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Saviolo

(3,321 posts)
4. It's a very complicated issue that goes back a long way
Mon May 29, 2017, 03:20 PM
May 2017

So, last year, Pride Toronto invited BLMTO to lead off the Pride parade. The first thing BLM (an activist group) did was have a sit-in (for just under 30 minutes) at the beginning of the parade route, and provided Pride Toronto a list of demands before they'd start marching again. Among the demands were things like increased funding for activities and resources directed towards young queer POC, including trans youth, and underrepresented ethnic groups like South Pacific queer youth. One of the demands was that Pride no longer allow the Toronto Police to march in the Pride parade armed and in uniform (there is no ban on police officers marching in the parade, only marching in uniform, representing TPS).

Pride, also a political organization, found merit in the demands/requests and acquiesced. The parade continued. So, the big question was why BLMTO demanded that TPS not march in the parade in uniform. Straight up, it is because queer POC in Toronto do not feel safe around armed uniform police officers. At the time, the debate over carding was still raging (it's been publicly mostly settled by now, but the practice continues, wildly disproportionately targeting black men, and the police maintain their database of carding interactions as "police interactions" which will show up on an employment background check), and there were the recent killings of Jermaine Carby, Andrew Loku, and the trial for the officer who shot and killed Sammy Yatim.

Additionally, one of the founders of BLMTO is queer, and is well informed of the Toronto Police's extremely checkered past with the LGBTQ community, including the bathhouse raids, and the recent Project Marie raids. Many trans people, and young trans POC have also reported repeated police harassment and widespread transphobic and racist bullying.

For these reasons, BLMTO wanted to deny the Toronto Police Services some easy PR by marching in the Pride parade. It allows them to get some great optics by marching in the parade without having to make any changes to the underlying issues within the service, including systemic racism and transphobia.

And I agree with them. I'm gay myself, but white cis male, so many of the issues listed above do not apply to me, but I've got friends who are queer POC and unanimously they have had negative encounters with police.

Also, to reiterate, no one is banned from Pride. Police are still welcome to be there, but not armed and not in uniform. To call it a ban is grossly overstating it.

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