A new study by the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law has revealed that queer people are six times more likely than the general population to be stopped by police.
The results come as a group of experts analyzed data from the Police Public Contact Survey, a study by the Bureau of Justice Statistics which collects data on police conduct, and from the Generations Study, a three-generation study of the lives of LGBTQ people.
Among the most shocking results: 6% of LGBTQ people reported being stopped in a public space, as opposed to just 1% of the general population.
“The much higher rates of LGBQ adults reporting being approached by the police is consistent with the idea that LGBQ people are over-policed and raises the issue of bias-based profiling of LGBT communities in general,” the study authors noted in their conclusion.
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Other statistics also reveal a higher level of police interaction. 19% of LGBTQ people reported being stopped while driving as opposed to just 8% of the general population. Those findings also hold regardless of race or gender.
22% of queer people also reported seeking help from police as opposed to just 11% of the general populace.
In general, queer people reported satisfaction with police response, though not quite as many as the general population. 81% reported that they felt police acted appropriately in their interactions, down from 91% among the general population. Women, in particular, reported a higher level of dissatisfaction: 69% of LGBTQ women reported feeling satisfied as opposed to 85% of women in general. In fact, one in five LGBTQ women reported they would hesitate to contact police in the future due to a negative experience.
The survey results come amid a precarious debate over policing in the United States. 2020 saw #BlackLivesMatter protests erupt nationwide in response to the killing of a number of unarmed men and women of color. Earlier this month, New York City pride announced it would exclude a police presence from pride events this year.
Kangol2
No surprise here. Stonewall and similar protests of that era, like subsequent ones, were a response to police brutality and harassment. The LGBTQ movement was built in part on resisting state violence and oppression of LGBTQ people, including cops.
MissTerri
So…. Unless the police somehow know IN ADVANCE that a driver is LGBTQIAMNOP – or whatever favored Alphabet Soup combination of letters you prefer – how can there be any kind of bias associated with police stops? Unless they are pulling cars over with those tacky Rainbow bumper stickers on them!!!!
Cam
Awwww, of COURSE the right wing troll account ALWAYS springs in to defend whoever is discriminating and of course makes sure to add in an attack on the rainbow. Sweetie, get a new gig.
BaltoSteve
@Cam, now you have to admit, in her own sad way, MissTerri is partially right that rainbow stickers are most likely part of how they identify LGBTQ drivers. I wouldn’t be surprised if the HRC equals sign is another thing they look for on a car to pull it over.
mailliw110
Where did it say anything about how or where the stops happened?
Heywood Jablowme
These statistics don’t surprise me at all. It’s surprising if nobody ever thought before now to ask the questions. For example, if you’re physically assaulted for being (variously) LGBTQ, you may have to get cops involved even if you doubt it will help.
Once in my ’20s I met a guy in a gay bar who was black and we were walking to his place. Racially-mixed neighborhood, fairly long walk. Cops stopped us TWICE to ask some version of “What are you guys doing together?” A black guy & a white guy walking at 2 am? – must be up to no good. They couldn’t seem to wrap their heads around it. But if we’d told them the REAL answer they probably wouldn’t have liked that either, lol.
Sqwoah
Police can’t tell who is gay and who isn’t just by driving by them in a car. They can however detect mesh tank tops, green mohawks, forehead piercings and all of the other things some gay people do and wear for gratuitous attention.
Cam
So the troll account switches screenames to now come in and defend LGBTQ people over policing, and then thinks it’s being subtle by making some weird generalized comment attacking what LGBTQ people for dressing weird.
BaltoSteve
Perhaps they can’t readily tell who is who just by driving by. However, if you go to an area of the city where there are a large number of members of the LGBTQ community living and working, the odds are pretty good the individual you stop will be LGBTQ. Especially if you go at a time when their straight counterparts are less likely to be there, like on a weekend night..
mailliw110
Once again, MissTerri, where in the story did it say anything about traffic stops?
Cam
No surprise. It was fairly comment to see police cars hidden and waiting for people to leave queer bars so they could pull them over. I remember hearing one of the bars went so far as to reach out to the city to demand an explanation and the cops would go away for a few months, then come back.
jthomasmpls
Police use the same tactic at “straight” bars known for excessive drinking in my area. Most of the queer bars in my area are in urban areas where patrons have to walk a few block to get to their cars. So are we 2.3 times worse drivers than straight people??
It would be interesting to know why and the nature of the calls for help/problems queer people call the the police twice as often as straight people.
Admittedly it’s been along time since I’ve had any interaction with police but I don’t think my sexually ever was part of the interactions so I’m curious how the researchers were able to break the day out of town by sexuality.
Cam
@jthomasmpls
In the area I was referencing, there were also multiple straight bars, none of which had cop cars posted outside. That was why it was easy for that one bar to spook the city when they called in about this. But it was very targeted.
BigJohnSF
What are the statistics if transgender prostitutes are filtered out?
Cam
I don’t know, what are the statistics if we also filter out all of the times police stop straight black people. I bet the difference is even more striking.
See, two can play at that.
mailliw110
Transgender and gay are not the same. So sorry the prostitute you picked up was not the gender you were expecting. Maybe a more detailed exam is needed before you hand over your daddies money.
Fahd
The article mentions a ¨precarious¨ debate about policing in the U.S. What is a precarious debate?
Anyone who has had interactions with the police knows there are problems; even “satisfactory” dealings with the police often have worrisome components. Anyway, to me, the biggest problem is that the police are very, very inadequately trained in non-lethal techniques. That problem seems more widespread than I had previously thought.
I guess the “precarious” part is whether or not you’ll survive an encounter with the police.
LumpyPillows
LGBTQ is a wide variety. I think more study is required to figure out what the real truth is. Are police really harassing LGBT people? Probably in some communities. I have no idea what a Q person is, so I have no idea about that, or how the police would know; they do tend to have one common trait – they’re really irritating and probably should be detained. I do know police would set up stings to catch gay men being gay, by posing as sluts in bathrooms; which I find to a stupid waste of tax payer money. So, yeah, I would guess there are some bigot cops using their authority to harass LGBT people. Bottom line is, this story lacked any real substance.
BaltoSteve
All one needs to do is look at the substance abuse rates of the LGBTQ community and realize what they are looking for on these stops. Study after study has found, when compared to the general population, a higher rate of alcohol and drug abuse in the LGBTQ community. So the police figure, drunk and disorderly or if they are really lucky a possession charge or two will be the outcome of these stops. Then they get to post those statistics. And, politicians use them as rallying points to show how wicked we are and why laws need to be enacted to curtail our freedoms. Rather than using those statistics to help fund social programs aimed at neutralizing the underlying causes of those substance abuse rates.
Invader7
WTF? Balto Steve…You’re a nasty ass troll. Let’s see there are MORE straight people ,therefore they abuse WAY more substances Don’t cherry pick your “sources ” You amateur !!!.. And the heteros commit way MORE violent crimes . Some cops ARE pigs. They have a little bit of power and the deeply INSECURE hetero breeders really do get off on wasting limited police resources aka TAX PAYER $$$ and waste more time responding to minor if unnecessary calls so they can feel ” powerful “.. Those delicate, INSECURE, male & female egos are so fragile. Poor darlings. They ALL need to be fired and some of them PROSECUTED to the FULL extent of the law. But we all KNOW the ‘ Thin Blue Line ‘ ALWAYS covers for and protects its own.
BaltoSteve
Invader, perhaps this will help you understand how things work. Substance abuse rates are tracked as percentages of a given population. While yes, there are more straight and straight identifying people in this world, and the overall number may be greater, the percentage of that population is significantly less, so the substances abuse rate is considered to be smaller than for LGBTQ people. And since it appears you didn’t finish reading my comment, let me assist you by pointing out that we said essentially the same thing. The police focus more on LGBTQ because it makes good optics for increased spending on the police, INSTEAD of spending it on programs to aid the more vulnerable in our community to live healthier lives.
mailliw110
I know for a fact that if you have a straight guy with drugs or alcohol. He’ll get naked with you and want you to….(You can fill in whatever sex act you can think of here).
Centrism
I’d like to see the stats disaggregated by each LGBTQ+ subgroup. The acronym lumps a lot of unrelated groups together, so it can be misleading.
arnieca
Queerty, once again my comment is locked in moderation. i have pasted it again below. there is either a glitch w/my account, or someone at Queerty has issue w/ most everything i say.
arnieca
– A guy i brought home was on drugs, said he was going to kill me, & robbed me. the cop asked me if i was gay, then yelled at me for wasting their time. they found the guy and let him go w/out questioning.
– Several times being harassed by cops when hanging w/friends near gay venues.
– Regarding how cops know someone in car is gay, i’m guessing they are near a gay venue. That’s what happened to me one time. Stopped me for no reason 1 block from gay bar, checking id & reg., shining super bright flashlight direct in my eyes for 10 seconds.
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tangent
I suppose I’d like a little more clarity around who has been stopped and the kinds of situations where they get stopped. I’ve been pulled over for speeding, but that’s about it. Once, the cop was even cute and charming and let me off with a warning. Other than that, I don’t find myself in situations or environments where I am engaging with the police.