes were instantly sub-categorized as either being a “good woman” or a “good mother; therein influencing how the officers would then treat the women. Green et al. (2021) exposes that this perception by police is influenced by their own stereotypical, heteronormative views of womanhood and motherhood, and further by the woman’s race, state of home, and mannerisms. The women interviewed all admitted to crafting dynamic strategies to minimize harm upon themselves, and damage to their homes; such as playing the innocent victim, raising the pitch of their voices, and temporarily subscribing themselves to the subservient gendered perceptions officers held of them, only dropping the act when it no longer served them (Green et al., 2021). The article is a strong contender in displaying police brutality and misconduct in the context of overt brutality, and insidious brutality. Overt brutality being the raid culminating in fatality, such as the death of Breonna Taylor or physical assault (Green et al., 2021), while insidious brutality is maintained to be psychological, such as the manipulation and threats displayed by police during these raids, such as the threat to contact Children’s Aid Society on mothers for not cooperating (Green et al., 2021). Although the article does maintain shortcomings, in that only two low-income communities in Toronto were interviewed, the interviewees are diverse in race, and age; Overrall, the research is strong in depicting the treatment women face from police.
Meanwhile, research from Angeles and Robeerton (2020) depicts the lack of safety in urban public spaces in Toronto due to lack of empathetic understanding of the LGBTQ2+ community, and a distinct lack of trust in law enforcement by that community. This is explained through a habit of over-policing of “gay bodies” and underpolicing of “gay-bashers”, as well as inaction by police when any within the LGBTQ2+ community reports an incident of violence, discrimination, intimate partner violence, and/or sexual assault/harassment that they’ve been subjected to (Angeles & Roberton, 2020). According to the interviewees–through various agencies that serve the LGBTQ2+ community–overt brutality by police against LGBTQ2+ individuals were instances in which the officer was the violent aggressor, and usually inflicted influenced by the victim’s intersectional identity; where insidious brutality were in the realm of microagressions, inaction, and exasperating the trauma felt by the victim through discrediting and belittling them (Angeles & Roberton, 2020). This resulted in LGBTQ2+ individuals either taking matters into their own hands through vigilante justice, or refusing to include law enforcement at all by not reporting any incidents; all of this contributing to their unease and distrust in police (Angeles & Roberton, 2020). While the research by Angeles and Roberton (2020) has its strengths, that being the coherent and nuanced understanding of the discrimination felt by the LGBTQ2+ community, and the intersectional identities of its members; the research displays a rather significant shortcoming. This shortcoming is that, although the interviewees were contacted through differents agencies and organizations, a significant portion of them were revealed to be white and of a college age, therefore negating the reliability of the Angeles & Roberton’s (2020) research, especially as the research focuses on such a diverse city as Toronto.
Lastly, Russell (2019) explains in their article, the invalidating reality of pinkwashing. Pinkwashing is a strategy that appropriates the LGBTQ2+ movement to promote a “gay-friendly” image while hiding violent tendencies and actions (Fem News Magazine, 2019). In the article, Russell (2019) elucidates that police attempting to rebrand themselves as protectors and champions of the gay rights movement, through inclusion of police in pride celebrations, painting rainbows on their cruisers, and maintaining an afable presence on social media, is but an attempt to erase past history of police brutality against the LGBTQ2+ community; simultaneously while not introducing sensitivity training to officers, and maintaining increased police presence during pride celebrations. The lack of sensitivity training, combined with the toxic masculine and heteronormative disposition of most police forces is explained in detail by Russell (2019), who also explains that it is the cause of both overt and insidious brutality during parades in the past. This, however, has been met by resistance by both Queer and Other parties, who have–internationally–held up pride celebrations in the past, until their demands to refuse honouring police in what has, historically, be seen as a celebration in spite of police brutality, are met (Russell, 2020). Most notable of these events, that Russell (2019) uses as an example, is Black Lives Matter Toronto holding up the parade in 2017. The article has many strengths, mainly that Russell (2019) makes the effort to describe the institution of law enforcement as a largely masculine, hetero-normative identity and how this results in the continued brutality of the LGBTQ2+ community. The shortcomings are few, mainly in the lack of specific Canadian examples, however, the inclusion of various other countries does more for the reliability of the article in the end.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, all three articles hold various similarities, most prevalent being the frequency in which the victims were subjected to the brutality by police for their racial identity, with pervasive targetting of black and indigenous individuals (Angeles & Roberton 2020; Green et al 2021; Russell 2019). Another similarity is the use of agency by the victims, such as the counter-manipulation tactic used by the women in the research by Green et al. (2020), the vigilante justice displayed by LGBTQ2+ individuals, and the ways to cope with their traumas, whether wholesome or negative, in the research by Angeles and Roberton (2020), and further resistance of Pinkwashing displayed during Pride celebrations in the article by Russell (2019). The literature, ultimately, shows the necessity for change within law enforcement, whether that be better accountability policies, sensitivity training, or a complete overhaul of the criminal justice system; what is irrefutable, however, is that nothing will change if the aggressor, the police force in this case, do not advocate for change within their respective spheres of influence.
Articles:
Greene, C., Urbanik, M. M., & Yankey, M. K. (2021). “I’m Wise to the Game”: How Inner-City Women Experience and Navigate Police Raids. Feminist Criminology, 16(4), 403–423. https://doi.org/10.1177/15570851211005541
Angeles, L. C., & Roberton, J. (2020). Empathy and inclusive public safety in the city: Examining LGBTQ2+ voices and experiences of intersectional discrimination. Women’s Studies International Forum, 78, 102313. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wsif.2019.102313
Russell, E. K. (2018). Carceral Pride: The Fusion of Police Imagery with LGBTI Rights. Feminist Legal Studies, 26(3), 331–350. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10691-018-9383-2
Suplimentary Sources:
Human Rights Watch. (2015, June 26). Those Who Take Us Away. Retrieved February 25, 2022, from https://www.hrw.org/report/2013/02/13/those-who-take-us-away/abusive-policing-and-failures-protection-indigenous-women
Fem Newsmagazine. (2019, June 1). Feminism 101: What is Pinkwashing? Retrieved February 25, 2022, from https://femmagazine.com/feminism-101-what-is-pinkwashing/
Library of Congress. (2020). Research Guides: LGBTQIA+ Studies: A Resource Guide: 1969: The Stonewall Uprising. Retrieved February 25, 2022, from https://guides.loc.gov/lgbtq-studies/stonewall-era
University of Manitoba. (2019). University of Manitoba – Libraries – Manitoba Gay and Lesbian Archives – History of Gay Liberation Movement. Retrieved February 25, 2022, from https://umanitoba.ca/libraries/units/archives/digital/gay_lesbian/liberation_history.html
United Nations. (2021, August 16). End ‘rampant’ police brutality, promote tolerance: UN human rights. UN News. https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/08/1097782
ma guarda quante stelle nel cielo 