In Salt Lake City, the police will march and serve as escorts in uniform.Yes, but: Seattle Pride will still allow officers to participate in the parade. Meanwhile, Capitol Hill Pride is also banning officers from participating in a separate rally and march it hosts each year in the neighborhood, the historic center of Seattle's LGBTQ community.PrideFest is making the same request for a smaller event it will host June 25 on Capitol Hill.It takes place at the end of the Seattle Pride parade route and is expected to draw tens of thousands of people.In Seattle, leaders of PrideFest have asked police to stay off of the festival grounds for this year's June 26 event, Axios Seattle's Melissa Santos reports. Twin Cities Pride said they are required by local law to have police for safety.OutFront Minnesota, an LGBTQ advocacy group in Minneapolis, said last month it would not participate in the Twin Cities Pride festival this year because Twin Cities Pride will keep a presence of police officers, Axios Twin Cities' Torey Van Oot reports. But they have told us, peace officers, that if we wear our uniforms, we may not attend.” "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.