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Halifax Regional Police will be increasing their presence at this year’s Pride festival, but the department won’t be partaking in the annual parade.
The voluntary withdrawal was announced today by HRP after ongoing discussions with Halifax Pride and coming amidst national debate about the appropriateness of a uniformed police presence in pride parades.
“We feel that stepping away temporarily from the parade will best support the LGBT2Q+ community by helping to allow for meaningful discussion of this divisive issue,” said chief Jean-Michel Blais in a press release. â¨
⨓After several months of discussion with Halifax Pride, we recognized that our participation in the parade may contribute to divisions in the LGBT2Q+ community which is contrary to our intent of building a strong and sustainable relationship.”
Áine Morse, board co-chair of the Nova Scotia Rainbow Action Project (NSRAP) says the voluntary withdrawal is an important recognition by the department of the division and historical infliction of violence by police against queer, trans, and two-spirit people—in particular Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC).
⨓Today’s announcement is an acknowledgement and response to the pink-washing of police services,” says Morse in an emailed statement. “It’s an important starting place for building a safer, more inclusive Pride festival.”
Toronto’s Pride recently voted in favour of a demand from Black Lives Matter to ban police involvement at future parades in that city. The voluntary withdrawal of HRP is, by contrast, the first of its kind in Canada according to Pride’s new executive director Adam Reid.
The announcement comes just days after Reid released a public apology in response to the organization’s annual general meeting last year, during which a sudden influx of new members voted down a motion put forward by Queer Arabs of Halifax to prevent the presence of corporate “pink-washing” elements at future festivals. In his apology, Reid said the AGM was “full of racism, misogyny, and hate.”
Morse says that while Pride’s apology was necessary, action and accountability need to follow in order to be truly representative and welcoming. They say the community is frustrated that it took four months for this statement to be released.
“I think there’s this disconnect in being willing to admit that the AGM meeting that had ‘racism, misogyny and hate’ present…to say that happened but the AGM is still valid and we’re still going to go with it and all the decisions that were made there.”â¨
This year’s Pride festival will take place from July 13 to the 23.
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This article appears in Feb 2-8, 2017.
“Today’s announcement is an acknowledgement and response to the pink-washing of police services, says Morse in an emailed statement. Its an important starting place for building a safer, more inclusive Pride festival.
What the hell does this mean?
How does Halifax Police being in it some offends people? or in other words Social Justice people cried over it. The Nova Scotia Rainbow Action Project (NSRAP) does not speak for me or everyone in the LGBT community. Just see how many others will be not allowed because it offends someone is a load of __
I wondering what else would be considered ‘ Pink-Washing’. Halifax Pride needs to listen to more people then a small group.
I’m embarrassed for the men and women of HRPD, being thrown under the bus by the Chief, like this. It would have been much better to let Halifax Pride look like idiots and and ban police participation “in the name of inclusiveness”, just like the chuckleheads in Toronto did.
That way, the next time Adam Reid, or BM chide society at large about the need to “reject the fear mongering of a small group of ideological zealots intent on manufacturing contempt and exploiting divisions” it can get thrown back in their evil-smelling teeth.
Shit like this is like printing money for The Coast.
City Mouse, please don’t blame the community. Halifax Pride does not represent me. I am an openly gay man who has lived in Halifax all his life. There are two organizations who have created the pretense of which you describe. They are exclusive and conservative groups created to provide an acceptable visage for the community. The exist to serve themselves and a very small subset of a larger community. Neither has done anything to change policy or bring acceptance; rather, they are self-serving. I have excluded myself from their activities, policies and practices. Further, I no longer financially support our community organizations that has taken exclusive positions and use their organizations to support the political positions of small factions within our community. Rather than addressing the greater good, they have become hyper-focused and have lost their way. I am not a member of the lgbtq2 queer poly hoo-ha nonsense community. I never was. I never will be. I am a gay man. I am not represented by these groups. Please don’t include me and those like me in this foolishness.
Ok, Tickle…you’re a breath of fresh air…except for your tickle finger, of course…
Hahaha! Want a little tickle?
When the kids are fighting it is usually best to leave them to sort it out between themselves.
Censored again? Pretentious indeed…
If you want to be inclusive why do you exclude…?
I don’t even know where to begin. There are so many things going wrong here with these bloody pride committees it would take all night to type it up…but here are the two most important points I would make.
The LGB community spent decades trying to form a positive, collaborative and even inclusive relationship with the place from one end of this continent to the other. It was a huge effort, but it wasn’t easy and many tears were cried over the years trying to bring gays and lesbians to a place where they didn’t have to fear the police on account of their own sexuality.
ENTER TQI+, and every other social justice / special interest / identity politicking / screaming and hollering TWIT who has an imaginary bone to pick with the world forcing themselves under the Pride umbrella, causing it to swell up and burst for all the hot air underneath it…and the whole thing comes crashing down in a matter of one bloody year..and for what? I mean these people aren’t even working together with a common cause for god sake..it’s just a bunch of folks with way too much time on their hands working against each other and everyone else just so that they can make a spectacle – and what’s it solving? NOTHING! It’s re-creating problems (such as hate and contempt) in the name of pride that we old queens thought we had dealt with in the past!
Here’s what I think the pride committee should do. I think it should SHUT DOWN, so that these people won’t have such a concentrated forum for their nonsense. At the very LEAST it should change its name (to what I don’t know because how you would dream up a single positive word to describe TQI+, BLM, out of control feminists and everyone else with multiple agendas who are angry about something and obviously not looking to actually solve anything is beyond me). The pride committee was never designed for this though, and pretending it is what it isn’t really does a disservice to the people who actually used it to bring good to others.
And as far as the parade goes, well…it’s gone from a parade of peace, love and inclusiveity to a social justice pressure cooker with cheap advertising for large corporations and a spectacle through which big city mayors promote tourism. I say, shut that down too before things start to get out of control and people get hurt by extremists who are NOT INTERESTED in peace or equality. Any parade that would ban the police from participating should NOT be happening…especially this one.
Halifax Regional Police officers, on behalf of the LGB community, I am so so sorry and I hope you understand that the gays and lesbians who helped build bridges with you are horrified that this has happened…but the Pride Committees just aren’t listening to us anymore.
Why are so many of you on this page screaming about inclusiveness by being extremely divisive? Instead of trying to see a different perspective, engaging in a conversation or participating in a meaningful way, you are being very aggressive. How is this helping? Wether you agree or not with this, you could actually work toward healing wounds and being proactive…. It’s so easy to just complain online and do nothing.
Jeb, you are missing the point. Re-read the comments and try again.
Repeat after me, Jeb:
“When Halifax Pride considered banning uniformed Police Officers from the parade, I did nothing”
“When Halifax Pride considered banning members of the Military from the parade, I did nothing”
“When Halifax Pride considered banning… ” fill in the blanks, Sport.
Not all bigots use quotes from Leviticus to justify their prejudices.
i think it’s beautiful for HRPD to voluntarily step away from the Parade, Its shows the HRPD are taking the concerns made by the Halifax BIPOC LGBTQ2+ community serious and want to honestly learn more about it. They proactively decided this on their own as sign of respect. They are really setting a beautiful example to the rest of Canada that right now the national discussion of these concerns means more to the HRPD then being in the parade. <3
With the HRPD voluntarily stepping aside from walking in the Pride parade in order to learn more about this situation and the concerns that have been brought up, they are in effect showing more unity, love and respect for the BIPOC LGBTQ2+ community than most people reacting to this whole situation.
Thanks HRPD, for being the adult in the room…
BIPOC LGBTQ2+? That’s it! I’m straight! Well, I’m straight but solely have sex with men…