ORLANDO, Fla. — Orlando Police Department joined forces with LGBTQ organization Bliss Care Thursday night in effort to show its support for the Orlando transgender community, the agency said.
- 'Transformation' brought OPD, transgender community together
- Event aimed to create inclusive environment, OPD said
- RELATED: More Orange County news
According to Orlando Police, the mission of the "Transformation" event, hosted at OPD’s headquarters, was to create an inclusive environment between the transgender community and law enforcement.
"We have a full house, so a total of about 55 participants that are here, and they said that they are very excited, because of the fact that (they) are from all walks of life," said Bliss Cares Project Coordinator Ashley Figueroa of the transgender people who showed up to the meeting.
Police Chief Orlando Rolon and Orange County Sheriff John Mina also attended.
The event comes in light of recent calls for the city of Orlando and law enforcement to become more inclusive of its transgender residents.
Across the country, data shows violence against the LGBTQ community, especially transgender people, is up sharply.
In July 2018, transgender woman Sasha Garden was found dead in the Orlando area July 19. Investigators misidentified Garden as a “man named Steven who dressed as a woman,” which drew criticism from Garden’s family and local LGBTQ advocates.
In strides toward inclusivity, Orlando installed the first multi-stall, all-user restroom in a government building in the state of Florida in November 2018.
A 2015 study conducted by the National Center for Transgender Rights says 59 percent of transgender adults nationwide avoided using a public bathroom in fear of discrimination.
The city said wanted to create "all-user restrooms" in city halls to be inclusive of all gender identities and gender expressions.
