Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
PRIDE IN THE JOB
PSNI boss defends decision for cops to take part in ‘political’ gay parade
A PSNI commander has defended the decision to allow uniformed cops to march in the gay Pride parade.
While many have welcomed the move for Saturday’s LGBT event in Belfast, others have questioned whether it will undermine its stated neutrality.
Deputy Chief Constable Drew Harris insisted this would not be compromised by allowing officers to take part in the gathering where other participants were demanding “societal change”.
However, he said the PSNI was “unlikely” to allow them to take part in a Christian march that expressed a view that homosexuality was a sin. Belfast Pride actively promotes the campaign to introduce same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland – the only part of the UK and Ireland where it remains outlawed.
Mr Harris told how the PSNI’S objective in participating in the parade was to show support for a community that suffers a “disproportionate” number of hate crime attacks and to reflect the diversity of the police’s workforce.
He said: “We are a politically neutral organisation. Just step back from the narrow point about the societal change that some element of the gay pride event wishes to promote. We are there, one, to assure that community of our protection in terms of hate crime and also to be a representative workplace.” In an interview with BBC Radio Ulster’s Nolan Show, Mr Harris was asked whether hypothetically he would allow uniformed officers to participate in a Christian parade that promoted the message that homosexuality was sinful. He replied: “I think that would be unlikely.
“I don’t think you can conclude from that that we are not neutral.”