All police officers who have been prohibited from taking part in marches for the New York City Pride parade will be able to attend festivities in Long Island, as Fox News reports.
The events are certainly taking an unexpected turn with officers feeling more comfortable further away from the city.
It used to be that they were welcome to march in the city rather than closer to home where acceptance was lagging behind, shown by the fact that they couldn’t march wearing unforms in Nassau and Suffolk parades until 2000.
What are the details?
Pride organizers have communicated their decision to ban law enforcement groups from marching until 2025 at least. However, this move is paralleled by a different strategy taking place in Long Island. Over there, cops are invited to participate to all events and a table has also been donated for Nassau County police to do some recruiting.
Many experts believe that the growing divide between the city and the suburbs starts from basics of the movement and how they have different views on the police in general.
“Activists in cities still view Pride as a protest rooted in the Stonewall uprising against NYC police. Pride parades are a newer feature of suburban communities and are less a byproduct of protest and more rooted in celebrations of cultural change toward greater acceptance and diversity,” Gary Gates, a retired demographer from UCLA, said for Newsday.
On the other hand, suburban residents have more underlying concerns related to property protection and this can help create more support for the police in the long run.
“It becomes an issue around protecting your stuff, protecting your safety, protecting your family,” Karen Tongson, from the University of Southern California, told the news outlet about the way things are shaping around the New York City Pride parade.