Sex Act Campaign, November, 2006

Last year Amnesty International published the study “Stonewalled: police abuse and misconduct against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in the United States.”  Based on hundreds of interviews and testimonies as well as a survey of the 50 largest police departments in the U.S., the study reported that LGBT people face serious harassment and abuse from the police and that most police departments are not equipped to fix the problem. 

Amnesty International documented a range of police misconduct, including verbal abuse, inappropriate strip searches, failure to protect LGBT people in holding cells, rape, and other extreme physical abuses that amount to ill-treatment and torture.

The study concluded that the LGBT populations most vulnerable to police violence include youth, people of color, trans folks, people who are low income or homeless, and sex workers.

Many police departments do not have specific policies and training to guide officers when they interact with LGBT people, especially trans folks.  For example, 72 percent of police departments responding to Amnesty International’s survey said they had no specific policy regarding interactions with transgender people despite the serious threats faced by trans people in police custody.

Learn More!

Visit the homepage of Amnesty International’s Stonewalled Project  to read testimonies about police abuse, the full text of the “Stonewalled” report, and updates from major U.S. cities.

Take Action!

Demand that police departments address the violence and abuse faced by LGBT people when they interact with the police.  Call on your local police department to adopt appropriate policies and training to help end the systematic abuse of LGBT people.

You can send a message to the precinct commander of your local police station by filling out Amnesty International’s handy form.