the only reason cops are at pride now is to intimidate gay people into not making it a riot again and i will stand by that fact until the day i die
If the occasion should arise and I attend a pride festival, I would also like it to not become a riot.
imagine being this guy
contrary to what this newer generation of lgbt people think, cops are a new addition to prides. only within the past 10/20 years have they actually started “protecting” pride. aka standing around and intimidating the general public. historically, lgbt people have protected ourselves and eachother during pride events. from police in a lot of cases actually. ive been to pride events where the anti lgbt protesters were the ones being “protected” from the pride crowd… the cops arent there for us. theyre there to boost the image of the police force and make us think they care. the only people who feel safe around cops are the classes that they are meant to protect and people who are uneducated about police. (theres a heavy overlap as well.) you may feel safe around cops but many people do not. theyre literally dogs to the upper class.
arent they there? to stop any attacks from the anti lgbt groups?? yknow the ones that ALWAYS gather there???
I was at NYC Pride a couple of years ago and a massive section of the main route was completely dedicated to cops. The sight of a prison bus driving by with rainbow flags on it made me sick. That was the year that Toronto Pride asked the police not to bring guns to pride. And so the NYPD invited them to our parade, marching through and proudly brandishing their guns. Back at the Stonewall Inn, people who were protesting the commercialization of Pride were beaten by police. I used to buy some of what the commenters above are saying about protection, but after seeing all of that Pride needs to be anti cop.
[Image description: The image right before the above link is of the linked article. It’s a Vice News article titled, “Cops Were Banned from NYC Pride. They Showed Up With Riot Gear.” The subtitle says, “Eight people were arrested on Sunday after skirmishes between the New York Police Department and people celebrating Pride in New York City.” The article has a photo of cops harassing civilians. One cop is pulling the arm of a pride attendee while other attendees try to stop him. Another cop has cuffed someone on the ground. End ID.]
what do y'all pro-cops-at-Pride people think the zeroth Pride, the Stonewall Riots, were about?
spoilers: it was police brutality against the queer community