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| Topic | NYPD banned from participating in NYC Pride events and march through 2025 |
| Lebronwon 05/16/21 10:42:17 AM #1: | https://abcnews.go.com/US/police-banned-participating-nyc-pride-events-march-2025/story?id=77701551 Police will be banned from participating in NYC Pride events, including its signature LGBTQ march, until 2025, the organization announced Saturday. NYC Pride is also working to reduce the New York Police Department's security and first responder presence at its events, the organization said. Andr Thomas, co-chair of Heritage of Pride, which produces NYC Pride, told ABC News it was a difficult decision that's "not going to please everyone." "We know many LGBT cops," Thomas said. "But what the institution represents sometimes to a person of color or trans person is violence, and that doesn't make you feel safe. So that's the perspective we're coming from. And it's a difficult place to be. But we know that's what our community expects of us at this time." Typically, about 200 NYPD members would participate in NYC Pride's march, held in the month of June, organizers said. That includes members of the Gay Officers Action League, or GOAL, a fraternal organization that was formed in 1982 to address the needs of LGBTQ officers. GOAL called Heritage of Pride's decision "shameful," and found its statement, which did not mention GOAL by name, "demoralizing" and "dehumanizing." Heritage of Pride is well aware that the city would not allow a large scale event to occur without police presence. So their response to activist pressure is to take the low road by preventing their fellow community members from celebrating their identities and honoring the shared legacy of the Stonewall Riots," GOAL President Brian Downey said in a statement. Heritage of Pride said it plans to shift first response and security to trained private security and provide volunteers with de-escalation training. "NYPD will provide first response and security only when absolutely necessary as mandated by city officials," the organization said. It also plans to keep police officers at least one city block from the event perimeter areas "where possible." Additionally, NYC Pride is not mentioning law enforcement in its social media. These steps don't go far enough for some LGBTQ activists. Ray said the New York City Anti-Violence Project was pushing to have law enforcement completely removed from NYC Pride, and was concerned about the use of private security. "Most private security companies hire off-duty officers or former police officers, so we think it's the same mentality," Ray said. "We're pushing more for them to start to shift (traffic enforcement) to working with the Department of Transportation instead of the NYPD." --- Not 1, not 2, not 3, not 4, not 5, not 6, not 7 ... Copied to Clipboard! |
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