June, which has been designated as “Gay & Lesbian Pride Month,” has been nationally established since June 2, 2000 –when then-President Bill Clinton declared it as such. President Trump has made no such declarations since he has been in office signifying this month as one to honor the gay, lesbian and transgender lifestyles.
However, since the tradition is in place, many cities throughout the country are still honoring the month of June as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) Pride Month. To celebrate a host of them put on parades where various organizations representing the LGBT communities march together.
Due to the large crowds, these parades block streets, meaning police presence is a natural expectation and reality. In addition, some police march in the parade and have police themed floats and booths as well.
However, a recent declaration by the local Black Lives Matter organization demanded the police vacate New York’s parade and have no presence in place, calling for a ban on all NYC police officers. How does this make sense?
Why The Demand?
Black Lives Matter NYC is a subset of the larger Black Lives Matter organization. Their official name is #BlackLivesMatter NYC, they have over 20,000 Facebook fans, and are responsible for organizing pro-black events from the Bronx to Brooklyn. On Sunday, #BlackLivesMatter NYC organizers Kei Williams and Kleaver Cruz issued an open letter saying the following:
“We … write this public statement to PRIDE NYC organizers, the Gay Officers Action League-NY (GOAL-NY) and the NYPD in declaring the following: the removal of uniformed police and PRIDE-detailed vehicles from the NYC Pride parade. As a human rights organization, GOAL-NY should be addressing the issues of local public safety issues within the NYPD Black and Brown communities across all precincts in NYC especially among those who identify as LGBTIQ, starting with supporting the Right to Know Act.”
The letter goes on to say that they within the movement, “cannot forget dangers that one of the biggest military forces poses to Black communities. We must call to awareness the hyper-militarization of local police. We call for #SafetyBeyondPolicing.” The letter goes on to ask the community for “safe spaces” free from police presence.
This is perhaps the most outrageous statement of the whole letter:
“We can no longer support spaces where a force that can kill us, with impunity, is allowed to patrol a day of celebration. We are here for Pride, but not like this.”
Of course, this isn’t the fist time Black Lives Matter and pride organizers have clashed.
Last year, Black Lives Matter Toronto interrupted their pride parade with a 30-minute sit-in to draw more attention to what the organization perceived as wrongdoing. Black Lives Matter Toronto members demanded the removal of Toronto police booths and floats from future pride parades as well as community events. #BlackLIvesMatter NYC said the following in a statement Sunday:
“Let us start off by saying that we stand in full solidarity with our siblings of the Toronto Chapter of #BlackLivesMatter.”
What They Are Really Saying
Although the Black Lives Matter organization is pointing to the police presence throughout their demands and during protests, what they really are saying is they don’t feel accepted even among the LGBT community. They want to draw more attention to their organization within the broadness of the LGBT community. In other words, it’s not enough for them to be accepted for being gay. They also have to be accepted for being brown, black or African American and gay, bisexual, transgender or lesbian.
If this is truly part of the inspiration for their protest against the pride parade, they aren’t alone. There are many groups that feel left out of the LGBT community. One such group is “Gays for Trump” who were told they could not participate in Charlotte, North Carolina’s Pride Parade simply because they happen to be LBGT individuals who support the Republican president.
Of course, each of these groups are mad about different issues. One is mad because they weren’t included within their own community because of how they voted. The other, to be honest….it isn’t even clear why they are mad. They would say it’s because the injustice they have dealt with at the hands of police. However, has it really been proven that such injustice exists?
The Black Lives Matter Organization seems to enjoy and thrive on interruptions, chaos and drawing attention to themselves. It’s difficult for someone looking in from the outside to even understand what their beef is about. What is it they want? There is already a Pride Parade after all, so why can’t they just participate in it and be happy? Who knows?
~ Conservative Zone
