Police ban from Pride not permanent: Vancouver Pride Society
Posted June 12, 2020 6:16 pm.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — The ban on police officers taking part in Vancouver Pride events may not be a permanent thing, according to organizers.
The chair of the Vancouver Pride Society, Michelle Fortin, says their decision to exclude individual officers is not a finite move.
“What we want to do is work with communities to understand when they believe police have arrived at a place where being a part of the Pride parade itself makes sense to them.”
Fortin says it will be up to members of the LGBTQ2S+ community who feel marginalized by police to decide when –or if– they will be comfortable allowing officers to participate in Pride events.
“Our message is, we’re really hopeful that [police] can do the work with their peers that needs to happen to dismantle the reality of a very racist and brutal system.”
She says the Pride Society still has a good relationship with local police.
“We let the city and the Vancouver Police Department know that we would be making this statement well in advance of doing so because we believe that it’s important to have open lines of communication,” she says. “We want to continue to work with VPD around these specific issues.”
The ban came amid ongoing concern about police violence against marginalized communities.
But the move to ban individual police officers from taking part in Pride activities this year has drawn concern from uniformed LBGTQ members, including the main spokesperson for the Surrey RCMP.
