Gay police officers in Northern Ireland have been given new facilities in a bid to bring the force into line with the rest of the UK, it emerged today.
Deputy Chief Constable Paul Leighton, who was behind moves to provide gay men and women with a room at the Garnerville Training College in east Belfast, claimed it was long overdue.
He said: "We are at least three or four years behind on this." Members of both the Gay Police Association and Ethnic Minority Police Association will hold meetings at the academy as part of plans to support a diverse workforce.
The numbers involved in either group is unclear, but Mr Leighton believed the move could help officers faced with a dilemma over their sexuality. "Northern Ireland does not do a great deal to support the gay community," he said.
"It's very difficult for gay people to come out and make a statement, and it's the same for police officers. What we would like to do is support people."
A branch of the Gay Police Association, which has representatives in forces throughout the UK, was set up in Northern Ireland after assessing the level of demand.
Mr Leighton stressed it was still at a formative stage, and office holders have yet to be appointed. "We are not forcing people to come out. It's in its embryonic form," he said.
"Gay police officers have been contacting each other for some time. We are trying to provide tacit support from the organisation. "That's the way diversity should take us, and to me it's something that will make us a better and more effective organisation.
"Diversity to me is not just about being correct, it's about making a difference." Alex Attwood, an SDLP representative on the Northern Ireland Policing Board which scrutinises the force, praised the development.
The West Belfast Assembly member said: "It breaks new ground and demonstrates further that whatever difficulties policing may have, we are getting there. "There will be people with narrow attitudes who behave in a negative manner towards this.
"But Paul Leighton is saying that even in a society like ours where there's big issues around the treatment of ethnic minorities and growing homophobia, an organisation like the PSNI should go that extra bit further.
"Anything that reaches out to gays and lesbians on one hand and ethnic minorities on the other is to be warmly welcomed."