He maintains that it was the police who instigated any encounters in the sting.
The chief is also reaching out to several LGBT publications to stress that the police do not discriminate against gays.ĭiscrimination, however, is the basis of the defense's case, because straight couples arrested in similar cases have never been charged as lifelong sex offenders, says attorney Roger Tansey, who is representing several of the men arrested. For the Palm Springs police to pull something like this is incomprehensible," he said. "I've called for his resignation because the police chief is using tactics that we have not seen since Stonewall. So it's good they're doing it again," Linsky says, noting that he speaks for himself, not the board.īut another member of the police advisory board, Thomas Van Etten, is calling for the chief's ouster. "It's definitely necessary because if they've done it before, then it hasn't necessarily taken root. The training comes as welcome news to Andy Linsky, a prominent gay rights activist and a member of the LGBT Police Outreach Committee. Last week, he met with gay leaders, and he brought in an openly gay Los Angeles sheriff's sergeant to help conduct sensitivity training on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues in the Palm Springs force. Reacting to anger in the gay community, the Palm Springs police chief now finds himself in the position of damage control. The new scrutiny of the Palm Springs Police Department also reveals that there isn't a single openly gay male police officer among the 99 officers on the force (there is only one open lesbian), despite the city's reputation as a gay mecca. And this story has spread far and wide across the world, and it will have an impact because people are angry. The gay tourist dollar is crucial to the economic survival of Palm Springs. The gay events are the largest events in the valley. "Gay dollars are keeping this city afloat. "They're really shooting themselves in the foot," Jones says. All of this flies in the face of city's reputation as a welcoming place for gays, says longtime gay rights pioneer Cleve Jones, who relocated to Palm Springs from San Francisco 10 years ago. One officer can be heard using an anti-gay slur, while another officer laughs. Adding fuel to the community anger is surveillance tape shot inside a patrol car during the sting.