LGBT liaison officers or Gay and Lesbian Liaison Officers (GLLOs) are individuals who work within

organisations An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose. The word is derived from ...

as a

point of contact A point of contact (POC) or single point of contact (SPOC) is a person or a department serving as the coordinator or focal point of information concerning an activity or program. A POC is used in many cases where information is time-sensitive and ...

. They build rapport and trust between an organisation and the communities they serve. LGBT liaison officers ensure that the LGBT community are receiving equitable and culturally competent service provision. LGBT liaison officers also raise issues within organisations that may impact LGBT communities and play a significant advocacy role when developing policies, programs, and services.

Police LGBT liaison programs

LGBT Liaison Officers have been appointed since at least 1962, when San Francisco Police Department appointed Elliott Blackstone as the United States' first liaison officer to the "

homophile Terms used to describe homosexuality have gone through many changes since the emergence of the first terms in the mid-19th century. In English, some terms in widespread use have been sodomite, Achillean, Sapphic, Uranian, homophile, lesbian, g ...

community". A pioneer of

community policing Community policing, or community-oriented policing (COP), is a strategy of policing that focuses on developing relationships with community members. It is a philosophy of full-service policing that is highly personal, where an officer patrols ...

, Blackstone worked within the police department to change policy and procedures directed against the LGBT community, such as

entrapment Entrapment is a practice in which a law enforcement agent or agent of the state induces a person to commit a "crime" that the person would have otherwise been unlikely or unwilling to commit.''Sloane'' (1990) 49 A Crim R 270. See also agent provo ...

of gay men in public restrooms.

Notable LGBT liaison officers

*Danielle Bottineau: LGBT Liaison Officer for the

Toronto Police Service The Toronto Police Service (TPS) is a municipal police force in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and the primary agency responsible for providing law enforcement and policing services in Toronto. Established in 1834, it was the first local police ser ...

. * Ben Bjarnesen: LGBT Liaison Officer for the

Queensland Police Service The Queensland Police Service (QPS) is the principal law enforcement agency responsible for policing the Australian state of Queensland. In 1990, the Queensland Police Force was officially renamed the Queensland Police Service and the old motto ...

(since 2010). * Mickaël Bucheron : LGBT Liaison Officer for the

Paris Police Prefecture The police prefecture (french: préfecture de police) is the unit of the French Ministry of the Interior that provides police, emergency services, and various administrative services to the population of the city of Paris and the surrounding t ...

''
Préfecture de Police de Paris''Mickaël Bucheron, le premier officier de liaison LGBT à la préfecture de police de Paris»''
Le Parisien, Caroline Piquet , le 20 novembre 2019. * Aditi Hardikar: LGBT Liaison Officer for the White House (November 2014). * Monique Dorsainvil: LGBT Liaison Officer for the White House after Raghavan's resignation, and until the position was filled by Aditi Hardikar. *

Gautam Raghavan Gautam Raghavan is an Indian American political advisor who is the director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office. Raghavan previously served as the associate director of the Office of Public Liaison in the Obama administration. Earl ...

: LGBT Liaison Officer (officially "Associate Director of Public Engagement") for the

White House Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs The White House Office of Public Engagement is a unit of the White House Office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States. Under the administration of President Barack Obama, it was called the White House Office of Public ...

, appointed by the president. *

Richard Socarides Richard Socarides is head of global corporate communications and government affairs for Gerson Lehrman Group (GLG). Previously, he led communications at New Line Cinema and has held other senior media jobs at Time Warner, AOL and in government a ...

: Former LGBT Liaison Officer for the White House (May 1996). *

Brian Bond Brian James Bond (born 17 April 1936) is a British military historian and professor emeritus of military history at King's College London. Early life and education The son of Edward Herbert Bond and his wife, Olive Bessie Sartin, Bond was born i ...

: Former LGBT Liaison Officer for the White House. *

Bill Kraus William James Kraus (June 26, 1947 – January 11, 1986) was an American gay-rights and AIDS activist as well as a congressional aide who served as liaison between the San Francisco gay community and its two successive US Representatives i ...

: Former LGBT Liaison Officer for Congressman

Phillip Burton Phillip Burton (June 1, 1926 – April 10, 1983) was an American politician and attorney who served as a United States representative from California from 1964 until his death in 1983. A Democrat, he was instrumental in creating the Golden Gate ...

. Successful in persuading Burton to publicly acknowledge the need for AIDS research.

Notable LGBT Liaison Programs

* Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit -

Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia The Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia (MPDC), more commonly known as the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), the DC Police, and, colloquially, the DCPD, is the primary law enforcement agency for the District of Columb ...

(established June 2000). * Gay and Lesbian Liaison Officers (referred to as GLLO) team in the

New South Wales Police Force The New South Wales Police Force (NSW Police Force; previously the New South Wales Police Service and New South Wales Police) is the primary law enforcement agency of the state of New South Wales, Australia. Divided into Police Area Commands (P ...

, for over 25 years. *

- LGBTI Liaison Officer Program established in 1997. * Amsterdam Police Roze in Blauw.

References

{{reflist LGBT culture Government occupations