Press Release – Scholarship Award

June 29, 2026 (Santa Rosa, CA)

Out to Protect announced today the award of a John Reinert Scholarship to Logan Downs of Peabody, Massachusetts.

Logan Downs graduated from the Essex County Sheriff’s Department Basic Training Academy. He was selected by the board of directors of Out to Protect for having demonstrated being an outstanding “out” role model for law enforcement.

Logan lived openly as a lesbian all through high school and into his young adulthood. He started transitioning in 2014 socially and medically. Since then, he has consciously stayed out as a transgender man to be a source of education to the masses and to other trans people. Logan said, “I am a complete open book with anyone I come into contact with. I’ve met countless people in sports or at work or everyday life that have had questions about what it’s like to be a transgender person, and I answer openly and honestly.”

Mr. Downs has been a mentor to many LGBTQ+ young adults in person and online via The Out Foundation, which is an LGBTQ+ Athletic Scholarship Program that encourages queer and trans people to stay healthy and find community in the fitness world. He participated in and facilitated transmasculine support groups in both Portland, OR, and Orlando, FL, while also mentoring multiple transmen in person and online, guiding them with their social and medical transition.  He said, “When I came out as a gay man in 2018, I only became more confident in who I was and felt that I could finally be exactly who I was always meant to be. I met the love of my life in 2022, and we were married on April 5th, 2026, and I could not be more excited!”

In times when transgender people are being oppressed, men like Logan Downs are standing tall and proud. This is the kind of role modeling that law enforcement needs and one that will serve the Essex County community well.

The John Reinert Scholarship was created by Out to Protect founder Greg Miraglia. It was named after San Jose Police Officer John Reinert, who was one of the first “out” gay officers in his department. John passed away in 2012. Greg Miraglia said, “We are thrilled to award this scholarship to a young man who is ready to serve his community and the law enforcement profession in a way Officer Reinert would have been proud of.”