I have rode and walked in so many Pride parades here, in New York and Chicago. Now, with this decision, the Pride board appears to be practicing the same blatant, evil policy. However, as a retired first responder, I know that these proud officers who want to join the Pride parade are nowhere near the problem.įor decades, members of the LGBT community have been victims of exclusion. It has some issues on community response that needs to be addressed. I understand how the LGBT community feels about the San Francisco Police Department.
I do not think the entire community is in line with Pride board’s decision. I can guarantee you the officers looked forward to the parade to show their support. The article brings up incidents that happened in the late ’60s, a time when a majority of the officers working today were not even born, but they are being held responsible for the past. Read more about our transparency and ethics policies I recall one year when I was the officer in charge of the night watch at Bayview Station, just about the entire watch, both straight and gay, attended. Year after year, members of the Police Department would walk the parade route on their own time dressed in their uniforms and proudly wearing their ribbons on their left breast for acts of valor in the line of duty.
Why? They are intimidating in uniform? I doubt if those same men and women are intimidating when that 911 call is made and they want the coppers there within a few minutes. Shop chicago heights illinois pride t-shirts created by independent artists from around the globe. The Phoenix Center is Central Illinois’ LGBTQ Community Center offering various groups, services, training, social & educational events and transitional housing. They are open 9a-Noon on Wednesdays and Saturdays Welcome. It is highly disappointing to see San Francisco police not taking part in Pride. Also, check out OUT on Adams, Phoenix Center’s Pride Store at 413 E. I support the police and know many if not the majority of the gay community do as well. The Pride parade should be a place where all feel welcome, including police, firefighters, nurses - everyone. As a member of the gay community, I am ashamed and alarmed by these kind of tactics that create disharmony. These ridiculous demands of the few on the Pride board - who don’t seem to understand the importance of having a good, solid relationship between the police and the LBGTQ community - really do damage to the gay community at large. This is the perfect Chicago gay pride t shirt for the person that looks forward to the Chicago gay pride parade event every June. We have the San Francisco archbishop and the Pride board playing culture wars.