NYC Pride events ban police presence until 2025

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• The Heritage of Pride announced on Saturday that police will be banned from participating in New York City’s Pride events until 2025.
• The group would avail community-based services to secure the event instead of local police.
• LGBT group Gay Officers Action League criticized the move.

The New York City Pride events organizers declared on Saturday that police authorities and law enforcement officials were prohibited from joining the NYC’s Pride events until 2025.

“The sense of safety that law enforcement is meant to provide can instead be threatening, and at times dangerous, to those in our community who are most often targeted with excessive force and/or without reason,” the annual march event organizers said in a statement. “NYC Pride is unwilling to contribute in any way to creating an atmosphere of fear or harm for members of the community.”

Organizers noted that they would not promote law enforcement on their media handles and their social media accounts. Authorities will be barred from getting any exposures.

“NYC Pride will not allow the NYPD to speak at its events or use any NYC Pride platform,” the statement said.

Per the organizers, they would also minimize the presence of on-duty cops during the events proper. The statement wrote that the NYC Police Department would only be tapped “when absolutely necessary as mandated by city officials” and to keep the officers “at least one city block away from event perimeter areas where possible.”

According to Heritage of Pride, the event will utilize community-based security like private security and first responders.

“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,” the statement read.

Per the group, the forthcoming review of the current policy would be in 2025, which would be evaluated by the Executive Board and the Community Relations, Diversity, Accessibility, and Inclusion committees.

Responding to the announcement, the Gay Officers Action League (GOAL) group said that they were “disheartened,” arguing that the move was “shameful.”

“Heritage of Pride is well aware that the city would not allow a large-scale event to occur without police presence,” GOAL president Brian Downey said. “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.”

For this year, the NYC Pride march will commence on June 27.

Source: CBS News