'This committee would not order the drag community to wear flannel.“This committee would not order the leather community to wear polyester at the parade.' “Let us be clear,” the officers said in a statement.Police could march in T-shirts, she said. Suzanne Ford, executive director of San Francisco Pride, said the presence of the police in the parade is difficult for LGBTQ members given their history with the police department.Pride events that maintain a high-profile police presence are creating tension between LGBTQ members who support the Black Lives Matter Movement and some Pride boards made of predominantly white volunteers who want police participating in events.ĭriving the news: The San Francisco Police Officers Pride Alliance recently announced they would not march in this year’s parade because Pride organizers have banned them from wearing their uniforms, Axios San Francisco's Nick Bastone reports.Why it matters: Yearly Pride events typically are times for police to march and network with LGBTQ community members, but police shootings of Black Americans and the historic fact that Stonewall was a riot against overpolicing have organizers reconsidering officer participation. are telling local police departments they can't officially march in annual parades.
Organizers of LGBTQ Pride marches across the U.S.