Gay police officer to speak out for job rights bill

Springfield Patrolman Michael Carney decided to hide his homosexuality immediately after he graduated from the police academy.

At a graduation party, he saw a fellow officer come out of the men's room with a bloody nose. A police supervisor had beaten him up when he learned the officer had brought a male friend to the party, Carney recalled.

For years, Carney never spoke about his attraction to men. To deflect suspicion, he would make homophobic remarks in front of fellow officers.

But today, 25 years after he became a police officer, he will speak in the most public way about his sexual identity. He will ask Congress to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, a bill US Representative Barney Frank, a Democrat, introduced in April that would make it illegal to fire gays and lesbians because of their sexual orientation.

The pressure to stay quiet overwhelmed him. Carney began to drink heavily, and in 1989, he was so depressed, he resigned from the Police Department. He sought counseling to help him face his sexual orientation and deal with his alcoholism. He said he never drank again.

Still, Carney said, the fear of coming out to fellow officers remains pervasive. "Sadly enough today, I am the only one that is publicly out," he said.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/09/05/gay_officer_to_speak_out_for_job_rights_bill/
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