A public servant through and through

STORY By Cora Flynn

Content Advisory: This story mentions homophobia and self-harm 

Growing up in a home with domestic violence, Keon Lee ‘24 always knew if things got bad, he could call the cops. The one time police needed to come to their Bronx apartment, Lee vividly remembers the wave of relief and security he and his twin brother felt. 

“I remember like it was yesterday; [the officer] just said, ‘You guys are good.’ And that, right there, changed my life,” Lee said. “The connection I had with those police officers is the reason why I want to go into the criminal justice system.” 

Twelve years later, Lee credits this moment for shaping the trajectory of his life and pushing him toward a path of public service. Though his family’s domestic violence issues ended soon after, this experience motivated Lee to pursue a degree in criminal justice. He aspires to become a local police officer despite the challenges he may face due to being a gay Black man. 

“I want to humanize the badge in any and every way possible. Going into it as a Black male now is hard, and going into it as a gay male is 10 times harder. But it's not deterring me from doing it. It makes me want to do even more,” Lee said. “People like me absolutely need to be inside the system, and it needs to change.”

After his family moved from the Bronx to Yonkers when he was 14, Lee explored his interest in public service and law enforcement. Lee joined the Yonkers Police Department’s cadet program and eventually became the lead juror for the Yonkers Youth Court. 

While attending Saunders Trades and Technical High School, he eventually became the president of their chapter of My Brother’s Keeper. President Obama started the organization to create supportive communities for young men of color. Lee brought the group together to raise $16,000 for Breast Cancer Awareness. 

These experiences inspired Lee to join the Marist chapter of Zeta Psi in spring 2022. He was drawn to the fraternity’s emphasis on community service and brotherhood over partying. Now, as fraternity president, Keon has helped run NARCAN and CPR training, food collections and self-harm prevention events. He is currently working on a variety of initiatives around mental health.

Lee’s commitment to empathy and kindness was shaped by his own experiences. Despite having a supportive family, Lee struggled to come to terms with his sexuality growing up. He only started coming out to more of his friends and family when he was a sophomore in college. 

“It was very hard for me to say ‘I'm gay.’ I think senior year is when I'm now comfortable saying it,” Lee reflected. “I never thought I would be able to say it. And people don't realize that’s such a hard thing to do because you hid it for so long.”

Illustration by Francine Wooley

Music and theater were important for Lee to explore his identity growing up. He and his brother, Klanell, were heavily involved with the Stuttering Association for the Young – an organization that supports youth who stutter. SAY’s celebrity connections led to opportunities for Lee, as a member of the SAY choir, to perform in a Bill Withers tribute concert at Carnegie Hall with Ed Sheeran and a John Lennon tribute concert at Madison Square Garden in 2015.

The organization’s focus on the performing arts helped Lee dive into songwriting. With SAY, he worked on a one-act musical that would be produced off-Broadway until COVID hit. The musical, “Masked,” explored themes of hiding one’s truth and coming to terms with it. 

“My identity was through my art. It was through my songs; it was through my lyrics from my poems; through the little skits I've made, I was allowed to be me on stage,” Lee said. “The feminine parts of me that I wanted to show were absolutely justified, and no one questioned it on stage.”

With the help of SAY, Lee published 30 copies of his book, which incorporates the script of his musical at the end. Lee launched his partial memoir in the spring of 2023, discussing his identity journey. He hopes to one day fully publish the book to help people through the journey he went on.

“It's like you're just reading my life; it's very candid,” Lee said. “I hope someone who reads this feels comfortable enough to put themselves in positions in which they can live their truth, and they can be who they are.” 

Although Lee is confident in his sexuality, he has considered hiding it while in the police academy due to the systemic homophobia in the law enforcement industry.

“I still think it's very important to live in your truth, but I think that there are certain things where we have to code-switch to get that advantage,” Lee said. “For me, it happens that my gay identity is something that I might have to hold back sometimes. Which isn't good to say, but in my head, I know that I'm always living in my truth.” 

After the academy, Lee plans on being more open about his identity. His summer job as a seasonal park ranger in Westchester County and internship at Hyde Park Police Department showed him there is space for LGBTQ+ people in law enforcement. 

“I interned in Hyde Park, and the sergeant there, Michael Stallone, is openly gay. He's absolutely my mentor. He showed me that I could absolutely be gay and be a cop,” Lee said.

It’s possible but not simple, as Lee has already experienced. He faces criticism from all sides of the aisle, including fellow LGBTQ+ people. 

“The LGBTQ+ community might not even accept me for being a cop,” Lee said. “They kind of place you inside of a bubble [as a member of law enforcement]. But I'm the complete opposite of that bubble.”

Undeterred by these obstacles, Lee’s aspirations for service stretch beyond the badge. He dreams of one day running a nonprofit to connect young adults with the performing arts while he and his brother are police officers. 

“As much as I'm getting into law enforcement, I still want to fight for change, and I still want to advocate like I've been doing here [at Marist],” Lee said, “I want there to be services for people to feel like they can be in rooms, no matter your race, no matter your ethnicity, your background, or your experiences.”

Photography by Christopher C. Smith

Video by Lizzie Baumgardner, Rebekah Hendricks and Christopher C. Smith