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LGBT+ Link Officers Celebrate 25 Years Of Supporting Hampshire And Isle Of Wight's Communities

Hampshire Constabulary’s LGBT+ Link Officers have celebrated their 25th anniversary of building bridges with communities in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

Many of the force’s 90 link officers were present at the event in Eastleigh on Wednesday (May 18), which saw past volunteers of the scheme also attend.

One of the organisers of the event was Kirsten Troman. She joined the scheme when it was in its infancy 24 years ago and she was one of the first openly gay women in the force.

Now, she is a chief inspector and co-lead of the LGBT+ Link Officers and the force’s LGBT+ Resource Group.

Speaking at the event, she said:

“Being an LGBT+ Link Officer for me means pushing to create a more even playing field for our LGBT+ communities: getting people support that is right for them.

“You should all be very proud to deliver for one of the force’s longest-standing inclusion schemes and one of the country’s first LGBT+ networks in policing.”

Founded in 1996, the service was one of the first of its kind in the country and began out of working with gay men’s sexual health services to provide more specialist support to this community.

Initially known as ‘community contact officers’, the role quickly expanded to work with a variety of LGBT+ communities and by 1999 there were 16 officers in the service.

More information about how to report a hate crime is available online.

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