Aurora Protects Its Queer Community

When it comes to police presence at Pride, many LGBTQ folks have conflicting feelings on the matter. While some prefer their support and protection, others are at odds with the historical and even current actions that some officers have taken against queer folks. In a time when tensions are high and the nation is bearing witness to an unprecedented number of violence against people of all kinds, safety is at the forefront of all our minds. 

As the Colorado LGBTQ community is preparing for its first-ever beach-front Pride, the Aurora Police Department (APD) is stepping up to show that they’re here for us, because they are us. 

“I’ve been very vocal since I was in the academy,” said Chief Vanessa Wilson. She has been serving as a police officer with the city of Aurora for the last 23 years. Wilson identifies as a lesbian and has seen from the inside what prejudices the queer community faces.

“I see the injustice, I’m not blind to specifically what the LGBT community has gone through,” said Chief Wilson.

Prior to beginning her 30 year career within the police force, Wilson had always been one to stand up to bullies and through her career, she has carried that same purpose and mission of protect and serve. Looking internally, she felt that she could make a bigger impact for the community by ensuring that things are carried out in an ethical and inclusive way by leading by example

“I’m not ignorant to the horrible, devastating interactions that a lot of our communities have dealing with police,” she said, “but the only way to make those interactions better is to be a part of the solution. I think some people get into it for the wrong reasons, and it’s my job, especially as a chief, to weed those types of individuals out.”

In many cases, for queer folks, the thought of being able to work a career in public service may not seem like an option. Captain Stephen Redfearn definitely thought this to be true for himself and it took him quite some time to feel comfortable talking about his personal life with his colleagues. 

“I started in 1999; I was 21 years old, and I just decided that I was going to stay in the closet,” said Captain Redfearn. “I didn’t think this was a profession where I was going to be able to be myself, and I was okay with that because I really wanted to be a cop.”

However, a chance encounter with some coworkers while he was on a date changed all of that and ultimately changed his perspective on the importance of coming out.

“You would hear comments, especially back 20 years ago, and I didn’t think I’d ever be able to succeed once I was outed, and it was the complete opposite,” he said. “I had guys coming up to me going, ‘It’s so cool, so-and-so in my family is gay,’ or ‘Hey, my 16-year-old kid just came out to me, what do I need to do? How can I be a good parent?’” 

Redfearn has even been able to encourage and recruit some of his LGBTQ friends who were hesitant to join simply by sharing how positive his experience has been with APD. 

“For me personally, it’s been a great place to work, and it’s refreshing to be able to do what I love, and then also be able to be who I am,” he said.

For many officers in other cities, being out to coworkers and leadership about gender identity and sexuality is not something that feels safe. In Aurora, however, they take the position of not only being accepting of their LGBTQ employees but exemplifying a reflective representation of the diverse community they serve.

“The chief officer that’s in place, Chief Nicholas Metz, came from a very vibrant LGBT community in Seattle, and to him, this is just normal,” said Chief Wilson. “When President Trump proposed the ban on trans in the military, he immediately tweeted, ‘If the U.S. government won’t take you, we will.’ He really led the way, and now he’s promoted me as the first female, and lesbian, ever to be a Division Chief in the city of Aurora.”

It’s because of officers like Wilson and Redfearn, as well as the cultural acceptance instilled by leader Chief Metz, participation in Aurora Pride and ensuring the safety of all that attend is of the utmost importance. 

“We’ve been getting a ton of support from the city, both from the fire and police department,” said Executive Director of Aurora Pride Zander Oklar. “We have worked out an Emergency Response Plan, and they’ve been great to work with.” 

Oklar said they have been working with an LGBTQ member of the staff as a point person, and they have thought through all the potential risks involved in planning an event of this size. While there hasn’t been much chatter about protestors planning to attend the beach party, after the shooting at the recent Garlic Festival in Gilroy, California, everyone is aware and on high alert. 

“An active shooter scenario is always something that’s on our mind,” said Oklar. “We have seen how it’s occurred at other events across the country recently, and we know there have been incidents specifically in the city of Aurora. We put a lot of thought into creating plans if we were to deal with an active shooter situation.”

Guests will be searched for weapons upon entrance at Aurora Pride, and emergency services will be on site and ready to respond if something were to happen. Having tripled their presence since last year’s festivities at the Aurora Municipal Center, there will be 11 off-duty police officers, as well as about 12 private security officers present, to ensure the day remains safe and fun.

Since the APD and Aurora Pride are prepared for anything and everything, they are also prepared to experience some hesitation from within the community about the presence of police at the event altogether.  

“I know that there has been a lot of animosity between the general public and the police, especially within our diverse communities in Aurora, but everything that I’ve come across in working with the police is that they’re very accepting,” said Oklar. “This an off-duty event; all police officers are not on the clock, so that means that they chose to work this shift. All the police officers onsite want to be there, so I think we’re going to have a very accepting police force that day.”

For officers like Redfearn, being able to express his pride in his career as well as his queerness holds a significant resonance, since an open acceptance of the officers in blue has become the exception and not the rule in his experience. 

“I hate that we still have the barriers that we do between law enforcement and our community; it doesn’t feel super welcoming because of people’s experiences,” said Captain Redfearn. “Last year (at Pride) I sat on the lawn and gave my husband a kiss; I could see people say, ‘Oh, that’s so cool.’ I wish that, as law enforcement, that was always the response, but that’s not realistic all the time.”

APD is continually striving to make things better within the force to ensure that everyone feels comfortable and safe if and when it comes time to report an incident or crime. 

“When we walk into a situation, we try not to pre-judge people based on a number of factors, and that’s really what we ask from our community is just give us a chance.” said Captain Redfearn. “I look at my wedding last year to my husband, and I had a ton of co-workers there, our co-Chief of police was there, and those are the stories that we just don’t get to share.”

Captain Redfearn said that there are a lot of instances where LGBTQ folks don’t even call the police because they fear discrimination or judgement, especially in cases of domestic violence. He suggests that in those cases, the person calling can even go as far as requesting from the dispatcher an officer that would make them the most comfortable when reporting these things. 

“It’s pretty safe to say that most shifts in most districts that we’ve got representation from any number of diverse communities. If it came down to us having to pull somebody from across the city to come deal with the situation because that’s the only person this particular victim felt comfortable with, I know we would do it.”

That promise is what makes APD exemplary in the areas of representation and forward thinking, and for anyone in the community who has a less-than-pleasant experience with an officer, both Captain Redfearn and Chief Wilson want to hear that feedback.

“I’m telling you that if you call the APD, tell me you were treated poorly, I will do something about it,” said Chief Wilson. “The way we weed out bad people in any profession is to bring to light what they’ve done; allow my administration to take care of it, because we don’t want them.”

As the officers look back over their years in service, the strides that have been made within the APD to be as accepting of LGBTQ folks within the force is something that they didn’t know was possible.  

“I literally look back 20 years ago, and I would have never imagined in a million years that Aurora would necessarily have a Pride, and that I’d be there in uniform with my husband and not be worried about any blowback or repercussions. So far, the feedback about us being there has been really good.”