To the Editor,
Recently I read a comment posted on the Boston Pride Facebook page when it was suggested that Javier Pagán should be the Grand Marshal of this year’s parade. The comment suggested that because he’s paid to do his job why should he be Grand Marshal.
I would like to address that comment.
As a transgender woman I feel safer knowing that we have someone like Javier protecting us everyday. For many years the LGBT community were beaten by police every day in America. We were arrested just for being gay, lesbian, and transgender. Once we were arrested our pictures and addresses were published in the morning papers. We would loose our jobs and would be kicked out of our apartments, or thrown out of our parent’s homes because we were branded as deviants.
I believe many of our younger LGBT youth today can’t even begin to imagine the hell we went through prior to the Stonewall Rebellion in 1969.
To me Javier is a hero! He is a gay police officer who represents the best of our LGBT community. Everyday he is out there protecting us as an open member of our community and he deserves our vote as much as everyone who was nominated. [pullquote]As a transgender woman I feel safer knowing that we have someone like Javier protecting us everyday.[/pullquote]
He represents the best of us as do all the gay, lesbian, and transgender police officers today that are on our streets everyday protecting us.
I feel safer every night that I lay my head on my pillow knowing that 44 years after Stonewall there are police officers on our police forces around the country who make sure that we are treated equally under the law.
Javier is the perfect example that we who are gay, lesbian, or transgender can rise to any occasion and to be an example to our LGBT youth today.
Thank You, Javier!!!!!
Thank you,
—Erica Kay-Webster, Stonewall Veteran, via e-mail
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