Soon-to-be iconic images — taken moments after the second blast on Monday in the bombing attack at the Boston Marathon — feature three Boston police officers coming to the aid of a fallen runner, one of whom is Boston PD’s LGBT community liaison.
The photo, captured by Boston Globe photographer John Tlumacki, shows early responder Javier Pagan (far right) and two other Boston police officers, ready to assist and protect citizens as smoke from the explosion billows in the background.
Pagan, a native of Puerto Rico who came out at age 26 not long after joining the Boston police department, was profiled by Bay Windows in 2002 when he was first named LGBT liaison.
One of the images of Pagan captured by Tlumacki has been chosen as the cover photo for the April 22 edition of Sports Illustrated:
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Pagan’s husband, Pedro, is a retired sergeant from the New York Police Department who rescued many people when the Twin Towers collapsed on Sept. 11, 2001, according to a Boston CrossFit site.
On May 17, 2004, Pagan escorted LGBT civil rights attorney Mary Bonauto to City Hall Plaza when the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled in favor of marriage equality, according to the Dallas Voice.
In his 2002 interview, Pagan said, “I think when people see me walking through they don’t see me as a Hispanic gay man, I think they see me as a police officer. And that’s all that should matter.”
Updates on the Boston bombing at CNN →
