Meet Debra

Little could stand in Debra Gauthier's way. A marathon runner, Debra excelled in the Police Academy, garnering respect as one of the few female police officers in Las Vegas.

However, through her twenty-one years on the police force, Debra faced discrimination in the male-dominated profession, suffering demotions and unsafe working conditions when other officers would not provide backup.

In addition to the disappointment of injustice, she struggled with her sexuality, becoming entrenched in a homosexual lifestyle. After establishing an identity as a respected police officer, Debra was devastated when her career crumbled.

Her book, now in second edition print, "Bright Lights, Dark Places" thoughtfully expresses the painful reality of combating biased attitudes and the joy that comes from surpassing limitations.

BUY MY BOOK

When I left the police department in 2001 I began the journey of writing the book, "Bright Lights, Dark Places."  The first draft I wrote out of my pain and it read like an expose' on corruption.  Several people reviewed my first draft and wanted to know more about what I was feeling.  I had no idea what I was feeling because I had shut off  my emotions in order to survive the trauma.  At that point I  had no desire to reconnect with the pain so I put the manuscript on the shelf.

Several years later, Carol, a friend of mine invited me to attend a church service where a prophet was going to be speaking to her congregation.  I declined her invitation but she persisted until I finally gave in to her request.  We arrived at a small church in the inner city and I  looked around and realized that I was the only white person in the place.  After worship the prophet walked out on the stage and began to speak when he suddenly stopped and pointed directly at me saying, "God says get the book off the shelf!"  At that moment I could have died; instead I went home and got the book off the shelf.

In the fall of 2010 I rewrote the manuscript no longer out of my pain but now I was writing out of my passion.  You see, while my book was on the shelf God had begun a deep work in my life to heal and restore the things that had been stolen from me.  During this process I learned the gift of pain as I forgave the men in the police department that had harmed me.  You will be inspired by the story of God's ability to bring triumph out of tragedy and light into the darkness.  Enjoy!