US
marshal pick was already gay rights pioneer
By The Associated Press
10.22.2009 8:57am EDT
(Minneapolis) As a little-known
Minneapolis police sergeant, Sharon Lubinski made headlines when she declared
she was a lesbian on the front pages of the city’s largest newspaper – a bold
move that other gay officers say inspired them to come out, too.
Though some gay rights activists
have criticized the nomination as nothing more than a symbolic gesture from a
president they say has lagged behind on key gay issues, others note the move is
a step in the right direction toward ending a culture of discrimination. Back when Lubinski declared in a
1993 Minneapolis Star Tribune interview that she was a lesbian, she told the
newspaper she feared she was putting her safety, career and personal life in
danger. At the time, officers in the department suspected of being gay endured
taunts, jokes and whispers. One officer who suspected she was gay even called
her “sicko” behind her back, she told the paper. But the risk was worth it, she
said. Police officers who handle gay crime victims must be able to accept gay
colleagues, and though the atmosphere inside the department was improving, more
needed to be done, she told the newspaper. “Hopefully, my coming out will
dispel any myths that you can’t be gay and in uniform,” Lubinski told the
newspaper at the time. The front-page story left a
lasting impression. Afterward, other gay officers said they felt emboldened to
follow her lead. “Frankly, I would not have been
comfortable being the first to come out, but I think she made it far easier for
the rest of us because everyone said, ‘Oh, she’s a good cop,’” said Minneapolis
Deputy Chief Robert Allen, who revealed that he was gay to fellow officers a
few weeks after Lubinski. Lubinski declined to be
interviewed for this story, citing a desire for discretion before Senate
hearings on her appointment. U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., who recommended
Lubinski for the job, said Wednesday she did so because of Lubinski’s
leadership and her respect from fellow officers – not her sexual orientation. “No one from the White House
talked to me before I recommended her,” Klobuchar said. “They didn’t say, ‘Hey,
it would be nice if you put this person forward.’ … I did this on my own, based
on my own best judgment and experience in working with her.” Colleagues described the Green
Bay, Wis., native as a determined and tough police officer who played a key
role in promoting better police-community relations amid a mid-1990s burst of
gang violence that earned the city the nickname “Murderapolis.” “She distinguished herself early
on as someone who took on the tough assignments,” said Greg Hestness, a longtime
colleague who’s now police chief at the University of Minnesota. He recalled
the time he assigned Lubinski, who joined the Minneapolis department in 1987,
to take over a precinct where officers had earned a reputation for arrogance.
“She connected well with both the troops and the community,” he said. Hestness, who described Lubinski
as a friend outside work, said she’s been with her partner, a landscape
designer, for more than 20 years. Not long after coming out, Lubinski led a
police task force on gay issues, and she currently teaches a course in police
diversity in the criminal justice program at a Minnesota community college. “She’s smart, she thinks, she
listens, you always know where you stand with her,” said Minneapolis Lt. John
Delmonico, the police union president who often clashes with top brass. “It’s a
real loss for the department.” Colleagues said even though she
was the first openly gay officer in the Minneapolis department, she never
approached her job with an activist agenda. “It was always a nonfactor,” said
Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek, a Republican former state legislator and
Minneapolis officer. As assistant chief in Minneapolis,
Lubinski is second-in-command of a force of about 880 sworn officers and 200
civilian employees. If the U.S. Senate confirms her nomination for U.S. marshal
for the district that covers Minnesota, she would be the first openly gay U.S.
marshal and the first female marshal ever in the state. Nationally, only one
other current U.S. marshal is a woman. Some gay rights activists
questioned the timing of Obama’s announcement on Lubinski. Obama has had a rocky relationship
with gay activists, who want him to end the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell”
policy on gays. Earlier this month, tens of thousands of gay rights supporters
marched in Washington, demanding Obama keep his promise to end the policy,
which he has pledged to do but hasn’t given a timeline. Two days after the march on Oct.
13, Obama nominated Lubinski. The White House announcement made no mention that
she was gay. “I don’t want to appear to be
denigrating this woman’s accomplishments, which appear to be substantial,” said
Cleve Jones, an activist who worked with the slain gay-rights pioneer Harvey
Milk and helped organize the Oct. 11 National Mall gay-rights rally. “But
there’s some peril in focusing on these appointments when the reality is that
LGBT people in all 50 states are still second-class citizens.” Many gay rights activists in the
law enforcement community identify with the struggle to end the military’s
“don’t ask, don’t tell” stance, saying similar, unwritten policies are in
effect in police departments around the country. George Farrugia, the president of
LEGAL International, an umbrella group for gay law enforcement groups, said he
was thrilled to hear of Lubinski’s appointment. “It speaks volumes for how far
we’ve come,” he said. But Farrugia, an assistant
prosecutor in Queens County, N.Y., cautioned that it isn’t enough because
police departments across the country still discriminate openly against gays in
the workplace. “I hope this is just a good first
step,” Farrugia said. “Hopefully one in a line of many steps to come from the
Obama administration.”