Choosing Pride outfit: position remains troubling

Police Chief Charles Bordeleau has decided that instead of deliberately antagonizing people by wearing full police regalia when he marches in the Capital Pride parade Aug. 27, he’s going to don a golf shirt with the police crest. Good.

The decision by organizers to discourage officers in uniform, though, is still troubling and should be revisited.

Capital Pride organizers made it clear back in June that they didn’t want off-duty police in uniforms participating in the parade. Bordeleau responded at the time that his officers in the parade could wear uniforms if they chose. “We are proud of our uniform, and it is part of our identity — it’s who we are and how we serve the community,” he said.

Now, though, the chief says more conversations with officers have persuaded him to moderate his wardrobe choice. But considering the tensions between police and various minority groups that have been simmering countrywide, surely he should have done this in the first place.

Police are powerful figures in the community and people from a variety of backgrounds say they have experienced discrimination and oppression at the hands of police here and elsewhere.

On the other hand, many officers have made sincere outreach efforts, and they wanted to flag that by wearing their uniforms during Pride activities.

Plus, some police officers are gay, and wearing the uniform in a public Pride parade is quite personal for them.

But given the strains in the relationship over the years, and the progress police have legitimately made with the gay community, there really was no point to Bordeleau’s initial escalating of the argument. As a leader in the community, it’s his job to de-escalate, not provoke. Evidently, he has realized that.

“The LGBTQ2 (Ottawa police) members that I met with expressed hurt and frustration about the request to exclude uniforms for off duty officers at Pride this year,” said Bordeleau in a statement Monday. But “the majority also felt that attending Pride in uniform would not help us build trust.”

That’s right on both points: There’s no escaping the fact that some officers — particularly those who identify as LGBTQ2 — were wounded by Pride’s request. Pride needs to revisit its own decision (particularly since members of the Armed Forces are welcome in uniform), and reach agreement on a dress protocol with the police well before next year’s events.

Tolerance, of course, is the key. It takes all sorts to build community, and no one, no policy, should drive wedges between those working toward a more peaceful, harmonious society. Let’s keep it in mind for next year.