THE EL PASO POLICE DEPARTMENT MUST END DISCRIMINATORY PRACTICES AGAINST THE LGBT COMMUNITY

This petition is to make the El Paso Police Department become aware of its blatent and unapologetic discriminatory practices against the LGBT community.

This petition, with signatures, will be presented to the El Paso Police Department, stating:

1. The El Paso Police Department is to enforce all city, state, and federal laws, and not act above the law, especially in circumstances involving basic civil rights as described and mandated by the federal laws of the United States of America.

2. It is the job of the El Paso Police Department to protect citizens and visitors of the city of El Paso, not harrass them, nor unlawfully threaten arrest when no crime has been committed.

3. The El Paso Police Department is not permitted to practice Lost Enforcement which is:

when law enforcement, politicians or bureaucrats, when unsure of what the law is, choose to err on the side of arrest, threatening to arrest, confiscation of property or otherwise improperly infringing on individual liberties, often under the guise of “act now and let the courts figure it out later.”

4. The El Paso Police Department must reveal publically who the officer was who threatened arrest on the individuals on the 5th of July, 2009, at Chico's Tacos on Montwood in El Paso, and reprimand the officer in the appropriate manner as was done in the Lawrence case:

A Texas Department of Public Safety trooper has been placed on probation for telling two gay men who were kissing at the state Capitol that “homosexual conduct” was illegal in Texas.

Trooper Michael Carlson was placed on job probation for six months and given a written reprimand, DPS spokeswoman Tela Mange said Friday. Carlson, who has been a DPS trooper for three years, also has been ordered to have more training on Texas laws.

Texas law does not prohibit gays from kissing. Also, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the state’s anti-sodomy law in June 2003.

5. The El Paso Police Department must make a formal apology to the victims of this event, as well as to the LGBT community of El Paso, provide diversity training for its officers, provide training in current federal law in regards to civil rights and liberties, and assure the LGBT community of El Paso that it will uphold and enforce the laws to protect the LGBT community from discriminatory practices.

INFORMATION CONCERNING THE EVENT:

On the 5th of July, 2009, several LGBT persons went to a food establishment called Chico's Tacos. Two of these persons engaged in a kiss. A security guard approached them and allegedly told them, "Si seguian con sus payasadas, los vamos a sacar de aqui, no permitimos que anden haciendo cosas aqui de jotos." ("If you keep clowning around, we are going to throw you out of here. We don't permit you acting like faggots here.") The El Paso Police Department was called. The officer, which the EP Police refuse to name, told  the group it was illegal for two men or two women to kiss in public. The five men were told they could be cited for homosexual conduct -- a law the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional in 2003 in Lawrence v. Texas. This is a clear violation of federal law.

To make matters worse, El Paso Police Detective Carlos Carrillo said a more appropriate charge for what happened at Chico's Tacos would probably be criminal trespass.

No aplogy or admittance of wrong doing has yet been made by the El Paso Police Department.

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