New York City Pride says it will ban police through 2025 and 'reduce' NYPD involvement
New York City Pride will ban law enforcement from participation in events through 2025.
The organization said it will review NYPD presence and shift its role to "private security, community leaders, and volunteers" where possible.
It said police presence can be "threatening, and at times dangerous" to members of the LGBTQ community.
New York City Pride announced Friday that law enforcement officers would be prohibited from participating in its events through 2025 because their presence can be "threatening" to members of the LGBTQ community, particularly trans and BIPOC people.
"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 organization said in a press release.
Police will be barred from participating in events beginning this year through 2025, the organization said, when its executive board and committees on Community Relations and Diversity, Accessibility, and Inclusion review law enforcement's participation in future years' events.
"This announcement follows many months of conversation and discussion with key stakeholders in the community," said André Thomas, the co-chair of NYC Pride, in a statement.
As The New York Times reported, the decision follows decades of pressure from some LGBTQ activists who have argued police do not belong at Pride events, which grew from the 1969 anti-police riot outside the Stonewall Inn
In the press release, the organization also said that it was working to "review" the New York City Police Department's presence as security at Pride events and said it will take steps to "transition" to community-based and private security companies.
"Our annual work to ensure a safe, enjoyable Pride season has been increasingly embraced by its participants," NYPD spokesperson Det. Detective Denise Moroney told Insider in a statement. "The idea of officers being excluded is disheartening and runs counter to our shared values of inclusion and tolerance. That said, we'll still be there to ensure traffic safety and good order during this huge, complex event."
"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," Brian Downey, president of the Gay Officers Action League, told The New York Times.
NYC Pride said it would increase its budget to allow it to "independently build a first response emergency plan using private security and provide safety volunteers with de-escalation training."
"NYPD will provide first response and security only when absolutely necessary as mandated by city officials," it said. "In these instances, NYC Pride will review foreseeable NYPD involvement and, in partnership with surrounding venue precincts, take steps to keep police officers at least one city block away from event perimeter areas where possible."
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, much of the 2021 Pride celebrations will be virtual, the organization previously announced, though some elements, including a portion of the annual NYC Pride March, will be held in person.
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