Elliott Blackstone
| Elliott Blackstone | |
|---|---|
| Born |
November 30, 1924 Chinook, Montana |
| Died | October 25, 2006 (aged 81) |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Police Officer |
| Years active | 1949-1975 |
| Known for | Work with the San Francisco LGBT community |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance |
 United States
|
| Service/branch |
 United States Navy
|
| Battles/wars | World War II |
Elliott R. Blackstone (November 30, 1924 – October 25, 2006) was a sergeant in the San Francisco Police Department and a longtime advocate for the lesbian, gay and transgender community in that city.
Born in Aurora, Illinois, Blackstone served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, and was honorably discharged. In 1949, he became a San Francisco police officer and was a pioneer of what is now called community policing. In 1962, he was designated as the department's first liaison officer with the "homophile community," as it was then called. Blackstone worked within the police department to change policy and procedures directed against the LGBT community, such as entrapment of gay men in public restrooms.
Throughout the 1960s and early 1970s, Blackstone worked closely with local LGBT activist groups such as the Mattachine Society, Daughters of Bilitis, the Vanguard gay youth group, the National Transsexual Counseling Unit, and the Council on Religion and the Homosexual. Blackstone even took up a collection at his church to buy hormones for transgender people, at a time when city-funded health clinics would not provide hormones to them.
Blackstone was also involved in many other church and community activities, and taught community policing courses at the College of Marin. At his retirement dinner in 1975, he was saluted by LGBT community leaders for his advocacy and support. In 2005, an interview with Blackstone was featured in Screaming Queens, a documentary about the 1966 Compton's Cafeteria riot. According to one source,[1]
...
Wikipedia