When pride turns to shame
Claims of police brutality at this year’s Mardi Gras have, quite rightly, galvanised the LGBTIQ community but the actions of a few has left many reeling with embarrassment. Here, Nicky Bryson opens up about her feelings of shame.
I’ve never been ashamed of my community before but the events that have unfolded since Mardi Gras have shaken my faith. I always thought I was part of a mature community, one that worked by education and relationship-building. But nothing could have prepared me for the dismay I felt when a two-minute YouTube video showing only half a story so easily reduced our community to a kangaroo court baying for blood.
Thirty five years ago a shocking display of police brutality cut short a gay pride march in Sydney and brought a community together instead of smashing it apart. But that’s not where the story ends. Twenty three years ago the NSW Police began training the first Gay and Lesbian Liaison Officers in their aim to actively build a better relationship with the queer community. That’s a relationship we have all built together and fostered. It’s something we have proudly touted when we publicise the parade: in 1978 the police were the enemy and now they are marching with us.
Over the last two decades we have broken down so much of the ‘us’ and ‘them’ mentality that characterised our relationship with the police. The benefit of this has been more than just having police march at Mardi Gras. It has increased the reporting of homophobic and transphobic violence, it’s meant victims of same-sex domestic violence have felt safe enough to seek help and it’s even led to programs that address homophobic bullying in schools. It’s also created a safer space for gay police within the force; making it easier to ‘come out’ and encouraging more openly gay people to consider policing as a career path – further breaking down notion of us and them.
One of those people is my wife. She joined the police force twelve years ago as an out lesbian with a clear sense of wanting to represent the gay community. She is a Gay and Lesbian Liaison Officer and she is someone that lots of people (but especially people from our community) turn to when they need help.
When my partner puts on her uniform and heads off to work, she does so knowing that for every person she helps, another one may spit at her, take a swing at her, or try to kick her in the face. Yet she loves her job and she does it with passion and pride. Many people I know in our community have turned to her for advice or called on her in a time of trouble – from dealing with a D.U.I. charge, to needing protection from a violent ex or building the courage to report themselves as a victim of crime.
Right now I am trying reconcile that community with the people who are willing to instantly condemn an entire force on the basis of a YouTube video. The people who, even when more detailed footage emerged showing a different side of the arrest, were still willing to attend a snap rally despite warnings that it would be hijacked by professional protestors and march with a sign proclaiming all cops to be bastards.
The carriers of that sign have been dismissed as a fringe element but I saw people I know carrying signs reading ‘Local Cops Are Now Targeting You, Faggot’. I saw someone I love carrying a sign showing the rainbow crossing running with blood. And I’m not sure why this bothers me so much but at a rally that was supposed to be an emotional response to police brutality, every one of my Facebook friends who attended posted pictures of themselves smiling and laughing like they were at a carnival.
I’m ashamed of that protest. I think it did more harm for the relationship between the police and our community than most people realise. I also don’t think it did great things for the perception of the gay community out in the wider world.
However, I do hold greater hope for the policing forum scheduled for March 19. Community members will be able to speak directly with senior police and LGBTQI community leaders and open up a constructive dialogue about policing practices. To me this seems like a much better response to the community’s concerns than just dashing decades of work on the rocks and rolling the clock all the way back to 1978.
[Image] The banner at a rally against police brutality earlier this month which has angered many in the LGBTI community.
The Sydney Mardi Gras Policing Community Forum will be held on Tuesday, March 19, 7pm at the Teachers Federation Hall, 23-33 Mary Street, Surry Hills. To register, go to www.policecommunityforum.eventbrite.com.
About the Author
Nicky Bryson
Nicky Bryson is a classic example of ‘bad girl gone good’. For most of her career she could be found falling out of bars in skimpy outfits and stretching her deadlines out to the last possible second, only to turn in superficial nonsense about celebrities baring their hoo-ha’s. For reasons known only to the woman herself, Miss Bryson cleaned up her act and now uses her words to promote equality and denounce bigotry and hatred in all its forms. Her outfits continue to be skimpy.
Comments (18)
Ok, ok. It's commendable Nicky's wife is a GLLO. Now, can you tell us where we can find one?
Point taken, but written with little insight into the history of decades of police brutality perpetrated on the GLBTI community BEFORE the first Mardi Gras parade, even. That goes from purse-emptying to brutal beatings to white-washing homicides - some perpetrated by the police themselves, yes that's right - it's time to cut the crap.Talk to some people who were around back in the day and were the repeated victims of police brutality and you start to understand where some of the anger is coming from. Sometime one small, seemingly unjustified or unrelated event is just a catalyst. An apology to the community for the past would not go astray...a heartfelt one. Prancing in the parade with us doesn't cut it as a "sorry."
A little blinkered and one sided if you ask me. I guess middle class queers are still trapped in fuzzy wuzzy land floating around in their rainbow bubbles like everything is just dandy.
This poorly researched "opinion piece" completely ignores the bigger picture of lousy policing across many communities in NSW.
Nicky - do you remember the Brazilian boy who was killed for stealing a packet of Tim Tams? Or the Aboriginal man who was attacked inside Ballina police station...or the hundreds of people (including our overseas visitors) strip searched at our LGBTIQ community events?
Right now I'm ashamed of people like Nicky in our community who care more about a dumb banner at a rally than they do for basic civil rights.
It's not anti-police to stand up for better policing, but clearly Nicky has some misguided loyalty because her partner is a cop - shame
Good on you Nicky!
I too am ashamed. FFS, its not "gay targeting" - this behaviour happens all over australia. Drug arrests at dance parties, i.e. Future Music happen and in as much force as a gay dance party, no one publicises them like the gays do........ so it must be a gay thing.... piss off it is.
Get off the victim train you lot and move on.
...and Garry, we can rest assured the Mardi Gras board is even more outraged than the police!
I would like to congratulate Nicky on the courage it took to write this article. It's very easy to stay silent and let this one ride out, but she's put herself out there with a well reasoned and rational opinion piece.
I certainly didn't read this and think that she meant the 'whole community' as social media showed the week after there were many other people with the same misgivings. But no one has been bold enough to put this in a public forum.
The GLBTQI community should be mature enough to understand there are many opinions out there and not have an expectation of an agreed mindset.
My thinking is that the protests had a lot more to do with dogs in clubs, police at the party and other policing that has nothing to do with the incident in question. I don't particularly like dogs in clubs either, but they're everywhere; straight clubs, public transport, Blacktown and Bankstown.... And if you think there were a lot of police at the Mardi Gras Party you should have seen Future Music Festival.
Equality means being treated equally, and when it comes to police presence everyone is being treated equally. You might not like the level of policing but that's not a gay or straight issue - its one for everyone.
For the record quick police action means that I'm alive today when I was being bashed. I haven't forgotten that and I remember it every time I get a speeding fine or find a dog irritating.
Neil, were your attackers prosecuted?
Unfortunately not, they scattered and the police though it better to administer first aid till the ambos came. I was in a pretty bad way.
I spent a lot of time trying to identify the attackers with the police from photo shots but that wasn't successful. The police were very keen to catch them though.
This was in the 80s so there was no CCTV , DNA etc for ID.
The fact that more than one police related brutal act occurred on such a significant day with such heavy loaded history, of course community action had to happen.
But yes unfortunately the rally was taken advantage of by different agendas, The Socialist Alliance among them, who used the rally to push their own politics. I'm sure it is near impossible to control a quickly organised rally of over 2000 people, all those marching with different experiences with police and holding different agendas. You can pick the extremists out (or your facebook friends) and write an article on their input in the rally, but please don't generalise that the whole LGBTIQ community share the same opinions as those painted on rally signs. I saw alot of insightful and great signs in the rally too, and ones that stuck to the point that police brutality towards anyone is unacceptable.
"The Socialist Alliance used the rally to push their own politics"? The same could be said about Alex Greenwich and Clover Moore who signed off on ratepayers' money for a rainbow crossing. Did the "the whole LGBTIQ community share the same opinion"?
What an overly sanctimonious, utterly biased article!?!?!
Agree. She should go back to writing about when she is drunk.
Given that Nicky has written a vivid and harrowing personal account of depression, the debt we owe the elders, and profiles of pioneers like Cayte Latta, is all you really remember an article about being drunk? That suggests that you're being either disingenuous or that's the only article you ever bothered to read.
While many of your points are valid Nicky, I think you should have researched more as to why the rally happened, it was not one isolated incident, it's the strip searching of a prominent member if our community at Harbour party with compound gates open16 other related incidents around the parade. While I agree local commands are trained well and kudos to the liaison officers they do a marvellous job, we need to train our entire force the same way. So for you to say this was all sparked just because of one half of a 2 Minuit video is as ill informed as you are accusing the community of being.
With all respect, Nicky is guilty of precisely the same crime as she levels against "the gay community".
She is ashamed of "the gay community". A community that "instantly condemned" the "entire police force".
However, it was not the "entire gay community" that did so. And what transpired should not be characterised as a sign of the immaturity of the gay community as a whole either.
It would have been wonderful for Nicky to acknowledge the "maturity" of the community that was reflected in many (within the community) working on dialogue with NSWPol, challenging management for a response that was, ultimately, shared horror, however measured in it's delivery.
Sure, there were elements in the community (and noteably from outside our community). But they did not represent me or the people I know let alone many people I don't know but refuse to categorise. As, I'm sure Nicky would agree no single individual, nor small collective represented any entire community.
What this experience does highlight is the fragile nature of the relationship between the community and NSW Police. For good reason. History exists. Prejudice still exists and violence is still perpetuated on a relatively politically powerless section of the community.
Unlike what Nicky eluded, noone can suggest that the added context of the arrest of Jamie (not available initially) justifies the exessive use of force used by the police officer in question.
What Jamie did 2, 5 or 10 minutes before the violence is any justification for the larger of the two carelessly using his superior strength to threaten the life of someone in custody, in relative control, in handcuffs.
Ironically, what people like Nicky need to be cautious of is tarnishing an entire community for the expressions of some. To do so would, apparently and at the very least, be immature.
There are other issues about the policing of Mardi Gras this year, not just the few incidents of violence, as disturbing as they are.
I've heard several stories of members of the leather community - always a prominent part of the parade - being told to 'cover up' or they'll be charged with indecent exposure. That's unprecedented in my experience and I'd like to hear an explanation from the police as to what their policy for the night was.
Goodness, "the leather community being told to 'coverup'"? They weren't being real homosexuals, were they?