Discussion Document On Formation Of International Network Of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Police Associations =================== 1] Introduction - Brief Background to the Proposal ================================================== The first International Conference For Lesbian And Gay Criminal Justice Professionals, held in New York last summer during the Stonewall 25 celebrations, was a major success. Some 50 gay and lesbian police and criminal justice personnel attended from around the world. Workshops were held on a diverse range of subjects from dealing with discrimination at work to setting up an international group. The conference proved to be a most effective forum for gay and lesbian law enforcement personnel from around the world to exchange good practice on issues ranging from equal opportunity to community involvement, and to provide much needed support to each other in the difficult work upon which they are engaged. As you may know, one of the recommendations which came out of the conference was that some kind of international umbrella group of gay and lesbian police organizations be set up. The feeling of many of the delegates was that a structure was needed to ensure that such conferences continued to be organized, and to develop and build upon the many good things that the Conference had achieved; for example, the networking and mutual support between the different groups, the sharing of good practice, and the encouragement given to individual lesbian and gay law enforcement personnel trying to set up new groups around the world. The outcome of the workshop which focused specifically on the international issue was that those present would set up an informal working or steering group under the lead of Sergeant Marc Goodman, of California's lesbian and gay police society, GSPOA. The steering group would explore the options and prepare a proposal or proposals to place before the second International Conference for approval by the delegates there. Those attending last year's conference were asked to feed back to their respective groups the discussions which had taken place, and to seek the views of their members as to what form such an international network might take. Some progress has now been made and a number of groups and individuals have submitted suggestions about the way forward. Those received to date have been summarized in the following discussion document. It is important to emphasize that this is only a discussion document at this stage, and has been drafted solely to give groups and individuals an opportunity to review and comment upon the work that has been carried out up to now. In order to maximize the chances of the 1995 Conference being able to reach a final decision on the formation of the organisation, it is important that we ensure that all interested parties have a chance to make their contribution to this process well before September, so that a cohesive proposal or set of options can be put before the Conference delegates. To this end, a further meeting of the steering group has been called in Chicago on the 24th and 25th of February 1995. To ensure that the discussions which take place at Chicago are as well informed as possible, you are asked to forward any suggestions or contributions you may have, to either of the addresses given below, as soon as possible. In the interests of speed, please use e-mail wherever possible. All further comments received will be combined into a second draft of the discussion document which will be re- circulated to all interested parties just prior to the Chicago meeting. Please send your comments to:- USA, Canada, Mexico, Central & South America ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Sergeant Marc Goodman (Los Angeles Police Department) Golden State Peace Officers Association Post Office Box 46505 Los Angeles, California 90046 USA Telephone: (213) 739-4121 INTERNET: gspoa@aol.com Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Police Constable Tony Murphy (Metropolitan Police-London) Lesbian & Gay Police Association (LAGPA) BM LAGPA London, WC1N 3XX, United Kingdom Telephone: +44(0)1426-943011 INTERNET: lagpa@murph.demon.co.uk 2] Aims and Objectives of the Organization ========================================== Probably the most important issue for any new organization is to decide on its aims and objectives. It needs to identify the problems and issues which it wishes to tackle, and then to decide what action it intends to take to deal with these. If its aims and objectives are not clear, then it becomes extremely difficult to make any other decisions, such as an appropriate name, a structure, or level of financing. The following is a summary of possible aims and objectives proposed for the organization to date. The list is not presented in a particular order of priority. Where the content of some of the aims overlaps, both versions have been included, as one wording may be preferred over another. * To help existing gay, lesbian, and bisexual police and law enforcement groups around the world communicate more effectively with each other and to provide a forum for the sharing of new ideas. * To encourage the exchange of mutual support amongst gay and lesbian criminal justice groups internationally. * To facilitate the sharing of good practice on all subjects related to gay and lesbian police personnel, amongst gay and lesbian police groups around the world. * To provide a supportive and safe forum in which gay and lesbian law enforcement personnel can tackle the many difficult challenges they face such as discrimination, coming out at work, dealing with the consequences of HIV and AIDS. * To provide criminal justice personnel with the techniques and training necessary to decrease homophobia and increase cultural diversity awareness within the workplace * To facilitate the organization of an annual international conference of gay, lesbian, and bisexual police and other criminal justice professionals. * To provide information and assistance to gay, lesbian, and bisexual police and criminal justice personnel setting up new support groups around the world. * To maintain a law enforcement personnel section of the Internet Queer Resource Directory * To maintain a world-wide electronic mailing list for lesbian, gay, and bisexual law enforcement personnel. * To produce a regular international newsletter for the benefit of those who do not have access to electronic communication media. * To maintain a central archive of useful documents such as constitutions, newsletters, contact lists, reading lists, and other information which will assist in the formation and development of gay, lesbian, and bisexual police groups worldwide. * To help improve the relationship between the lesbian, gay , bisexual, and police communities internationally. 3] Name ======= Although the choice of a name is perhaps of lesser importance than the setting of the aims and objectives, it is still a critical and sometimes controversial issue for many organizations. The name will convey many subtle messages to members, potential members, and the outside world, and so needs to be chosen with care. Here is a list of some of the names already suggested for the organization, together with their resulting acronyms, again not necessarily in any particular order. International Assoc. of Gay & Lesbian Police Organizations (IAGLPO) Lambda International Police Association (LIPA) International Assoc. of Lesbian & Gay Police Officers (IALGPO) International Gay & Lesbian Officers Action League (IGLOAL) International Fedn. of Gay & Lesbian Police Officers (IFGLPO) Lambda International Police Officers Association (LIPOA) Gay & Lesbian Officers of the World (GLOW) International Fedn. Of Lesbian And Gay Police Associations (IFLAGPA) A summary of some issues which have been raised so far:- Should the organization be open about its purpose - for example should it include the words "gay" and "lesbian" in the title, or use less obvious terms such as Lambda? An advantage of the forthright approach is that anyone who deals with the organization is clear as to what it is, and we can be seen to be being honest, open, and proud of who and what we are. A often raised disadvantage for groups which have individual membership is that although a clear name ensures that potential members know that the organization exists, it also deters those who are less out from joining. For example, people may be afraid to pay membership fees to an obviously gay organization as this will appear in their bank accounts, etc.. Of course this would not be an issue if membership of the international organization was group membership rather than on an individual basis (see below). What terms should be used to denote sexual orientation, e.g. "gay", "lesbian", "queer" "bisexual", "transgendered", etc., and in what order should they appear? In some countries common usage is to put lesbian before gay, in others the order is customarily reversed. In some areas the word gay is accepted as a cover-all, in other parts of the world it is expected that the different words will be listed separately. What word or phrase should be used to denote the law enforcement nature of the organization, e.g. "police", "law officers", "law enforcement personnel", "criminal justice personnel", etc.. This will clearly be affected by decisions on the membership criteria for the organization (see below). As many of the groups which are likely to be involved in the setting up of the organization have both police and civilian membership, use of words such as "officer" may well prove unacceptable. Is the international organization to be a new body separate from the existing regional and national groups, or is it to be a federation of the existing groups. If the former, then names such as International Association of Lesbian & Gay Police *Officers* might be appropriate. If the latter, then something along the lines of International Association of Gay & Lesbian Police *Organizations* would be more suitable. Again this will depend on decisions made regarding structure and membership criteria (see below). As the group is to be international in nature, should this fact be explicitly stated in the name e.g. by the use of "world" or "international" to avoid confusion with regional or national groups? Finally, what word should be used to describe the nature of the organization itself? From Roget's Thesaurus, a list of words similar in use to Organization:- Association, Group, Assembly, Caucus, Guild, Fraternity, League, Federation, Union, Conference, Congress, Society, Order, Alliance, Fellowship, Confederation, Convention, Council. Some of these words are interchangeable with each other, whilst some have specific uses and particular slants in everyday usage which perhpas might render them unsuitable. 4] Membership Criteria ====================== Summary of issues raised so far:- Probably the first issue to be decided upon is whether the new organization will be a federation of existing groups, or a new group in itself which allows individual membership. Each choice would have its own significant consequences. For example, if individual membership were allowed, then the new organization would have to duplicate all the structures within existing groups, with the consequent resource implications. On the other hand, if the organization was set up as a loose federation of existing groups, then things would be considerably simpler, but how would we cater for individuals in areas where no lesbian & gay criminal justice groups already exist? If group membership is to apply, then what would be the membership criteria? Would the definition of criminal justice personnel extend to defense lawyers for example. Would "uniform" organizations be allowed to join? If groups had a mixture of law enforcement and non- law enforcement personnel, how would that situation be dealt with. If individual membership is to apply, then again, what will the membership criteria be. Would membership be limited to law enforcement personnel? What about retired criminal justice employees. Would interested non-law enforcement people be eligible? What if a journalist applied for membership? If individual membership is to apply who will carry out membership vetting if any? And who will maintain membership records, collect subscriptions, etc.? 5] Organizational Structure and Committee ========================================= Structure ^^^^^^^^^ Two main alternative possibilities for the basic structure of the organization have emerged to date:- * An international federation of existing groups on a basis similar to the United Nations model. * A new international group running in parallel with existing groups. Each options has it's pro's and con's. For example, an international federation would allow the proposed aims and objectives to be achieved whilst minimizing the amount of effort and resources that would be needed to achieve them. However, how would lesbian & gay personnel from areas of the world where there are no existing groups be catered for? A new international group could easily cater for individuals but would be a major undertaking, duplicating the structures already in place in many parts of the world. Such a group might be seen as competing with existing groups for members and resources, and this could be very damaging. It might be possible, however, to reach some kind of compromise to accommodate individuals from areas where there are no existing groups within the federal structure. For example, if the definition of a group was set in such a way that one person could technically constitute a group, this would allow membership of the federation. If subscription were set on a per capita basis this would not cost the individual any more than a member of a larger group. However, what voting rights would this one-person group have? The same as a group of 1000 members? Another possibility would be to try to create some kind of individual membership within the federal structure but this could rapidly recreate the problems of workload and "competition" referred to above. Committee ^^^^^^^^^ One possibility is that this could be run on a similar basis to the United Nations, with each affiliated group appointing an "ambassador" to the international organization. The international committee could then meet and delegate the various tasks it needs to carry out amongst the ambassadors/groups. A summary of possible office-bearers is given below at Section 6, and a list of international functions is given at Section 9. An actual physical meeting of the international committee could take place at least once a year, at the international conference. Each federated group would have the responsibility for electing an ambassador, who would have to be prepared to attend the international conference, to help form the year's committee, and accept on behalf of her or his group, any of the international tasks which the committee of ambassadors so decides. This would probably not be a meeting open to intervention by the whole Federated membership as this could make it difficult for the ambassadors to carry out their work. The ambassadors would presumably come from their constituent groups with a remit, and would represent that. To ensure that the process was seen to be democratic, all federated members could be given the right to attend the international committee meeting, but obviously not to vote or interject. In order to ensure that the views of ordinary members of federated groups are being properly taken into account, every conference could have one workshop concentrating on the topic of the international organization. The international committee could also be made accountable to the entire federated membership through open sessions in the plenary parts of the conference. As the committee is only likely to meet once a year, where possible, groups should be encouraged to elect the same ambassador for several years running, to ensure that continuity is maintained. Depending on their geographical location, committee members may or may not be able to meet together again at other times during the year. This need not be a significant problem to the running of the international body. Although international telephone communication is expensive, and conventional mail is slow and labor intensive, the relatively new medium of electronic mail is proving a very efficient and effective way of allowing groups of people to communicate and make decisions. Some kind of e-mail facility is available at fairly low cost in just about every country in the world. An E-mail list for gay and lesbian criminal justice officers is already in place. And E- mail has the added advantage of automatically documenting all discussions and decisions. It will be crucial, therefore, to the success of the international committee, that each ambassador has access to an e-mail facility. Voting ^^^^^^ Whilst it is hoped that, wherever possible, decisions at the international level will be taken on the basis of consensus, the issue of voting is bound to arise from time to time. International voting will be problematic - one group now has around one thousand members, some have two or three hundred, whilst others will only have a handful. It is important to ensure that the size of the larger groups is properly reflected in international voting, particularly as they will be paying for the major part of the funding of the organization's work! On the other hand, if the organization is to be truly international, it is equally important that the particular needs of smaller groups are fully met, and that they are not continually swamped by block votes from the large groups. As far as reflecting the size of groups is concerned there are two obvious solutions:- * Each group could be allowed to elect one ambassador who would have a block vote based on the number of members. * Each group could be allowed to elect a number of ambassadors based on the size of the group. Each ambassador would then have one vote. The former model is likely to be unworkable - one group would have a block vote equivalent to 1000 members, which would consistently swamp the voting procedure, rendering it meaningless! There would be no point in smaller groups voting at all. The second option has many advantages - the number of members per ambassador could be carefully set, perhaps on a sliding scale, so that small groups would still be able to get their voices heard, whilst an element of weighting could still be given towards larger groups. An example of how this could be achieved is given below. These figures are given purely for the purposes of illustration of the concept - the exact levels would have to be set once the likely membership makeup of the organization was known. Possible Sliding Representation Scale ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 1-100 members 1 ambassador 100-500 members 2 ambassadors 500+ members 3 ambassadors Another advantage of the second option would be that the larger groups would be likely to have more people interested in getting involved in international work - this would be a way of allowing them to do so. 6] Office Bearers ================= The following is a list of possible office bearers. Clearly some of these functions could be combined into one role, and it is possible that others will not prove necessary. However they are listed here as an aid to discussion. President/Chair ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ A Chair or President would be needed to chair the annual meeting of the international committee, and to ensure that the committee continued to work efficiently and effectively during the remainder of the year. This office bearer could also take on the task of furthering the aims and profile of the organization and its constituent groups during the course of the year. This office could also double with that of press/media officer. (See below.) Secretary ^^^^^^^^^ Although much of the correspondence received by the mail and e-mail boxes would probably be suitable for forwarding to regional or national groups, or to the relevant officer bearers, a Secretary would be required to handle correspondence which needed to be dealt with at international level. This will be one of our most responsible positions - it is quite possible that in the future we will be contacted by the United Nations, ILGA, Interpol, etc., and if the issues are not dealt with well, this could damage every group worldwide. All "difficult" mail should be forwarded to the Secretary who would then have the job of consulting the other ambassadors and formulating a reply. The secretary would also be responsible for taking minutes at meetings and keeping a record of decisions taken by e-mail, telephone, or post. See also discussion under Section 8 - Communication. Treasurer ^^^^^^^^^ A Treasurer would be required to keep the accounts of the organization, to pay any bills promptly, and to see that the books were properly audited on an annual basis. See also discussion under Finance - Section 7. Newsletter Editor ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ The function of this officer is discussed under Section 8 - International Newsletter. Press/Media Officer ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Someone will have to be deputed to ensure that the organization is fairly and accurately presented in the world's gay, police, and mainstream media. This is a very responsible position, and great care will have to be taken that the person selected has the ability, skills, and maturity, to handle the media at an international level, on sensitive issues which, with little or no notice, may become extremely controversial. As with the office of Secretary, if issues are not dealt with well, this could damage every group worldwide. This function could be doubled up with the role of Chair/President. Mail Administrator ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ The function of this officer is discussed under Section 8 - Conventional Mail. E-Mail/QRD Administrator ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ A technically skilled committee member would be required to ensure the smooth running of the organization's e-mail box, the e-mailing list, and to maintain the gay, lesbian, and bisexual police section of the QRD. These functions are further discussed under Section 8 - Communications 7] Finance ========== The way the organization is financed will depend to some extent on the functions it carries out. For example, if as much of the work as possible were to be delegated to member groups, perhaps on a yearly basis, then central costs would be negligible. E.g., the running of the International Conference could continue to be taken on by individual groups on a yearly basis. However, this might be seen as being unfair to individual groups if the same groups had to bear the brunt of the costs year after year. If the international organization restricted itself to a minimum of functions, then again, costs would be low. These could amount simply to running a Post Box, producing and distributing an international newsletter on perhaps a quarterly basis, and maintaining the E-mail list and QRD sections. If, on the other hand, the international organization were to take on board functions such as organizing conferences, then it could find itself in a position where it had to raise many thousands of dollars a year. If the former is the case then the organization could be funded by each member group paying a small international subscription, perhaps on a per capita basis. If, on the other hand, major projects were to be undertaken, then fundraising activities might have to be carried out. The possibility of grants from national and international funding bodies could also be explored. In either case, a treasurer would need to be appointed to keep the accounts and to ensure that bills were paid. The accounts would also have to be audited each year. 8] Address/Communications ========================= A summary of some of the proposals received and issues raised around international communication:- Conventional Mail ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ A conventional mail box would probably be an essential for an international organization so that there was some central contact point for conventional mail. It would obviously be important that the mail box did not change address from year to year, and so it might prove necessary to ask one of the member groups to volunteer to administrate the mail box for several years. It has been suggested that the appropriate place for the mail address for the organization would be New York, because of the location of the United Nations and a number of other international bodies. However this would clearly depend on whether the local group, GOAL-NY, was able and willing to take on the extra work involved. Much of what the mailbox received would probably be suitable for forwarding for national or local groups to deal with. For example, requests for help from people trying to set up new groups are probably best dealt with by referral to the most local group. Some would be bills and would have to be sent to the treasurer. Other correspondence might be items for the international newsletter, which would be forwarded to whoever was editing the newsletter that particular year. Other correspondence would require action or a reply from the international organization and would have to be sent to the Secretary. Much of the mail will probably just be asking for information: to deal with this, standard information packs could be prepared which could be sent out by the group looking after the box. E-Mail ^^^^^^ The organization would also need an e-mail address but this would be less problematic than the conventional mail address. Electronic mail can be forwarded to the relevant person much more easily than conventional mail, and once the QRD resource was available, most requests for information could probably be answered by referral to the QRD. However, as with the conventional mail box, the group volunteering to administer the E-mail box would need to undertake this work for a number of years to avoid repeated changes of address. E-Mail List ^^^^^^^^^^^ An E-mail list for lesbian and gay law enforcement personnel is already in existence, and at the time of writing has just under forty members. It is temporarily being administered by one of the groups, but it would be logical for the international organization to take on this role. QRD Section ^^^^^^^^^^^ We have already received permission to create our own lesbian and gay police section of the Queer Resource Directory on the Internet. This could act as a central archive of useful documents such as constitutions, newsletters, contact lists, reading lists, and other information which will assist in the formation and development of gay, lesbian, and bisexual police groups worldwide. At the moment, this section is being prepared by two of the groups, but again this function could logically be taken on by the international organization. International Newsletter ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ A paper newsletter will probably still be required to get news and information to groups and individuals which do not have access to e- mail. This could perhaps be produced on a quarterly basis. Whoever takes on this function needs to be adept at communication and computer desk top publishing. All groups could be encouraged to send in stories, newsletters etc., to whoever was carrying out this role. The QRD database would also help here. 9] Summary Of International Functions:- ======================================= Below, for reference, is a summary of possible functions that an international organization might be expected to carry out. As before, these are not listed in any particular order. * To meet at least once a year to install a new committee of ambassadors. * To elect the Office Bearers of the Committee. * To set and administrate the membership rules of the international organization. * To administer the conventional mail box. * To administer the E-mail box. * To administer the E-mail list. * To maintain the gay, lesbian, and bisexual-police section on the QRD. * To administer the accounts of the international organization. * To produce an international newsletter. * To adjudicate between competing bids to host the international conference. * To assist regional or national groups where necessary in the organizing of the international conference. * In the longer term, to represent the interests and needs of gay, lesbian, and bisexual law enforcement personnel at international level - United Nations, ILGA, IPA, etc.. Document Produced By: PC Tony Murphy Lesbian & Gay Police Association LONDON, UK Last Updated: 13/01/95 14:37