History
The Gay Officers Action League of New England (GOAL/NE) was formed in 1991 by Officer Preston Horton of the Northampton, Mass. Police Department and currently with the MBTA Police, Boston. Officer Horton had been working with the Gay Officers Action League of New York ( which was founded in 1982), and decided to form a chapter for criminal justice professionals in New England. What began as a group of four police officers has grown into a large and thriving organization comprised of members from across the six New England state region.
GOAL/NE, as it became to be known, was based upon the principles of being a social and community organization comprised of present and former criminal justice system employees. It functions as a support group for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) sworn law enforcement officers as well as civilian employees of federal, state and local agencies. Of course, in 1991, that statement was very radical and frightened most of the people that would have been interested in such an organization. However, time proved that there were many brave heroes and heroines of our New England community that were willing to take the chance of losing everything in order to reach out to their “family.” Some of the first meetings found a handful of people sharing and wondering what the future would hold. Because of those few brave people, GOAL/NE today is a thriving organization that not only offers support to its members, but support and training to the criminal justice professionals across New England.
The organization provides peer support to members, serves as a forum for members to share their knowledge and experience, and to discover solutions to problems faced by members and agencies.
We support members struggling with issues such as coming out at work. GOAL sponsors social events where members enjoy the camaraderie of other criminal justice employees.
