GAY RIGHTS ACTIVIST RECEIVES $87,000 SETTLEMENT IN CLAIM OF POLICE BEATING.

Byline: Mary Beth Alexander Daily News Staff Writer

A gay rights activist who claimed a Los Angeles police officer beat him during a protest rally in Woodland Hills more than five years ago received an $87,000 settlement from the city, officials said Thursday.

Although he said it won't erase the frightening memory of the incident, Peter Mackler said he was satisfied with the settlement, which also calls for revised identification policies for LAPD officers.

``It's a personal vindication,'' Mackler, 39, said. ``I think this sends a message to the Los Angeles Police Department, to the City Council and to all city government agencies that the gay and lesbian community will not just lie down and get beat up.''

LAPD officials would not comment on the settlement. The city attorney handling the case did not return Daily News phone calls.

Mackler sued the city in 1992, claiming he was struck in the face with a baton after he turned around and asked LAPD Officer David Peck for his badge number. He claimed he suffered a black eye, a bump on the head and bruises when the officer struck him.

The incident, according to the lawsuit, happened at the end of a protest Nov. 15, 1991, outside the Warner Center Marriott Hotel, where Gov. Pete Wilson was attending a government fund-raiser. Wilson recently had vetoed a bill that would have prohibited employment discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Mackler's attorney, Jon Davidson, said Mackler felt he had been struck in part because he tried to learn Peck's identification after the officer pushed him from behind with a baton.

The settlement, Davidson said, requires the LAPD to issue a training bulletin instructing officers to provide their name and badge number upon request when they are physically able to do so.