These moves do nothing to celebrate and demonstrate solidarity within the L.G.B.T.Q. The organizers are certainly within their rights to reduce the number of armed police officers providing security, but let’s be honest: It’s a poke in the eye at law enforcement more than a meaningful action to address police violence or foster a dialogue about law enforcement reform. officers from marching is a politicized response and is hardly worthy of the important pursuit of justice for those persecuted by the police. The Anti-Violence Project said the number of reports of police violence received tends to rise during Pride Month: In June 2019, 8.2 percent of its clients reported police violence, and in June 2020, 8.4 percent did.īeverly Tillery, the executive director of the organization, said the N.Y.P.D.’s perceived misconduct during last summer’s Black Lives Matter protests served as another signal to Pride organizers and participants that a police presence at Pride detracts from, rather than contributes to, the safety of vulnerable individuals.īut barring L.G.B.T.Q. In 2020 the organization supported 1,453 victims of violence, and 4 percent reported experiencing police violence in New York City. rights group, which has been a proponent of limiting the police’s role in Pride, said the organization’s hotline consistently receives calls during Pride reporting police harassment. Leaders of the New York City Anti-Violence Project, an L.G.B.T.Q. Last year a confrontation erupted between demonstrators from the Queer Liberation March and the police near Washington Square Park, and protesters said officers used pepper spray. Tensions between Pride participants and police officers have remained ever since, sometimes fanned by police misconduct. New York City’s first Pride celebration 51 years ago was a commemoration of the uprising sparked by a police raid on Greenwich Village’s Stonewall Inn one year earlier. Arboleda to participate in Pride was hard won, as part of a 1996 lawsuit that granted the Gay Officers Action League the right to participate fully in New York’s parade. The ability of reform-minded officers like Ms. Americans welcomed police participation in Pride. community demonstrate support for a more inclusive approach to Pride: A 2019 poll by Whitman Insight Strategies and BuzzFeed News found that 79 percent of L.G.B.T.Q. Taking a pledge to protect and serve your city should not mean sacrificing the chance to be included in a community celebration of your identity. community, preserving the inclusive spirit of Pride celebrations. Arboleda should be able to march in the parade and express their solidarity with the L.G.B.T.Q. The New York City Pride organizers’ decision is part of a worrisome trend in recent years of Pride organizers who have barred uniformed officers from marching in cities like Toronto and Vancouver, or have tried to do so, in places like Sacramento and St. community to be closing the door on some of its own and missing an opportunity to broaden its coalition. Today, at a time when Republican legislatures are attacking transgender rights across the country, it’s a strange moment for the L.G.B.T.Q.
community more visible and varied in a nation slow to overcome old stereotypes and fears. These police officers were vital in helping make the L.G.B.T.Q. police officers, who often received some of the biggest cheers from onlookers. people were thrilled to cheer for every out person and ally who would march in the parade, including L.G.B.T.Q. If parades are celebrations of community and history, the Pride parade is also about the joy of belonging - of being part of a people knitted together by shared identity and survival.