(Photo from GOALcfl’s Facebook)
ORLANDO | Keeping a community safe is the number one task for law enforcement and criminal justice professionals, and organizations like the Gay Officers Action League Central Florida aim to keep those professionals serving the community safe too.
Formed in 2019 as a fraternal civil rights organization, they’ve since focused on advocating for the rights of their members and providing support for incidents involving harassment and discrimination in their workplace. Its mission is to support, educate and promote a positive relationship between LGBTQ+ law enforcement and criminal justice professionals and their community.
To start the new year, they announced a newly elected board of directors Jan. 6.
“I just know they’re going to do great things. They have a lot of different skills, they’re very active, they’re part of other organizations and that’s going to help bolster our mission, primarily on the law enforcement side,” newly elected GOALcfl President Eulalia Colon says.
Colon adds that she is excited about the newly elected board. “We want to have that positive connection and if it can happen in-house within the police agencies, it will translate also out to the board and then to the community.”
Joining Colon on the newly elected board are Executive Director Andrea Montanez, General Counsel Tiffany Thompson-Disler, Vice President Summer McCray, Treasurer Menachem Green and Sergeant at Arms Ashley Gonzalez. PR Manager Shannon Carson and Recording Secretary Audrey Casper were both reinstated. GOALcfl currently has an assistant treasurer position open for active members.
“I found that it was something I should’ve done a long time ago,” Colon says in regard to working with GOALcfl. Colon first joined the group two years ago after being in the closet for 31 years while working in law enforcement. “Our Sherriff is very LGBTQ+ friendly which made me feel more comfortable coming out,” Colon says.
For the first quarter of the new year, GOALcfl’s efforts will be directed at providing sensitivity training for law enforcement at the Orange County Sheriff’s Department and criminal justice allies at other Central Florida agencies with the hopes of strengthening the relationship between law enforcement and the LGBTQ+ community.
Colon says the training involves education on gender-affirming terminology when addressing the transgender community, gender markers on driver’s licenses, dealing with situations on the road with younger queer communities and the history of hate crimes within the law enforcement community.
“We like to teach our officers about the history in order for us to have them become more invested in the actual aspect of proper communication, I think the education about the history of the LGBT community, how we came to be where we are today, why there’s these big rifts between law enforcement and the community is important,” says Colon.
To foster and uphold the relationship between law enforcement and the community, GOALcfl also hosts educational forums, hosts social events for active duty and retired LGBTQ+ criminal justice professionals such as their member-based softball game days and regularly engages in community service work in Central Florida with other nonprofit organizations, as well as at Pride events.
“Being present and participating is where the fulfillment comes, and also what has taught to me over the past few years doing this is that you know, when you show up in person, it humanizes the badge,” Colon says.
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