Pride parade ban sought over eviction by deputies
San Francisco Pride members are looking to ban the Alameda County Sheriff ’s Office from marching in their annual parade, in a move attributed to the department’s enforcement of an eviction order against Moms 4 Housing last week.
The LGBTQ group’s amendment for the Sheriff ’s Office, which passed Wednesday evening, is in addition to resolutions to exclude tech giants Google and YouTube from the festivities. The East Bay deputies were singled out as the only law enforcement members who were unwelcome to march in the June parade, though members said discussions about other agencies are ongoing.
In a Thursday tweet announcing the resolution, SF Pride member Laurence Berland said he is “absolutely infuriated” by how the deputies used “militarized” force to remove a group of homeless mothers from a West Oakland house. A judge ruled that the women had to leave the home, which they had moved into without permission from the owner, Wedgewood Properties of Southern California.
The eviction resulted in the arrests of three mothers and one supporter who had refused to
leave. The eviction became a flash point in a larger housing crisis discussion, in a city that saw a 47% increase in homelessness in just two years.
“The housing crisis is affecting people of color, LGBTQ and youth,” Berland told The Chronicle Friday. “I thought it was important to show solidarity with the Moms 4 Housing group ... even as we were taking action on other important issues.”
Fred Lopez, interim executive director for San Francisco Pride, said no ban is in place, and that Wednesday night’s vote represented the wishes of just seven of Pride’s 326 members.
“One small group raised concerns about the Alameda County Sheriff ’s Office,” Lopez said. “As we get ready to celebrate our 50th parade, our goal remains the same as it was for our first — to be inclusive and reflect the diversity of our communities.”
Lopez said Pride’s legal team is reviewing the implications of the vote, and the Board of Directors will meet Feb. 5 to discuss the next steps.
Sgt. Ray Kelly, a spokesman for the Alameda County Sheriff ’s Office, said it is unfortunate that the members made the decision based on media reporting of the eviction and without having all the facts.
“The Pride Parade is about inclusivity, and a lot of members of our agency are part of the LGBTQ+ community,” he said. “It’s important that the relationship between law enforcement and that community stays strong.”
Kelly said he hopes members of the Sheriff ’s Office have a chance to speak to the Board of Directors before it makes
a decision.
The resolution noted that the prohibition doesn’t apply to individual deputies who wish to march as private citizens, “so long as they do not visibly identify as deputies of the Alameda County Sheriff ’s Office while doing so.”
Berland and resolution coauthor Tyler Breisacher said the resolution can be revoked only by a majority vote of San Francisco Pride membership. Such a reversal, they said, will be taken “if and when they feel that the Alameda County Sheriff ’s Office has shown a willingness to change, and a dedication to the mission of San Francisco Pride.”
Law enforcement’s relationship with the LGBTQ community has long been fraught. On
Sept. 14, 1961, police officers raided a San Francisco gay club called the TayBush Inn, arresting 103 people and citing them as “visitors to a disorderly house.”
Relations have dramatically improved in the half century since the raid. San Francisco police have marched in the parade for decades, Lopez said, and were one of the first departments to do so in uniform.
Last year, San Francisco police introduced a rainbowstriped “pride patch” to help raise money for homeless youth, many of whom are LGBTQ.
Hostilities among the groups flared last year, though, when demonstrators protesting police and corporate presence at the event stalled the parade for nearly an hour, resulting in two arrests.