InterPride, which represents Pride organisers around the world, estimates that New York’s is one of the three biggest such events, along with those in Madrid, held each July, and São Paulo in May. “Gay Christmas”, more formally known as Pride, is held in New York every June. The Pride march along Fifth Avenue, New York, June 2016 © Daniel Shea/Webber Represents The pink paraphernalia that surrounds it bears the slogan: “Mobilize for equality.” Next door, at T-Mobile, tired partygoers relax on white pouffes under the watch of a fuchsia unicorn. The pier is lined with promotional marquees: in a Delta Air Lines tent stamped with the tagline “Love, having no geography, knows no boundaries”, couples are invited to sit for digital caricatures sketched by artists on iPads outside, a flight attendant in uniform pushes a trolley through the crowd dispensing flashing party wristbands. The shout, emitted by a girl in knee-length rainbow socks and matching headband, is swiftly drowned out - first by the growl of Beyoncé’s “Formation” blaring through an enormous festival-style sound system second, by the collective whoop of the thousands of women assembled beneath it. Pride demonstrations in June 2020 also coincided with nationwide protests over the police killing of George Floyd and systemic racism, and calls to recapture the revolutionary attitude behind Pride grew louder.One June evening, on a broad pier jutting out into the Hudson river from the west side of Manhattan, New York, three words hang briefly in the sticky summer air: “Merry gay Christmas!” Last summer, on the anniversary of the Stonewall uprising, attendees at that march denounced what they described as excessive force, saying that police used pepper spray and batons on protesters. Other cities, including Toronto and Minneapolis, have already prohibited uniformed officers from participating, and an alternative annual event, the Queer Liberation March, has been organized in New York since 2019. Debate over the spirit of Pride - including the role of police and corporate sponsors - has been simmering for years. The first Pride march was organized to commemorate a 1969 police crackdown on gay bars that led to riots outside the Stonewall Inn. 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.Īn NYPD spokesperson told BuzzFeed News that the department was “disheartened” by the decision but would still plan to be present “to ensure traffic safety and good order during this huge, complex event.”
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“Heritage of Pride is well aware that the city would not allow a large scale event to occur without police presence. More recently, the group’s members have participated, with the department’s support. The group sued the NYPD in 1996 for barring gay and lesbian officers from using a police van and the department marching band at a Pride event. The move was described as “shameful” by the Gay Officers Action League (GOAL), which advocates for LGBTQ law enforcement officers in New York. “NYPD will provide first response and security only when absolutely necessary as mandated by city officials,” the statement said.
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Heritage of Pride, which organizes NYC Pride events, also said that it would review the presence of the NYPD as first responders and security for the event, and that it had an increased budget for security that would allow it to transition those roles to private security, community responders, and safety volunteers. The steps being taken by the organization challenge law enforcement to acknowledge their harm and to correct course moving forward, in hopes of making an impactful change.” “NYC Pride is unwilling to contribute in any way to creating an atmosphere of fear or harm for members of the community. “NYC Pride seeks to create safer spaces for the LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC communities at a time when violence against marginalized groups, specifically BIPOC and trans communities, has continued to escalate,” event organizers said in a statement Saturday. Organizers said they would also aim to limit the role of the NYPD in a security capacity. The ban applies to law enforcement and corrections officers until at least 2025.
Police will be banned from participating in New York City Pride celebrations as event organizers grapple with a year of reckoning over police violence and a push to center the most marginalized members of the LGBTQ community.