00:00Peter can't show you his face, but he is one of many who have recently left the NSW Police Force.
00:08He joined the force in the late 90s, but kept his sexuality a secret.
00:13I had a pretend girlfriend when I was down at the academy.
00:16The derogatory comments towards homosexuals was constant.
00:21But four years into his career in the early 2000s, Peter was outed at a work function.
00:27I went to work the next day because I had to retrieve my firearm to go down to Goulburn Academy for a course.
00:34And a male consul had the keys to the gun safe and I asked for them and he spat in my face and said,
00:43we don't want you a top here.
00:45Peter was then shocked by his supervisor's reaction.
00:49He said he was disgusted in me. The fact that I was gay was more disgusting than being assaulted.
00:55In the years that followed, while police marched in the Mardi Gras parade,
00:59Peter claims he was subjected to constant bullying at work.
01:03People used to wipe down the desk with a keyboard if I had been using it because I had germs.
01:10I had a nickname that lasted for a decade and it was to do with anal sex.
01:18He says many refused to work with him, while others spread hateful rumours.
01:23I was approached by a senior constable and he said he was sorry that I was sick.
01:27And I was like, what are you talking about? And he said, I heard you have AIDS.
01:33I said, no I don't have AIDS.
01:36Peter never made any official complaints because he believed it would only make things worse.
01:42In more recent years, he says the discrimination became less overt, but it didn't stop.
01:48Just last year, he says he witnessed homophobia from senior police during World Pride.
01:53Whilst I was standing with members of the Mardi Gras and other members of the trans community in Sydney,
02:00I overheard high up police saying derogatory homophobic comments.
02:06After developing PTSD, Peter felt he was given no support and no opportunity to progress.
02:12He left the force earlier this year.
02:15Do you believe you were treated differently because you were gay?
02:18100%. Yep. I never got the opportunity.
02:22Police Commissioner Karen Webb has already announced an official culture review as a result of our ABC investigation.
02:28While she hasn't yet committed to interviewing current and former officers as part of that review,
02:33she says it will investigate any discrimination suffered by employees.
02:38I have hope that it will change things, but it depends on how the review is conducted.
02:46Peter wants the chance to help change the culture for future generations of police.
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