Fort Worth, Arlington police march in gay pride parade

Fort Worth police officer Teresa Trevino paraded down Houston Street along with fellow officers in uniform as attendees waved and cheered Saturday at the Tarrant County Gay Pride Week Parade.

Normally the police chief has a presence in the parade, but this year the department had a larger contingent, including some gay, lesbian and bisexual officers and civilian staff. The parade ran for several blocks downtown and was followed by a festival in front of the Fort Worth Convention Center.

“The fact they support us — that is just so exciting to me,” Trevino said after walking through parade patrons that cheered, thanked and hugged the dozen uniformed police officers.

Fort Worth Police Chief Rhonda Robertson handed out bracelets that said, “FWPD HAS PRIDE.” She said taking the time to march in the parade is important.

“We want to build our partnerships and relationships with everyone in the Fort Worth community,” she said. “We have several LGB officers, so not only am I here to support the community members, but also my officers.”

Trevino, who has served in the department for almost 20 years, said the chief’s support is meaningful.

“It’s awesome that the chief supports this and supports the gay officers,” she said.

Arlington Police Department officers followed Fort Worth in the parade, and Assistant Police Chief Jaime Ayala was giving high-fives to those along the route.

“There’s a lot of people who back the blue here today,” he said. “We’re here in support of the community and want to be a part of this parade to let this community know we’re here.”

A police inspection of the Rainbow Lounge, a Fort Worth gay bar, in 2009 resulted in injuries to two bar patrons and a handful of arrests. There were protests outside the courthouse and strife between the Police Department and the LGBT community.

“That really was a difficult time,” Robertson said.

That incident led to a task force and to changes in city policies regarding LGBT issues.

“We took that negative incident and turned it into a positive one,” Robertson added.

Tony Coronado, Tarrant County Gay Pride Week Association officer, said that police having a presence in the parade is a sign of the relationship.

“The relationship as far as our organization is, we’ve never wavered on our support of the Fort Worth Police Department,” he said. “As a whole I can count on law enforcement to back us up.”

This story was originally published October 3, 2015 at 5:02 PM with the headline "Fort Worth, Arlington police march in gay pride parade."