The organizers of New York City’s Pride events confirmed on Saturday that they are banning police officers and other law enforcement from participating in the parade, even as much as not entering the Parade zone. The decision is set to be effective at least till the year 2025 and will also ensure that the police officers are at least a block away from the event. The decision has sprouted out of the need to create safer spaces for the marginalized groups, according to New York Post.
The annual pride parade is a festival that rejoices the existence and liberty of LGBTQ+ citizens. It began as a defiant commemoration of the anti-police uprising. People who support come together with banners and paintings of multi-colored flags. It was conceived a year after the 1969 Manhattan Stonewall Inn, a gay bar, confronted a police raid. The uprising is largely credited for the modern-day LGBTQ+ rights movement.
The ban is applicable to the Gay Officers Action League, an organization of LGBTQ police, who addressed the decision and said they were disheartened on a release. The changes although is effective immediately, will not be visible soon since most of the events this year have been pushed on online, taking into account the surge of Coronavirus. The march would indeed have an in-person demonstration, but it would be with considerably fewer crowds, and commotion.
As the Police Department is entitled to have responsibility and surveillance over public events, they cannot be completely devoid of the event, and hence will provide assistance if it is of emergency, a statement which even the Pride Organizers have agreed upon. The decision by the LGBTQ+ community derives from multiple reasons, even stating that The Anti-Violence Project, which serves a hotline for the LGBTQ+ people to report violence, answered numerous complaints regarding the very police force who are supposed to protect them, according to The New York Times.