Police attitudes towards the gay community shapes the fear this minority group faces towards policing. The lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community (which includes all members who identify as lgbt+), or the lgbt community, has historically been abused, harassed, discriminated against, and been the victim of horrendous hate crimes. The very officials who are paid to protect citizens: the police, are the very people who are often the executors of such aforementioned acts. For this reason–the fact that police 1. do not offer the lgbt minority group the proper protection of the crimes committed against them by other citizens and 2. are often times the victimizers themselves–the lgbt community experiences great distrust of the police.
