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[Sgt. Robert Flores] They come from all walks of life.
Their dress and their actions are an expression
of their orientation- of their identity.
And while religious, cultural,
and racial tolerance are discussed widely,
the issue of gender diversity is less understood.
This is the latest in a series of videos
to expand your knowledge and understanding
of the many diverse communities within our city.
Having knowledge of a person's customs, culture
and orientation enables police officers to conduct their duties
in a more efficient and respectful manner.
Today, we explore the Transgender Community.
[Diana Williamson] Well, my sex assigned at birth is male.
I am nevertheless a woman, okay.
And I, what I am in the process of doing, and I am a work in,
in progress, is making my body match my mind
because I can't change the mind.
The body is somewhat more flexible.
[Sgt. Robert Flores] Transgender is an umbrella term that includes transsexuals --
people who are biologically one sex
but identify as another.
Also...Intersexuals...people born with both male
and female sex organs.
And Cross-dressers...also referred to as transvestites.
[Gloria Wright] I belong to a group where we call ourselves
heterosexual cross-dressers.
So we are people who live,
part-time as females, part-time as males.
We tend to be married or in relationships with women.
So people would see us as being heterosexuals in that sense.
[Sgt. Robert Flores] The majority of cross-dressers are heterosexual males.
Gloria is a successful businessman
with a wife and two children.
He considers his cross-dressing a compulsion.
[Gloria Wright] There's no dating.
There's no *** component to it
and so I think most people are a little surprised
that it has nothing to do
with attracting the opp-attracting men,
or even attracting women.
It's a way of expressing who we feel we are inside.
[Sgt. Robert Flores] Gender identification
and *** orientation are two entirely different things.
The vast majority of transgender people are not gay.
[Ofc. Judith Jenkins]
a
depending on what they are living as, um,
they feel they are gay or lesbian and they're not at all.
A person that's gay feels comfortable in his own body,
[Sgt. Robert Flores] Or in the case of lesbians... other women.
[Renahe Redgenal] I am not going to have any type of sex changes.
I am not seeking to change my gender, by no means.
So I am, was born a female and will remain female
until the day I leave earth.
[Sgt. Robert Flores] Stevie Conlon, on the other hand, is transitioning.
She was born a biological male...but identifies mentally
and emotionally as a heterosexual female.
[Stevie Conlon] I'm a trans-woman.
n.
My driver's license was changed.
My name was legally changed.
I'm a transitioning ***.
I've been on hormones for several years.
I've grown *** and I'm saving up my money
for my *** reassignment surgery.
Transgendered people are just a statistical percentage
of all walks of life.
Uh, myself I am an attorney.
I'm licensed in Illinois and New York.
And we have *** doctors.
We have *** accountants.
So there are people in, in all the trades.
[Sgt. Robert Flores] Including law enforcement.
J
o
Ever since I can remember I always identified my self
as male and as I became older and was able
to make those changes I started to make those changes.
on to have top surgery, chest surgery,
then I went on to have hormone therapy.
[Sgt. Robert Flores] And finally-- full *** reassignment surgery--
which means now he is psychologically,
biologically and legally male.
[Ofc. J Wombles] I'm, I'm a police officer I'm not a trans-gendered police
officer you know.
I should be judged on my merits as an officer and not
on my personal choices
and unfortunately there are some officers there
that are affected by my personal choices.
[Sgt. Robert Flores] There is no room for bias of any kind
on the Chicago Police force.
All people are to be treated professionally,
courteously and respectfully.
For interactions with the transgender community...
refer to the person by the appropriate pronoun.
[Gloria Williamson] It's terribly, terribly offensive to a ***
to have herself, in my case, referred to with male pronouns.
[Stevie Conlon] If they have a question though, they could simply ask me.
How do you prefer to be identified.
Which pronoun would you like me to use, he or she-
and I'd be happy to tell them.
[ officer] Is this you on id?
[ woman ] Yes.
[ officer ] How would you like to be referred to, as ma'am or sir?
[Ofc. Judith Jenkins] I've myself done the mistake, and had somebody
step out of the car and said
'Ma'am step out of the car' and they are male.
And they'll say, oh, I prefer this or that and at that point,
I'll refer to them as such.
[Sgt. Robert Flores] Pat downs may be more complicated.
People in transition may not have undergone complete
*** reassignment surgery.
Ask a transitioning person if he or she is pre-op or post-op.
[Ofc. Jose Rios] Now a lot of the people that are transitioning that go from
male-to-female start off with hormone injections,
so they might start developing ***.
Th
dy
They still have to be searched by a male
because if they have male genitalia,
they're considered men.
Females that are female-to-male
with facial hair, but might still have female genitalia
and should be searched by a female.
[Ofc. Judith Jenkins] This is an officer safety issue and is just has to be done
and if you could do it as respectfully
as you can, but never compromise.
And
again,
never compromise officers safety on that.
[Sgt. Robert Flores] Be sensitive to transgender dress.
Some transgender people wear wigs.
Padded undergarments may be worn
to give a person a more feminine or masculine look.
Officers should refrain from verbal
and non-verbal expressions of surprise or disapproval.
[Diane Williamson] And it usually happens when the officer is simply ignorant
and just doesn't know what he or she is dealing with.
And it's humiliating to the person who's having it done
to her or to him and there's no reason for it.
[Stevie Conlon] And just as someone puts significance in their attire
because of their faith or their upbringing we put fait-,
we put a lot in our attire for our gender identity.
That's what, what we're doing.
Every time I've witnessed this, I've,
I've seen cops kind of like, what?
I mean give funny looks.
So I don't, I don't feel like a lot
of people feel safe or comfortable.
[Sgt. Robert Flores] Casey identifies as a female-to-male ***.
He works with gay and transgender youth
in the Uptown community.
[Casey] A lot of the times I'll hear
and I've witnessed young transgender girls walking
down the street where cops would assume that they're
out walking around to try, trying to turn tricks or to pick
up "johns" or whatever.
[Sgt. Robert Flores] That is not an infrequent complaint among transsexuals.
A belief that police and others assume
they are somehow involved in the sex trade.
[Stevie Conlon] That's like assuming that a woman
because of her appearance just wants to have sex with men.
That's really not appropriate, but people make
that generalization about trans people,
whether you're a trans man or a trans woman.
[Diana Williamson] And sometimes that erroneous assumption works a real hardship
[Sgt. Robert Flores] Assumptions, gender profiling,
stereotyping... all are counterproductive
to police work.
Keep an open mind when dealing
with any community member... regardless of race
or religion, *** preference or gender identity.
[Ofc. Judith Jenkins] Treat anybody that you would come into contact
with in our community with-
as if you were treating a family member,
or somebody that you know.
It's a simple as that.
[Ofc. J Wombles] They need to respect people's personal choices you don't have
to understand it or agree with it but you need to respect it.
I think with the respect everything else will fall
into place.
[Sgt. Robert Flores] All of the people we encounter on a daily basis expect
to be treated with dignity and respect.
It is our hope that this video will serve to enlighten
and foster a new awareness and understanding.
Thanks for watching and as always, stay safe.