As calls for police reform and increased social justice continue to be felt across the U.S., the organizers of NYC Pride — the country’s largest and most well-known Pride celebration — have announced a decision to ban police officers from participating in the city’s massive LGBTQ festivity until at least 2025.
In a statement posted on the group’s official website, organizers wrote “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.”
“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. NYC Pride is unwilling to contribute in any way to creating an atmosphere of fear or harm for members of the community,” said event organizers. “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.”
