By Micki Cowan
Twenty-five years after Alain Brosseau was killed in an anti-gay hate crime, new recruits at the Ottawa Police still hear the tragic story of his death.
The story is part of diversity training, where minority representatives speak to new recruits. Luke Smith, committee coordinator for the GLBT police liaison committee, said they tell recruits about Brosseau to teach the history of police and sexual minorities in Ottawa.
“All of our training is Ottawa-specific. An element of that is the history element, and the fact that Alain Brosseau was really the trigger moment for the creation of the committee,” Smith said.
The group, composed of community members and police, was created after Brosseau’s death sparked outcries from the gay community and then other sexual minorities, said committee co-founder David Pepper.
“I think it struck a cord that anyone, including people who weren’t queer, could be attacked because someone thought they were or accused they were or felt they happen to be, as the murderer said, ‘a faggot,’ ” Pepper said.
Brosseau, 33, was walking home from work along the Alexandra Bridge when he was attacked by a group of four men. They made fun of his shoes, and then one of Brosseau’s attackers threw him over the bridge to his death in August 1989.
In court, it came out that the men thought Brosseau was gay. He wasn’t, but his death brought attention to the major issue of hate-inspired actions against sexual minorities in Ottawa in the late 80s and early 90s.
Pepper said he remembers the violence against gays around the time Brosseau was killed – people were who robbed, beaten up and chased because of their sexual orientation.
The brutality and randomness of the murder was part of what finally spurred Pepper to call for change. Pepper said police at the time were not responding to how dangerous the situation was for gay people and sexual minorities at the time.
“We turned to activism,” Pepper said. “Yelling, screaming, having our voices heard, organizing.”
Staff Sgt. Shaun Brabazon with the diversity and racial section of the Ottawa police said he doesn’t have any awareness that there was a different level of response from the police towards the gay community at the time of Brosseau’s death, but did say relations have come a long way since then.
“It’s fair to say that over the years, the police services as a whole has had to work hard to establish those relationships with multiple communities they serve,” Brabazon said.
Aside from the monthly committee, the police now take part in gay community events such as the annual Pride celebration and the Transgender Day Of Remembrance. Despite this progress, Brabazon said they’re always working to keep communication open.
“It’s not a finite job, it’s an ever-increasing action,” he said.
Ongoing issues were addressed at the recent Feb. 24 committee meeting, where members discussed the relationship between queer youth and the police. Gary Leger, current community co-chair, said at the meeting that youth today fear police would out their sexuality to family if caught in a criminal matter.
The committee is considering creating a sub-committee to engage queer youth and address concerns brought up about confidentiality. The decision was put on hold until the next meeting, when the committee will hear from the police’s youth committee.
The mention of Brosseau reminded Pepper how far relations have developed, and also how much there is left to do.
“I take a lot of satisfaction in that 25 years later we don’t fight whether hate crimes exist,” Pepper said. “The struggle is making sure hate has no place in society.”
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*The following picture is a screen shot from the city of Ottawa’s website, where I was able to find David Pepper’s contact information. I found it by trying a variety of Google searches until I was able to narrow the search down to the David Pepper I was trying to reach. It was extremely helpful as it allowed me to contact my main source.
*This is a report prepared by the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police. One of my sources suggested the document to me, so I Googled it and found the PDF online. The document was helpful in that it allowed me to better understand the police perspective.