Police welcome At parade, just not in uniform
Calgary police will not march in uniform at this year’s Pride parade, organizers announced Wednesday.
Police officers are being “warmly invited” to participate in the festivities out of formal uniform while still identifying as Calgary police members, with any community organizations taking part in the parade, according to a joint statement co-signed by Calgary Pride president Jason Kingsley, deputy police chief Sat Parhar, Calgary police commission chair Brian Thiessen, Mayor Naheed Nenshi and others.
Police will not have their own entry in the parade.
Last year, Pride banned police from marching in uniform at the annual parade, a decision met with disappointment from the service at the time.
Since then, Calgary Pride has been working with police and the mayor’s office, along with the CPS
We will continue to work together to find new ways to advance equality, and promote inclusion and improve trust in police.
gender and sexual diversity advisory board, to improve relations and address concerns raised by marginalized people, according to the statement. Those meetings included representatives of Voices, a coalition of transgender, cisgender, queer and straight people of colour.
All parties agreed further conversations were needed with the broader community, and Calgary police committed to continue working closely with the LGBTQ community through its own gender and sexual diversity advisory board.
“Our journey with the GSD (gender and sexually diverse) community is ongoing,” Thiessen said. “We will continue to work together to find new ways to advance equality, and promote inclusion and improve trust in police.”
The announcement comes after Calgary police issued a formal apology to the city’s LGBTQ community last week for past criminalization, marginalization and systemic oppression of the community.
Chaffin said police learned through its dialogue with the community that it had developed a mistrust and fear of police because of past experiences. Calgary police spoke out against the decriminalization of homosexuality in 1969 and have struggled to embrace the changes made since the law passed.
That was seen when the service refused permits to the pride parade in the 1980s.
The 2002 raid of Goliath’s Bathhouse caused further rifts between the service and the community, when 15 people were arrested and charged with bawdy house charges. Members of the gay community spoke out at the time, calling it “an attack against this community.”
“While the GSD liberation movement was born out of protest, in more recent years the focus of many festivities have shifted toward that of a celebration. Celebrating our progress is an important aspect of modern queer culture; however, it must be balanced with an understanding of, and respect for, the past and present realities of intersectionality and the challenges still faced by many in our community,” Kingsley stated.
“Through their participation with Calgary Pride, CPS are demonstrating a willingness to begin rebuilding trust with all segments of the GSD community, and we are excited to continue this work with them.”
This year’s parade takes place Sept. 2.