Sgt. Charles H. Cochrane Way (Manhattan)
Present name:None
Location:At the northwest corner of Washington Place and 6th Avenue
Honoree: Charles H. Cochrane (1944-20 8)was the first openly gay New York City Police Department officer. In 1981, he testified at a City Council meeting in support of New York City’s gay rights bill. At the meeting, he testified that he was very proud of being a New York City policeman and equally proud of being gay. He stood up for what he believed in during a time when there weren’t many openly gay police officers. He went on to help form the Gay Officers Action League (GOAL), the first Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Law Enforcement Group in the United States, which set the pattern for establishing GOAL chapters that now exist in every major police department in the United States and helped advance civil rights issues in relation to sexual orientation. (Johnson)
LL:2015/76